♥♥ and more ♥

after a long, long, long time of no Java and no truly good chocolate... i can haz! yes, a friend of mine was so gracious and brought me back both mexican chocolate and medium roast coffee from the greatest little shop on the face of the planet. hooray, i'm delivered from charbucks! for a while at least. what is this mexican chocolate, you ask? a little piece of heaven, i tell you. it's a mix of ghirardelli chocolate bliss, cinnamon and nutmeg. I KNOW, RIGHT?! it makes me so happy.

you know, i've said it before, but it's really true: i love my job. i loooooove my job. it goes beyond a job for me, it's a lifestyle. because, you can't work in God's house and not have it affect every other area of your life. i used to hate the weekends, they brought loneliness and boredom. now, though, the weekends are my favorite part of the week; not because they hold less work for me (sometimes the opposite, actually) but because they are an extension of my week. in them i am able to reach out to people, outside of the office.

which leads me to my third random thought: last night (well, looong before last night but it sort of culminated then) i was overwhelmed with gratitude for where the Lord has brought me. i don't have a lot, almost nothing, but i feel so rich because my life is bursting at the seams with great friends, great leaders, great blessing. *iz choked up* i can see where He is taking me and i'm so excited to get there.

this scripture keeps echoing in my mind, in my spirit and it's really helping me with the former statement and my patience:

Habakkuk 2:3

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to fulfillment; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait earnestly for it, because it will surely come; it will not be late on its appointed day."

i'm currently trying to read five books. one of the five books, The Furious Longing of God, has me on my face before the Lord in "incredulous awe tinged with doubt" as it reassures me how much i am loved. for a while there, it was so incredibly easy to forget how much love He has. my dad once told me, "the enemy will never directly attack your faith, but he will try to convince you that Jesus does not love you as much as He says He does. that will cause your hope to falter and will weaken your faith. that's why the Bible says that the greatest of the three is love." <---- so true. the battle that i've been fighting is not faith in what i know God will do for me, but if He even wants to do it for me. The whole question of want has everything to do with love. right now, there is so much to this topic that i cannot write it all down in this blog, so i'll just preclude another blog with the excerpt from the book:

"the gospel can be summed up by saying that it is the tremendous, tender, compassionate, gentle, extraordinary, explosive, revolutionary revelation of Christ's love."

someday i will own another trampoline. and a cat. but i will not use them together. yeah, i know that's what you were thinking.

there is a need for a craft night. soon. stay tuned.

obviously, i'm not posting my creations weekly. sorry 'bout that. here are a few of the most recent pieces that i've made which i'm adoring. check out sarah michal creations to see more.