Uncluttered.

Nate and I have been refinishing the wood floors in our soon-to-be house. We just got done on Friday and I'm SOOOO pumped that I do not have to do that again. Ever. Don't get me wrong, they are BEA-U-tiful. But never, ever again.

There was one point where I was working in the downstairs and Nate at the opposite end of the house in the upstairs. I started humming some of my favorite songs.

Backstory: My husband has this obnoxiously good voice. I personally joke that singing is not 'one of my spiritual gifts'. I also say this when my dad asks me to do something that I don't want to =) Oh pastor's family humor...So moral of the story: I usually don't belt it out around Nate.

But after a while I heard an accompaniment to my song. Nate had heard my humming, and went right a long with me. I have so say, it was beautiful. Very peaceful.

The thought entered my mind, "I can't believe he heard me from all the way upstairs." Then I realized that because this house isn't lived in, and therefore is empty, the sound carries so much farther. When all our junk gets moved in, that characteristic won't continue.

My mind started wondering through my life, my thoughts and my heart. Do I have junk in the way of hearing my Father's voice? What's inhibiting Him to be heard?

Is it busyness? selfishness? pride? doubt?

This week I'm focusing on uncluttering my heart.

What junk in your life is silencing God's voice?

You're an Idiot

Sooo I've kind of been missing from this forum for the past week. I have been so blessed to be very busy. First, at a retreat called the Walk to Emmaus and then refinishing floors in our very-soon-to-be house [more on that to come =)].

This weekend I had the chance to meet some super wise and awesome women. Women who you look at and think "I want to be them when I'm forever old" =). One of these women, listened to me pour out my heart about lies I was believing about myself. I once heard these described as the 'tapes' that play over and over in your head, no matter how you try to suppress them.

- You're a failure.

- You could never succeed in ministry.

- You have nothing to offer.

- You will disappoint those whom believe great things for you.

- In turn, you will disappoint Jesus.

This woman of wisdom looked at me, listened through my blubbering tears and choked sobs and responded with something that amounted to, "Megan, that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my entire life." Stunned at her blunt and non spiritual response, I continued to talk, thinking she possibly hadn't heard my story correctly.

She put up her hand to stop me. 

She said, "I will believe that you're a failure, and all the things you said if you can tell me where in the Bible you're getting your information. Where does Scripture say that you can fail? That Jesus will allow you to fall flat on your face and ruin the lives of these students?"

We went back and forth like this for a while, neither willing to relent our position. You see, I have believed these lies for so long that even logic was failing to penetrate my heart. She was kind, yet firm.

I am happy to say that I do see the stupidity in my thinking. Even now typing this I think Jane was right in the fact that these are some of the dumbest things I've ever uttered.

Don't get me wrong. I love people who tell me how great I am =) But today I'm thankful for friends who tell me when I'm being an idiot. 

Who do you have in your life that can approach you with this truth? 

GET SOME 'YOU'RE AN IDIOT' FRIENDS.

Guestpost - Beauty

Hey all =)

Today I'm guestposting over at NS Pottery. I'll be talking about beauty.

 Natalie is such an amazing woman of the Lord and I've been privileged to reconnect with her through our blogs.

P.S. She also makes some SICK pottery that you should check out as well.

Head over here, check me out and give Natalie's blog some love as well!!

Heart Therapy: Thankful

The prompt today at Eisy Morgan is to list all the things we can think of that we're thankful for. 

Buckle up: 

I'm thankful for:

• Being part of the Berkeys.
• Women with whom I can share all of my junk, and at the end of the day they still love me.
• How personally Jesus speaks to me.
• Living in the country where no one is ever on the road when I'm driving.

• "That's what she said" jokes (which never seem to make sense)
• This outlet to blog.
• Memories made around the supper table.

• The crisp, sunshiny days of an Indian Summer.
• The YMCA and old men there that we play basketball with.
• Kentucky Wildcat Basketball. 
• A husband who makes me laugh so hard I pee my pants. 

• Beauty of cornfields.
• Vanilla Pudding....Enough said.
• A church family that loves me
• Berkey whiffleball games.

• The process of support- raising.
• Chai lattes.
• Hoodies and sweatpants.
• The privilege of working in full-time ministry.
• A mother in-law that I can call 'Mom'. 
• My sick, nasty camera.
• Mount Union College Women's Basketball Team.

• My sister in Denmark, and Finland.
• My 'old Kentucky home'.
• Seasonal eatery - Thanksgiving turkey, candy corn, eggnog, and peeps.
• Polar Pops.

What are you thankful for?






Also linking up here.

12 by 2012

                                                                                                        Source: ohhellofriendblog.com via Megan on Pinterest

Basically I live a life of procrastination. Nate makes fun of me because I make soo many lists, set alarms on my phone, and have all kinds of other concoctions, and yet I still manage to put the majority of things off until the last minute.

So when I read about this project to have 12 projects to complete before 2012 on the Oh, Hello Friend blog, I fell in love. Not to mention that 12 is my ultimate favorite number.

I'll be documenting these things as I go along. I would love if you would join me!! You can click on the banner in my right sidebar to go directly to the original blog post.

Here are my 12 'projects'. I think they reflect my love of randomness quite sufficiently.

1. Ride a mechanical bull. [Always been a dream =)]
2. Go ice skating.
3. Create a ceramic mosaic.
4. Cultivate the art of correspondence. Hand write 5 letters.
5. Dress up for Halloween. [Any costume ideas? Also, anyone want to volunteer to throw a party so I can wear my future costume?] 
6. Make & send out Christmas cards.
7. Complete the Campaign Dresser redo [bought at Habitat Restore and needs to be fixed before our move]
8. Actually move into our house. (post here)
9. Host a housewarming party.
10. Make crayon art with Lindsey. [inspiration here]
11. Sew something =) [a true feet seeing as I don't know how to sew]
12. Finish reading all the way through the Bible.

What are some of your goals?

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Heart Therapy: Dear Megan,

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite things about creating this blog was that it opened me up to a huge world of some amazing women bloggers. One of those women is Ashley who blogs at Eisy Morgan. She has been so courageous and vulnerable as of late and I have been inspired to do the same.

Ashley began this series, and the prompt is to think of ourselves at the end of our life and what advice we would speak into our life now.

Here goes nothing:

Megan,

Breathe. Sit back, close your eyes, and breathe.

Let your heart look back to all the times that God has taken care of you. Let your mind dwell on all the specific messages He has spoken to your heart. You're not believing these messages: that you're loved, and protected; that you cannot make God love you more; that He does not live in disappointment with you.

You're choosing to believe lies not only about your character, but God's. Stop. Know that He lives in a state of expectancy with you, not expectation. You cannot earn his love, or perform for his blessing.

Source: None via Megan on Pinterest

Support raising is not an accumulation of your efforts, but of God's providence. No amount of resources, tools, presentations can accomplish raising your support one second faster than God has planned for you to be done. REST in that. Let go of the burden of raising this money.

Trust that God can and desires to act in your life in BIG ways. He is not conventional, so stop praying conventional prayers. Stop boxing in your expectations of the Creator of the Universe to small things that you can understand. God is bigger than you can possibly imagine. REST in that.

Other peoples' lives which you see as better, more complete and superior to your own are living out their own story. Comparison will only leave you focusing on your narrow minded view of how your life should be. God has so uniquely shaped your life, and your body, that to look like or have a life like any other single person would  rob you of the life He has planned specifically for you. REST in that.

Breathe. Sit back, close your eyes, and breathe.

Homecoming - Forever Mount

This weekend we were back at Mount Union (which side note, I will forever refer to as Mount Union College and not this University junk...MUC sounds soo much better than UMU - - sorry, tangent). The day was perfect. Beautiful, sunny weather, set the tone for a day full of hugs, laughter, deep conversation and of course, football. Yeah, pretty much epic. 

I came in to this place as a 16 year old girl. A sheltered Christian with absolutely no idea what the real world was like. I left a 20 year old, married woman who was educated in 'real life', had learned to love lots and lots of different people and be confident in who she was. There are so many memories housed here and with all the headaches, this place is very dear to me. 

Did I mention it's GORGEOUS here in the fall???

Did I also mention that I have this thing for trees? I hide it really well =)

I'm tired of this.

Source: flickr.com via Kirsten on Pinterest

I'm tired.

I'm tired of being a Christian that only asks God for things I think I can do on my own out of my nearsighted fear that He won't come through.

I'm tired of being part of a church [worldwide body] that is possibly doing more to turn people away from the Jesus Christ of the Bible than draw them do Him; that only loves those whom we deem are worthy and doesn't take ownership of sharing with people the most exciting and wonderful relationship we've ever been a part of.

And I'm tired of blaming the church when there are things in my life that need to change as well.

I'm tired of shallow relationships where we pretend to care for each other, but really don't take the time to invest in the cares, dreams, sorrows and life of the other.

I'm tired of excuses for why we can't be what God calls us to be. I'm tired of seeing Christians so infected with the American dream that when they stand before God, they'll have lots of baseball trophies their kids won, and pep rallies they organized and an awesome house they lived in, cars they drove, but no sacrifice, no hardship in giving of their finances, their love, or their time.

BUT. I'm encouraged.

I'm encouraged that God is calling me to pray prayers that are unrealistic in my eyes so I can fully see His power.

I'm encouraged that there are people who care about showing Jesus to a world that desperately needs Him no matter the cost to them (and I'm not talking about pastors and missionaries).

I'm encouraged by women who have entered into my life and not allowed me to be shallow.

I'm tired and encouraged, and obviously very abrupt in this post.

Inspire Me.

So I'm kind of in love with this thing called Pinterest. P.S. You should be too. It's stinkin' awesome. Today I thought I would shutup and let you read some quotes from people much smarter than I. Some funny, some beautiful, some thought provoking. Enjoy.

Source: None via Megan on Pinterest

Source: elembee.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: None via Megan on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: fromupnorth.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: thetinymonsters.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest