The Heart of Beauty

I have been challenge and blessed by the ministry of Eric and Leslie Ludy. And once again was blessed by this short video, so thought I would share it with you all! 

True beauty is not found in color of our hair, eyes or skin;

neither is it found in makeup or curls and bows.

Beauty is not found in the cloths we wear,

or in the weight shown when we step on the scale.

We search for beauty in so many things;

but true beauty is found in CHRIST ALONE. 

"The only true beauty comes from a life fully surrendered to Jesus Christ." -Leslie Ludy

Nearer My God {Video}

May you all have a blessed Lords Day, and may you find yourself being drawn nearer to God though this week!

{The Post That I Can't Think of a Good Title For}

So I said I had something exciting to share with you all so here it is....

Because I am earning my degree through Collegeplus I have met many of my closest friends online (gasp).

Some I have had the pleasure of meeting in person, and some I am still hoping to have that opportunity.
One of the people I have been waiting and wishing to meet was Katie over at Bursts of Sunshine.
A mutual friend was getting married, and I knew Katie was going to the wedding. But I didn't tell her that I also was going to be there, so it produced just a little bit of excitement when I showed up. Okay, maybe a lot of excitement! :)

Katie, it was such a joy to actually meet you in person! Your laugh and smile are contagious!  I am so excited to get to spend two weeks with you at Summit! Summit better be prepared for lots of giggles! :)

Katie, and I! Kudos to Amanda B. for taking the picture! 

Here are a few more pictures with me and some of my Collegeplus friends:

Alison!  Photography credit goes to Jason Manion

Alison, you heart for Christ and serving challenges and encourages me! I am blessed by God giving me the opportunity to know you! 

This is actually from about a month ago, but these are some of the (former) Collegeplus students who are in my "area" (meaning in the state). 

Even though many of us in Collegeplus live thousands of miles apart, it is a joy and blessing to see how strong the bond is in the body of Christ! I truly am blessed to have such amazing friends!


May God bless each of you this week!
I miss you all!
Marie

UPdate

I know some of you have been wanting to hear how my training for the Crisis Pregnancy Center has been going, so I'll give you a little update.
I have almost completed the classroom part of my training, which is supposed to be about 20 hours worth. I would actually be done, but one of the sessions was canceled due to winter weather. But anyway...I'll be done next Saturday!

After that I will have 5 weeks of orientation. I'm not sure what all that evolves yet, but I believe I will be sitting in on some of the counseling sessions, finding which of the programs I, or rather God wants to focus on, and just learning how things run at the center.

Then after the 5 weeks or orientation.....I should be able to start counseling!!!!

I can already see that volunteering is going to be a huge growing (and yes, sometimes uncomfortable) experience! I have been so blessed by seeing how God has brought together for His work, different people from various backgrounds/family dynamics. Although we may not all be from the same denomination, I see such a love a passion for Christ and for serving Him! It's such a blessing and excites me, to see people get excited about serving Jesus!

One prayer request that I have, is that God would open the door and lead me into the program that He wants me to be involved in. And by "program" I mean, they have different counseling programs for different needs. For instance, there is post-abortion, abstinence, child care training, ect.

I'll leave you with this little tidbit I heard in training:

"Our lives must first go up, before they go out."

Old Year, New Year

As 2011 comes to an end I've been thinking back on what God has taught me and brought me through this year.
In many ways, this past year has been very hard, but God has been faithful to strengthen and encourage me.
There have been times of joy and there have been times of struggle, but I am blessed to see how God has grown me through those circumstances.

Looking back, I feel like this year God especially worked on teaching me to put my trust fully in Him. I tend to be a person who likes a fairly structured plan, so that has been a challenging lesson for me to learn - but a necessary one.

The other main thing that God reminded/taught me this year, is learning to put my joy and delight in Him. There is nothing that can fill the spot in my heart that was meant to be filled by a relationship with Christ; no friend, no family member, no fantasy I might have - only Christ.
I have had to be continually reminded that true joy only comes from God.

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.    Ps. 37:4&5


I am excited about how God has been leading me into new areas, and I know He has great things planned for me in 2012!

See you all next year!
Marie

I'm Alive

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the world, I've just been occupied with a lot of things recently.

I have been visiting my sister, and of course we had to work on some kind of project(s)! It has been wonderful  to spend time crafting together! :)
I have a few different projects that I've been working on; I will share pictures of them soon!

Day of Thankfulness: Week 4

This is a little late, but better late than never, right?


This week I am thankful for Christmas music! There is nothing more cheery that helps drive away the blues on those dreary days, then a good Christmas song! :)


Here are some of my favorites this year:
How Many Kings

Wizards in Winter

Christmas Canon

And pretty much all the songs in Micheal Buble's new Christmas album!
But it looks like they have killed most of the videos for it on Youtube. :(

May you all have a blessed weekend!

Day of Thankfulness: Week 3

This week I am thankful for friends. For a long time I prayed (and yes, probably did a little complaining) for friends that would be a blessing and an encouragement to me. I have recently realized that although God did not answer my prayer how I thought He would, He truly has blessed me with wonderful friends - better than I could ever ask for!

I love you all!
Marie

Day of Thankfulness: Week 2

Credit

This week I'm thankful that God has given me the ability to study and learn, and I'm also thankful for random breaks! :) I'm not really sure why, but for some reason this past week I had a whole week long break. But hey! I'm not going to complain about getting a break! I was able to spend time with my sisters, and sister-in-law who was visiting, without having to worry about assignments needing to be done.

Day of Thankfulness: Week 1

I have been so blessed and most assuredly have many things to be thankful for! While I know that this is definitely not the only time of year we should be thankful: this month I'm going to try and post something I'm especially thankful for, at least once a week.

Credit

This week, I'm thankful that God gave us seasons, and that there is something special about each one! 

The peak of this fall is past, but there's no better way to end your summer then with the vibrant colors of a Midwestern fall! There is a big maple tree outside my window, so each morning I get to wake up to it's fall beauty. 

                        

                  

                       "Give thanks, with a grateful heart.Give thanks to the Holy one."

Blessings-Laura Story

This song has recently been an encouragement and reminder to me, that God is working all things for my good, even though many times I don't understand how or why. He is allowing me to go through some struggles for a reason, and I want to allow Him to teach me what I need to learn through them.

I pray that you will also be blessed by this song.