Face Lift

Today I gave my blog a much needed face lift. I was pleased to find that blogger has updated much of their features since the last time I did any design work on the page. This made the process much more enjoyable.



Valentine's Day was a good day. I was so happy to find a little note tucked in my Quizno's shirt from Zeb. Those are my favorite. After I got off I was surprised with a picnic in the living room of my apartment. It included a delicious bottle of wine, smoked cheese, crackers, hummus, and roses. It was simple and perfect. I will include a picture of it tomorrow.



I am working on a project in my free time. It may or may not last, but for the time being it is very exciting. I will be sharing it with all of my readers soon because I will need help from some of you.



Today I will be having lunch at Red Lobster with my love all because of these two people. They had a giveaway on their blog two weeks ago and I won a $25 gift card! Thank you so much Megan and Brandon.

Fruitful Fridays

This weeks thoughts...

I am not sure when I realized this in my adult life, but over the last few years I have come to know that I can be a messy board of many people and ideas. I tend to look for others for advice and counsel often. I enjoy conversation that stimulates me in a thoughtful manner. The crossroad I have come to more recently though is becoming who I was created to be. I have found myself asking when I will find my identity rather than the identities of many wrapped up in one.

In high school I would drift in and out of healthy, working out stages. Post high school I became rather addicted to working out. In my most recent years I have gone back and forth. In the most recent weeks I have become addicted again. I was blessed with a body that must be cared for in a delicate manner or it will become a rather large blob. I wonder how I can find the balance of working out and not overeating.

As I have gotten closer to being married, I have somehow found myself surrounded by more married couples. I believe this is a gift sent from above and I love it. I enjoy interacting with married couples both old and young, via social networking and in person. I can usually always find one of two things during the interaction; something I would like to adopt for my marriage or something I would like to avoid at all costs. I recently had a conversation with a friend about marriage and she told me that her mentor told her that she tries to never say no to her husband. Now that is a challenge! Since I have heard that it has been on my mind so much. I have found myself searching the Bible for more guidance on being the submissive wife God intended me to be.

Those are the things lingering in Sasha's mind this week. I think Friday's will become my thoughts of the week day.

What has been on your mind? Any thoughts on what I have been thinking about?

Happy Valentine's weekend!

I Believe That You Matter

Today is a special post dedicated to the things I believe.

I BELIEVE that love exists and can last forever

I BELIEVE my God is a healer, forgiver, savior, and is greater than anything I will ever find on this earth.

I BELIEVE relationships with others can make or break a person

I BELIEVE serving is powerful beyond words

I BELIEVE laughing till your cheeks hurt should happen more often

I BELIEVE a puppy and a child can change your whole world in a single interaction

I BELIEVE in crying until the pain goes away

I BELIEVE there are some friends that should have been family

I BELIEVE family should be valued

I BELIEVE the words "I am proud of you" are not spoken enough

I BELIEVE a book can take you on a wonderful vacation

I BELIEVE humility is a beautiful thing

I BELIEVE passion is an overused word and underused motivator

I BELIEVE there are men that love their bride the way Christ loved the Church

I BELIEVE coffee shops were created for conversation more than coffee itself

I BELIEVE that there is still so much good in the world despite what the news portrays

I BELIEVE that lives are changed everyday

I BELIEVE that inspiration comes from the smallest people with the biggest hearts

I BELIEVE in you

What do you believe in?

Drifting

I think I may have mentioned this a few weeks back, but I started a couple reading plans on Youversion at the start of the year. You know how everyone starts with a resolution of reading their Bible from cover to cover and they get through Genesis and then life happens and they forget about it? Well I guess I had jumped on that bandwagon only I was focused on the New Testament. I had always read bits and pieces of the New Testament, but never the whole thing. So I started this reading plan that takes you through the New Testament in a month. I am not sure why I chose a month other than I guess I was just anxious to read it all and a month was the shortest time there was. I must have forgotten that just because you choose the reading plan, doesn't mean that you will make the time to do it. And you have to make the time to do it or it defeats the whole reading plan idea. The reading plan keeps going and me? Well I just keep putting off.

I finally jumped back in yesterday. I had left off on day 7 of my reading plan and it had now made its way to day 23. Youversion has this cool thing though where you can select catch me up and it starts you exactly where you left off with a new end date. How cool is that? Then I got to thinking youversion wasn't upset that I had disappeared for two weeks. In fact they had even sent me a reminder last week that I hadn't visited in a week or so and wanted to remind me that they were still there. This whole concept got me thinking about God. Imagine that. But really, that is exactly what God would do. He is always there. He is there when we start off talking to him everyday and have an intimate relationship with him. He is there when we drift. He will sometimes whisper through the Holy Spirit to remind us about His presence. And even when we still blow Him off, He is waiting when we return. He picks us up right where we left off when we drifted as if we had never left, similar to the catch me up button. How cool is that?

All of that to say that I am in standing awe of my God right now. I have spent the last two weeks or so drifting. I have been pre-occupied with the big W, snow, and two jobs that I have drifted. Not so far that I had forgotten, but far enough that I knew I needed a spirit check. So when I returned to the Bible yesterday and prayer it was like I had never left. His grace just fell on me. I surrendered to Him, apologized for my absence, and moved on. Just as He would have it.

P.S. I am reading a book right now titled Wresting with God, which I will definitely do a book review on when I am finished, but there was a couple lines I read last night that I want to leave you with. They are powerful in my opinion.

"Jesus, too, never promises easy answers. He promises the cross, a symbol of the spiritual deaths we have to face over and over as our answers, formulas, and the little Lego houses of our comfortable lives collapse, and we are given the opportunity to surrender to the next step in our journey with God."

I Quit Living in Fear

I live a life of fear and this was confirmed on Sunday when Pastor Craig addressed this area in church. I already knew this going into the sermon so it wasn't as painful when he pointed it out. I knew he was going to be talking directly to me. I really identified with 3 of the 4 areas, but could probably of identified with all 4 if I was really honest with myself.

1. Fear of Loss
- I fear losing my life constantly.
- I fear losing someone in my family.
- I fear losing my future husband one day.
- I fear losing my job.

2. Fear of Failure
- I fear not being good enough to be successful in my career.
- I fear not making my parents proud.
- I fear not being a good enough ________ fill in the blank (sister, daughter, mother, wife, friend, worker) Whatever I am to you I probably fear not being good enough.
3. Fear of Rejection
- I fear important people in my life walking out on me.
- I fear not getting good positions because I am not well equipped.
4. Fear of Unknown
- I fear what the future has in store.
- I fear never finding a job that I truly love to go to everyday
- I fear not knowing where I will be a year from now

I checked all of them except number 3. As I have thought about it more the people pleaser in me really does have a fear of rejection so turns out I am a walking fearful person. Now that I have recognized this lets see what Craig had to say about it.

1. What you fear reveals what you value most.

Ok well I can live with that. I value what people think of me. I value my family. I value my future. What's wrong with that?

2. What you fear reveals where you trust God the most least.

So that is what is wrong with it.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."-2 Timothy 1:7

Wait, but I don't think He gave that to me. Some, like Craig's wife, may have gotten the power of a sound mind, but not this girl. I am constantly fearing things, where did He go wrong with me?

....backup! That is exactly what I was thinking until I realized, he didn't go wrong with me at all. I have gone wrong, when I fear the things of this world rather than the things of the Lord. I have gone wrong, when I think that God does not have it all in control and I will not be taken care of. I have gone wrong when I lose sight of seeking the one who can remove all of my fears and provide me with a sound mind.

"I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears"-Psalm 34:4

And I will continue to seek the Lord and pray for deliverance from my fears. Only the one who created me and gave me this precious and beautiful life can save me from these things.

What do you fear?