MollyMadonna.com

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i know whom i have believed

Sometimes a book just falls into your lap in the most perfect timing. I started reading Beth Moore’s Breaking Free a few weeks back, and I am overwhelmed at how perfect a fit it’s been for me with every turn of the page. I’ve taken to reading it in the morning over breakfast, when my mind is still fresh and my day can benefit from a healthy dose of inspiration, and I’m loving it so much I felt the need to share. So where to begin?…

From the start, Beth speaks from an amazingly humble heart. I imagine she is absolutely incredible in person, and probably the kind of woman I aspire to become. She is articulate and grace-filled, wise and well-versed in her command of Scripture and how it applies to our everyday lives. She is dynamic, honest, unafraid to speak truth. I love her vulnerability.

The book itself is one that requires a sharpened pencil (or highlighter or pen:) at the ready. My copy is now marked up with brackets, stars and exclamation marks galore. I pray I can absorb its contents the way I used to remember facts before a big test, or lines in the school musical. Here are some of the nuggets of wisdom most boldly speaking to my heart at the moment:

-Highlight # 1: “We glorify God to the degree that we externalize the internal existence of the living Christ. A life that glorifies God is not something we suddenly attain. As we spend time in the presence of God, His glory both transforms us and radiates from us.”

Wow. On multiple levels. First, the reality that the living Christ resides within us is a powerful and mighty thought that I never want to lose sight of–not for a minute. Second, we have to work diligently to live a life that glorifies God. It’s hard work sometimes. It’s not something that completely comes naturally. And everything within our humanity will fight against it, err on the side of selfishness or pride or distraction, and cause us to be intentional about pursuing God’s glory or otherwise, forsake it. So far, amazing, right? But then comes my favorite part. “As we spend time in the presence of God, His glory both transforms us and radiates from us.” What an unbelievably impacting idea! I have known this, but so often need to be reminded anyway. And I do, so desperately, desire to be transformed in God’s presence. I want to radiate the light and truth that only He can offer–and He permits us to do so! I am blown away by this fact.

-Highlight # 2: “Peace comes in situations that are completely surrendered to the sovereign authority of Christ. Sometimes when we finally give up trying to discover all the answers to the whys in our lives and decide to trust a sovereign God, unexpected peace washes over us like a summer rain.”

Hello. The above needs to be written on my bathroom mirror, all over my windshield, and potentially in tattoo form on my forehead. I’m reminded here of a little saying we used to cling to in high school after senior retreat. Let go, and let God. Plain and simple. Only not so simple for a girl like me who wants to figure everything out, to solve every problem, and to do so impatiently and with exhaustive determination. IT JUST DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT COMPLICATED. I love this: “unexpected peace washes over us like a summer rain.” I was out for a long run this morning and it rained nearly the entire way. My clothes, hair and shoes were literally saturated with summer rain. Can I just say this? It felt amazing. I put my running shoes on this morning knowing that I’d get wet the second I stepped outside, but I didn’t have a single reservation. And with every mile, I felt more relaxed, more revived and more free. I was soaked with rain. I pray that I could be so bold in my daily life, to let go, and let God, without reservation. To be saturated with peace–every last inch of me. And to trust in what I know. God is sovereign. Under His authority, all of the details are covered.

-Highlight #3 for today: “He [God] is holy. As Lord, He will never ask anything of us that is not right, good and open to the light.”

I don’t think about this enough. When God prompts my heart, it is out of pure, unreserved love for me as His daughter. He will never ask anything of me that is not for my benefit. I can think of very few circumstances where we, as humans, can trust another human being to have as much care and good intention as this–especially every second of every day for the duration of our lives. But God is this way. From the moment we came into existence, He had our best interest at heart. He sees us, knows us, nurtures us, and desires the very best He can offer for us. This humbles me on a level I will never fully be able to articulate.

And finally, a thought that leaves me grateful, peaceful, and reflective today–and a verse that I will tuck in my proverbial back pocket to recall daily from now on:

“I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” 2 Timothy 1.12

As Beth reminds in Breaking Free, “the more we know Him, the more we will believe Him.” Not just IN Him, but Him. His character, His faithfulness, and His ability to guide and direct our paths, all the while lending us peace.

Praying and believing that He will guard all that you have entrusted to Him for today.

Grace and Peace,

mm

P.S. Many thanks to Becca, who suggested the book. A divinely inspired choice–and I do mean divinely 🙂

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things that start with “b,” and being honest.

Tonight, I am painfully aware of my own imperfections. These things made tangible–not only in the series of this week’s events, but physically, outwardly, as I consider the blemishes I’ve incurred in the last succession of days. While making dinner last night, my hand slipped as I put the chicken into the oven, I spilled marinade in every crack and crevice possible, and I burned my arm on the oven door as I hastily attempted to recover the dish. A few hours and an ice pack later, a nice, strawberry red burn sat, slightly swollen, on my forearm. A few nights back, in a feeble effort to avoid stepping on the dog in the dark, I felt my way along the wall, underestimated, and smacked my head and brow bone on a hard corner. I did indeed miss the dog, but I’m still bruised from the encounter.

Wait. There’s more? Mmmhmm. This is kind of a week where it just keeps coming. While running these past few months, I’ve incurred a persistent, irritable muscle pain that’s trouble whether I’m mobile or stationery. And the past few nights have been record-setting for mosquito bites, whose itchy reminders seem to be lingering extra long this week. A mish mash of colorful/painful/troubling little incidents indeed.

Now, I’m not at all trying to complain about random, everyday, minor things happening to me by accident, nor do I expect the leftover marks to last for very long…it’s just that I’m struck by the irony of these outward flaws and their timing in my life. The trouble with all these little bumps and aches isn’t so much the bumps themselves, but rather the constant physical reminders of how I’m actually feeling right now–clumsy, blemished, uncertain, irritable, imperfect. It has been a very challenging few weeks…

So I’m trying to be real with myself, and as real with the world around me as is appropriate in a variety of situations. Of course there’s the importance of guarding people and relationships carefully, and of course there is a certain level of decorum with which I hope to operate under most circumstances. But just as my latest bruises and burn and bites are all apparent to the naked eye, I’m inclined to feel like it’s OK to bare some of my inward marks as well. This is just me being honest. For me. For the sake of someone reading this who feels like they have to maintain a certain façade in their own life–whatever that may look like at this particular moment. Because sometimes life gets bumped and banged up hard enough that it leaves a strawberry red mark, an irritation, a deep bruise. And sometimes it requires healing. And sometimes that starts just by acknowledging that it exists, is painful, might take longer than desired. I’m right there with you.

Sure, I could cover up the nicks and bites, put makeup over a black and blue bedtime souvenir, bandage the burn. But for now, that seems like too much effort–and for whom? I just feel like letting them be, and letting them be visible. I feel like being real, and imperfect. I feel like loving myself anyway, or trying harder to, at least. I aspire to be a lot of things a lot of the time, and I probably need to leave room on my plate for an extra measure of grace these days. Grace that covers over, not covers up. Grace that is a far better salve than something from the medicine cabinet, and the kind that provides far more authentic healing when applied liberally to a wound.

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tomatoes. and other things.

I had great intentions of blogging about any number of items today, but as I sit down to my computer tonight, I’m just too tired. I feel like there’s good reason though, so instead of foregoing a post altogether, I thought I’d share some photos from a day’s work. We were very busy in the yard today moving these:

now i can pretend we live in ireland, or england, or somewhere where we'd have dreamy rock piles and walls and such

from a large pile on our driveway that was remnant from our re-grading project earlier this summer. Remnant makes this pile sound small. There was not, however, anything small about it. We are very happy to have disbursed it throughout the yard, side yard, garden and landscaped spaces around the house.

Today was also busy because we transplanted these:

from seeds grown in the kitchen to five, full-blown tomato plants. delightful.

and these:

more seeds, turned into five, aromatic basil plants, plus peppers and garlic chives

and finished making this:

raised bed garden, with rocks to prevent runoff into the now-compost, someday-more garden, area.

This feels amazing, because to me, there is absolutely no better addition to the backyard than homegrown veggies and herbs–and because we built the raised bed garden a few weeks ago and it’s been sitting lonely in the yard until today. This photo shows the project mostly-done, but is not the finished product (which now includes chicken wire and will soon include pretty blossoms to brighten up the outside corners and keep pesky rodents/bugs/etc. away).

I asked Kruger what he thought about all of the activity, and this is what he had to say:

kruger with his favorite wheelbarrow and gardening tools

Not much, actually. But he did try to eat my tomatoes and basil before I got them into the ground. Such is life when you own a rambunctious black lab, I suppose.

Oh, there was also a lot of weeding today. In spaces like this one:

the corner of our patio, + hammocks

and many others here and there. I wore a swimsuit top and shorts thinking I’d get some color while weeding and make the most of the time outdoors, but I didn’t exactly calculate the angle my back would be to the sun in the heat of the afternoon. Not only did I plant tomatoes today, but I think tomorrow, one half of me will look like a tomato, too. Still, a small price to pay for so much productivity outside, and I’ll be glad for the color in a few days when it tones down.

My goodness, I LOVE Summer! I hope this weekend has been as Summer-y for you thus far as it has for me!

And now, an early bedtime for this tired girl, my green-ish thumb, and my slightly-too-sunny skin.

Sleep tight!

mm

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a most gracious hostess

This week, Jodi from jodimichelle.com has been in the throes of moving her adorably outgoing and adventurous family from their home on the south side of town into a temporary apartment. She and hubby, Aaron, are in the process of building a lovely new home, and are acclimating to life only a stone’s throw from downtown Holland until their new place is complete in a few months. In the meantime, Jodi’s had a lot on her hands…a garage sale, packing, juggling kids, getting crafty, celebrating Summer–you know, the things you do when you’re a young mom.

Being the smart cookie that she is, and knowing that this month would be jam-packed with activity, she graciously invited some of us to guest post on her amazingly entertaining, insightful, honest, variety-filled blog. I’m honored to be in her company, and with her, the company of one of my other favorite people, Rebekah. To catch all three of us at once, visit Jodi and catch a glimpse of why I’m so blessed by these two women. My topic of choice for a little blog moonlighting, “Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy.” I’ve been learning a good lesson ever since watching the You Tube video by the same name…

Here’s to hosting and being hosted!

mm

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Just can’t get enough…

I was thinking this afternoon that there are some things I simply can’t get enough of–and some I enjoy especially in the summertime. Here’s a taste:

-Downtown Holland’s Farmer’s Market.

-Inspirational Blogs. Hmmm…like this one, and this one, and this one. Oh, and this one. Truly. I could get lost all day.

-Travel. Travel, travel, travel. Summer vacation. Travel. Ooooh, where do I want to visit next? Venice. Croatia. Israel. Kenya. They all sound too marvelous for words!

-Babies! (and helping usher them into this incredible world)

-Puppies. This one, mostly:

kruger's first day at home.

Only he looks like this now:

still a puppy to me 🙂

-Training for and running a race. Late Summer night and early Summer morning training runs are my favorite! And the rush of a race? So grand! See how happy this makes me:

ok, so i look a bit ridiculous. but it was quite early. i blame the hour.

-Paper. Letterpress. Great Pens. Well crafted stationery. Paper. For example:

hollander's, in ann arbor. you, too, can visit this paper heaven.

Really, it’s just so marvelous! Also try paper-source.com, or for more local fare, givestudio.com.

-Time with the beautiful women in my life. You know who you are 🙂

–JP’s Coffee.

-Sunsets on the beach. Like this one:

sunset over lake michigan from manistee

I’ve decided that not being able to get enough of this many things–and already having another list for another day started in my head, is a very wonderful situation. Ooooh, so many things in life inspire joy!