A Comfort That Brings Me Joy.

Raphael's Madonna and Child
(Italian Renaissance Art Source)

Whether I am beautiful or plain, it is comforting to remember that true beauty comes from the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life. The way I love, the way I listen--these things define my beauty. Oh my soul, remember that Christlikeness--the glorifying of your Father in your life--should be your aim!

May we find ourselves dwelling on the beauty of our Jesus this Christmas season, as Advent draws us nearer to His birthday! It was not his appearance that drew His followers, but the fact that He was and is the Light (John 8:12). The prophet Isaiah wrote, "He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him" (Isaiah 53:2, NASB). The Apostle Peter wrote, "and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory..." (1 Peter 1:8, NASB). As the Lord's followers, it was not His appearance that drew us to Him, for none of us living in this time have truly seen our Lord face-to-face. We love Him because He first drew us to Himself, and has since proven His love to us again and again. "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19, KJV).

Te Deum Laudamus

(Attributed to Nicetas of Remisiana, fourth-century bishop of what is now Eastern Serbia)

We praise thee, O God: we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.

All the earth doth worship thee: the Father everlasting.

To thee all Angels cry aloud: the Heavens and all the Powers therein.

To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry, 

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; 

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory.

The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee.

The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee.

The noble army of Martyrs praise thee.

The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee; 

The Father of an infinite Majesty;

Thine honourable, true and only Son;

Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.

Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.

When thou tookest upon to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.

When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death,

Thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the Glory of the Father.

We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.

We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hadst redeemed with thy precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with thy Saints in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage.

Govern them, and lift them up for ever.

Day by day we magnify thee;

And we worship thy Name, ever world without end.

Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us,

O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.

O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

Work It.

(A random picture of my 3 year old English Bull Terrier. :)

I find it difficult to write posts for this blog. The thing is, I have found so many cute and unique blogs, which make me want to have a blog of my own. And yet, when it comes down to it, I don't actually feel like I have much to share! If anything, I guess I just want to be real in a world that so often masks what is real.

My reality lately has consisted of working at a retail clothing store near my home. I took on a holiday/seasonal position, and I am enjoying it. However, with this being my first "real" job, and with my understanding that I am not that fashionable (ha!), I have had an interesting--but not difficult!--time getting used to this position.

First of all, there was the locker. THE LOCKER...One with a twisty-knob combination. Growing up as a homeschooled kid, I never had to worry about putting my things in a locker! I was always either at a church for co-op or at home watching my A Beka videos. Now for this job, a locker is the means by which I keep my valuables from being stolen. During my first day of work, I could not get my locker open, and my manager had to open it for me. Needless to say, this was a little embarrassing, but hey--I needed help! After this experience, I went home and googled "How to open a locker," and I would like to give a warm THANK YOU to whoever wrote this article: How to Open a Locker. (I am posting this in case any other homeschoolers realize that they need to learn this skill! ;) Thankfully, during my following shifts, I met with sweet success....Until my old friend hyperhidrosis came along...

Hyperhidrosis and I have been friends since sometime in my childhood...I can't remember the exact moment I realized that my hands were really, really sweaty. I think that people who don't have hyperhidrosis take their almost-always dry hands for granted...And that is totally understandable. I take what I deem "normal" for granted all the time! But having dry hands is one of the myriad of reasons why I am so excited about eternity, when I will have a perfect body like Christ's. After a couple times of successfully getting my locker combination to work, I tried to turn the knob to open my locker...And my hands were very sweaty and slipped on the knob. I couldn't get my locker open because of my hands, which stressed me out even more than the thought of someone asking me about my shower hands. Next time I went to open my locker, I took a napkin with me to help with providing grip. This method worked, praise the Lord!

Now then, I must include another detail of my retail experience if I am to make this narrative more complete. Remember, this is my first real job. Today, I did not realize that I was supposed to clock out for lunch break! So I had to tell my manager about this after I finished my shift and after I realized my fumble. Thankfully she said that she would be able to change my time! I am so thankful for her and for the other staff members that I work with. God is so good.

Until next time,
Free Spirit Becca :)))

Be Generous and Do Good.

Brothers and sisters, the time is short.

     "The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." --Galatians 6:6-10 (NASB)

Lest I Forget.

This is my King! :)

Saturday Tunes.

May these songs cheer up your Saturday! 

(Skip ahead to 2:49 for the song in the first video below.) 

Humility.

Humility: "1. In ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth. In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will.

"'Before honor is humility.' Prov.15.

"'Serving the Lord with all humility of mind.' Acts.20.

"2. Act of submission."

(Webster's 1828 dictionary)

Also a valid definition: A character trait of which I need much, much more. A character trait which is sadly lacking in my life.

Tonight, I realized that instead of making judgments about how haughty someone else is, perhaps I should focus on how haughty I often can be and ask my Lord Jesus to help me overcome my own haughtiness. He is good. He is Love.

Latest Favorite Quotations.

"Youth is not a period of time. It is a state of mind, a result of the will, a quality of  the imagination, a victory of courage over timidity, of the taste for adventure over the love of comfort. A man doesn't grow old because he has lived a certain number of years. A man grows old when he deserts his ideal. The years may wrinkle his skin, but deserting his ideal wrinkles his soul. Preoccupations, fears, doubts, and despair are the enemies which slowly bow us toward earth and turn us into dust before death. You will remain young as long as you are open to what is beautiful, good, and great; receptive to the messages of other men and women, of nature, and of God. If one day you should become bitter, pessimistic, and gnawed by despair, may God have mercy on your old man's soul." --General Douglas MacArthur

"O LORD, let that become possible to me by Thy grace, which by nature seems impossible to me."
--Thomas A'Kempis

"Those who dislike ritual in general--ritual in any way and every department of life--may be asked most earnestly to reconsider the question. It is a pattern imposed on the mere flux of our feelings by reason and will, which renders pleasures less fugitive and griefs more endurable, which hands over to the power of wise custom the task (to which the individual and his moods are so inadequate) of being festive or sober, gay [as in happy] or reverent, when we choose to be, and not at the bidding of chance." --C.S. Lewis, Preface to Paradise Lost

"Love through me, Love of God;

Make me like Thy clear air

Through which, unhindered, colors pass

As though it were not there.

"Powers of the love of God,

Depths of the heart Divine,

O Love that faileth not, break forth,

And flood this world of Thine."

--Amy Carmichael

"As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever." --Psalm 125:2

Two Sentence Post.

I love my family. That is all for now. :D

Wild, Curly Hair.

I have been on a hair growth journey. The picture above was taken around Christmastime; it's quite a bit longer now! My hair has always been short. 

In the past, I have attempted to grow it out, but all in vain. Not this time. :) 

My family is already telling me that it might be a good idea to get it thinned out...My Dad has made the comment, "It must be hot under there!" But I have decided that it's all a part of the journey. 

Growing my hair out has been a bit uncomfortable at times, for sure. You see, my hair is really thick and really curly. It responds to humidity by frizzing up, especially if I touch it a lot or if I haven't put enough product in it. 

I have only had the ends snipped once when they were beginning to split, and I had my Mom perform the procedure. :) 

Without any other hair cut taking place for the past few (or at least two) years, you can bet that my hair is sometimes shaped a little weird. If I were to pull on the end of a strand of hair, it would reach to about mid back; however, it bounces up to be about a 2-3 inches below my shoulders if I let the strand go. 

Lately, I have been trying this new hair routine. Steps:

1. I've been shampooing during every other shower, and conditioning during every shower.
2. I condition first and then put my hair into a bun. I then allow my hair to soak in the conditioner until I'm almost done showering. 
3. Before I finish up, I de-bun my hair and comb it with a wide-tooth comb. 
4. Next, I squeeze my hair to eliminate some of the water. I don't dry my hair with a towel. 
5. I apply Paul Mitchell's Sculpting Foam, Garnier Fructis Leave-In Conditioner, sometimes a curl cream, and lastly Ogx Argan Oil of Morocco Extra Penetrating Oil. 
6. I pin over my bangs which are growing out. (Yay!) 
7. I let it air dry. 
8. I then pineapple it and sleep on it. By the morning, I let my hair down, and it looks somewhat normal. :D
9. Side note: I also take a daily multivitamin and fish oil pills (when I remember to take them). 
10. Side note the second: I also try to get enough protein in my diet. I've read on some sites that eating enough protein will help your hair grow faster. 

Just a word of encouragement: Growing out hair will be a somewhat painful process! Just try to give yourself some grace, give it some time, and try your best to learn some stylish hairdos for each phase. I have been getting some great advice from the Hair Romance website here: http://www.hairromance.com. Whenever you feel like you want to have your hair cut, just remember why you first started growing it out and think of how amazing it will feel when it has finally grown to the length you want it to be! :) I really hope this helped my fellow thick-curly-haired peeps!

One of the Saddest Days of My Life.

Yesterday was one of the saddest days of my life because the U.S. Supreme Court proved to the world just how far away we, as a nation, have walked from God.

If you skip to about 6:12 of this song, you will hear exactly how I'm feeling about my country right now. Even though the song was written for England, it applies to the current situation.

The Magazine That Returned.

I really appreciate In Touch Ministries with Dr. Charles Stanley. I have learned much from him. I am also really loving the format of the new In Touch magazines. They are very "clean" in appearance and have been encouraging. I went to Kentucky with my parents a while back, and my Mom took the latest In Touch with her. This happened to be the first one we received in the new format.

When we came back from Kentucky, neither she nor I could find that magazine! It had vanished without a trace, and we both were very disappointed. I ended up emailing In Touch, explaining that we had lost our copy and that I would so appreciate it if they could send us another one. And someone from the office emailed me back saying that they would send it. Yay! 

A few days later, an envelope from In Touch came in the mail. Mom said, "Is this yours?" 

And I replied, "Yes, it's the new copy of In Touch!" 

Then she said, "Oh, it's empty! The magazine must have fallen out of the envelope!" 

And I sighed and was like, "For some reason, God does not want us to have this magazine!!" 

This all happened about a week or two ago. 

Last night, I was sitting in our library, working on some homework for my online class, when I happen to look over at my Dad's book and magazine stash. Now realize, this "stash" consists of a brown woven basket, a few folders of Bible study materials from past studies my Dad participated in, books and magazines (as I said before), and a little guitar that sits on top of this stuff. So I look over at this stash, and I see just the top portion of the cover of the magazine, hiding behind some books. 

You can imagine my excitement! :) 

I couldn't just not tease my Dad about this. This morning, I explained this whole story to him; and suffice it to say, he was very quiet. :) 

The end. Happy Friday!

Breathless Freedom.

Freedom: A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty (Webster, 1812)

Freedom is breathless. Freedom is knowing my worth in Jesus Christ. Freedom is saying what I mean and meaning what I say. Freedom is the ability to be spontaneous. Freedom is the ability to be flexible. Freedom is enjoying the moment despite what is coming and what has already come. Freedom is holding myself to a standard of grace and not of perfection. Freedom is throwing off the constraints with which I am born--the constraints of my sin and the sin all around me--and being at liberty to love Jesus Christ and knowing that He, indeed, loves me in return.

Freedom is only found in the Truth.

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free." (Galatians 5:1)

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free." (Romans 8:2)

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)

"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)

"...and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:32)

I love this quote from Charles R. Swindoll: "I've observed that the majority of believers need to be freed, not restrained." He also said, "I know of nothing more valuable, when it comes to the all-important virtue of authenticity, than simply being who you are."

I also love what Brennan Manning wrote: "There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are."

In this life, with all of its ups and downs, I am resolved to be a free spirit, for Christ has made me free.