she reads truth sunday.

as i've told you before i just recently heard about #shereadstruth and it's been such a blessing! i have LOVED the studies. i haven't really been able to discuss it with anyone though. i know there is something on friday's to discuss it, but i haven't linked up or gone to it.. i always forget to. so i thought i would share here what the Lord has been teaching me on the prayer study :) i spoke about prayer over at my new wife life a couple weeks ago, you can check it out [here] if you didn't yet.

this prayer study has been showing me how many different people in scripture prayed. when things got tough, they prayed. when they wanted to rejoice, they prayed. when they needed direction, they prayed. the most important example and the one who taught us to pray is Jesus himself.

he taught us through the Lord's prayer; which we looked at on day 2.
in the old testament, the people prayed and the Lord answered.
we are called to pray in humbleness. in secret places where the Lord hears our prayers and rewards us.

one of the biggest thing i learned and that stuck out to me was that Jesus didn't only pray.. he prayed for us.
'i am praying for them. i am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.' john 17:9.
i am still blown away that Jesus, my Lord and Savior, who lived a life we couldn't live and died the death that we deserved prays for us.

too busy?.

i love weekends. i LIVE for them - well, no.. i live for Jesus - but weekends are a huge bonus! especially the weekends that i don't have to work :)

sometimes it can be hard because i really like to relax and chill on weekends [sometimes - once in a while i will get the itch to go be adventurous]. i think this is because my weeks are just so busy.. all you mom's out there are probably laughing at me because we don't have any kiddos or even animals, but this season of our lives is just busy. 

this is what my week looks like...

monday - wake up around 6:30, have a quiet time/get ready, work: which consumes my time from 7:15-5:30 [including commute], come home: me time from 6-7 while mr. b is still at work. prepare dinner for us and have it ready when he gets home. spend some time together - usually watching the bachelor/bachelorette. go to bed at 10/10:30

tuesday - wake up around 6:30, have a quiet time/get ready, work: 7:15-5:30, come home: change clothes/shoes [sometimes there isn't even enough time for this!] jump back into car and go to dinner with mr. b, my dad, grandma and brother. come home from that and get house organized/picked up and head to bed at 10/10:30.

wednesday -  wake up around 6:30, have a quiet time/get ready, work: 7:15-6:30 [i work later on wednesday nights; which then makes my commute even longer because of traffic], come home: date night with mr. b :) i LOVE my wednesday date nights with him! go to bed.

thursday -  wake up around 6:30, have a quiet time/get ready, work: 7-5:30, come home: make dinner SUPER fast and then head out to our bible study from 7-9 or 9:30. come home, go to bed at 10/10:30.

friday -  wake up around 6:30, have a quiet time/get ready, work: 7:15-5:30, come home: and have a drink. hah but no really.. i do like having an ice cold beer or glass of wine when i get home on friday nights from work - it's a wonderful kick off to my weekend :). relax or meet up with friends. go to bed later like.. midnight

saturday - wake up around 8, have a quiet time, and do whatever plans we have for the day/clean up house. go to bed around 11 or 12.

OR

saturday - wake up around 7, have a quiet time/get ready, work 8:15-1, come home and do whatever for the rest of the day/clean up house. go to bed around 11 or 12.

sunday - wake up around 8, get ready and head to church, come home and make lunch and do whatever else we have planned for the day. prepare for the week. go to bed around 10/10:30 and start it all over again for monday.

so that's what life looks like right now - there is obviously more stuff going on throughout the week too [blogging, sex, emails, photography, photo editing, sex, yard work, crafting, going to the bathroom, pinterest, more sex [hey - i'm a newlywed.. what can i say??] decorating.. and then re-decorating] - but this stuff is like our 'scheduled' stuff.

lately i haven't even been very good at waking up on time or going to bed on time.. it looks more like wake up at 7:00, brush teeth and run out the door! and then makes for a longer night since i didn't take my time in the morning. but this week i am challenging myself to wake up BY 6:30 so i have that extra 1/2 hour in the morning so i'm not rushing out the door. so far i have done a decent job with it! [friday], and i'm really wanting to get into the habit of it every morning.

this afternoon i was on pinterest and saw this...

it struck a super deep cord in me.. last week and the week before that, i woke up very late every morning [it's a good thing i don't wash my hair every day and sometimes shower at night] and don't think i even opened my bible except for when we were at bible study thursday night. i pray before meals, before i fall asleep and usually throughout my day i will say small prayers, or if someone asks for specific prayers i will also do that. what i haven't done and never really have.. is pray for long periods of time each day. i will sometimes shut my radio off on my commute to work and pray as i'm driving - but then i get distracted SO quickly and find myself thinking about other things, turning my radio back on, looking to see if i have any new texts - tweets - emails, or even start calling someone.

so once i saw this and realized i have been making myself way too busy to even just sit in the presence of my Savior i am drawn to surrender again. surrender my life, my busyness, my schedule, and cut out some things i want to do in order to make time for what i long to do. i always think once the week is done - wow.. my week could have gone MUCH smoother, more positive, more joy-filled and fruitful had i been in the word and in prayer. and then i tell myself next week - i will do it. and then i fail again. man.. it's a good thing God is a God of grace, isn't it? i fail a lot.. we all do - but that is one of the most amazing things is that his love never fails and never ends, right along with his grace and forgiveness. beautiful thing right there!

i am so excited to see how God will shape me and mold me as i grow during this #shereadstruth [i will hear you] prayer study!! :)

well - i'm off to prepare for the week and relax for a little bit longer before bed :)

blessings to you and your sunday evening!

friday the thirteenth.

yay for friday's! i am super excited for this friday because we have lots of fun things planned for the weekend! sometimes my boss likes to do random things.. like have hawaiian day 3 weeks in a row because we fail to dress up every time. well not this time.. it's hawaiian day today! [i totally didn't dress up for it either.. all my hawaiian grub is at my mom's house packed away somewhere with all my other fun costumes]. oh well - maybe we'll make it 4 weeks in a row :)

i am so excited for everyone that joined in with the meet and tweet yesterday! the link is still open and we are SOOOOO close to 200 people!! that is super exciting! laura at [our reflection] is going to give away a FREE large ad space to one lucky lady if we hit 200 - feel the excitement and link up my friends!

here's to you - friday the thirteenth - and friday's letters.

dear friday the thirteenth - you really don't scare me. i'm not superstitious. everyone freaks out when you show up thinking something bad will happen. if it does - it's life, bad things happen every day.. so should every day be friday the thirteenth? friday.. yes.. the thirteenth.. not so much. :) dear mr. b - you are too silly. i can't believe i was up before you this morning! then again.. yes i can.. you stayed up way too late watching your crazy 'satruday morning cartoons' and it wasn't even saturday.. and they aren't even cartoons??? i don't understand.. but they speak so much truth to you, so i'm game for your saturday morning cartoon craze. dear work commute - to simply put it.. you suck. you are 26miles and it takes me 40+ minutes AND i drive fast.. but you just don't add up. and to top things off.. you had to add another one of these??

do you realize i am now up to 18 of you? 18 is my favorite number.. but not when it comes to you! and did you also realize the first 16 are within my first 5 miles? as if you weren't bad enough.. the one thing that makes you even worse is that NONE of you are in sync. why can't you just allow traffic to go with the flow? <-- this is one of my biggest pet peves - remember how i was saying about that one time i did a vlog.. but then couldn't upload it? yup.. this was my answer to what is your biggest pet peve. dear [#shereadstruth] - i am so so so thankful i stumbled upon you. i found you just in time for your new study on prayer and it's been a blessing so far! [it's only day 2!] :) --side note plug in.. if you haven't heard of this and want to be encouraged daily by lots of other women while diving into scripture, check it out [here]!]

i have been really enjoying this study on prayer - especially because this is one of the largest areas i want to grow in with my walk - i long for a heart of prayer. dear meet and tweet hop - so much fun! i really enjoyed co-hosting you! :) it was a blast meeting SO many new people and gaining lots of new followers to connect with!

 xoxo.