Gentleness

"A gentle answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger" Proverbs 15:1

Be soft, be kind, be loving, be gentle, be humble, be quiet, be peaceful, be selfless.

Maybe it's a culmination of all the great words of advice friends and family gave me on Sunday at the bridal shower, or maybe it's just something God's trying to tell me...Whatever it is, I'm fully attentive.

Work on me, Lord.

Have you ever had one of those days where you have said way too many negative things, especially to the ones you love the most?

Do you ever think "Have I dug myself in a hole? Can I get out? Can they forgive me, even though I continue to say hurtful things?"- or - "How can I respond lovingly to a harsh word? How can someone respond lovingly to something awful I've said?"

The only solution I can think of is to allow God's healing love to slowly change us - morph us, by his spirit, into individuals who can love... and into people who can try their best to show God's love.

I am slowly changing, and I figure this is going to be a life-long process.

Favorite Friday

I'm sitting at work, on break, and wanted to write my Friday Top-Ten list. I've thought a lot about the different types of lists to write, and am stuck between the top-ten things I can cook/bake or the top ten websites I visit daily. Both of these things would be BORING for anyone to read.

So - how about my top-ten dream jobs list?

Kayla's Top-Ten Dream Jobs!

1. Personal shopper. I LOVE fashion!

2. Photographer.

3. Piano Teacher

4. Stay-At-Home Mommy!

5. Soup-Kitchen director

6. Interior Decorator

7. Writer

8. Homeless-Shelter director

9. Wedding Planner

10. Kindergarten Teacher.

bloggin' is fun, updatin' is not so much...

I really wanted to keep this blog updated on a daily basis. It has proven to be a difficult task as this is kind-of a crazy time. In the next seven weeks I am leaving my job, moving to another state, getting married, going honeymooning in Puerto Rico, etc.

After all that is done, I have to get settled into my role as a wife, learn how to get around in a huge new city, and look for a new job. ack!

I had my first bridal shower yesterday. It was fun! My favorite gift is the recipe book my mum made me - she took all of our family favorites, typed them out and put them on colored paper in a really cool, colorful binder. It was extremely special and heart-warming!

New Market is having a community-wide garage sale on Saturday. I'll be garage-selling outside my apartment from 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. My goal this week is to purge, purge, purge of all my un-needed used things - like old pots and pans, clothes, sheets, towels, a bookshelf, three desks, a china-cabinet, old wall-art, etc. It should be fun. Stop by if you'd like! Anything not sold will be donated to individuals or organizations! Please let me know if you need any of these things!

Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday!!!!

It's hard to update everyday. I have lots on my mind I would love to write about, but taking the time to get the words on electronic paper, grammatically correct, proves to be a time-consuming task.

For a Favorite Friday list, I would like to list my top-ten must-listen-to acoustic/folksy musicians and artists

1. Iron & Wine

2. The Weepies

3. Derek Webb

4. The Shins

5. Jose Gonzalez

6. Ingrid Michaelson

7. Nick Drake

8. Danny Donnelly (solo worship albums)

9. Sufjan Stevens

10. Cat Power (their older stuff - mainly the Covers Album)

For Sensational Saturday:

David and I saw a HUGE turtle attempting to take the exit from Buck Road to I-75 S in Rossford, Ohio, last Saturday. What's funny is the sign posted by the exits, which lets us know that farm machinery, bicycles and animals are prohibited from taking I-75...seriously.

I named the HUGE slow-moving turtle Dusty. When we came back to rescue him, he was already gone. Hopefully he didn't get charged with un-lawful animal trespassing on the interstate.

For Meaningful Monday and Together Tuesday:

I wear a dark-green braided/knotted bracelet on my right wrist. David made it for me this around time last year. I haven't gone a day without wearing it. It's made from parachute rope and will never break. He always says "the day those knots on that bracelet breaks on their own is the day we're over." So, needless to say, I've take extra special care of the bracelet.

I probably will wear it for the wedding. I probably will be wearing it while I'm giving birth to our first child. I probably will give it to our first daughter or son whenever they leave home... Hopefully it will be a meaningful heirloom that will be passed down.

I have three upcoming bridal showers. The first one is this Sunday, and I am really excited! David's family will be here this weekend for it - and I'm really pumped-up about showing them around Crawfordsville. Any suggestions of must-see places? I was thinking the Lane Place, Lew-Wallace Study and Chapel Books' Agape Praise Fest.

wacko wednesday and thoughtful Thursday...

I cannot think of anything wacky or funny for the Wednesday post. Sorry :(

I really want to learn how to post youtube videos on my blog. Is that possible?

Today's thought: "Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side" - Jewish Proverb.

I just wrapped up a group meeting for some of our work clients. Tonight we talked about couponing and frugal living. It was interesting. The speaker brought in a receipt she kept from a purchase in which she bought $650 worth of groceries and only spent $.49 -- not forty nine dollars, but forty nine cents! She did that back when Kroger used to do their triple coupon days. Amazing. I would love to shadow her sometime! She gave everyone a coupon caddy to get started - I even got one and am going to TRY to start as David and I will be on a pretty tight budget soon.

Today's Tuesday Post

Today really isn't Tuesday, it's Wednesday.

I'm on break at work, so this will be quick.

Together Tuesday blog will be short.

There are many, many things I am absolutely scared about with David and mine's upcoming marriage. I know God will get us through each and every bump we're going to face, and I know He has given us brains to deal with these situations and the courage we need to step out in faith. I know this, and I know that I need to completely rest in it.

A friend recently told me that marriage is the BIGGEST test of dying to self. I'm starting to see why.

I've lived on my own for about 8 years so far (college included). I've bought my own groceries, washed and dried my own clothes, planned and prepared my own meals, lived my own budget, dealt with my own problems, transported myself in my own car to my own job, etc. In two months, that's all going to change...and I'm not complaining, I just know it's going to be a transition that will require me to be more selfless than I've ever been.

I trust David. God brought us together and will give David the wisdom he needs in order to lead me and our future family. I am going to have to learn how to completely submit and completely trust that David and God know exactly what they are doing. It's David's job as a husband that will be the hardest...and I have to realize that more and more.

I heard Beth Moore once quote another pastor saying that submission means ducking so your husband gets hit. I'm so blessed by having a man who has broad shoulders, a strong head on his shoulders and a passion and desire to be a witness of Jesus' love to others. David is an amazing, patient, strong and wonderful man of God, and I am so thankful to have him as my future husband.

Chisel away, Lord. Help me learn the importance of submitting to your will and to the man you have created me to be with. Help us have a strong marriage that shines your love and is an example to others of the Church. Mold us together and let our marriage glorify you above all else. Thank you for David and for bringing him into my life. Help me learn how to be a Godly woman and wife to David. Help us take faithful steps in our life, and give David the strength he needs as a leader. Thank you for Jesus and for the grace and freedom we have through him.

Anyone have any wise words of wisdom on submission and wifehood? Anyone has any "tricks" up there sleeves that have worked when you've wanted to take over and control?

Just another manic Monday..wooo ohhhh

I'm planning a wedding, working full-time, spending my spare time looking for a new job in a new state, trying to figure out a budget, trying to develop a healthy pre-marriage relationship with my fiance who lives four hours away and who I only get to see on the weekends, and learning about the importance of submission (not the easiest thing for me!)

It's pretty stressful right now, which is why I rely heavily on the Word of God to provide comfort, hope and peace in this craziness.

(Have you ever read the Bible? If not, start with the book of John :) Pretty amazing stuff, and it's truth!)

My friend, Faith, used to have a verse on her fridge when she lived in Crawfordsville - from Nahum 1:3, which says " The LORD is slow to anger and great in power. And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And the clouds are the dust beneath His feet." (NASB translation)

She had another version, and only a portion of the verse on her fridge, and it has always stuck with me. "God's way is in the whirlwind and the storm."

The most significant areas of my personal relationship with Jesus have happened when I've hit rock bottom, when I'm stuck in the middle of a storm and when everything is going haywire around me. God is my one constant, and it's through him and in him that I have my being. His way will prevail, no matter how hectic life seems... And that is so comforting and so very meaningful to me. :)

So..if you're also having a manic Monday, stop, take a deep breath, look to the heavens and open up the Bible and read... Be comforted knowing that God will prevail, and He will bring peace.

Sensational Saturday

All things extraordinary!

That's the subtitle for my Sensational Saturday blog.

Here's something I've recently found extraordinary (you may find it completely stupid).... While eating my lunch and sitting at a picnic table at Milligan Park last week, a very curious squirrel came right up next to me. So close that I could literally reach out and touch it if I wanted.

Afraid of contracting rabies, I casually threw a chip past him to see if he would leave. He ran after the chip, grabbed it and ran about five feat from the picnic table where he munched on the chip. Once the chip was consumed, he came back to the table, even more daring than before. I just sat there and looked at him. His little nose was sniffing and his beady eyes were glued on me. So, I threw him another chip.

This continued for about five or six chips. After the last chip, I was concerned that his little squirrel body couldn't handle anymore of the fried potatoes. I got up and went to my car to finish my lunch, hoping he would forget where I was. Well, this little squirrel followed me to my car and stood right by the door. Finally, I had to roll up the windows and pretend that he wasn't there. After about five minutes, he eventually ran off.

I have never known a squirrel to do this - it was abnormal squirrel behavior...hence it being extraordinary. So, I wrote about it here!

Has anyone else had this squirrely interaction before?

Favorite Friday

I would love to know how to post-date a blog post, but I don't!

So, here is my current list of favorite books for my Friday blog, posted on a Monday :) These are books I've read and re-read so far this spring/summer. Many of them have been made into movies, but please note that I am a big advocate of reading instead of seeing the movie. I haven't seen My Sister's Keeper of The Secret Life of Bees, but I did see The Soloist (which was not as good as the book!)

I highly recommend these books. Some are heavy reading, others are light and easy.

This is a mix between non-fiction and fiction.

1. The HOLY Bible - Author: God.

This is the most important book you can ever read.

2. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

3. Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller

4. Confessions of A Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella (I know... cheesy)

5. The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music - Steve Lopez (amazing. it appropriately addressed the issues of poverty, homelessness, and addiction in the US while telling the story of Nathaniel Ayers and how one journalist was able to provide a sturdy/steady relationship in which trust was built with Nathaniel..and in turn Nathaniel made some pretty significant steps in his life - with the help of his music!)

6. For Women Only: What you need to know about the inner lives of Men - Shaunti Feldhahn (this is an extremely important book and should be required reading for anyone in a relationship or hoping to get into one!)

7. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult

8. Invisible Kids - Holly Schlaak (I wrote about this a few days ago. I finished it on Friday and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in Foster Care and the social service system which surrounds it).

9. Crazy Love - Francis Chan (I haven't finished this yet, but am currently reading it and LOVING it).

10. The Secret Life Of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd