Saturday, August 9, 2014

I am free.


"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 
John 8:31-32

Just wanted to share this with you. It's been a great encouragement to me lately. 

Shalom, 

M

Thursday, August 7, 2014

NATURE UNDERSTANDS ME


N A T U R E . U N D E R S T A N D S . M E

 For me, nature has a sense of healing. I've always felt a calmness when submerged into creation. Even before I truly knew my Saviors almighty, beautifully artistic, amazing, hand of being THE creator.

 I wonder if many of you feel this same way, this same undeniable connection to the earth. The earth as in, the dirt, the vast waters, the smell of freshness, the green grass, the tiny creatures that walk beneath our foot steps, the sand that meets our toes, the sun shining through the green leaves above, the endless details, big and small, that make our earth function and keep us tiny beings alive.

Well, I feel this undeniable connection.
My soul longs for it.


I find it interesting that I have always felt this connection to the earth. Even when I was walking to the beat of my own heart, I felt it. At the time, I didn't know what this feeling truly meant. But now that I can see it with clear eyes, I know this connection I felt was a connection with my Creator.
He had a big plan for my heart.


Even though I didn't know it, He was revealing Himself to me. Showing me this beautiful art piece of His.

I stood in awe then, and I stand speechless now.

 When I dig my hands into His earth , watching the small pebbles slip through my fingers, I'm reminded of the dust He created man from. When I am wading in His vast waters, I feel his love rush over me like a title wave. When I close my eyes, and feel the fresh breeze against my face, I feel Him breathe life into me. When the warmth of the sun hits my face, I feel the warmth of His love.

I feel peace.  

I praise Jesus for this blessing He has presented to us. It's here, right in front of our face. His words turned into life. All around us.

He speaks to us.
He reveals himself to us.
Every. Day.

Often times I forget that I just have to look outside my window, my tiny self absorbed window and see His creation.

 I get so lost in the world, that I loose sight of His majesty. But yet, here it is, right in front of me. Always revealing itself to me.  
 And when I step just one tiny step onto His creation. He reminds me. He heals me. He humbles me.
Nature Understands Me. And He understands me.
Because He is Christ.
And Life flows from Him.


Jess 

Monday, August 4, 2014

LATTE HEARTS

Yesterday I had an evening out with my husband to celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary. Let me tell ya, I absolutely love my littles (something you should learn now is that "littles" is what I call my kids) and I love being a mom, but when I get those nights out alone with my husband it makes me want to jump up and down like back in high school when the cute boy asked me out (okay that rarely happened for me)! 

I spend everyday with my kids. Everyday I am home with them, loving on them, playing with them, feeding them, wiping their noses, snuggling them, teaching them and pulling my hair out once in awhile. But, I wouldn't change being a mommy to them for anything, but when I get that chance to be only a wife for a few hours, I am more than happy to oblige! 

So yesterday when I walked out that door with just my husband, I was one very happy girl! 

We both live very busy lives, so I told him that I didn't want to talk about work, business, to do lists and pretty much anything that makes me want to curl in the fetal position and cry tears of stress. My request was just a night out celebrating our marriage, our life, our kids and how much God has blessed us. I wanted to laugh together, talk about things that made us smile and just be two crazy kids in love. So that's what we did! 


It was a beautiful night in Downtown Grand Rapids. After finally finding a parking spot we walked to our destination where we would be consuming delicious food. Dinner at Hopcat was what we decided and it couldn't have been more perfect! We got a spot outside, there was a pleasant breeze and I had a handsome guy sitting across from me. 

As I sat there listening to him share stories with me and laughing at my witty personality (hah). I had this feeling of pure joy rush over me. The Lord has blessed me so greatly. This man is not perfect in anyway, in fact nobody is, but I couldn't have asked for a better man for me to spend my life with. I cannot ever doubt his love for me. And bonus! He is an incredible daddy to his littles! 

So following dinner we started walking hand in hand through Downtown Grand Rapids (one of our favorite places to explore) and ended up at a small local coffee shop that was seriously the cutest! We ordered a caramel latte to share and sat outside the coffee shop as we continued to spend our evening together. And to top things off, the foam was shaped as a heart! 




Again, I found myself feeling so blessed to have this man in my life. Thank you Lord for your blessings in my life! Thank you Lord for this man you chose for me to do life with! 





So here is what I want to tell all you mamas out there. Go on a date with your hubby! Or go have some time out for yourself. Take some time to dwell on the blessings in your life. It is refreshing and so healthy for your marriage and for you personally. 


Grab the man you love and skip going to see a movie. Take him on a date where you sip a latte together, laugh together, learn more about each other, and have some time where you can both act like two kids in love again! 





Today I am so full of joy and thankfulness for the evening I got to have with my hubby last night. Celebrating the 4 years we have spent together and husband and wife. 





4 years down and 50+ more to go! 






Elysa 


Sunday, August 3, 2014

ARTICHOKE HEARTS
















A R T I C H O K E H E A R T S







I don't know about you, but for me, the 2 simple words, artichoke hearts, sends my mind and my heart to a million different places. 



Those two simple words, are two very complex and beautiful words... At least in my mind. 



While brainstorming with the gals about what the title should be for our new and exciting compiled blog, ARTICHOKE HEARTS came to mind. At first it was just a random thought. I brushed it back into the silly thought bank in my brain. I was fearful the gals would laugh as I did when I ran it through my mind. But as I tossed around a few other names (mostly ridiculous names) I kept thinking about artichoke hearts. As I continued to process, and build up the gumption to toss it Into the title pile, I fell in love with it.  


Mind you, this whole process happened within 5 minuets.



Anyway, I fell in love, artichoke heart. "Yea I can get behind that" , I thought. It certainly catches some sort of weird attention. Like," I don't get it" or "Hmmm..That sounds tasty" I mean, that's what you want with a blog name right? An unexpected strange, attention grabbing, tasty name. Nailed it. 



As I summoned the courage inside to present it to my two super creative and awesome friends, another thought popped into my tiny semi-creative mind.  



A cold, cut off, bitter, hardened, evil, heart... 
Sound familiar Jess
(Yes, I was mind talking with myself). Do I, rather, do WE not have this same kind of heart? 
I sat and pondered that for a few and ... Well, WOW. I started to see this beautiful picture unfold. A picture that puts Christ in the center. A picture of His beautiful, yet undeserving creation.  




So quickly these simple two words, two words that could be taken as face value, turned into a story of love, redemption, grace, sovereignty... 




Those simple words encompassed so many beautiful feelings.  




So I did it, I presented this silly but complex name to the gals. 
Within the 30 seconds of waiting for a response I'm pretty sure I tapped all 10 fingers as fast as I could on the table next to me, chewed on all 10 fingernails in nervousness, took 10 tiny sips of coffee in nervousness,
Walked away and peered back at the computer...10 times. In nervousness.



And then... Clapped 10 tiny times in happiness. My gals loved it as well. 



It's been a few days since this exciting 5 minuets of my life. I've pondered our choice of name many times. And every time, my heart swoons. 
Maybe a little bit more each time.  



Whenever I ponder the Gospel, this same thing happens, my heart swoons a little more each time. Every time my cold, bitter, cut off,
Evil, sinful heart feels the Gospel, it becomes a little less cold, a little less bitter, a little less cut off, a little less evil, a little less sinful...And I know, this all is because I have a Father who loves my beautifully complex artichoke heart. 




Through Gods grace, His unfailing love, His awe inspiring beauty, this artichoke heart can love, can forgive, can live. 




What may seem a like a silly attention grabbing name. Know that it's much more to us here at ARTICHOKE HEARTS. It's a name that encompasses a Heavenly Father, a sinful soul, and a story of redemption. Just as the outside of an artichoke is, beautiful at first glance, there is a core within it that needs restoration... 




And let's not forget, artichokes are pretty tasty.  




Jess

Friday, August 1, 2014

Untitled.


So it's happening. I'm finally old enough that crying is something I do even when the emotion I'm feeling isn't negative. This is a new thing for me because I spent most of my life this far being able to count the times I cried on both hands. 

Seriously. I wore it like a badge of honor. Like I just fought a war and that was my medal. 

And now I'm 23 and crying has become a completely natural emotion for me since I met my husband. (please don't quote that out of context as it sounds pretty terrible. k, thanks.) But honestly, Jordan has made my heart blossom. I cry because I feel so blessed sometimes and it makes me feel ridiculous, but secretly I love it. 

All that to say - I cried last night as we were sitting on Robinson Lake, in a paddle boat, fishing. I cried because God's grace and mercy is so overwhelming to me that I can hardly handle it. I cried because I caught the biggest fish of the night. I cried because my husband told me he was just so happy to be out there fishing with me. Not huge tears, just little watery eye ones - but a cry none the less. 

And guys? I loved it. It was pretty darn great. 

Did I mention I caught the biggest fish? 

Margeaux