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There are new pre-mades, freebies, and order forms! There are a bunch of extra links so be sure to click around!

So Thanksgiving is a couple weeks away and if you are like me, you will have a long drive ahead of you (13 hours to be exact). Not to mention the way back.

Here are some GREAT songs to put on your ipod for the trip. You should be warned though, they are catchy!!

Personally, I think the lead singer sounds better on the actual track. It is also more upbeat if you buy it on itunes.
Sidewalk Prophets - The Words I Would Say

Sidewalk Prophets - You Love Me Anyway

Sorry about the Spanish subtitles :) Check out the whole Love and War album. I love it!!
Barlowgirl - Beautiful Ending


Chris Tomlin - I Will Rise


I don't like this video, but I love the song!
Jonny Diaz - A More Beautiful You


My 'big sister' danced to this with her husband at her wedding. SUCH a sweet song. Its as sweet as Waitin on a Woman!
Brad Paisley - Then


Brittini Black - Good Happens


It can get a little repetitive but I love the big part at the end!
Kim Walker - How He Loves Us


Rascal Flatts - Mayberry


Here are song other songs on my playlist this year:
Little Moments - Brad Paisley
Waiting on a Woman - Brad Paisley
Carrie Underwood - Temporary Home
My Paper Heart CD - Francesca Battastelli
The Way I was Made - Chris Tomlin
Amazing Grace - Chris Tomlin
How Great is Our God - Chris Tomlin
How Can We Be Silent CD - Barlowgirl
Its Gonna Be Love - Mandy Moore
What Would Life be Like - Big Daddy Weave

Taking a Little Break

Hoops for Healing

I won a contest! I don't know how, I don't even know I entered anything. But I won a hula hoop.
_____________________________________________________________
There are a couple toys I never had as a kid.
I never had a scooter
I never had one of those electric car things
I never had a pogo stick
and I don't remember ever having a hula hoop.

Even if I had a hula hoop, this hula hoop I got is by far the coolest ever! and the best part is, it means so much more than twirling your hips in a circle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are a lot of things in this world and very few are never ending. Numbers are never ending (think of the most 9's you can and you can still add another one! That totally fascinates me...) A circle is never ending (hence the scripture and the picture). And God's love is never ending, as well as his mercy and his justice and well, everything about him. (If you think of any more please let me know....if is 9:30, my brain is still warming up:)

So this hoop reminds me that God's love is never ending and so is hope, hope for healing.
This is the website from where I got my totally awesome, very pretty hoop. If you get one, let it be a reminder for you.....
http://hoopsforhealing.com/

Happy WFW!

-Maddie

Something We Didn't Expect.

View the Photos here......

These past few weeks have really shaken up many Georgians lives.

Perhaps I better back up.

Last summer Georgia was in a stage 3 drought. We had limits on how much water we could use, and were not allowed to water the grass or hose down the car. It rarely rained last summer, so much so that every week in church we would pray for it to rain.

When you move to California you buy fire insurance because you expect the wildfires. When you move to the gulf coats you buy hurricane insurance because you expect hurricanes. In Georgia you don't buy flood insurance, especially after a drought. You don't expect your home to be flooded in Georgia.

But many people have lost everything to the recent floods.

They didn't expect it, but it happened. Where do we go from here?

We go first to the cross.
Our house is on a hill and is fine. I am not in a place of depression or desperation but rather confusion. Why did this happen? What can I learn? What can I do to help?

Several verses came to me:

Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 5:2-10
³"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
⁵Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
⁷Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 25:40
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

God is so awesome.

Second, we go to our church and small business to help.

There is a website, Pauldingfloodrelief.com. If has one of the simplest ways you can help. You put together a flood bucket. This is a bucket to help clean the house, it contains bleach, masks, and other things needed to clean out damaged homes.

Another way to help is to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to get dirty. If you look at the pictures you will see some of the home we went to and helped clean. It opened my eyes to how much these people need help and how I can't just sit around and do nothing. I can't be selfish and only think about me when there are people who have lost everything.

Even if you don't live in Georgia you can do something. You can join a community of believers who are going to pray for these people. Pray for peace in their lives. Pray for them to find Jesus. Pray for the relief efforts. Pray we can rebuild homes and rebuild lives.

-Maddie

Flowers and Grass...What About Cell Phones?

Isaiah 40:8
"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

This is actually a 3 fold picture, one I edited, one I took, and one I am in.
But I can't take credit for this verse, that was all God, with the help of Isaiah and they were spot on.

In my Omnibus class (pretend you understand what class this is :) we just finished studying Genesis and Exodus. The Lord really opened my eyes to just how relevant and cool the Old Testament is. When we were studying Exodus the question "Are we supposed to follow these old laws?" came up and as we discussed it I realized that I have never really read the Old Testament. Then I come upon this verse (and by the way, the scripture reference is right this week! :) and realized how true Isaiah was.

So I began thinking about this verse.

I am so thankful Isaiah at least used flowers and grass, something people back then and people now can relate to. But then I began thinking of things Isaiah might have used to grab people's attention today.

Ipods and Cell Phones break
Friends turn their back
Houses are flooded or burned
Health is overcome with cancer
Ice Cream will eventually melt or spoil
Fashions go out of style

But God won't.

God won't break.
He will never turn his back.
He will never leave you stranded
He will never go away
He will never go out of style

By using grass and flowers Isaiah was trying to reach people then and people now, he knew or God told him, that talking about something as basic as grass was going to reach people for generations and generations. But that doesn't mean we can't think about it in modern terms, because when I think about my cell phone breaking and realize God will never break that he and his word stand forever, I get a deeper love for who he is as my God.

Happy WFW!

-Maddie

P.s. You can get this image as a button on my design blog!

The Bloggin' Business

I thought I'd post about my life, since it has been so long! A couple updates about blogging and life in general.

1st. Please pray for the people here in Georgia. I don't know if you have heard but there has been severe flooding, and last time I check 4 lives had been claimed. The last time Georgia ever had heavy rains like this was fifteen years ago. Not many people here have flood insurance. They are going to need all the prayers they can get as they try and put their water logged lives back together.

If you want to see how you can help please go to this website; http://pauldingfloodrelief.com

2nd. I want to thank beyond words all the people who comment on my WFW. I can't tell you how much that means to me! Your comments are such a blessing to me! I also wanted to say to all the WFW people, and all my blogging friends, I AM STILL ALVIE! and I still read your blogs! I have been crazy busy trying to get into school, but I promise I do read your blogs and am going to reply to your letters!

3rd. I got a new blog! This is my photo blog. I am still working on it and all the links do not work, so don't be surprised if you click something and it takes you to photobucket. But I love it and I love posting pictures on it. If you want to see pictures from time to time of my family, friends and what is going on around here then you can stop by Double Sided Lens. I am going to eventually explain the name on that blog but I'll explain it here first. My idea is that if there was a camera that let you take a picture of yourself and someone else at the same time I would own it! I want to be on both sides of the camera lens, which makes for some interesting photos!

4th. I have a couple new freebies on my design blog. I also have added a wordpress header and lowered the price of the Pretty Princess Package, so make sure you check that out!

I think that is all for now.....
Enjoy your sunny and cool weather!

"Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth" Genesis 9:16 (I got the scripture reference right!)

Love Like a Best Friend

Besides John 3:16, this could arguably be the second most well known verse.

I suppose I should explain the picture first. I took it of my mom and dad. They were walking across this bridge in Chattanooga. They have been married 18 years and remind me all the time "marry your best friend"

Back to Deuteronomy 6:5

Do we really love God with our ENTIRE heart? I am going to be perfectly honest, I don't. I wrote in my journal yesterday "Even when I don't love you, remember that I do." When I don't love him with what I say or do it is not that I don't love him, it is that I am a sinner, that I forget for a moment who I am living for.

I think my oh so wise (big smile) mother's (and father) advice does not only apply to years and years down the road when I walk down the isle but now. Who is my best friend now? I have a bunch of "best" friends but Jesus is ultimately my best friend. He knows everything about me and we are to the place where I am not afraid to tell him everything. I never feel bad after talking to him. I never feel like I said the wrong thing or he was bored with me or any of that. He is the total best best friend anyone could have!

Jesus loves us all the time, all the same. We don't always show that "entire heart, soul and strength" love back. But even when we don't, we still love him. We are still "married" to him. He is still our best friend.

Happy WFW!!

-Maddie

UPDATE: I am such a goof. The verse is not Deut. 7:8 it is Deut. 6:5! When I was looking on Bible Gateway I guess I looked at the scripture reference under the verse. Sorry for the mistake! This goes to prove the point that while this is such a popular verse, it is not a commonly known scripture reference!! :D

Learning vs. LEARNING

My online classes started yesterday. I resumed formal learning yesterday. I learned about Deoxynbonucleic Acid (aka DNA), what an essay really is, the 3 theories of Creation, and how to access all my homework assignments. In the working and educational world these things are important to know, because regardless of whether or not I ever have to discuss with someone the 3 theories of Creation, it makes me more well rounded as a person. It gives me knowledge, a greater understanding of this world I will have to venture into. A world where I will have to get a job and pay my own bills (I'm thinking 10 years down the road here!)

But as Christians we are told:

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"

-Romans 12:2

The phrase "live in the world, but not of it" is pretty common among believers. This is where the learning comes in.

Knowledge of Algebra, Biology, Logic, Composition and History are important for living in this world. They are important for being intelligent. It is important to learn things like this because otherwise you are not using the mind you have been blessed with and therefore can't use it to bless others. (Think doctor, if a man has been blessed with the gifts and desire to see someone with there head hanging off their body and want to fix them, he has to study medicine and math so that he can understand how to fix the poor patient, and use the gifts God has given him. Long sentence there, sorry :)

But then there is a different kind of learning. A learning not for knowledge of worldly things but of things "not of the world." Where you learn things for wisdom. Every person who goes to school will learn how to add 2+2 but only believers will learn these things. The learning of God's character. The learning of who God wants to you to be. The learning of skills that you need as a Christian.

This is what Paul had learned. Paul hadn't learned something to help him write more effective letters, or how to calculate the distance to his next destination. Paul had learned something to help him as a person. To help him not grow in the world, but grow in God. He learned how to be content in his circumstances.


Now, I could have used this post to discuss being content in circumstances, because within the last few months God has really shown me the blessings in NOT focusing on myself and having little pity parties. But I thought it was more appropriate, since I have picked back up my "worldly" learning to do a post on that.

HAPPY WFW!

Go to LORI'S to enter and see more WFW!

The Blessings of Blogging

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I am going to let everyone in on a little secret:
When I started blogging I didn't like it.

I didn't like the writing part. I never knew what to write about. For me a journal is personal and private and between God and me. This was like a non-private journal and I didn't know what to write. I didn't like my blog title. First it didn't have a bible verse that went along with it. Other people had really cool names that went along with really cool bible verses. I didn't. I also didn't like my blog title because I had to keep the colors brown, yellow, and blue. I didn't want just those colors, I wanted pinks and purples and greens. I didn't think they would match with the whole tea theme. I didn't like the commenting part. When someone would comment I felt obligated to comment back and comment regularly on their blog and I felt overwhelmed.

I don't know really what happened. Maybe God got into my head and readjusted the way I saw this blog. Maybe it was because I found a pen pal. Maybe it was because I took a break from blogging and returned with a love for it. Maybe it was when I started designing blogs. I don't know. But regardless of when and how my view on blogging changed, it changed.

I love writing posts now. Sure, I would like them to be more regular but when I get an idea or participate in a WFW I love it! When God shows me something or puts an idea in my head I can't wait to write about it (actually, Cassie gave me the idea for this post)! I love my blog title and design. I have moved out of brown, blue and yellow and LOVE it. Designing and re-designing my blog is one of my favorite parts of the job! I also love commenting. This is mostly due to the fact that I can't help love commenting on friends blogs!

God has really blessed my blogging and from it, not only taught me more about Him but he has given me some amazing friends! Liz was my first friend. Funny story, I was her SSA and (taking after my mother) hadn't REALLY read the instructions for being an SSA and sent her a package with MY name all over it. I didn't catch the secret part of Super Secret Angels. It was a Friday morning when Amanda told me that I had totally screwed up (She said it MUCH nicer than that. She even told me that it was totally fine and actually worked out for the better.) But I still felt terrible. I did until Liz sent me a package right back. We have been pen pals ever since! Liz was the first pen pal that actually wrote me back, and she still does! The other pen pal friend I have met through blogging is Cassie. I don't even remember how I came to find her blog. I think she commented on my blog and we just kept going back and forth until we decided to be pen pals! I have REALLY been blessed by these 2 girls cards and notebooks! Believe me when I say commenting on their blogs is never overwhelming because I know even if I don't, they will love me anyway!

Then there are the friends that are online blessings! We don't write letters but the SUPER sweet comments you leave, the inspiration posts you have, the funny pictures you post all contribute to some really awesome online friendships. Brianna, Emily Joy, and my latest SSA Kira are all such amazing friends. And God hasn't stopped yet! There are still girls who keep finding my blog, or blogs I keep finding that might become my next blessing.

So a big big thanks to all my blogger friends, named here and not named. You are all SUCH blessings in my life. You are most of the reason I stayed blogging!

It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

-Maddie