romans 8:6..

just sharing my memory verse for this week. having it in my head and heart has been blessing and challenging me.. hopefully it can do the same for you. 

[i hope i don't make any of you feel discouraged about your normal state around the house by how fancy i look in this video.. i'm usually much more laid back.] :)

sashes..

there's a lady in my life who's my friend, but i kind of feel like a weirdo whenever i talk about her being one because we've never actually met. sounds stalkerish, right? really though, i think she'd say the same about me.. we're blogosphere friends, but hopefully we can take it to the next level someday and actually meet. what a concept. :) 

she's jessi, from naptime diaries, who i've actually mentioned here before because she's in the line-up to do a guest post here in the near-ish future.. but i'm bringing her up again because she and a friend of hers in columbia, south carolina have a project together called sashes to the merchants. it's all about connecting, promoting, and encouraging women who have businesses, blogs, shops, and the like in their endeavors to create and offer their wares to uplift others and provide for their families. sounds pretty awesome, right? 

head on over and take a look at what they've got going on there, and while you're at it, enter their "getting to know you" giveaways happening daily this week. it's a win-win, folks!

happy wednesday to you.

the list..

i had a little time to myself at a well-known coffee house yesterday to do a bit of reading and reflecting. i've thought about and wanted to make a goals list for this year ahead, and that's one of the things i was able to accomplish during my couple of hours. i thought i'd share here.. for memory's sake, and also for a bit of accountability. so here you have it. 

the list. twenty-twelve.

..work to improve and strengthen our marriage through more intentional conversation, servanthood, a commitment to intimacy, and seeking the Lord as the center.
..work to be a more patient, sacrificial, and intentional parent and focus on teaching ruby more about the Lord.
..read at least six books.
..have another baby and be patient with the Lord's timing in that area.
..find a small group through our church.
..workout at least three days a week, and be up to five days by the end of the year.
..get better at self-evaluation and retrospection - take time to see how i'm doing before hitting bottom.
..set and stick to a realistic budget.
..get better at sending birthday/anniversary/just because cards.
..plan our week before it starts (things to do on d's days off, who gets to sleep in and have "me" time on certain days, date nights planned in advance).
..blog at least once a week.
..memorize at least one verse of scripture a week.

it was really exciting and challenging for me to work out this list yesterday, and the various things on it have been on my mind all day today.. which i'm hoping is a good sign! it was also encouraging to pray and commit them to the Lord after writing them down, feeling confident that he will impress on me to add to or take away where he sees fit - i'm so thankful that he's even more concerned about the well-being of my marriage, my parenting, my relationships, and my body and spirit than i am.
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and lastly, here is my memory verse for the week.

romans 8:6
the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.

i've been reading through romans suuuper slowly but, i must say, every time i go back to where i left off, be it a day, week, or month later, whatever i read just feels so timely.. i read part of romans 8 last night, and knew right when i put the "memorize at least one verse of scripture a week" on the list, that this would be this weeks verse. i feel like pretty much all of the goals i have for this year come down to needing a mind controlled by the spirit.. i especially love how the mind controlled by the spirit is not only characterized by "life" but that "peace" is also added in there. who doesn't want more peace? well, probably terrorists, but i'm not really using them as a model here. really though.. peace. peace peace. let's push, work, and strive to have this be a year filled with peace in all the areas of our life. ready... go.

happy new year!