Fun Post: April Favorites

Hello there!

*fervently hopes no one thinks I'm super annoying for posting April favorites halfway through the month of May*

Ahem.

Life happens, and I apologize for this post's lateness. ;P Some of the things I've been loving this past month...

Reading...
Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar. This is my second time through this two book series, and I love it so so soooo much. <3 It's a fiction about an unusual young woman's adventures and spiritual growth in the Persian empire. I love the heroine because she is so... real. Her life doesn't go as planned, and unlike many "perfect heroines" she doesn't immediately grow and learn and become even more perfect. It takes her a lot of time and frustration before she begins to see God's Hand in her life. (He has been working all along, she just hasn't recognized it...sounds familiar somehow? ;) Anyway, awesome read that I would highly recommend, along with the one that comes after it, Harvest of Gold. :)

Wearing...
A new skirt I got at Goodwill; it's floor length, black lace ruffles. Guys. It's so me!! :O Also, a super soft and comfortable Curious George shirt that I got in Leavenworth. ;P

Learning...
Grieg's Wedding Day at Troldhaugen. As some of you already know, a church member has graciously provided me with a set of piano lessons, (my first ever!!). It has been so awesome, and I'm really going to miss my amazing teacher. Anyway, last month and this month I am learning this song, and it is pretty hard, but I love it! It's so fun to push myself to new heights and try something I probably wouldn't have previously gone for. :) When my teacher first played it for me though, I was thinking, "There is no way I can learn this song, what are you even doing assigning me this?!" ;P

Vacationing...
With the whole family, in Sunriver Oregon. How much more perfect can a vacation get?! It was amazing. We thought that Micah, (my next brother down), wouldn't be able to come due to work, but he was able to after all! We rode bikes, went in the hot tub that came with our house, got lost on the bike trails, picnicked next to the river, drank coffee floats from Brewed Awakenings (love that name ;P), and played games. It was so special. <3


Reaching out...
To over 4,000 people during Wenatchee's Apple Blossom Festival. It's a two week long celebration that people come from two and three states away to attend. It's like the Olympic games, traffic is insane, and my workplace becomes not much more than a bathroom and a place to come and be rude (thank you, Seattlites. ;P) Kidding, not all people from Seattle are rude. Just a lot of them. ;) Anyway, in the midst of all the craziness of parades, shows, etc., we had the youth group from Stanwood, Washington come over to help with outreach. And did they ever!! They worked sooo hard, walking miles and miles every day passing out tracts and witnessing. With thousands of people in town just for the festival, we had a very easy time finding people to talk to!! ;) So thankful for the many Gospel tracts that got into people's hands, as well as the personal evangelism that was done. Praise God!


Visiting with...
My friend Jenny. During the time that the youth group was here, Jenny "happened to be" house sitting for the pastor of a nearby church. That house was only 2 minutes away from my place--just down the road!! I was able to spend the nights over there to free up some bed space here, and it worked out so well. It was super fun and special to spend some time with her! :) There was one night when we had a discussion on how we would go about embezzling money without getting caught (which sounds dreadful until you realize that we are writers and were trying to help a friend with writing a fiction paper... :'D). Then there was the night that we watched Facing the Giants, and as usual, something got in my eyes and they ended up watering a lot. :') Heh heh. And of course there was lots of snacks and ice cream. I mean what would a visit from a friend be without junk food?! (Right Kimberly?? ;D Haha!) Anyway, I had a great time.

Drinking...
HOMEMADE KOMBUCHA. Ok guys, I have always had a chip on my shoulder about Kombucha. I thought it was weird and sounded gross and icky and I would never drink it. Ahem. Then a church member gave me a bottle of her homemade stuff, sweetened with fresh grape juice, and WOW. I'm hooked. ;P It's so good!!!!! I've never tried the store bought stuff yet though...

Watching...
The hills around Wenatchee slowly turn green. It looks like Ireland around here, and until the summer gets insanely hot, I'm going to continue to marvel at how beautiful the surrounding mountains are. Thank you, Lord!

Well, that's it for this month, folks! Hopefully I can get my next favorites post out in a more timely fashion. ;) Have a lovely week, everyone! 
Mykaela

Some Random Bits of Life Advice (From someone who totally doesn't have it all together ;)

Hey, guys!
So today's post is a little different than normal. I am mainly going to be addressing Christian young ladies, (as far as I am aware that is my main demographic anyway ;). As I mentioned in the title, I totally don't have it figured out. I am not a super Christian. I don't consider myself wiser or holier than you. 

But God has done great things in my life, and has taught me and shaped me over the 10 years I have been following Him. I am still learning every single day, and I hope to continue till the day I die, but here are a few little tidbits I've gleaned so far! These are things that I would VERY much like to tell my younger self if I had 9 or 10 year old Mykaela standing in front of me. Some points are silly, some very serious...my hope is that someone somewhere will get a little something out of it. (I know, that was a lot of "some's" ;) Also, special thanks to Kimberly for inspiring this post with her post on turning 20. :) Also, pretty much every single thing below I am still working on myself. Maybe we can work on them together! :)

So here we go...have a seat, grab a mug of coffee (or tea if you are weird), and chat with me for a while! :)

• Your parents love you a LOT. And they do want what's best for you, no matter what it may seem like to you sometimes. Honor and cherish their wisdom. They aren't perfect, but they are doing their best, and a day will come that your heart will break over all the times you broke theirs.
• Say thank you all the time!! It's becoming a lost art.
• You are not as wise or smart as you think you are. Ever. Please, please do not blurt your opinion dogmatically in front of people, unless it is straight out of Scripture. I promise you, at some point you WILL end up looking like an idiot, and it will be sad. :(

• Save your money. I know that thing looks really awesome, but ask yourself if you will still be using it in a year. (If it's not food obviously, lol!). If the answer is no, it may be a good time to rethink that purchase!
• Try to make at least a few moments of stillness every day. No phone, no computer, no talking...just being still. Take this time to think about Who God is, and to thank Him. It will make your day so much brighter! :)
• Use makeup wisely. You aren't a clown, you are a classy young lady of grace.
• Read good books. Especially history books, they'll come in handy later! ;)
• KNOW HOW TO READ AND WRITE CURSIVE.
• School kind of stinks, but do it quickly and with integrity, and at some point you'll be glad you did it. I'm still waiting for that point to come. :'D (JK! Sort of.)
• You will sometimes fail at things. That doesn't mean you are a horrible person, or even that you are bad at that thing! Get back up and try it again! <3
• Bread is always always always better warm!! If I come to your house and you serve cold dinner rolls, I'm going to ask to use your microwave, or just straight up use it without asking. ;P Warm up that bread basket 3 minutes before you eat, I promise it will be super awesome.
• Little kids have it right...sometimes you just gotta go splash in a mud puddle and go down the slide backwards. Who do you have to impress?!
• Learn to cook...I really need to work on this more myself. (I highly prefer the unhealthy skill of baking. ;P)
• Be. Modest. In dress AND demeanor. A flirt is something you should NEVER stoop to being. Ever.
• Take care of your body, but don't obsess. God has made you perfectly, and seriously EVERYONE has a pooch in front, okay? You are not fat, I promise. Stay active, drink water, and eat wisely, but don't stress over it! It's so much more lovely to see a woman who is confident and has inner beauty shining forth than someone who can fit a size 0 dress with room to spare, but has a rotten outlook or is body-obsessed. (If you are naturally that small, don't take offense, just saying. ;P) Also, I know a lot of guys who would back me up on that. :)
• Speaking of guys, they should not be the highlight of your existence...Christ should be! I know it's hard if you are 13 and you are just discovering this new world of males opening up before you. But really truly, you will have so much time for that later, it's REALLY NOT worth thinking about right now. I cannot stress this enough! If you are not old enough to get married tomorrow, please don't have marriage be your focus!!!!!!!!
• Sometimes you will have more money, sometimes you'll have less. Learn to be frugal, but more than that, learn to be content with wherever God has you financially right now. Hard lesson, but well worth learning. :)
• People don't care as much as you think they do. That sounds weird, but honestly, in 8 years no one at all will remember that embarrassing thing you did...except you. Don't keep cringing over it, it's okay, really. People have too many of their own embarrassing moments to hide from to worry about keeping track of yours. :)
• When in doubt, dress UP, not down. Being the only one in denim at a black tie event would not be a fun experience...best not risk it. ;P
• Don't expect people to notice when you get your hair cut. Don't ask why, this is just something that I have learned, and you just have to accept it. :'D
• Try to notice the little beautiful moments and things in life, because they really aren't little. Suck in those memories, jump into adventures with both feet, cherish the precious times....they won't be here forever. 
• Pearls are pretty much always a good idea. As is lace. :)
• Keep a journal. It doesn't have to be long or detailed, but just write something. It will become an absolute treasure later.
• Print off pictures when you can. I know, I know...in this digital age it seems stupid and outdated to make prints. But really, when your computer crashes and all data is erased, or your hard drive is somehow destroyed, you will be sooo glad you have something!
• Strong perfume is never a good idea. Just don't.
• Love your family!!! Friends come and go, but family is stuck with you forever, and vice versa. ;)
• While friends do come and go, they are brought into your life for a reason. If you discover a friend that sticks with you through thick and thin and encourages you closer to The Lord, keep them!! :) True friends are hard to come by! You will have arguments, but communication, prayer, and forgiveness will go a long way to gluing your friendship together even tighter. 
• Prayer is so important...I don't know how to be more serious with this, but it is the life blood of your walk with God. Don't neglect it!!
• Read God's Word before you touch electronics in the morning. We all need to work on keeping Him first priority!
• Your church family is a GIFT. Treat it as such.

Wow, this got a lot longer than I intended! If you are still reading all the way down here, then THANK YOU for sticking with me! :D What would you add to this list? What stuck out to you the most? Any advice you have for me??? Let me know in the comments, I love hearing from you guys! Have an awesome weekend! :) Love,

Mykaela

The Little Things (And why I'm thankful for them)

Psalm 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

I'm sure many of you have heard the phrase, "Enjoy the little things", or "It's the little things in life that count", etc.? Most of the time, these sayings are used by those who do not have a relationship with God, so really all they do is enjoy them. (For a short time.) We as Christians should be not only enjoying those little things, but also thanking the One who gave them to us! So these are good statements, they just have to be in the right context. :) 

So I know that nothing God does for us is truly "little"...he loads us down with His benefits. However, there are some things in life that you can't help but smile at--because that thing that happened was not necessary. Maybe it was even something tiny and simple, a ray of sunshine that suddenly flashed through your day. Maybe you couldn't find something for the life of you, and suddenly you found it in the unlikeliest place. Well, you could call that coincidence, but really think about it. I truly believe that so many things we chalk up to "chance" is God showering yet another blessing onto that day's pile...and we don't even give Him credit for it. That's really sad!! When a friend drops by with a plate of cookies, or a passing stranger helps pick up some dropped papers, do we neglect to thank them? Of course not! And yet how many times do we ignore the little gifts God gives us, with the assumption that it was just a random happenstance? :( 

Last year, shortly after I first started this blog, I published a post entitled, "The Story of the Toy Firetruck, (and why it meant so much to me)". You can read it here. In the spirit of that post, I would like to just take a minute to thank The Lord for a few of the "little things" He's given me lately. :)

• A few days ago I was in a hurry, and rushed out the door to work without grabbing something to eat for lunch. It wasn't a crazy long shift, (5 or 6 hours, I think), but long enough that I would probably have to either mooch something from a coworker, (haha!) or go out. 1 hour into my shift, a guy from a local sub sandwich delivery place shows up at the front desk. He cheerfully says, "Hey, I have some free sample sandwiches for all the staff here, would you like one?" Umm. Yes. ;) So I got a free "sample" sandwich, (it was about 5 inches long, so a totally fine size for a small lunch!), and didn't have to go out in the snowy weather. Thank you, Lord!
• I recently purchased some pajamas that are soooo soft, I seriously look forward to getting into them when I get home from work, etc. They feel like clouds. :) My mom really wanted some as well, so last week I ran to the store where I got mine, to try and find her some as a surprise. Well, they were out. As was another store of a similar kind. I had just about given up hope, (and was out of time to look), when I thought of checking this random store in the mall, because I vaguely remembered something about them having pj's at some point. You guessed it! They not only had them, but they were on end-of-winter sale for FIVE BUCKS. Thank you again, Lord!!! :)

I could go on and on. Like I said, these are not life changing things! Would I have died of starvation without a sandwich? Of course not. Would my mom have perished without those cozy pajamas? Nope. But God still chose to let me have those little, fun blessings, because He loves me! And I think that is so special, that God cares about giving good gifts to His children, even when we are naughty wandering little sheep that won't quit falling into mud puddles, wandering off the path into thornbushes and pits, and becoming so focused on ourselves that we can't even take a second to thank the kind Shepherd who leads us! Today, I'm challenging you, as well as myself, to look for those little things. Notice when they happen, and don't just ignore them...praise The Lord for them! I'm not saying we should fall on our knees wherever we are and burst into the Hallelujah chorus. But just say thank you. That's all. :) Love,

Mykaela

Sunday Snippets: 5 Ways You Can be a Godly Giver

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Sorry about the late post this week...the last few days have been a bit crazy with work, etc. :)

I can't believe that Christmas is less than a week away!! I'm always a bit sad when the Christmas season draws to a close; it's my favorite time of year. (As if I haven't already said that. ;)

In this season of giving, so many have a really wrong idea of what it truly means to give in a Godly way. We as Christians need to have our focus on the right things, at Christmas time just as any other time! So what does this mean in practice? Here are five characteristics of a Godly giver. (Note: this verse is usually applied to the aspect of giving to the church in tithes and offerings. However, today I'm going to broaden the application out to include giving in general. :)

• Godly givers purpose in their heart beforehand what they can give. They do not go into debt in order to give extravagant gifts that are beyond their current means. They also put thought into what they do get. Whether they make homemade gifts, or buy them, they consider what they are doing and think about what the recipient of the gift would like or need.

• Godly givers do not give grudgingly. Someone with a Christlike attitude is not going to be saying, "Ugh, I guess. Here. You owe me." They give without expectation or demands for a return gift.

• Going hand in hand with the last one, Godly givers do not give of necessity. They don't only give to someone when that person has done something nice for them, or to "pay off a debt". They give because they truly want to be a blessing to another person!

• Godly givers are cheerful in their sharing. They understand that there is a very specific blessing reserved for those who give in the right way. They give with a joyful heart, knowing that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

• Godly givers do not just give at Christmas or other holidays, nor do they give only to those who are nice to them. They give unselfishly, no matter the person or the circumstances.

Think for a moment about the greatest gift of all time, given by the Father to the world. God did not give His only Son with a sour attitude, but with a love that we can never fathom. Jesus did not give His life grudgingly or of necessity. He owed us nothing. Less than nothing. In fact, we all deserve to perish anyway. And yet He still gave His all in order to rescue us. With such an example before us, how can we not give in the same way? 

This Christmas, I want to challenge you to strive to be a Godly giver. The THINGS you are giving do not matter! If all you can give is a smile, or a hug, or a listening ear...do it with a cheerful heart. God loves and blesses those who give as He did.

I have a four day weekend for Christmas, so I am really excited about that! I look forward to spending time with my family. I hope all of you have a blessed week! What are some of your favorite things about Christmas? <3

Mykaela