New to Church

Today I watched a few new people at church. I am fairly certain I haven't seen them around but for some reason I was drawn to watching them. They were in my line of sight while singing so it wasn't like I was seeking them out. They looked mildly uncomfortable and for a few reasons they may have stuck out. They came in during the worship and people smiled and said hello as they made there way to their seats and I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like for a "un-churched" person to enter into such a house of Worship. The music was loud and some people would be overly friendly just to make sure they weren't rude. 

What would it be like to have never been to church before? I noticed one guy kept looking around. Our church building is large and decorated very tastefully so I am guessing he kept thinking about how large it was and how high the ceilings were. I wonder what would go on in his heart as our preacher spoke about different walls that are put up in our society. How people groups stick with there own culture of people. 

Is the church showing Jesus to new comers? When people walk do we shove Jesus down their throat or do we make him so "pretty" that coming to Jesus is just like winning the lotto? I am not sure were we are as a Church right now, but I totally know were I want the church to be! I want people to see Jesus' love shining out when they walk in the door. Not overwhelming but pure, untainted compassion for what is going on his or her life. I wish I could have met the new people today but I had other and I was glad to see  others from the church were speaking to them. I hope they saw Christ's face when His church spoke to them today.

L'Oreal Paris Magic B.B. Cream Review!

Thanks to SheSpeaks and L'Oreal I was able to try their new Pairs Magic B.B. Cream! 
Let me start by saying I am not a huge make-up gal, but I loved L'Oreal's Paris Magic B.B. Cream! I was totally hesitant because it's name ever sounded strange to me, but it was great.
I started off fresh out of the shower with my squeaky clean face and squirted a small amount of the fair cream into my hands and gently covered my face and honestly, it looked like the $35 stuff my sister buys at the expensive store at the mall! I think magic totally fits the bill since my face looked smooth and flawless! I didn't have to reapply later in the day and my face never dried out or felt greasy. When I run out of the sample that SheSpeaks sent me, I am going to be running to the store to pick up some more! And for only around $10.95 a bottle you might just want to pick up your own shade too!

No More AWKWARD!

Have you ever been there? Maybe you know me personally and know that I can be awkward. Maybe you are awkward yourself. Seems to me, I end up in a lot of awkward situations but mostly I attribute that to God having an amazing sense of humor! Well, last night I had a dream and if you dream a lot like me, then you have some super weird dreams. My dream last night was pretty much the most amazing dream I have ever had. I am not sure if you are a Harry Potter movie fan like me but let's just say if you were Harry Potter and I was Snape, I'd give you my magical dream tears so you could have a glimpse of what I saw last night.
The setting was a long table and it was like a Thanksgiving meal with lots of people but no talking. I knew all the people in this dream. Three people other than myself stick out in the dream. One was a boyfriend from high school. He is a great Christian man who is married with kids and very happy. He smiled the whole dream. Also there was my ex-husband, smiling. He was sitting next to his wife and she smiled also. My husband sat beside me and we smiled. We passed food back and forth and smiled. Not a crazy, weird smile, it was a genuine smile. A smile that exuded peace and forgiveness. If you have never broken someone's heart, you won't know what I mean to have extreme forgiveness and I got it in the dream last night. There was no guilt!
The dream allowed me to experience a tiny bit of Heaven. I totally think there will be talking in Heaven unlike my dream. I believe that the joy and peace I experienced is totally real and true! I woke up and it was as if the feeling lightly faded but I will never forget how amazing it felt and I have to tell you, I am looking forward to being called home to Heaven even more!

Are You a Christian or a Christ-Follower?

Some would say that there is no difference, but lately I have heard about these "Christians" that keep being called out for bad behavior. I don't know some of these people and some are even celebrities who claim to know the One who created the stars but that is not for me to judge. Deciding if you are a Christian or a true Christ-follower is important.  Figuring it out means laying it all out there and seeing who you are choosing to be. Am I choosing to be a person who seeks Jesus and serving His people with every breath I breathe? Do I stop and think about where my money is truly going and if it is helping spread His good news to the broken hearted? Is my light shining in the darkness so that people know Jesus because of the love I have shown? Or do I go to church on Sunday and fight with my spouse all week? Do I quote scriptures out of context and enjoy make people feel guilty? Has my pride become so great that Christ no longer lives in me?
For me, it is a choice everyday to wake up and choose to have a relationship with Christ. To be a Christ-follower to me, means that I seek out the lost and the Word of the Lord comes out of me like a balm on a burn. Healing wounds that always come at much to high a cost. The cost of sin is never worth it but the light that Jesus shines in the darkest parts of our hearts cleans and washes away that pain. Is there someone who needs your love and grace today? Christ wants you to follow Him and show the lost the Way.

Salted Carmel Torani Syrup Review

I have to admit, I was super excited to be chosen to do a review on Torani Syrups again this year! As a member of the She Speaks Blogger Community this has been on of my favorite opportunities! This year I was thrilled to try out Salted Carmel and Peppermint! The Salted Carmel has now become a favorite in my household since we make our mock version of the hot chocolate from Starbucks.

These are also great to cook with! This next week I am using the peppermint in cookies to make the Candy Cane cookies for our family cooking party. I think we are going to borrow the recipe from a pinterest post I found here.


There are so much fun and while they smell great, the taste is out of this world! Make sure you check out some of the awesome recipes that that have at there Torani's website. When you are ready to step out and try some new flavor or you want to stick to faithful vanilla, you can get your own $1 coupon here.

I received two 750ml bottles of Torani Syrups plus a recipe booklet, 5 coupons for $1 off your next Torani purchase as part of a Blogger Community and all opinions are my own!

Different But The Same

We are almost settled since our move back to my hometown. Somethings feel so different, a lot has to do with the fact that a massive tornado destroyed a large part of a city that I will always claim as my hometown. People are different, too. Some see me at the mall and still see a middle school kid with last years coat and messy hair. (Honestly, though I have last years coat and my hair might not look like it has been combed this week...) We never had much money growing up. We weren't the kids who didn't know we were poor, we knew it but it didn't seem to bother us. I only remember one time thinking I wish we had more money up until high school.
So much is the same. We still don't have money. We moved here to be closer to my family and I felt God calling us to something different. I am still not sure what it is, but I know a lot of it has to do with humbling myself before Him and surrendering my will to His. Some may think it is weird, or even wrong but I prayed that God remove my greed by making us poor again.  So far, things are going slow. We have only been here less than a month and money is tight. But the Lord is faithful and provides everything that we need. We haven't gone without food and our account isn't in the negative but by allowing us to by free of excess money, it allow us to make more thought out choices with the money we do have. Is it worth it to go out to eat every week or would our money be better spent on groceries were we can invite families into our home? Are the cute jeans at the mall necessary? Of course not, the ones I have on now fit just fine.
Poor or wealthy makes no difference as long as the Lord is leading your life and serving His people is the calling of your heart.

Flaming Christian

Never have I been known to be politically correct, not because I would ever want to hurt someones feelings but just because things change so much. Someone is almost always offend by someone or thing. So I guess I'll just throw this out there: some people are flaming! Generally when someone says that we automatically think of the homosexual community but that is not who I am speaking of here. I am talking about a Flaming Christian. You know the people they don't have to say that Jesus Christ is Lord of their life but you know right away because how they carry his or herself. They walk into a room and people almost seem to gravitate towards them. They have a love for other people that just spills out of them. I want to be that person! I want to love others so much that people know that there is no room for judgement in my heart. John 13:34-35 ESV A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (35) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” How great would that be? When we are friends with God love just flows out of us!