Searching for Adventure

Anyone else enjoying the fall? Confession- I traditionally don’t care for the fall. While the changing leaves are beautiful- the cooler weather always reminds me that winter is around the corner… And winter and I are not best friends. But this fall is a little different. The cool air blowing in this season is also blowing in new possibilities and new adventures. And the Lord is teaching me to embrace it all. This fall has been filled with laughter, dancing, hard work, joy, trials, and abundant blessings. The cool, overcast weather has been surprisingly liberating! My husband and I are rejoicing in His goodness, overwhelmed by His timing, dancing in His grace, and basking in His adventures!

Recently the Lord has been teaching me a lot about adventures. As an individual who is always ready to visit a new city or new country I have always envisioned adventure as being an act of going somewhere. But the Lord is teaching me that each day, right where I am, is an adventure. We are called to live bold, meaningful lives. And the more we embrace the lives He has given us, the more glory is pointed back to Him. Adventure is a state of heart. We must program our hearts and our minds to wait expectantly for where God leads. We must pray big prayers and wait to see how the Lord fulfills them.

So this fall we are being intentional about studying Jesus and what His life looked like. As Christians we are called to turn away from my old fleshly desires and to follow Christ- to emulate Christ (Acts 3:19). That is an adventure. One step at a time, each day as it comes. Every morning starts a new page in your story with new adventures to be experienced. In November I am choosing to look for the adventures in each day.

Has anyone had any adventures recently?

This is Yours

{via}

Anyone else love this?
Now it is definitely missing the most important thing-
follow Jesus
above all

But this quote does inspire me to pursue my dreams!

Life is a beautiful gift
full of many blessings
Live it
Enjoy it
Love it

Did anyone else notice our new sponsor?
I will properly introduce you soon, but until then go check out Urban Walls!
I’ve already got my eye on a few of their products!
AND if you contact tell them & let them know you found them through beyond blessed blog
you get a 20% discount!!

 

 

Savor September Goals

{globe :: leaves :: ablaze : bible}

Happy September!! Can you believe fall is around the corner?! While I am not sure if I am actually ready to say good-bye to summer and hello to cooler weather, I am excited for #SavorSeptember (inspired by the lovely Lara Casey). If you follow me on instagram then you have probably seen quite a few #IntentionalAugust hashtags. August was all about being intentional and while I do want to continue being intentional, September is all about savoring the moment. Ann Voskamp says “hurry always makes us hurt…hurry empties our souls.” So this month I don’t want to hurry, I want to savor every moment.

Right now the Lord is teaching me to be content where I am at. While my heart & my head think that I am ready for the next step, change, or big move… the Lord clearly thinks knows otherwise. I’m thankful that His timing is always good, perfect, and beautiful. But I would really like a little bit more of a glimpse into the future. I am overwhelmingly thankful for the little steps He has given us {& the incredible excitement we have} and the options we are seeing in the future… but I am also so anxious to see what our next step will officially be. So as I am in this season of waiting & learning I will focus on what I do know and what I can do. Voskamp reminds us that “they say time is money, but that’s not true. Time is life. And if I want the fullest life, I need to find fullest time.” This month I want to live life to the fullest and savor every moment. So here are a few of my goals for September.

1.)    Pray more. Pray for direction. Pray for relationships. Pray for a stronger desire to know/seek Him. Pray to be a better wife. Pray for opportunity. Pray for contentment. Pray for those who will surround us in our next step. You get the gist… I want to pray without ceasing!

2.)    Spend more time with others. By the end of the week I am exhausted. I know, I’m not the only one who works 8-5. But being a newlywed who still wants to spend 100% of my time by my man’s side, who works 8-5, is working towards finishing grad school, and is working on one other bit of work {exciting, but still work none the less- more to come in a few weeks!!}… life is pretty busy. But we are called to be in the world and to be intentional with our relationships. I want to spend more time investing in others. And savor that time.

3.)    Workout more consistently. Not necessarily more, just consistently.

4.)    Savor every moment. I truly believe this will help me as the Lord teaches me to be content. I almost titled this one ‘Find contentment,’ but opted to stick to the ‘savor September’ theme. My current struggle is that I yearn to be by the sea (like literally, living a bike ride from the beach) and serving/traveling/living internationally. I yearn for culture. Why is my heart overseas right now? I’m not 100% sure. The Lord has just put this incredible desire in my heart that I can’t seem to put into words. There is something bigger out there; it just isn’t that time for Him to reveal what that ‘thing’ is. Until then I must savor every moment where I am and be more then content. His timing, not mine.

5.) Be intentional with my time. When I think about time in terms of it being life (rather than in terms of time being money) I realize just how important my minutes are. If time is life, then I want to fill my time (my life) with what matters most. Jesus. Family. Pouring into others. Loving on others. Being Brave. Savoring every second. That is the life I want to live.

How are you going to savor September?

Anniversary Trip

Happy Thursday! A couple of weeks ago my husband and I snuck away for a long weekend in NYC. While my parents do live there, they were actually in Hershey, Pennsylvania for most of the time we were there- but we did get to spend one day with them!

My husband and I had been trying to come up with something fun to do for our anniversary and realized NY would be an exciting trip. After some talking we decided to head out to the city earlier than our anniversary so my husband could experience NYC in the summer- the true summer. It was so much fun to explore the city hand-in-hand with my best friend. Here is a little glimpse into our long weekend.

Any suggestions for our next trip to the city?
It looks like we might head out for Thanksgiving!

Messy Bits

{art via}

For as long as I can remember summers have been filled with family, friends, Kanakuk, Saturday’s waffles of wisdom led by my dad, the lake, and traveling.  Thinking back to previous memories has made me quite nostalgic for summer vacations spent in various European cities, Morocco, and many other beautiful countries. As my Husband and I have begun talking about our future trips (and by future I mean we have not made any definitive plans, just dreamed and made loose plans) to other countries we have begun watching every movie we own that takes place over sees and across the pond. One of my favorites is ‘Letters to Juliet.‘  While I love that whole movie, there is one line that specifically stands out to me.

“Life is the messy bits…”

I love this. As a very goal oriented person I sometimes find myself living in the future and not embracing the here and now. I want to see the end goal. But this line from ‘Letter’s to Juliet’ is a beautiful reminder. Life is the messy bits… not just the final result (Tweet This)

Time to Travel

{Image from my first trip to Paris}

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Put aside thoughts of money and time… if you could go anywhere and do anything, what would you do? Many of my favorite memories growing up are the memories made with my family as we traveled the world. I am beyond thankful that my parents took my brother and I to many other countries so that we could begin experiencing other cultures from a young age. As I have grown older this desire to travel has only grown stronger. My husband and I have begun making a list of all the countries, cities and places that we want to visit. Any suggestions? Where are some of your favorite places? The more details the merrier!

I have a file saved for new suggestions. One day I may even post it somewhere on the blog to share fun ideas with everyone (would any of you be interested?). We have our countries listed out with bullets  underneath that consist of suggested hotels, sight seeing destinations, tours to do, places to eat/shop, etc.   That way when the time comes, planning will be easy and we wont miss anything!  We would love your suggestions!