Moments of Contentment

Happy Monday! 

Can you believe that it's already June?! This year is really flying by! I'm excited for warmer temperatures. This week is just supposed to bring a ton of rain so far. So I went on a little walk earlier today while the sun was still shining. I've taken a hiatus from blogging and from photography as things have gotten busier with school, but I love these moments when I can just shoot for me. I started thinking about acceptance today. I know I have these goals and these things for which I am striving, but contentment is such an important thing to have. I can't live my life thinking that I would be happy if I could take excellent photos or if I was 50 lbs. lighter. I need to be content with where I am now and accept myself as I am now before I can approach change in a healthy way. What I had been doing thus far just turned me into my own harshest critic. I got down on myself each time I felt as though I was failing. If I learn contentment with where I am, I think it will help me to better appreciate even the smallest successes.

What about you? Are you struggling with contentment? Do you find yourself so focused on where you think you should be that you fail to celebrate where you are? Let's try something different, Missionettes. Are you with me?

Happy Birthday to Me

Good morning, Missionettes!

Yesterday, I turned 27 years old. I can't even believe it. I had a great birthday weekend in Raleigh, courtesy of my amazing hubby. He made it possible for one of my sisters to hang with us for the weekend. We played putt-putt, went go-karting, and took lots of pictures. Tons.  :) You can check out some of those images here.

Now that I'm on the other side of 27, I am thinking about this mission with more urgency. When I began this blog, I had an idea of who I wanted to be by the time I turn 30 years old. I'm finding that these priorities are already changing. One of my top priorities moving forward will be to focus on this blog. At this point, I'm unsure how my 30 before 30 list will look at the end, but I am feeling a sense of renewed determination to ensure that things are different than they have been. I've got to complete about 10 items per year in order to get this thing done on time. How are your lists doing? How much time do you have left? How are you making sure that things get done?

Fighting Well

Good Morning, Missionettes!

I hope you're staying warm! Here in Virginia, it's been snowy/icy for the past week and there's more winter on the way! 

I wanted to kick today off with more of a personal post. So it's fitting that I started with this photo I took of my husband. I wanted to talk about a time that we failed. Actually, it just happened this week. It was just a normal night in and I started a fight. Without getting into too much detail, I brought up a situation from two weeks ago where I felt like he overreacted. We got into a pretty heated discussion, while we were each trying to justify our actions and point out why the other person was wrong. At one point when things were particularly heated, I just looked at my husband and said, "I don't even recognize you anymore." We have been married for almost 3 years and I had never seen him that angry.

I realized that I had created this tension between us because I threw something in his face that I felt he did wrong...two weeks ago! Why do I do that? I held onto the situation like ammunition to be stored up for later. You know that little section of 1 Corinthians 13:5?

Your version might say, ..."it keeps no record of wrongs". Yeah, definitely failed on that one. It was right in the middle of our fight that I stopped to think for a second. This wasn't how I wanted my marriage to be. I apologized to restore the peace. I didn't realize that I had offended him so badly. I wanted our marriage to be a safe place. I know I've made my fair share of mistakes and I failed an opportunity to show the grace that I have been shown. I am so thankful for a man who leads me in the Word and is happy to walk on this journey of sanctification with me. Although I hate that I started this argument and offended my husband, I am glad that God used that moment to remind me what this marriage is all about.

Soli Deo Gloria. To God alone be the glory...

This marriage isn't about us -- who was right and rubbing each other's faces in wrongdoing. The love we share with one another is intended to point each of us back to Christ. This should not be the case only in times of peace and happiness, but even in our arguments. Living together as sinful beings, arguments are unavoidable. But even in our disagreements, we should be fighting well. So let that be the goal for us today and everyday. Are you loving others in the way that you live and in the way that you speak? What about when you've been wronged?