What I Wore >>

There isn't a person you wouldn't love if you could read their story. // unkown

sweatshirt - Target // shorts - Target // 

flip-flops - Old Navy // wrap bracelet - Noonday Collection

photo credit: Mikayla Michelle Photography

Writing the next lines //

The lines from yesterday have dried, there is no un-writing what is past. I'm glad. I like it as it reads. Tomorrow, though, the pages of tomorrow are unwritten. What should we write? More faith, more risks, more extravagant love, more adventure, more forgiveness, more challenges, more steps into the unknown with the Beloved, more broken hearts, more experiences in new cultures, more stretching out of hands, more dancing, more deep drinks of this messy + marvelous life with all its troubles and miracles. I want that. Let's keep writing that. If I get anything as rich and wild and wonderful and hard as I've gotten up to this point, I'll be a blessed woman.

"Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind." 

- Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations

See, I want to keep growing, want to keep learning, want to keep seeking, want to keep knocking, want to keep changing + becoming. I don't want to cover up my gray hairs or touch up my scars or tuck away chapters of my life. THIS [read: life] is exactly, beautifully good -- every bit of it -- because the Author knows how to spin every line -- past, present, and future -- together so that the story turns out for my good, no matter what comes. I'm following Him. Fearless. I want people to see it written all over me. I want them to be able to read the unfolding story of my life in my closet, and art, and friends, and music. I want them to see how it built over time, layer upon layer. How the tides washed bits away and redistributed the other bits, again and then again. How the waters smoothed and polished the edges of me. At the end of my days I want people to say they knew me well + that I wasn't the same girl who came into this world when I went out of it... That I took life as it came -- truly lived it to the hilt -- and that I left beauty behind me everywhere I went.

// dedicated to some other adventurers, a few of many dear souls I have the privilege of journeying with in this, my one and only life //

What I Wore >>

The things that make you weird as a kid will make you great tomorrow. // unknown

dress - Target // sweater - Target // wedges - Target

photo credit: Mikayla Michelle Photography

Of giving yourself to someone //

There on my right, my Strength + Authority, on Him I lean + after Him I follow. He is my all + my chief delight. My Husband, I focus on Him + our life, we focus on ministry. 

There on My left, My chosen one + resting place, she leans on Me + after Me she follows. She is My Body + I withhold no good from her. My Bride, she is My own, and My heart is toward her. 

I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. // You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fulness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm16:8, 11 AMP)

This life we live together isn't focused inward, on "me", on how "my" needs are or aren't being met. We are focused on each other + on those around us. Love doesn't give to get in return, it just gives. 

So I forget my own life, like He forgets His, and in place I focus my life on Him -- as He set the example of that for me. But while we are focused outward, He and I, seeking first the Kingdom, He never looks away from me -- His Bride. 

Love will make you do crazy things and My Love for her never fades, it's condition-less + relentless. We were separated and I couldn't bear it. I went to the grave + back again just to create the opportunity for us to draw near each other. She accepted My pursuit and I made her Mine, she took on My Name. I know her intimately -- what delights her, where she is weak, how she bears burdens. Out of everything I am I nourish and cherish her. I clothe her in dignity + strength. I am acquainted with every little need of hers, not one escapes my sight, and I provide for them. I protect her with My presence and with everything at my disposal. I catch her tears, not one falls to the ground. We have a mission in this life together and that is what we focus ourselves on, but don't think for a second that I am ever unaware of her. My eyes are fixed on her. I couldn't pull Myself away if I tried. Did you really think this great Love I have for her would settle into mediocrity once I was always with her? I am never not pursuing her heart. I'm attentive to even her silent cries. She is Mine to care for and I don't take that for granted. It's my greatest joy and honor to sacrifice everything to love her well. I literally gave My life to win her, yes, and she daily gives her life for Me and My work in this world, but My giving wasn't a one-time deal, its Who I am, its what I do. I will always be giving Myself to her.

What I Wore >>

She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city. // Roman Payne

dress - Target // purse - Target // boots - Target

photo credit: Mikayla Michelle Photography

The real deal //

"Theres something powerful about seeking Gods kingdom first with your spouse that makes your love go deeper than if you were seeking first your marriage."

"Serving God takes a lot of repetitious, unglamorous work. You have to be willing to make yourself nothing."

“I don’t know how you’re going to face God at the end and say, ‘You put us together... and what we decided to do with our marriage was get comfortable.’ ”

You and Me Forever from You and Me Forever on Vimeo.

"Had we been living our own life, trying to build a good life for ourselves... we'd be missing it."

"When you're on a mission, when God puts this thing in your heart and you find it, its not work, its a privilege."

"Marriage could have a much stronger, more powerful, more significant meaning than just someone that I could grow old with."

What I Wore >>

We all have two lives. The second one starts when we realize that we only have one. // tom hiddleston 

top: Sevenly // skirt: Target // 

purse: Target // wedges: Target

photo credit: Mikayla Michelle Photography

Steady Heart

I cant see whats in front of me
Still I will trust You,
Still I will trust You.
Though I cant see whats in front of me
Still I will trust You,
Still I will trust You.

Steady Heart that keeps on going,
Steady Love that keeps on hoping
Lead me on.
Steady Grace that keeps forgiving,
Steady Faith that keeps believing
Lead me on.



Though the sky is dark
And the wind is wild
Youll never leave me,
Youll never leave me.
Though the night is long
There is a coming dawn.
The Light is breaking,
The Light is breaking.


Steady Heart that keeps on going,
Steady Love that keeps on hoping
Lead me on.
Steady Grace that keeps forgiving,
Steady Faith that keeps believing
Lead me on.

And as the dawn breaks,
And the clouds clear,
In an open space
Together We will run.