First day of fall

Today was the first day of autumn, which is my favorite season. I'm already dreaming of coats and scarves and skirts with leggings and boots and curls and the leaves changing, even though it doesn't really get chilly 'til November. Today was a stormy, blast Hello Hurricane in the car, gorgeous sunset kind of day with a bunch of treasures.

Friday treasures:
Candy Corn!
Giving my teenage brother unsolicited advice
Making brushetta for dinner
Going to Target with my mom. There's something about that place that makes me positively happy.
Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares with raspberry filling
Action movies
Pre-ordering Switchfoot's Vice Verses and the live version of the Hello Hurricane CD
The feast day of Padre Pio
A wedding to go to tomorrow

This song:


This view:

This verse:
"I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me." -Gal 2: 19-20

Hello hurricane, you're not enough

In tennis, players stand in a position with their knees bent and their tennis rackets in front of their stomachs--ready to jump left or right and to swing at a moment's notice.

Sometimes things come at us and we have to be ready too.

There will always be storms in life and there will always be surprises. No one is immune to the unexpected. Family emergencies, crisis, friendship struggles, periods of unemployment, natural disasters, heartbreaks, daily disasters and a myriad of other issues can strike us at anytime. These are hurricanes, with the potential and the power to break us down, despair us, shatter us.

But there is always the flip side of the coin. There is always grace. There is always Christ. And therefore, there is always beauty, love, light, truth, hope--even in the midst of trauma.

"Hello hurricane,
You're not enough.
Hello hurricane, you can't silence my love.
I've got doors and windows boarded up.
All your dead-end fury is not enough
You can't silence my love." (Switchfoot)

When I've faced personal crisis in the past, I've tried to focus on the words "Jesus, I trust in you." I've repeated them over and over until my heart can be steady, until the tears dry, until I can move forward again. I have to remind myself. We have to remind ourselves.

God never panics. God never leaves us. God always loves us. And He holds us in the palm of His hands.

When we're faced with uncertainties, roadblocks, suffering--we have the choice. We can't choose our situations but we can choose what we do about them. We can choose to board up our windows and focus on the one who is "strong enough to save" and choose hope and allow ourselves to be open to his grace and love Him in return. We can trust that Jesus rose from the dead, that he performs miracles, that he makes all things new. We can trust that "he makes beautiful things out of the dust."

Recently, God has knocked me down and humbled me when I least expected it. Curveballs have hit my smooth, familiar routine.

Today, I'm reminding myself that God is stronger than any storm, that He is always in the boat with me, and that His love sustains me and His grace truly is and always will be enough.

Friends and football

After a weekend of Rockin' the Universe with a group of girlfriends from college, I was kind of sad to go back to the regular grind this past Monday. I looked forward all week to a lunch date with a sweet college friend on Friday. We spent the day chasing after her wild puppy and taking him to Panera with us as we both got broccoli cheddar soup and had some much-needed catch up time. Surprise chats with a few other friends brightened the week and Saturday's Gator victory over the Tennessee Vols made my heart happy.

Having graduated just a few months ago, I live with my parents now and the sting of faraway friendships is felt so much more. I miss the college days with their relative ease of seeing friends--meeting at Chick-fil-a on the weekdays and going out on the weekends. I get e-mails from Redbox often and they make me miss all the movie nights of those days. But I know this is just a step in the journey and I cherish the alone time I have to pursue things I never had time for before, like this blog. And those chats, phone calls, Facebook posts, Skype dates and real life get-togethers are such blessings.

I know I wouldn't be where I am today without the guidance, love and support of so many people in my life.

And so, in honor of friendship, I will link to this song which is from my favorite childhood show, Saved by the Bell. :)

The beginning

Welcome to my first post. The inspiration for this blog came from an exercise a friend told me she learned on a church retreat. She was asked to take a walk outside and find three treasures that reminded her of God. The items could be anything--big or small--that evoked joy, led to a memory, or triggered her faith.

I think we lose sight of the beauty in simplicity and the majesty of the everyday things. Like a sort of gratitude journal, I hope to jot down treasures of the day on this blog. My wish is that this becomes a sort of trove for me--to remind me of the many blessings that inhabit my days.

I hope you find this blog to be a respite from stressful days and a place to find some light to shed on your own set of treasures.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." -Matt 6:19-21