Tag: Creation

Finding Beauty in the Routine

Published on by BrandiLeave a comment

This season of my life is extremely structured. I have class Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I listen to the news on the way to class. Tuesdays and Thursdays I take care of my best friend’s dog. Tuesdays I spend most of the day with my fiancé. Thursdays I run errands and go to the gym. I babysit Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. I work on Fridays. I go to church on Sundays. It feels like most every moment of my day is scheduled out (you should see my planner).

But the thing is, I’ve come to find beauty in this routine of mine. One of my favorite quotes is, “Today is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before.” – Maya Angelou

No matter how routine, how scheduled, how structured my days are, each is a brand new experience, a new adventure.

For example, sunrises and early mornings and sunsets and late nights are some of my favorite times. The beauty of the sky never ceases to amaze me, never ceases to take my breath. And every day is different!


I got to marvel at the Lord’s beautiful creation this morning, and it’s so beautiful and so different than yesterday, and so different than tomorrow will be. God has shown me how to find His beauty in every day things.

Every day is different no matter how similar they seem. I know that not every season of my life will be this scheduled, but for this season, I’m finding beauty in the routine.

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A Few Thoughts on Isaiah 44

Published on by Brandi1 Comment

Hi, guys, I just wanted to share some thoughts I had while reading Isaiah chapter 44 the other day.

There were three things right off the bat in verse 2:

“The Eternal who made you, who formed you in the womb and promised to help you has this to say: ‘Don’t be afraid, My servant Jacob, My dear Jeshurun – My chosen.'” (VOICE)

  1. God formed us, He created us, He designed us.  We are not random, we are not unplanned.
  2. God promises to help us.  We do not have to go through this life by ourselves with our own strength, God is with us.
  3. God tells us not to be afraid.  It’s like numbers one and two lead into three: God created us and promises to help us; therefore, do not be afraid.  We were created by a loving God, a God who has a plan for us and who plans on helping us live out that plan, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Something else I noticed throughout Isaiah, when Isaiah is announcing what God has to say, he doesn’t just say “Hey, guys, God says.”  God is introduced as “The Eternal, Commander of the heavenly armies, King of Israel, who paid their ransom (verse 6),” or “The Eternal, your rescuing hero who formed you before birth (verse 24).”  These things are important because we are given attributes about God that, along with the words He speaks and the way He works in the lives of His people, help us to understand His character.

The Bible is not meant to be read like some book, it’s living Truth that gives us life and gives us deeper insight about the God who saves.  Until next time, lovelies.

 Photo Credit: Priscilla Du Preez

Things I’ve Learned in my First Four Days Back in School

Published on by BrandiLeave a comment

I can’t believe it’s the second semester of my sophomore year of college already, it absolutely blows my mind.  Today was the fourth day of class, and I’ve already taken away a lot – academic and otherwise – so I thought I would share.

1.) I am now a morning person.  I never – in my entire life – thought I would say this.  I love sleep, I love sleeping in, and I’ve always despised waking up early.  I would always wake up at the last possible minute I could to get everything I needed to done before leaving the house.  Anyone who reads my blog regularly knows that Genelle is my best friend, anywho, she is a full-blown believer in The Early Bird Catches the Worm, and I would stay with her and see all that she could accomplish in the morning and how much she actually enjoyed waking up early and yet I still found sleeping thirty extra minutes more appealing. Well, it came the dreaded time to set my alarms for this semester’s classes, and for some reason, I set them earlier than I normally would. I. Love. It. I have time to get ready, drink my coffee, and spend time with God, leading me into my second point.

 

2.) Spending quality time with God – both first thing in the morning and otherwise – is the best thing, like ever.  In the morning I read from whatever book I’m in (currently, Isaiah), I journal while I read it, then I read my morning devotional (currently, Joyce Meyer’s Promises for Your Everyday Life), and then I journal in my normal journal and pray.  I realized yesterday that this takes up nearly half, if not more, of my morning routine, but I also realized how valuable this time is.  I get to get my mind set on Jesus early in the morning before I really do anything else, and best of all, I don’t have to rush.  At night I then read from Psalms or Proverbs (currently, I’m in Psalms), read my nightly devotional (currently, Praise in the Presence of God), and journal again, ending my day the way I began it, with Jesus, and also with reflection of my day.  By starting and ending my day with quality time with God, I’ve shifted priorities and honestly it makes it easier to focus on the right things during the time in between.  But this isn’t something I do to check it off of a checklist, I actually make it a priority to spend quality time with God and with strengthening my faith.  A relationship with God is exactly that – it’s a relationship, not a checklist.

 

3.) Being organized and setting goals is fantastic. College is hard.  It’s true.  There are days when my workload makes me want to cry and eat icecream and never ever ever get out of bed, but then I remember that that’s not much of career. Anywho, Genelle and I were at Wal-Mart getting school supplies and they had a 17×23 inch calendar white board for $7. I couldn’t pass it up! And I’m so glad I didn’t.  It’s great to have everything for the month laid out in front of me, assignments, tests, appointments, babysitting dates, etc.  Also, I decided I need to drink more water, and my goal is at least three bottles a day.  Each day I mark how many bottles I’ve drank on the white board, and boy is that motivation.  Sunday night I was getting ready for bed and realized I had only drank two bottles of water, so I chugged a third – which, honestly, wasn’t the best idea because I had to get out of bed and pee three times before I fell asleep. The point is, being organized and having my goals in front of me makes me a.) stress less and b.) way more motivated to accomplish my goals.

 

4.) In my environmental science class – which we’ve only had one full day of – we’ve talked about how if God created the Earth, shouldn’t we honor it and take care of it? I was really convicted by this.  God did make the Earth, and I believe He did so so we could enjoy it, not destroy it.  Honestly, I had never really thought about this until then, but it’s really convicted me to be more conscious of my decisions (hello, recycling).

 

I’ve learned a lot more than this in my short time back in college, but I wanted to share a few key things from my life, a few lessons I feel God has really laid on my heart.  Until next time, lovelies.

Photo Credit: Eric Rothermel