happy new year!

Goodbye 2013, you were oh so good to our family! And, helllllllllo 2014!

{Feel free to click on and print the picture for a little festive decoration.}

this and that

Hello. Sorry I've been MIA recently. I'm going to probably continue to be until after this wonderful holiday season. In case you're looking for some fun things to read, here are a few fun things I thought I'd pass along:

RECIPES:

Apple Sauce Bundt Cake: oh.my.goodness. we made this for the very first time last Tuesday and it didn't even make it to the weekend. it's amazing! make it.

Sausage, Potato, and Kale Soup: winter is the only time we really indulge in creamy soups, and this one was very much worth it! whip it up the next rainy afternoon with some french bread, i promise it'll warm you right up. hey, at least it has kale.

LAST MINUTE PRESENTS:

Best of my Days cards: all you need is a printer and some scissors. looking for something small for your home group girls? these cards are set up for us to remember each day that God is a good gift giver.

INTERESTING READS:

An Interview with an Adult Adoptee: we are hoping and praying that adoption is the next step for our family. this interview is a reminder to see adoption from the adoptee's perspective, remembering their birth family will always be significant in their lives. 

When White Parents have "The Talk" with Black Sons: if the Lord places a little black boy in our home, it will break my heart to have to have this conversation.

A Concerned Mother's Letter to Teenage Girls: an interesting read on how one mama approaches social media with teenage boys.

The Duck Dynasty Thing: Is There Another Way?: Jen Hatmaker's approach to the heated duck dynasty debate. my favorite line: "The sterile public sphere outside of the protective confines of relationships is not a safe place for such weighty discussions, and we should not add to the pile of condescending, degrading comments about real human people."

VIDEOS:

I dare you to watch this without smiling.

a new mug

On one of my gotta-get-outta-the-house-or-we-will-all-go-crazy kinda days, I came across this fantastic halloween mug in the Target dollar bin. It is orange and black striped, and a really wacky shape. Here's a pic from my insta:

Doesn't that just "scream" Halloween?

I drink from a mug a lot. I mean, a lot a lot. At least one giant cup of coffee in the morning, sometimes a tea in the afternoon, and in the winter I often have a hot cocoa at night. I put these things to work. Anyway, if I learned anything from this Target store discovery, it's that I need a mug for the holidays.

I know I'll probably get in trouble for talking about Christmas before Thanksgiving, but you're going to need to order one of these before Thanksgiving in order to use it the next morning. So, for your sake and mine here are a few of my favorites. 

While recovering from my Thanksgiving-turkey hangover, I'm looking forward to putting some strong coffee in my new mug, turning on the new Folk Angel, and curling up in my favorite sweater-blanket. 

In this list, there are mugs with the classic Christmas gold, a mug for charity (to remind me of the reason for the season), bright Christmas-light-esque colors, obvious reindeers, a white mug that reminds me of a warm sweater, and a couple of good-ol' red and white ones. 

Now if I could only choose one...

1. anthropologie

2. west elm charity mug for teach for america

3. williams-sonoma

4. target

5. sur la table

6. starbucks

7. luna lighting, or a diy version

8. west elm 

9. caroline creates

{DIY} framed music sheets

Last June M and I finally started the process of re-doing our master bath. We live in a house that was build in the 1950s, we bought it from the original owner's children (after they passed), and nothing had been updated when we moved in 5 years ago. Before we moved in, we did a couple of little remodel things like painting the paneling and kitchen cabinets, new appliances and backsplash, and--oh yeah--knocking a big hole in the wall between the kitchen and living room. All of that we did ourselves. Since then we've remodeled the already-converted garage from a workroom/MIL-suite to a giant game room, painted more unfortunate colored wood, taken down wallpaper, and re-tiled after a slab leak.

I am far from an interior decorator, but I love reading DIY home make over blogs and seeing transformed rooms! So, when M finally gave me the go-ahead to set up a contractor for dark, dingy, moldy bathroom, I nearly burst into tears with excitement! I made an olio-type board on photoshop, sent it to the contractor (who by-the-way thinks I'm crazy), and a 3-month long (supposed to be 3-week long) project came to life. I was in love. 

Then I got the itch to re-do other rooms. I don't have a giant budget, or even mediocre sized one. Really, it's just whatever I can skim off the monthly budget before I get in trouble for spending too much. That hasn't happened yet, so I guess I'm still going strong. :)

I started with our bedroom, since it was right off of the master bath. I taught myself how to do drywall repairs and texturing to fix our million cracks, re-caulked some of the baseboards and windowsill since they were cracking, painted the yellowing trim, and then got super bold and painted the whole room navy. Ha! My sweet husband, who generally doesn't have strong opinions, just said, "Whatever you want, honey." Hahaha. Still makes me laugh.

So, after all of that, my spending is becoming a little more noticeable and I was really wanting something new above our bed. I found this on pinterest, and LOVED it. Then I decided I wanted something bigger above our giant king-sized bed, like this. So, I decided to combine them. Instead of using our wedding song, our music sheets are for "How Great Thou Art", a song we sung at our wedding. Here they are (sorry about the crummy iPhone pictures):

I pretty much love them! In case you like it, and want to do something similar, here's how I made it:

Supplies:

3 16x20 poster frames from Target

1 can of Valspar metallic spray paint in bronze from Lowe's

3-5 white poster boards (depending on if you mess up 2 like I did)

ruler

pencil

exacto knife

sheet music

tape

First, I spray painted the frames with 2 coats of paint outdoors.

While, the paint is drying, you can cut the poster board for the "mat". First cut the poster board down to the 16x20 size. Line up your ruler, or yard stick, on the inside of where you want to cut and use that as a guide for your exacto knife. Then comes the harder part, and here's an example:

Find the middle of the 16x20 poster board, and draw a rectangle for an 8x10 opening. When you place your ruler, be sure to put it on the outside of this square. That way, if you stray a bit, it's easier to fix.

My sheet music was a little smaller than 8x10, so I scanned it, blew it up in photoshop, and erased the words. Then I printed on white 60lb card stock. 

To "age" it a bit, I painted it with a tea bag to get the gold-ish color. You can see in this close-up that the ink smeared a bit and the paper is a little wrinkled. I liked it that way.

I really love them, the only think I might have done differently is invested in nicer frames. Since this just a poster frame, the plastic reflects light a lot more. A real glass would have less of a glare.

All in all, this project was about $28 ($5.99 per frame, $5.98 for the spray paint, $2 for the sheet music, and $4 for the 8 pack of poster board). I'd say they look pretty darn good for that price!

{Biblical Truths} mentioning the unmentionables: PORN

I don't know what it is, but there are some sins that the Church has trouble talking about. It's like somehow these sins are more severe than the others, and just mentioning them will cause us all to stumble. Please. The first problem with that is the gospel, there is no sin more powerful than Jesus (he showed that by raising from the dead after taking on our wrongs). The second problem with that is us, we make excuses about not mentioning the unmentionables because then we'll have to confess stuff we want hidden. 

These unmentionables take root in the lives of believers and because no one is talking about them, they just stay in hiding. People, or couples, or families, try to deal with it all on their own while trying to put on a mask to make others think they've got it all together. And, since no one mentions these things, there's never opportunity to bring it up and they don't want to be the awkward ones so they keep on silently struggling. Even more, people suffering think they must be the only ones, that they are somehow more dirty than the rest of us and if other believers really knew what was going on, they'd be shunned. If your community shuns you after confession, please hear me: you are in the wrong place. Suffering, or struggling, with sin is not to be done alone. We are all struggling in one way or another. We're not meant to struggle alone, but together. In biblical community, after a confession, you will be prayed for and loved, and the community will help lead you back to Jesus. But biblical community is another post entirely...

These unmentionables have power over people because they are not mentioned. So, let's bring one one to light now, shall we? This one has probably come up at least a dozen times in the last year among families that we live our lives with: PORNOGRAPHY

I recently read this post from the blog We are THAT Family. She sited some statistics when talking about divorce, and I thought the following were utterly ridiculous: 

75% 

of men surveyed think it's okay to visit an adult website

54% 

of men do no believe that online affairs are adultery

30% 

of cyber affairs escalate from e-mail to telephone calls to personal contact

1/3 

of divorce litigation is cause by online affairs

Ridiculous, right? That first 75%, the ones that think it's ok to visit an adult website, just boggles my mind. I'm pretty sure they don't honestly think that it's ok, it's more what they tell themselves so they don't have feel bad about what they're already doing. 

If those statistics aren't enough to prove it's not ok to visit an adult website, based on what it does to marriages and divorce rates, lets talk about some other reasons:

- Speak to a wife whose husband has confessed this and let her tell you how it affects her self-image, her marriage, her view of sex, or opinion of her husband.

 - Consider the people on these adult websites, there is absolutely no concern for their souls. On these sites, they are merely a means to an end without any concern for what might have happened in their lives to get them to that point. And, let's be honest, the only reason the people on these sites are better than your spouse is because they don't know you. If they knew your weaknesses and struggles, like your spouse does you wouldn't find it as nearly as satisfying.

This is not a one-sided problem. Women can very much struggle with the same thing. Don't let the unmentionable become the fact that this is not only a struggle only for men but sometimes women too. (I've only talked as if the man is doing these things for simplicity's sake.)

Now that we have established porn is bad and porn is a struggle--both for men and women--let's talk about how we can help each other through this struggle.

To the one struggling with interacting with pornography:

- CONFESS, confess, confess, and confess again. Tell people in the community you trust that you look at it or want to look at it. The reason this sin is so pervasive is because no one talks about it. Already done this? Do it again. Every time it is something you wrestle with, have someone that you tell. In biblical community, confession should be a common thing, without any judgement. 

- Repent. When M & I used to teach the 1st graders at church what repentance was, we were told to teach it as a 2 step process: 1. turning away from whatever bad thing you are doing and 2. running toward Jesus instead. Don't take the sin lightly. It is not only a sin against your spouse (or future spouse), but a sin against God himself. That should be a heavy and weighty thing. Confession is good, turning from it is good, but what makes it even better is running toward Jesus. Realize what it cost God to forgive you of your sin, and rest in the fact that you are completely forgiven and even adopted into his family in spite of your wrongs. Let that be a freeing truth, whatever the sin may be, don't be enslaved to it.

- Get to the heart. I promise you, simply looking at porn is not the entire problem. There's more to it--figure out what that is. Are you going to porn for relief because you're stressed? I'd bet it might provide relief for a bit, but an hour later you're stressed again. Figure out what's causing the stress, what your sin is in that stress, what does scripture say about what is stressing you, and what practical steps can be taken to ease it. Pray about those things. Are you going to porn because you're having trouble with your spouse? It's probably because your spouse knows your weaknesses and this imaginary internet person you've made up doesn't. If you're frustrated with your spouse, ask yourself if you're pursuing her/him the way you should be, or are you just angry at him/her for doing exactly what you're doing. Talk to your spouse, seek marriage counseling, pray and ask the Lord to mend you. 

And finally, and most dear to my heart, to the spouses of people struggling with this sin:

- I am so sorry, I know it is heartbreaking. Don't start believing the lies that so easily come after finding this out. This is not a reflection of your beauty. Don't let the evil one's hold continue in this any further by letting him tell you that it means you are inadequate. It simply isn't true. This is a sin between your spouse and God, it is not a reflection of you.

- I promise there is redemption in this. Let's begin by thanking the Lord for his grace in bringing your spouse's struggle to light. It is better that you fight this together than not fight it at all. There is sweetness in healing this wound once it's opened, I promise. It's not an overnight healing, but it's worth the fight.

- You don't need to know the details. It's not going to be helpful to you to know the whens and hows and whats and whys. General confession is good. If it's your husband struggling, make sure he's in a community with guys where he can confess the details. Let the guys hold him accountable to the whens and wheres. Details should be for his community of guys (not to be shared with other wives), and could be more harmful for you.

- Mourn the sin, it's ok for it to hurt, but also help your husband fight it. Just like with any other sin, we want to come along side him and find ways we can encourage him toward Jesus. Jesus forgave you, so you know what forgiveness looks like, let's learn to extend it towards our husbands. This will be something we have to fight for, and only Jesus can show us how. 

- While we help our husbands fight, let's find practical things we can do: do things together rather than leave him home alone, plan to leave the computer in the car instead of bring it into the home when he will be alone, try to help him avoid times when he is tempted, and most importantly discuss together what you can do to make sure he is comfortable confessing these things to you when it happens again. 

- Though we wish after a confession struggles would magically disappear, the reality is that they rarely do. This fight will most likely occur more than once. Keep forgiving, keep encouraging, keep seeking wisdom in scripture and community, keep putting in practical steps to avoid it, and keep praising Jesus for his grace in a conviction that leads to repentance.

Don't let the unmentionables destroy you or your marriage. They lose all power when confessed and fought against. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee." {James 4:7} In repentance you'll find Jesus. It'll be messy and painful, but the freedom found in reconciliation and living out an other-worldly forgiveness will be some of the richest joys you've ever tasted. It's worth the fight.

our thankful tree

I will praise the name of God with song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. {Psalm 69:30}

In preparation for Thanksgiving, our family started a new little tradition this year. I first got the idea from this post from my favorite blog, Jones Design Company. The idea is every night at dinner we talk about what we are thankful for from that day. Her kids a older than mine, and they filled them out on their own. Their child-like handwriting makes the tree even more precious. 

Since our oldest is 3, we first talk about what being thankful means. We talk about how Jesus is in charge of everything and how all good things come from him. Just like H got presents for his birthday from his friends, Jesus gives him little presents every day. We then ask him what he's thankful for, we say, "Jesus, thank you for...." and he fills in the blank. H goes first, then mommy and daddy take their turns. It's so sweet hearing what he's thankful for and intentionally looking for the good gifts from our day. Even at the end of the day when we're exhausted and still have dinner, clean up, baths, and bedtime to go, or on days when were just hard, we take a second to unwind and remember how God is still a good gift-giver. 

Here are a few of the cards on the tree. It's only been 8 days so far. I'm looking forward to getting closer to Thanksgiving and seeing this baby packed to the max!

Interested in making your own tree? Head over this post for the cards on my tree. Or, take a look at this post for lots of new options!! I totally would've used the confetti ones if I had seen them before I started with the old ones.

Other materials used to make the tree:

branches collected from outside (H helped me with this part!)

a vase

jute rope - to group the branches together

pinecones - to keep the branches standing up

bakers twine - to attach the cards

How do you teach your children to be thankful?

all things new

As you already know, I opened the Etsy shop yesterday and it was just looking a little too plain jane to me. I wanted to add a little color to a print. So, naturally, I spent the day ignoring my children and allowing my husband to enjoy them on his last day off for the weekend. I toyed with painting with watercolor and getting it pretty for a print. It was fun, but there are some things I will definitely do differently next time.

It's no secret that something that gets me really excited is the idea of God restoring what is broken to something new. To souls: God takes people in soul-crushing, I-can't-breathe sort of impossibly difficult situations and gives them hope. To lives: God takes people who have caused great harm, or awful things have been done to them and shows them there's still joy to be had. To sickness and disease: God comforts us by telling us this is only temporary, one day sickness will be no more. In good times: God promises even the good is merely a tiny glimpse at the shadow of how things were created to be. Even in creation, God says that what we see now is fractured, that the mountains and trees will be even worship their creator. Until the day all of these things are completed, he's allowing us a vision for how he's pushing back what is dark to reveal more joys. Sometimes this vision is as subtle as being reminded that the good parts of your day are a gift from a good Gift Giver. Other times this vision is more obvious when we get to see believers walk in an unwavering hope when things around them seem to be crashing down. 

Being a believer doesn't mean that all of a sudden everything is happy and easy. It does mean even when it's not happy and easy, you have this deep-rooted, nothing-can-take-this-away-from-me kind of joy in the knowledge that God is still good and he is still actively involved in our lives.

There's a song we sing from David Brymer that we sing often at church called "Restoration". I can't help but completely lose it during these lyrics thinking of specific people or situations that show how God is actively restoring what is broken to something better. Our God is good. 

You bring restoration

You bring restoration

You bring restoration

to my soul

You've taken my pain

called me by a new name

You've taken my shame

and in it's place, You give me joy

You take mourning and turn it into dancing

You take weeping and turn it into laughing

You take mourning and turn it into dancing

You take my sadness and turn it into joy

hallelujah, hallelujah

You make all things new

All. Things. All things. All things are made new. It's one of those things that I think 2 Corinthians is talking about when it says, "But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed." If someone doesn't know Jesus, there's this veil keeping them from seeing how the Lord is restoring and when it's lifted you can't help but sing "HALLELUJAH! You make all things new!!!" 

It's like telling someone that doesn't see color that grass is green then trying to explain it to them. You can compare it to other things, explain how you see it, even give scientific explanations as to how the light bounces off something to make it look green, but that person has no idea what you're talking about because he's never seen the color. I am just so thankful I have this God-given vision.

Anyway, I digress. I warned you: It's something I get really excited about. Back to the start, I started doodling this picture a couple of weeks ago, and thought it would be a perfect one to test out my mad elementary-school-level coloring skills. It's a little messy and far from perfect, but I like it that way. The imperfections make it fit even more with the quote. This one is about to be added to my makeup desk.

I love it. If you want it too, you can find it here. 

HAPPY MONDAY!!

Question of the day: What helps you see that the Lord is making all. things. new.??

A

i'm on etsy

Whelp, I did it. Etsy shop is up and active! Head over to BreadEater on the etsy shop:

www.etsy.com/shop/breadeater

For now there are a few digital downloads for printing, a custom listing for a verse/quote/art of your choosing. Coming soon: art with color, custom silhouettes/profiles.

This is fun!.... and a little scary. {Eeeeeek.}

"ha-wo-ween is coming!!"

That's what my 3-year old keeps saying, "Ha-wo-ween is coming, mommy!" Nearly every morning he asks me if it's "Ha-wo-ween" yet. He's can't wait to dress up as Buzz Lightyear, for D to be Woody, and mommy and daddy to be potato heads. Ha! "All these things, mommy! Dress up all together and get candy!" 

I guess that about sums it up.

Halloween is probably my least favorite holiday, not far behind Valentine's, but I am a sucker for any excuse to do fun things with my family. Halloween isn't a free pass to celebrate death (what is this zombie thing?? I really don't get it) or scare the stink out of the little people, but it is fun to dress up goofy, play pretend, visit with neighbors, do silly things with pumpkins, and eat as much sugar as your tummy will allow. 

So, with this weekend being the last one before the big night, I thought I'd share some ideas to get in the Halloween-mood with your little ones:

put on a costume and have a picnic at the park

get outdoors! this is the best season of the year, and it's beautiful outside. who says you have to wait until halloween to play dress up. the little ones love it, and they love it even more when someone else will play along with them. pick up some candy corn, a pirate patch, and enjoy the cooler air!

make a costume

speaking of costumes, if you don't have one , you could make them together this weekend. in this great age of pinterest, we don't even have to be creative to come up with something. just search on pinterest for "homemade halloween costumes" and you'll find all sorts of ideas, see here, and here, and here, and here, and here. now you don't even have to search!

visit a pumpkin patch

here are some toddler-friendly patches we enjoy in the Dallas area: Dallas Arboretum, Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch, The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm 

go to the zoo

most have some sort of halloween-related activities, I'm taking the little men to the Fort Worth Zoo with my parents this weekend

decorate a pumpkin

decoupage with tissue paper (we all remember how well ours went), carve it, paint it, whatever your little heart desires to give that fruit some personality! better yet, invite neighbors over and do it together.

build a fort with your kids and play pretend

put that eye patch back on, build the biggest fort you can make, and pretend like you're captain hook trying to find peter pan and tinker bell. or, put on that plastic tiara you still haven't thrown away and pretend the fort is your castle for a tea party or protection from the big bad dragon that's trying to take it down. this is the best part of halloween--using your imagination!

Anything I missed on my list? What other fun things will you do this weekend to get ready for Ha-wo-ween?

via

pinterest fail: decoupage pumpkins

So I came across these pumpkins one morning while browsing The Inspired Room blog. 

I thought they were super cute, but didn't really think of them again until I was talking to a couple of moms about a play date. One mom mentioned wanting to decorate pumpkins with her kiddo, and I thought what a great, fun little project! The kids can hunt for leaves (which they do anyway), paint on some Mod Podge (which I know they're capable of doing because I get all kinds of crafts back from school), stick a leaf on (or more if they're in a patient mood), hit it until it's on there well enough (which what toddler doesn't like hitting something!), add some more Mod Podge, and it'd be good to go. Simple, easy, the kids will enjoy it, and they're pretty. I figured it'd be something easy enough to keep the kids' attention, and might even turn out presentable enough to put out in the house. 

These decoupage pumpkins are not only in a magazine, but there are plenty more floating around the pinterest universe. How could this not go well?

via 

See.... they're everywhere. Don't I have the best ideas?

The answer: not so much. Here's how it turned out:

Pinterest {miserable!} fail. Maybe I should have actually read the Country Living blog post, instead of just admired the pretty pictures. Then I might have learned that they used pressed leaves. {oops}

Luckily the other moms came doubting the success of the leaves and came with back up plans: stickers, paint, tissue paper (which worked really well!), washi tape, and eye patches--which was the most obvious answer, every pumpkin needs an eye patch.

The final result: 

Needless to say, it won't be going on the mantle anytime soon. This one is special and just for H's room!

For any of you looking to do some pumpkin decorating with your kids, try Mod Podge with tissue paper. It really is pretty (and the pinterest pictures prove it)! 

busyness

You laugh, but it's kinda scary how realistic that cartoon is!

I think it's a mom thing. Or maybe it's just a general life thing. I am always busy. Always. I like it that way, though. Being busy keeps me from being lazy, and as crazy as it sounds, having a million things to do energizes me. Confession: I was that kid in high school, involved in everything under the sun. It seems that "OA"-personality (as my health teacher called me... an over achiever, I think she meant for it to be negative, jokes on her!) has transitioned into mom-hood. I don't get involved in things because I feel some nagging pressure, or to impress others, I just genuinely enjoy it. I love being around people. When I really started understanding the gospel, the thing that got me was the idea that life isn't about me. When it's less about me, living is less stressful, it's freeing.

I don't think I'm alone in this busyness thing. I think it's common to feel like the normal is when you're going 90-to-nothin' 24-7, and sometimes you feel like you squeezed an extra few hours into your day. Hopefully we enjoy what we're doing--at least most of the time. Working isn't a bad thing, Adam and Eve were told to work before bad things ever came into the picture. And, what God made was good. 

In our busyness, though, it's easy to get carried away with our to-dos and forget to worship. The spiritual disciplines (prayer, scripture reading, meditating, fasting, etc) are all good things, but let's be real: we don't have 8 hours a day to commit to these things. I'm lucky if I get 30 semi-quiet minutes. I can promise you, they never look like this: 

Ha! As if. (It's usually more like the first picture, just with a bible in my hand instead of a phone.) While we still fight to have any sort of precious time, it's good to find little things that also stir our affections for the Lord and to do them often.

At home group last night, just the girls met and we talked about a few things apart from the traditional disciplines that make us thank God for being a good God that gives good gifts. Here are a few:

music

any: christian, pop, rock, folk, whatever floats your boat. for me, it's good music that makes you dance. i dare any one of you to listen to red hot chili pepper's hump de bump as loud as your speakers will let you and not dance around to that mad-awesome electric guitar

people

this one is my #1. i love people, all kinds. the more amounts of different people who can come together and enjoy each other the better. in college, i'd walk around campus and enjoy how creative our God is to make so many uniquely wired, beautiful souls. diversity stirs my affections like no other.

being creative

doing whatever it is you love to do to feel creative, free from distractions. this was one of my favorites from last night. just make something pretty, it doesn't have to be perfect, turn off the tv and radio and just let your mind wonder.

running

i didn't resonate with this one as much, but for so many people just getting outdoors in fresh air and wondering whether you are going to survive the next block really stirs their affections. i don't get it, but it definitely is a thing.

a deep breath in cold air

i love this, it's so simple. just breathing and enjoying the change of seasons reminds us that God is a good gift-giver.

nature

in Dallas this one is a little more difficult to find in our concrete jungle, but going outdoors and seeing pretty things that our good creator created for us to enjoy. and, to think, this creation we know is not how it was created and will be even greater one day. that blows my mind when you look at something like this:

beautiful.

What about you? What little things remind you God is good? 

bread for the eater

Come, everyone who thirsts,
   come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
   and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
   and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
   hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
   my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
   a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
   and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the LORD your God and the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has glorified you.

Seek the LORD while he may be found;
   call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
   and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
   and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
   and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy
   and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
   shall break forth into singing,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
   instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the LORD,
   and everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

{Isaiah 55}

Isn't that the most beautiful thing you've ever read?!? I love it. Everything about it.

When scripture has "LORD" in all caps, it references the Old Testament reference to YHWY, or "Yahweh", which is a name for God the Hebrews used to enunciate his you-can-never-touch-this holiness. These verses tell of the LORD having compassion on the wicked, satisfying the thirsty and hungry with the richest of food when they came with nothing to offer, claiming his people for himself and making promises of delight, welcoming strangers who run to his people because these strangers see God and want him, recognizing that some things we won't understand or fully know because his thoughts are higher than ours, and maybe one of my favorite illustrations of the redeemed creation of the mountains and hills bursting into song and the trees clapping their hands in praise of their creator. (Can we say run-on sentence? Warning: that happens a lot when I get excited.) All of these rich truths, and it's written like a beautiful poem.

I just love it. All of it. I feel like I could just post Isaiah 55, conclude this post and each of you would leave this blog more in love with Jesus. Instead, I started this post to explain why I named the blog what I did, so I will.

When I first fell in love with this chapter, it was in the NIV which phrases it a little bit differently, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (v 10-11)

God's word makes life flourish, and in this poem the picture is for a sower and a bread eater. I don't sow, and am finding I'm also not-so-good at sewing. I do, however, eat bread frequently. I make food daily for all 3 of my men, I enjoy cooking,  I like making meals for friends to help them out in small ways during busy or hard days, and I absolutely love gathering around a giant table with friends for a meal. I can identify with the bread eater in this poem.

I titled the blog "Bread for the Eater" from Isaiah 55, my favorite chapter in scripture. It's used to convey how the Lord's words are not empty. Hopefully this blog shows tiny little pictures of how his word is satisfying because it reveals the intimately personal, abundantly giving, compassionate, and praiseworthy Yahweh.

a new favorite necklace

Do you ever find something spectacular online and literally have dreams about it? Maybe that's just me, I might be a bit obsessive at times--or maybe it's just stubbornness, I'm not sure. Either way, whether or not I can stop thinking about something is my gauge for whether I really like it, like really really like it a lot alot, or if I just think it's pretty. For instance, these TOMS wedges have not left my mind since the day I saw them online and they will be a part of my fall wardrobe.

Mark. My. Words. They are mine. I've already decided they're going to be a birthday present, now M and my parents will just have decide which one is getting them for me. It's happening. (See... stubborn.)

For a lot of what I see online I have to fight a compulsive urge to buy it right then. I may put it in my digital cart, but it never leaves cyberspace to come into my home until I've given it some thought.

Besides those glorious shoes, I've also been giving some an obsessive amount of thought to this necklace. It's now on my need must have would really like list.

Not only is it simple, beautiful and reasonably priced (three of my requirements for a jewelry purchase), but I love the symbolism behind this necklace. It's a Lisa Leonard Design necklace and it's called the "Heart Made Whole".  A heart needing to be made "whole" infers it wasn't whole before. If you haven't read her blog before, you should. Lisa talks often about the idea of finding beauty in brokenness, which one of my favorite biblical truths: God is actively restoring what is broken to something new.

So this necklace will be added to my birthday, or Christmas list, either way this also will. be. mine. Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

What's on your "I really really want" list? Tell me.... Or, maybe not. Not sure I need to add to mine.

loving my boys and a printable!

So I'm a stay at home mom of two boys: H who is 3 years old and D who will be one at the end of November. Some days staying at home with them is just like what most people (who are not a stay at home moms) imagine what it is like: we smile and laugh, do fun things, make cute crafts, take perfect instagram pictures, and say please and thank you while frolicking through a field of flowers and honey bees that don't sting while holding hands and laughing. During these days showing my kids how much I love them is easy-peasy.

More often than not, that's not how my days go. My wardrobe is mostly from Old Navy and Target because by the end of the day (even if I'm lucky and have showered within the last 3 days) I end up with a stretched out shirt with stains from dirty little boy hands, or the common bodily fluid mishap of a baby. (Why spend more than $10 on a shirt, am I right?) Kids scream when they don't get their way, and they have a very specific radar that chooses exactly what you don't want to do at that moment. Kids don't eat what you make, and if they do it usually ends up all over the floor and their freshly laundered clothes, which leads to the most dreaded chore of all--laundry. Kids cry a lot when they're tired and this side of glory I don't think I'll ever understand why they put up so much of a fight when someone offers dark, quiet room with a big fluffy bed and white noise right when you get into that afternoon lull. M travels about 10 nights a month so there are weeks when these things happen days on end without a break and without a conversation with a person older than 3. Kids are crazy. They are hard. During these days showing my kids how much I love them is a lot more difficult--not because I love them less, but because mama. is. tired.

I have this little phrase I use to remind my boys how much I love them. H is forced to repeat it every night after his prayers, and after every time he's disciplined. I say it to D when he's a bit whiney, and it makes him smile, probably because he thinks a tickle is coming next. I knew I needed some phrase to remind them, and myself, how much I really do love them--when things are easy peasy and when we're all a little worn out. I also want to teach my boys in a way that it's easy to transition truths mom and dad teach to truths scripture teaches. Then I thought of these verses:

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in you inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." {Ephesians 3:14-19}

I want my boys to know the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ. Right now, they can hear and see and understand who mama is and how much I love them. So, my phrase for my boys is, "I love you as high as the sky, and as wide as the mountains, and as deep as the ocean." One day I hope they'll understand God's love for them is infinitely bigger!

So here's a simple 8x10 print I made for their room to remind all of us, and I thought I'd pass it along to you guys. I'll be printing it and putting it in one of these pretty frames. Enjoy!

Do you have any special phrases you share with your little ones?