Crazy Terrain

I'm not in the valley. 

I'm not on the mountain top. 

I'm navigating some crazy terrain.

Unfamiliar terrain; a place I've never been. 

I'm going somewhere different. 

Somewhere new.

A place God knew I'd be one day. 

I'm headed to a place that I've been led to by my deepest prayers. 

Lord, I want to know You. 

Intimately. Passionately. Like I've never known you before.

He said, "Ok."

Had I known where that prayer would take me, there's a slight chance that I would not have prayed it. 

That's me talking while getting cut up & bruised on this rocky, unfamiliar terrain. 

But, I've been made privy to a glimpse of the destination!

Even so, I trust the One who's guiding me.

Therefore, although this part of the journey is tougher than I could have ever imagined, I would pray that prayer again in a heartbeat.

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:12-21

Lovely

This is February's track. It's March. Things happen, but we keep running the race! Enjoy.

Oh My!

There is SO much going on. Between home, work and everything else, my head would spin off if God didn't provide grace to keep it on! For real.

In the midst of life, here is the 2nd trailer for By God's Grace, a project that will produce a song each month and at the end of the year - you have a whole album!

Download available 2.28.14 on pazzion.bandcamp.com

(if you haven't already, check out "I'm Free (Stomp Mix)")

Confession

I have been leaning on my own understanding.

But God's Word tells me to:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

Another version puts it this way:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. NLT

If I truly trust in the Lord with all, not some, but all of my heart, I can lean on Him and His Word. My understanding of difficult situations is faulty. My attempts to fix difficult situations are often incorrect.

I'm the ant who sees the blades of grass as the tall forest with no end; He's the Creator who sees the exact path to get me out of the forest and back into the open air.

Seeking God with every step is the key. I should not make any moves without Him. Being in His presence daily, with thanksgiving, and letting Him know my issues, my requests, my thoughts - this is how He can guide me through the difficult times.

That is how He will guide you through difficult times...and good times, too! 

Never Ever, Taylor?

Our girls burst out in song a lot. 99% of those songs praise our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that delights my heart! One chorus that they like to belt out, and is a part of that 1%, is from Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." (Ha, I know.)

If you haven't heard it, the chorus lyrics are:

We are never ever ever getting back together
We are never ever ever getting back together
You go talk to your friends talk
To my friends talk to me
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together
(You gotta hear her sing it)

I was doing Laila's hair while her and Jae loudly sang those words and a thought hit me. I jokingly said to my Sweet♥, "I'm glad Taylor Swift is not God!" We laughed, stopped, and then laughed again.

It's true, though. I'm sure Taylor had a good reason for coming up with those lyrics and that's cool. Our Father in heaven is just so gracious, so generously lavishing us with his unconditional love that no matter what we do, He'd never sing that to us.

In fact, His love song says that nothing can separate us from His love and this is a result of the sacrifice of His son, Jesus.  (Romans 8)

If you think or feel like you and God can never get back together, that thought or feeling is not accurate. God is hoping that you will run to Him. His arms are wide open - waiting for you.

12 Months Accomplished

In a post a while back - I couldn't find it, but I know it's there, lol - I said that I want to get the "12 Months in a Row" badge from my Nike Plus app.

I did it!

April 2012 is where it all started. So now, I am 2 months past that. I haven't ran in July yet, but I'm not going to let my streak go. This time next year (or actually a couple months sooner than a year), I hope to post about my "24 Months in a Row" badge!

Keep Moving! (If I can do it, so can you - if you want to  )

2 Weeks

I'm starting to get nervous. 
2 weeks to go (really 1 week & 2 days).

My worse nightmare is that I'll have to go to the bathroom like right before I start running.

Second, my right knee has been acting "eh" on my long runs.
When these thoughts arise, I focus on the end of the race. This time in 2 weeks, I will have finished.


This week I want to share how lovely it is when I see other runners - especially on my long runs. It makes me move a little quicker and a little more gracefully. And I'm always ready to encourage with a smile, a nod, a "hey" and sometimes all three!

Isn't that the walk of a believer? (Or should I say the race of a believer.)
It's encouraging when you see - or find - other believers in your midst. It makes you smile, it makes you stand a little taller, it comforts you. It's mutually encouraging. Most likely, the farewell ends with a "God Bless You!" Those are great interactions.

On a random note: I wanted to share a great pic that my son's friend's mom snapped for us at the end of their lacrosse game. We rarely get pix of our entire family so this pic truly blesses me every time I see it. & my mom hopped in, too!

My Sweetheart, Me, my Mom, Kaelin, Laila, Immanuel and Jaelie

You Gotta Hear This

Y'all know Jimmy & Karen are my peoples! Ha, ha...

Well, maybe you didn't, but know you do. I listened to this podcast the other day & it has stayed on my mind. I wanted to share because this is great stuff to be aware of. 

Although married people are the main demographic, this message is for any woman or man who wants to communicate with a future spouse or the opposite sex in general, which will probably happen daily. 

Positive Communication | Marriage Today | Jimmy Evans from MarriageToday on Vimeo.

Jimmy Evans discusses common problems spouses have when communicating with each other and practical skills for achieving successful communication in marriage.

Chapters

A new chapter.

That little phrase says big things. That's currently what I'm experiencing. I'm sure you have experienced it many times throughout your life. It's inevitable, really. 

Manny, Kaelin, Laila & Jaelie. They are growing fast.

Our chapters create a unique book. We've read the books of Job, Ruth, Daniel and others.
Well, someone is reading the book of YOU!
The bible is filled with regular people living their lives, believing in an awesome God and allowing Him to use them in His plan. 

That's you - a regular person living your life, believing in an awesome God and allowing Him to use you in His plan! It's me, too. 

And that is the essence of this blog - Virtuous Journey. A place where those chapters can be shared.

At this point in my book, I am working full-time after three years of being out of the workforce. That's where my time has gone. That's why my last post was January 21st. I have started this post a gajillion times before finally finishing. *sigh* BUT HERE IT IS! So...

Things change; God stays the same. We get weary; God remains strong. We're fickle; He's faithful.

This should be an interesting year! I have more to share, but - you know - my time is limited. I'll be back...

Art of MBB

This isn't the first time you've read me raving about my Sweet♥ and his amazing God-given gift to be an awesome artist! Now he has a store where you can purchase prints. Before I show-off some of his art, I'll show off a piece of his heart.

He makes wonderful text art, too. = )

And now, here are some things he's been working on:

Four Letter Words

Busy.
Not quite what you were thinking, but it can have a similar consequence. Those other words shouldn't be in our vocabulary. James tells us that sweet and bitter shouldn't come from the same fountain. God is not pleased with bitter.
Jesus tells us that it's ok to rest at his feet instead of busily making sure our house is clean enough for him to enter. Hmm...
As a wife and mom, that is hard to balance at times. There are so many things that need to get done. We want our homes to be presentable to everyone who enters. At the same time, we are very much aware of how vital our private time with God is to our existence - for our good and the good of the family.
Ha...this is why my last post was 10 days ago!
We want to do it all! I think that is possible when we allow God to guide our every move - we will do exactly what He has planned for us.

Here's a pictage of my "busy" 10 days...

Fun with lil people - babysitting our homie on the right

Keep reading for more pix...

Keep Swimming

It's been 10 days since I've been able to post. This leg of my virtuous journey has been a test of endurance.

I'm reminded of Dory's contagious chant, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."

Finding Nemo - one of my faves!

If you just sighed and nodded your head, just keep swimming - or running (for us humans)! Even if you have to do one of those fast walks where you're not walking, but you're not quite jogging either - Keep Going! 

Hebrews 12:1 tells us to run with patience the race that is set before us. Run with patience. Run with patience?

1. Keep going, calmly. Run elegantly. Run purposefully. A long distance runner can't sprint the whole way. Wisdom is used to know when to speed up and when to slow down, but the running doesn't stop.

2. The race set before you, your virtuous journey, requires patience. It requires tenacity, persistence, endurance. It requires a determination to finish. 

Are you going to finish? Yes, you are!

Thank God for His Holy Spirit that empowers us to finish the race. 

Almighty God, you have all power and strength! I thank you that I can be strengthened in You and in the power of Your might. It is comforting and freeing to know that when I am weak your strength is more than sufficient to keep me running the race you designed for me. You are awesome, Lord, and your love is amazing. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 

Busy Times

My brain has been so full of stuff lately! It's a good thing. During this busy time, I have to constantly remind myself that without Christ it is all in vain. Forsaking my time with my Savior is NOT AN OPTION. It is very tempting to "get this done first" or "just finish this real quick" or "i'll pray/read after i'm done." If it happens once, it can happen twice and can then turn into a habit. I don't want that. I want Christ to be at the beginning and at the core of everything I do.
I wasn't planning on sharing that, but I also enjoy being transparent in hopes that my experiences can help or encourage someone else.

So...busy is the word. School is back in action and that means Virtuous Journey goes back to a normal posting schedule. Normal? I think there is a new normal.
The season that I'm in is sporadic, it's random, it's highly flexible and somewhat variable. (that's wife & mother of 4 talk)
There is a calming consistency that holds everything together and that is the Holy Spirit that lives within! Thank God for the Holy Spirit - lol - or I would truly be in total chaos.

So, Welcome Back! We have another year ahead of us (notice my year starts with the school year, for now). Let's continue in the Virtuous Journey together.
We are stronger than last year!

We are wiser than before.

We will seek Christ even harder.

Together. 

Virtuous Movement Launch

I'm am very excited to share this with you guys!

God gave me a vision - it seems like forever ago - and the time is now! 

Please come out and join us for the Virtuous Movement Tea Party Launch!

I am sure that God has something in store especially for YOU!

It will be patiently waiting for you at The Bank on Main on September 8th @ 2:00pm.

We are praying, even now, that your heart will come and pick it up.

Any Questions? Hit me up on Facebook, Twitter or email vdub@virtuousjourney.com

Learn more about Virtuous Movement.

VDub Breakdown

If you frequent this blog, you know that VDub is my endearing term for a Virtuous Woman.

Virtuous Woman  =  VW  =  V "Double U" =  VDub

During a study the other day, I came across a breakdown of Proverbs 31 from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary. I liked the way it interpreted verse 26 and I am moved to share:

The law of love and kindness is written in the heart, and shows itself in the tongue. Her heart is full of another world, even when her hands are most busy about this world.

Proverbs 31:26 - She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us beautiful text of what your daughters should exemplify. I pray that we all continue to live our lives according to your word. We love you, Amen.

Refreshed

It has been 12 days since I've posted anything. I was on something very close to a vacation!
As a wife & mother of 4, and with all of life's occurrences, I just needed a break!

One of those days we went to AC with the entire fam - that was a lot of fun & also very tiring.

Manny did NOT like sand on him...anywhere! He's pretty perturbed about the sand on his foot.

I also celebrated 4 years of marriage with my Sweet♥.

On our way to Buddakan!

DJ Hero fun @ Play2

And now, I'm back. Refreshed. I have been crazy productive lately so you should be able to smell the aroma of what's cooking. Dinner will soon be served...(VDub alert)

*kool-aid smile*

S.O.S.

I liked this song when it first came out, but that like has turned to love.
Shout out to all the fellas who know that a Godly woman is the sexiest woman!

Click the link below the pic to go to Stephen the Levite's blog & see the lyrics.

dawhistleblower.blogspot.com (go to the Feb 14 post)

A Cheerful Wife

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.  2 Corinthians 9:6-7

This verse is typically mentioned when speaking about finances. That makes sense knowing the background: Paul encourages the Corinthian church to continue giving liberally.

This weekend, though, my mind opened. I took God's Word out of a box.

One of my girls - a True Sister - and I were getting it in with marriage encouragement! We were reading a book that referenced 2 Corinthians 9:8. The Spirit urged me to read the verses leading up to there and that is what's above.

It really was a light bulb moment: If I sow sparingly into my husband, I will reap sparingly; if I sow bountifully into my husband, I will reap bountifully; and when I sow it must be done cheerfully.

Simple, but very True. As Godly wives, we know what God requires of us. We are to give grace at all times - that is, even if we feel they don't deserve it, we are to give it.

Let's be honest - that can be very hard to do.

Stay@Home Encouragement

JoyceHeads, where are you?! lol
I love Joyce. Even our 9 year old son gets down with Joyce.
Her teaching ministry is so "down to earth", so relevant, and realistic. I was listening to this message this morning and it hit so close to home, I had to share it.

While I'm sure the entire message will bless you, what I heard @ 5:12 - 6:39 is what prompted me to share.
Most Wives - stay @ home wives, working wives, wives who are moms - can probably relate to this.
This is why we're on the Virtuous Journey together - to encourage & edify.
Keep running your race, Sis! The prize is given to us who ENDURE.

Godly Eating

My body is a temple where the Holy Spirit abides. The Spirit of the Lord dwells inside of me - and YOU if you are a child of God. Why would I, we, willingly contaminate a temple where a pure and holy God lives?

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. 1 Corinthians 10:23

In this passage, Paul addresses the Corinthian church's question about eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. He tells them about their liberty in Christ; they can eat the meat. He also tells them about their responsibility to their brothers, sisters and everyone else. We are to edify always and think not only of our selves, but of everyone else's well-being.

Apples & vanilla yogurt for the girls' lunch.

Likewise, we have the freedom to eat whatever. We also know that everything we eat is not beneficial for our bodies. I have made a conscious effort to establish healthy eating habits for my family. We definitely have room to grow! We have started out this year eating healthier and hopefully the healthier habits will continue.

Of course the scripture above goes way deeper than just eating, but the principle holds true for what we put into our bodies everyday. God created wonderful and delicious foods that are still great without man's interference. In most cases, these foods are most helpful to us without our interference and in their rawest state.

As followers, we know that we are always being watched! Our actions should encourage others to live and eat healthily. If you're a parent, your little person or people definitely have their eyes on you! Help them make healthy decisions now and for the rest of their lives. Children, as well as adults, are impressionable and your actions can either have a negative or a positive influence.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

We do this - eat healthy, live godly - not only for our benefit, but for the benefit of others. We want to be healthy and in good shape to carry out the duties that our God has destined for us; the duties that He has destined for us are designed to bring more people to Him.

I haven't always lived this way. I thank God for showing me how to live healthier and giving me the opportunity to actually do it.

Multigrain rice cakes with cashew butter and bananas.

First time eating cashew butter. It was different, but I like it & will most likely stick with it!