Who is your role model as a women?

Mother Teresa

She did things no one thought she should do, or could do.
Peoples' opinions of her never stopped her from accomplishing the tasks God called her to.
She gave up everything to serve the poorest of the poor in response to the calling of the Lord.
She never gave up.
She is the ultimate servant leader.

I didn't know to much about Mother Teresa until I watched this movie which reenacts her years of ministry. Watch it! It's amazing! This inspirational film lead me to read many books about this beautiful women. As I learned more about her I realized that Mother Teresa zoned out any hint of a worldly mindset and chose to see the world in black and white. She made things simple by realizing Jesus is all that is worth living for. She sought to teach people that loving others in the name of Jesus is what we are all called to do as followers of the living God. There are no exceptions. Her persistence and faith are a beautiful testimony of the relationship between God and a women, and the amazing things He can accomplish through those who are faithfully sold out for Him.

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."
~ Mother Teresa

Write about "a day in the life of me."

My day normally starts out with waking up to a sweet text or message from my boy and making myself a healthy morning drink.

I then spend a portion of the morning blogging and sometimes going on a run with my sister.
After I work on some random projects and have lunch I jump in my car and head to work.

The rest of my afternoon and early evening is spent being the nanny for two little munchkins. We play, we color, we have fun and they say the cutest things.




After feeding and bathing those sweet kiddos I head home.


I spend time with my family, sometimes watch a movie and wind down from my day by talking and praying with my boy. Then I say goodnight to the world and rest up to do it all again the next day!

Write about you insecurities as a women

I have so very many insecurities as a women.
I think the greatest of these being the fact that sometimes I don't feel like I look perfect enough in this artificial world. For years I was told by my peers, my surroundings and even the adults in my life that I had to look perfect, wear the right clothes, have the right bust size and the right hair or eye color to have worth.

I at first I was so angry at everyone for making me feel like that. For degrading me. But then I realized that what each individual person thought of me didn't matter. What I thought of myself affected me, but in the end didn't matter. What mattered was what God thought of me. His is the only opinion and view of me is eternal everything else will pass away. The truth is He created me, He loves me and He will always want the best for me. His is the only opinion that will ever really matter, today, tomorrow and forever. When I realized this, I realized all my insecurities were merely crippling me from living fully to accomplish the will of the Father.

Bye bye insecurities. Hello Jesus Christ.

This is not to say that I don't still have a butt load of insecurities, but merely to say that Jesus is the answer to overcoming them. When I am focused on His goodness and serving Him wholeheartedly there is no room left for me to feel insecure.
Praise the Lord!

Write a blog to encourage someone and build their confidence!

To My Dearest Mum,

You are the strongest woman I know. You love your children like crazy. You are always putting us first and trying to make our lives better. You are an amazing cook and a fantastic hostess. Thanks for always keeping it together and staying on top of our activities.

You have taught me to be realistic. You have taught me to be strong. you have created an environment for me in which I have been able to grow and flourish. Thanks for never hesitating to buy me art supplies or encouraging me with big projects (coughpromdresscough). Thanks for telling me hard stuff even though I hate hearing it and for keeping me accountable. You know even when I sulk I am taking in your wisdom. I really can't escape it. Thanks for making me wonderful handmade gifts. Thank you for homeschooling me even though I was a pain the the booty. Thanks for nurturing my very free spirited personality.

All those dreams you have of living off the land and being a full time artist, well those are the best. Don't think you can't have them cause you CAN. I am 100% sure one day God is going to give you all of the desires of your heart! I see you work so hard everyday to make your family happy. Don't ever give up Mum! I love you so much and I think you are the greatest!

I love you!
I am your biggest fan!
And when I live in California you can always crash at my place!

xoxo your baby girl

For Japan With Love

I just found about this amazing event that Utterly Engaged has organized. What a beautiful idea. Details below.

FUNDRAISING
For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to their fundraising page for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.

BLOGGERS DAY OF SILENCE
Anyone that has a blog can help out with this one.The aim is just raise awareness and respect and acknowledge the devastation going on in Japan.

The guidelines are simple:
1. This coming Friday, March 18th, no posts at all on your blog.
2. Blog about this beforehand.
3. Tweet and Re-Tweet this link: http://www.forjapanwithlove.com
4. Encourage your readers to contribute to donate shelter to Japan. Whatever anyone can contribute will be appreciated. Every little helps.

What do you hope your grandchildren will say about you someday when you are gone?

I hope one day my grandchildren will be able to say,
that I loved Jesus,
that I worked hard in life,
that I put others first,
that I forgave quickly,
that I loved well,
that I was never harsh but always spoke in a gentle voice,
that I remembered their birthdays and got them magical gifts,
that I took them out and treated them to wonderful food,
that I shared what I learned in life with them,
that I always believed in their dreams.

I want to inspire my grandchildren.
I want to encourage them and help them grow.
I want to empower them to accomplish their goals.
I want to be a consistent part of their lives.
I want them to know that they can come and talk to me about anything.
I want to hear their stories and tell them mine.
I want to mentor them.
I want to make plans with them and make sure they happen.
I want to hold them when they're babies and go on adventures with them as they grow older.
I want to make them beautiful gifts.
I want to cook them their favorite foods.
I want to love them always no matter what.

Faith blogs

Today I have a guest post over at Faith blogs!

If you haven't heard of Faith blogs before head on over and check out their site! Katie Troup has created an amazing networking website used to connect Christian bloggers. Since being involved with Faitblogs I have seen God use many bloggers to encourage each other in such real ways! I'm so excited to see how Faith blogs will continue to grow and bless those in the blogging community!

Post a pic of your favorite comfy clothes

I would say I have lived in these comfy clothes 90% of the time in the last couple of months. The first picture was taken right after I showered off from a run. The second one was taken when I clearly had a lack of sleep, hence the major bags under my eyes (or do I always have those?). These days I have mostly been spending time at home in long black leggings and over sized shirts.

Outfit Details:

Picture 1
V-neck: Hanes
Capris: Zen Chi

Picture 2
Black long sleeved shirt: Old Navy
Lime green hoodie: Old Navy
Sweat pants: Express

What is Jesus teaching you presently?

In the last few months God has been teaching me to believe in Him and trust in Him like a child again. I have been thinking, "I can do this on my own. God has better things to do then look out for me." These thoughts are so self destructive. Even though all the right things were coming out of my mouth I really didn't believe them. I kept shoving aside my desire to believe that God has everything under control, that He cares enough to give me what I need.

Now sitting here after months of growing pains in my relationship with Him I see He just wants to love me, to surprise me, to woo me. He loves nothing more than for me to discover something He has done for me and be completely captivated and in awe of His goodness. He desires for me to delight in Him. This concept is totally mind blowing to me. Now daily I wake up and think of all of the ways He has provided for me down to the smallest details, and cannot help but praise the Lord.

When I pray and make requests of the Lord I no longer hear this nagging voice inside of me saying, "He doesn't really want to do that for you." No, instead it has been replaced by a peaceful calm that reassures me God is always for me. Nothing is too great for Him. His Spirit resides in me and His deepest desire is to teach me to be desperate for Him, to be a lover of the Lord, to know Him, to believe in His almighty power.

Matthew 11:25-30

25) At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;
26) yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
27) All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28) Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Found, vintage lovelies for you and your home.

This week I am hoping to launch 2 etsy shops. The first of the launches has been completed. I am now Happy to say my Vintage etsy shop, Found, is up and running. I would love for you to stop by and shop around. Who knows you might find something you love! I will be updating about every two weeks so keep checking in for updates. I would love to hear your feedback on this little shop of mine!

If you like what you see grab a button and share the love!

<a href=" http://www.etsy.com/shop/foundshoppe" title="button2 by Mia Helen, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5491165484_8d0aa860c0_m.jpg" width="200" height="169" alt="Found Vintage" /></a>

Stay tuned later this week for the launch of my second etsy shop.
A handmade etsy!

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?

How do I even begin to sum up my strengths and weaknesses?

I think my biggest source of strength lies in my ability to trust God. Through that simple act God is able to empower me to live out of the strengths He has placed inside of me.

Here are some things I consider my strengths:
(My strengths are really all things I could not have apart from Christ's grace in my life.)
1) I have a great desire to empower people with truth and honesty.
2) I am organized.
3) I love children.
4) I love beauty and seek to create beautiful things.
5) I tend to throw all of who I am into a project or a relationship (this can be a very good thing or a very bad thing).
6) I am a dreamer and a romantic.
7) I love to create things with my hands.
8) I have a deep desire to press forward into becoming the best possible version of myself through Christ.

Here are some things I consider my weaknesses:
(These things stem out my lack of faith, when I allow my emotions to control me.)
1) I am highly driven by fear. Sadly this had held me back from accomplishing many things.
2) I am a natural people pleaser and have been hurt and used countless times. I have had to learn that I have not been put on earth to please people but rather to honor my Creator.
3) I am prideful and dogmatic.
4) I forget to be compassionate and tend to have a "suck it up!" attitude.
5) I am lazy. I lack a natural sense of self motivation.
6) I am self-absorbed.
7) I am quick to anger and frustration.
8) I allow my emotions and failures to consume me.

Boy, that list of weaknesses seams so daunting especially since I know that's not even a fraction of them. The good thing is, I know on this earth I am always going to have weakness because I am not God. And you know what? I am okay with that because Christ said I would have to fight against all of these human weaknesses. And in His goodness He promises me that I don't need to fight alone. If I allow Him to be my rock and my salvation I have nothing to fear because perfect love casts out fear.

1 John 4:18
There is no fear where love exists. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.

When I step into the the center of His will I find strength like I have never known. When I am in His presence I feel Him breathe life into my dying bones. I feel his love overwhelm me and I know that I will never have to fight my battles alone as long as I place myself in the hands of God and allow Him to be my strength.