Oh dear, I am embarrassed to even show this photo!! This is the little table in my Kitchen. Yes, there is a table under there. It is prone to catching all the clutter in our house. Ok, so does my dining room table. But I am not showing you that.

And so I show you this uttering a squeak of "Help!!!" I confess my trouble with remaining consistently organized. I am a creative soul, and tend to be a bit scatterbrained at times, which is reflected in this table.


Oh dear.

As the new year rolls in, I am striving to conquer these clutter zones! Help me friends! Now that I have shown you this terrible mess (Ok, so the dirty bowl does not camp there...my son just finished breakfast. Now I feel worse! My son ate breakfast at that mess!) I ask you to share with me some organizing love and help me work through the clutter this new year.

Looking forward to your insight!
Megan

(P.S. It is killing me to leave this photo up....I will have to post something beautiful or striking tomorrow to erase this image from your minds...)

I'm going insane!

I love my son.

He is wonderful, smart, funny, cute...the list goes on and on.

But sometimes? Sometimes he drives me absolutely i.n.s.a.n.e.

Currently, he is in bed, NOT napping. He is singing, yodeling, bouncing, and being a miniature wild-man.

Oy-vey!

But no matter what he does, I will always, ALWAYS love him. Deeply. Truly. Madly.

Just for a moment, I ask you to sit and soak up this thought- This is how God loves you. This and more. Bigger. Longer. Deeper. Forever.

Even if you don't believe, take a moment to contemplate that. Wouldn't you love to be loved like that? And even if you don't believe, I tell you this- you ARE.

Just sayin. ;)

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies NEVER come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in Him."
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul who seeks Him.
Lamentations 3:22-25 NIV

May His steadfast love envelop you today,

Megan

Wrapping up the Christmas Season...Unwrapping the New Year!

I don't think I've ever been this wiped out after Christmas! I am the one who keeps the Christmas music pumping for at least 2 weeks afterwards...I keep the Christmas movies going all year long...

But I need a day off.

Just one day though. I think. ;)

I got sick two days before Christmas, and spent Christmas Eve morning crying because I felt so awful and overwhelmed. But, the day rebounded, and a much improved me continued on with the festivities.

We had a wonderful joy-filled Christmas. (Pictures below...) Oddly enough, I don't feel sad now that Christmas day has come and gone, but I anticipate the new year and all of it's new promises!

I look forward to blogging frequently once again, now that I am in full health. (Praise the Lord!) I am also preparing to open a new Etsy shop, one that I was preparing for last year before I got sick, and am now able to follow through on. This will be smaller items that I am excited to share with you. Glimpses of that are soon to follow!

New images will be appearing here as I step out further into photography and digital art. I am very excited about this.

I am also working on a blog makeover. Hopefully this will be accomplished soon!

And so my dear friends, I wish you all a very Happy New Year!! Celebrate, and welcome in the New Year with hope.

I pray that " The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope." (Colossians 1:5, The Message)

Blessings to you!!

Megan

(P.S. Giveaway coming SOON!!!!)

Reflections...

Last year at Christmastime, the day before Christmas Eve, my husband slipped and broke his ankle on the ice.

He spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the following week, on pain meds while waiting for his surgery on New Years Eve.

Thankfully, this year is going much better (so far). I'm so excited for Christmas, but can't believe that the season is almost over! It feels like it went SO fast this year! The New Year holds many glistening promises wrapped in family and love.

And those are my most joyous gifts this Christmas! Family and Love.

A little snow wouldn't hurt either. ;)

What are YOUR best reflections on last year, your Christmas blessings this year, and your hopes for the new year??

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Megan

True Love

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God.

The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love - so you can't know him if you don't love.

This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about - not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us - perfect love!

This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we've seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God.

We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day - our standing in the world is identical with Christ's.

There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgment - is one not yet fully formed in love. We, though, are going to love - love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both. (1 John 4:7-21)

True love...what comes to your mind when you think of this phrase? Disney Princes and Princesses, riding off into the sunset? A backlit image of a couple walking hand in hand on a beach? Blissful, contented images, that evoke emotions of fullness and peace.

True love, though, is a little more gritty than that. God in His Word (The Bible) calls us to love one another- deeply, unceasingly, incessantly, without reserve, and over the top.

The type of love that the Word calls us to is one that we are incapable of strumming up on our own. It is only by the power of God that we are able to be filled with and pour out this love. The love that He gives us is the exact love that He holds in His own heart.

The classic scripture of 1 Corinthians 13 "The Love Chapter" is read in many wedding vows, hung on many a wall, and has been heard by most people at one time or anther. Please look upon it with new eyes as I present it to you from The Message-

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

This is some intense love. It never gives up- even when the one it is loving never ever loves it back- it is unrelenting. It isn't prideful, thinking "Look how much I can love!" It doesn't fly off the handle- this love is patient with people. Doesn't keep score of the sins of others- God casts our sins so far from Himself when we ask forgiveness that He never EVER will bring them back up to us, holding forth a tally of "Look-what-you-did's" Love puts up with anything, and keeps going to the end.

You are loved in this very way by God. And in the way that He loves you, He calls you to love other people. He wants us to reflect His heart of love.

If you have told God that you want a relationship with Him, and that you believe in His Son Jesus, you can have this love. He will fully equip you with it. God gave us His Spirit, and the Spirit lives inside of you, giving you power to do things you can't in your own human nature. If you ask God to fill you with His True Love, He will. Tell Him that you need His love, and can't do it on your own. Ask Him to make you aware of any areas in your life that you might hold on to bitterness in, and tell Him you don't want that in your life anymore. This is called surrendering to God. Surrender those areas, and ask Him to change you, to give you a heart that loves like He does. And then ask to be made aware of the times you are NOT acting in True Love. When you find yourself acting in a way that is not loving, ask His forgiveness right away, and ask for His love instead.

God wants us to live lives of Love. All out, forgiving, gentle, kind, passionate, relentless love.

Do you love like this? Or do you find yourself living in selfish love? Perhaps you have trouble with the area of love that is forgiving towards others. Ask God to change you, to make you able to let go of those things that you just can't seem to forget, and make a conscious effort to put aside those thoughts of unforgiveness when they pop into your mind.

This Christmas season, let us live in Love. The ultimate gift of Love was given to us in the birth of Jesus Christ. Show that love to the world this season! Ask God to show you ways you can live in True Love, and ask Him to change you in the areas where you struggle. You will never be the same again, and your heart will rejoice within you as you are filled with His love.

Loving you,
Megan

Some days I want to throw a tantrum too!

I went to Costco today to pick up our Christmas photo cards...towing the little 22 month old and 4 year old by hand.

I thought, NO, I don't need a cart. I'm just picking up pictures!

I was wrong.

Wrong. Wrong. WRONG.

Warning: Always get a cart at Costco if you have little people with you. In fact, it's COSTCO. So just get a cart. Period.

We were doing okay after the photo pick up, so we ventured over to the movies. Then we got an idea for Daddy's Christmas gift, so we took our 2 movies we picked out, and went to another area (which must remain a secret). By this time, things were starting to get a little, uh, difficult.

Barely making it to check out, a kid in each hand, a video in each kids hand, and a secret present under my arm, we are slowly crumbling. Kid drops movie. Mommy picks up movie. Other kid drops movie. Mommy picks up movie. Youngest kid drops self onto floor. Mommy pulls up youngest. Repeat.

At the checkout, the youngest decides to completely collapse on the floor. The lovely box lady offers to put her in the spare cart that happens to be there. YES PLEASE! Youngest starts screaming head off now that she is picked up to stranger.

Apology from me to nice lady stranger. Telling youngest under my breath "See, if you throw a fit, I'll let a stranger pick you up." Of course, she has no idea what I'm saying.

We proceeded to the checkout with youngest screaming her head off, stiff as a board, as I force her into the cart seat and buckle her. My son is trying to ride on the bottom shelf of the cart.

Sigh.

I swore to myself I'd never let my child scream in a store. So much for that resolution! She's under 2...not much I can do there.

I'm sure we made a lovely Holiday scene. ;)

Both children are napping now, and I am going to regain my sanity! Thank you for joining me in my little moment of insanity. May your day be truly merry and bright!

Enjoying the silence,
Megan

Clarity

God,

Open my eyes and my heart

to your truth, your love.

Bring all things into focus,

You are the lens that gives the greatest clarity

to the picture of my life.

-Photo and words by Megan 2009

I couldn't stop thanking God for you - every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks.But I do more than thank. I ask - ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him - endless energy, boundless strength! All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. Ephesians 1:17-21

The Simple Truth

I was having a conversation with a good friend the other day about the difference between what I believe as a Christian, and what other religions believe. I honestly can't debate the differences because I don't know all that there is to know about what others believe. But I know what I believe.

What I believe is not a religion, a list of do's and don'ts, or narrow minded. What I live brings real results, real fulfilment, and is the real truth. I share it with you not to earn any points or gain any gift or promise. It doesn't work that way. I only share it with you that you might also believe. Your belief or unbelief does not get me a greater spot in heaven, nor points among my peers.

Hear my heart.

I only share with you this Good News, because I love you, my God loves you, and we want every good thing for you.

And so, here it is, the simple truth.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth (believes the truth) comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. (John 3:16-21)

God did not send His son Jesus into this world to condemn you. He was not a self righteous man who came to impose His own self righteous ideals on others. Jesus, was God, in a fleshly human body. He came to this earth, as a real man, to teach people the truth, and lead them to God. He came, He was killed, and God made Him alive again, fo YOU.

Why would He give His life to lead you to God? Let me put it this way- "Why Not??". God created you. Why would he want to lose you? He doesn't! He wants to be WITH YOU! If you are a parent, or want to be a parent, would you decide to have children only to lose them to death, never having the opportunity to know them, to see their first steps, to watch them sleep, to hold them close? No! If you chose to bring life into this world it is because you want to LOVE that life! God gave you life because He wanted there to be a YOU, and to love you!

We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. (Romans 3:22-24)

All have sinned...do you struggle with this because you have never done something as drastic as murder? Let me share with you what the Biblical definition of sin is, based on the Greek Word used in the Bible-

to miss the mark
to err, be mistaken
to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin

I've certainly missed the mark many times in my life. I have been mistaken. I have done wrong. I have sinned.

God is without sin, and when we sin, we separate ourselves from relationship with Him. But because He loves us, He provides a way back into relationship with Him. And here is the simple truth. If you choose to believe in Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, and tell God that you have missed the mark in life and you are sorry, He will make you right and bring you into relationship with Himself.

This is where it really gets good my friend.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 1:18-20 NLV)

God has an inheritance for you here on this earth, and in heaven. A glorious inheritance! And power! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead. He wants to be a part of your daily life. He wants to lift your burdens, walk with you through your struggles. As a human, you will still struggle with missing the mark, but you are made right through your belief in Jesus.

Gods Word, the Bible, is truth. It is the only truth. Other religions add to it and take away from it. Or use pieces of it, while changing parts to say what they want them to say. But it is clearly stated in the Bible: "Every word of God is true. He guards those who come to him for safety. Do not add to his words, or he will correct you and prove you are a liar." (Proverbs 30:5-6) And- "I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words of this prophetic book, God will remove that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book." (Revelation 22:18-19)

I challenge you to read the Bible, God's Word, and learn the simple truth. When you accept Jesus, you are guaranteed entrance into heaven, along with many blessings here on earth. You are not told to achieve any sort of points by things you do or don't do. You don't have to do any sort of ritual to maintain your salvation. You are accepted, redeemed from sin, and brought into an eternal relationship with God.

And that my friend, is the simple truth.

-Megan