JJ Heller - Who You Are (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)

love love love!!!!
xo

Sitting on my kitchen floor.....the house is empty, kids are with Jake. I am learning to let go...be ok with the silence and the solitude....it's just me, a glass of wine & my journal. I am at peace with that. God is still here with me. I hate letting go. I wasn't ready or prepared...but I am a grown woman & I am taking the high road...the road of forgiveness, the road of kindness ....the narrow road that is hard & painful & sometimes lonely.
I found a bottle of wine that Jake and I were saving for our ten years in the cabinet the other day. It caught me off guard...but in the moment I laughed and realized just how ironic life is. I opened it and drank up. Toasting to a new beginning. A new start that I did not wish for, but was handed to me....maybe it was a gift. That's the only way I can view it really.
I am toasting to this new year of not planning anything... I have always planned everything...it's my personality...I am a go getter, strong willed & pig headed. Those qualities are good and they are also bad. Balance is all I need...
I have no idea anything of this coming year except that I am going to be a wonderful mom, do the best I can..love those around me, be kind to those who have betrayed me, love like there is no tomorrow...breathe in each moment as it comes...nothing more. And I am perfectly at peace with just that.
I am fine. I am perfectly content.
I am peaceful...I serve a God who has never left me...not like people do. A God who doesn't shun me for my mistakes or makes me feel like an outsider....He is the one true thing in my life.
This year would have killed me without Jesus... seriously.
Through this huge trial, I have learned exactly who I am.
I know that I won't give in ...ever. I stand firm. I am not perfect in that...I drink wine and I take long baths and cry often....but I get up...everytime....I face the new day with new longing. That's all I have to do.
I love my kids, I love going to the movies, I love wearing my vintage dresses, I love being in the moment with someone and really hearing their heart, I love being held and hugged tight.... I am compassionate and forgiving. I am messy and unorganized. I love sitting on my kitchen floor in complete solitude.... I love writing and praying. I love feeling all the emotions...the sadness, the loneliness, the anger, the peace ..and the happiness. I love all the emotions. And I love giving myself a break and knowing that I am fine just as I am. I only need to be right where I am. In that moment. I love knowing that I can love and trust again...and that I am choosing to. I love people and love them right where they are.....I am on a journey...the journey that everyone else is on. Aren't we all just trying to find our place? Aren't we all just wanting someone to see us, for us. Don't we all just want someone to truly love us for who we are...our faults, our messes, our sins, our dreams, our accomplishments, our quirks...just love us for who we are. I know God does. That's all I know. The patience and love...the kindness and forgiveness. It is breathtaking. This year is over...and honestly I couldn't be happier. Here is to a new year.

xoxo Kristin

Kari Jobe "You Are For Me"

"I know that You are for me....
I know that You will never forsake me in my weaknesses"

"Greatness is not where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it...but sail on we must. And not drift, nor lie at anchor."
                                                                                                                          -Oliver Wendell Smith

Yesterday would have been 8 years of marriage.
I feel like I was thrown away.
This has been a year of death.
I am happy the year is almost over.
It has tried to kill me.
For awhile there I thought it might.....

I am stronger.
I have become a completely different person.
I feel like I could handle anything now.
I have lost many friends & even family.
I have realized who my true friends really are.
The ones who have loved me, supported me...
the people who showed up...to help carry the burdens..
to help mend the pieces with their kind words, gifts, hugs..
I would have died without them.
I am so thankful for them.
My views on love and friendships is completely different now.
I am happy about that.
It would have been 8 years.
Its over now.
Life goes on.
Sometimes you dont choose the things that happen to you, but...they still happen.
And you have two choices...to die where you are...or keep moving.
I am still breathing. I am still alive.
Pain and heartbreak make you see who you really are.
I like me.
And I know what my worth is.
xoxo

The road is long
Dont look back
Discover the unknown
Face your fears
Overcome them
Let go...


photo by Elle Moss

I am in love with these prints by Elle Moss & Pamela Klaffke

They are dreamy.

xoxo

David Crowder*Band - How He Loves (Official Music Video)

"if His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking"


The thing is, is that people judge, people hate, people will cast their views and opinions on you to make you feel a certain way...BUT God thinks differently of you. His love covers a multitude of sins, His love covers your past...it covers your weaknesses...His love is our prize. Hold onto the prize & forget what others think. Gods love can overwhelm you...and it can become contagious. Its that incredible. Love wins.

this is me writing to God.
I was having a hard day the other day. Crying ...alot.
divorce is hard. going through all the emotions...then adding in a new love to the mix....its alot for me emotionally. i am not complaining about the new guy though because he has become my best friend and i KNOW God brought him into my life. i cant tell you how many times he has gotten my mascara & snot all over his shirts. he is so patient. so caring. i need that. i thank God for him.
The other day....i was driving and worrying....crying and worrying...THEN i look up and see the most beautiful sunset i have ever seen.
It was for me.
I lifted my hand up to God and said "Please take this....i dont have the energy or the strength for any of this"
I cant explain to you the peace that came over me.
It was like He was waiting on me to give it to Him. I usually do give my cares to Him...but for some reason the past week or so, i hadnt. I had been getting down again. The days and nights that you sit in your shower and you dont want to move....the days you get of bed but dont want to face the day. The days you understand why people want to kill themselves or why people become alcoholics. i get it. i totally get it.
What i do know, is that the temporary fixes are just that...temporary...
But my God is constant. and the fix is much greater. the high I get from His presence overwhelms me to the core.
I get it. the people hurting so bad they cant breathe. i hear you. my heart is breaking for you...and with you.
Jesus is THE fix....He is THE way. the way to a peace that astounds you...the way to a new love. the way to a new mindset...the way to life.
the way to heal a broken heart...
My heart is peaceful because of Jesus.
My heart is heavy for all of you who are hurting.
My God is my secret place....the place no one else could ever fill. the perfect completion to all my mess.
He loves my mess....He is the author of perfection...and in Him alone am i made whole again.
I want to be whole....therefore I rely on the constant.
xoxoxo

picture taken by Elsie Larson

Taylor Swift - Begin Again

oh my goodness...
this song!!!

"I've been spending the last 8 months thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end"

but....then you begin again.
starting over takes courage.
its hard to not shy away and try and hide.
everyday is a challenge.
Whats past is past.
Leave it there.
Learn from it.
Take the good.
This new beginning makes me appreciate all the little things.
Every little thing.
Like him buying me coffee....holding me whether I am happy or sad.
Really seeing me when he looks at me.
I feel important around him.
I am happy again.

xoxo

Martina McBride - Anyway

you can love someone with all your heart for all the right reasons & in a moment they can choose to walk away....
love them anyway...

i sing... i dream.... i love anyway....

My friend Joy is very talented. I really love her work!! I wanted to share it with you & send some love her way!!! I love her creative mind!! If you love this as much as me, HERE is the link to her lovely shop:)

xo

xoxoxo

Pretty Dresses for the SHOP!!

xoxoxo

thats all we have to do....


xoxo

The Local Shop...

17 East Beverly Street 

Staunton, Va

xoxo

Foolish heart looks like we're here again
Same old game of plastic smiles
Don't let anybody in
Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break?
How much will they take before I'm empty
Do I let it show, does anybody know?
....But you see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me
Painted on, life is behind a mask
Self-inflicted circus clown
I'm tired of the song and dance
Living a charade, always on parade
What a mess I've made of my existence
But you love me even now
And still I see somehow
But you see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me
Wonderful, beautiful is what you see
When you look at me
......
by Natalie Grant

Retro Madness ....at the Etsy Shop..xoxo

lots & lots of retro garb for the Etsy Shop...

xoxoxoxoxo