A Heart That Trusts

I’ve been reading a lot lately — taking in as many beautiful words as I can.

And in the midst of all those words and stories, God’s been speaking to me.

His main message? Trust.

I finished One Thousand Gifts this weekend, and I feel like I could keep going back and rereading so many of the pages (which I’m doing a bit of this afternoon, as a matter of fact, as I write this blog).

The author, Ann Voskamp, writes such challenging and inspirational words about trust — an area of my faith that I feel God is really challenging me in this season. It’s tough work — this pruning, this teaching that He’s doing in my heart and in my life, but I believe the fruit of it will push me even closer to Him and give me bold courage to follow wherever He leads.

I liked that in One Thousand Gifts, Ann talks about trust being work, taking action, taking discipline: Believe is a verb, something that you do. Then the truth is that authentic, saving belief must also be? The very real, everyday action of trusting. Then a true saving faith is a faith that gives thanks, a faith that sees God, a faith that deeply trusts?

And she says that our daily work must be to trust, referencing John 6:29 AMP — Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger]. She then writes: To trust in the Son, to trust in the wisdom of this moment, to trust in the now. And trust is that: work. The work of trusting love. Intentional and focused.

I think about how my trust in God has ebbed and flowed during the last few months. How I’ve questioned Him and wrestled with Him a bit over various circumstances I’ve found myself navigating.

But like Ann, I believe this, too:  I know my supreme need is joy in God, and I know I can’t experience deep joy in God until I deep trust in God.

Trust is everything, she writes.

I think she’s right.

Her main focus of the book is the practice of eucharisteo (giving thanks), hence the book’s title One Thousand Gifts. And in her chapter specifically about trust, she connects the two beautifully.

I am changing, deep changing, and I am giving thanks, doing eucharisteo and eucharisteo is eureka, and I know why there’s no fear and why had I never seen it before?

Thanks is what builds trust.

Such a simple sentence with such immense meaning. Thanks is what builds trust.

She goes on to write:
How do you count on life when the hopes don’t add up?
…
The hopes don’t have to add up. The blessings do.
…
Count blessings and discover Who can be counted on.

* * *

I’m going to continue to count my own blessings and share them, here.

And as I abide in Him, and He in me, I look forward to discovering more of who He is and more of what He has planned for me.

{Imagine the Possibilities artwork by Penelope Dullaghan from the book Desire to Insire}

Quotable: Storytelling

 

Vintage Lettering Love

Lately, I can’t get enough of vintage lettering — especially chalk lettering. I’ve been collecting inspiration on Pinterest and can’t wait to get a copy of the book Scripts: Elegant Lettering From Design’s Golden Age.

I’ve got some plans to use vintage-inspired typography in some upcoming art and blog projects, and I look forward to sharing those here! :)

Aren’t these images inspiring? They make me want to grab my sketchbook and start playing with letterforms.

{ Drew Melton of yourjustlucky.com }

{ Molly Jacques of mollyjacquesillustration.blogspot.com }

{ Dana Tanamachi }

For more inspiration, check out this great article in the Wall Street Journal about chalk-lettering artist Dana Tanamachi. Her video interview below also is super inspiring!

Happy weekend!

What I Needed Today

I needed to get out today — away from the clutter at home and the clutter in my mind.
I needed to feel the sunshine and the wind in my hair.
I needed to let the sounds of people talking, children playing, and the chimes of a nearby church’s bells surround me — but not distract me.
I needed to write out my prayers and get lost in a book.
I needed to feel my pen move across the page, capturing thoughts and questions, hopes and doubts.
I needed to seek God and know that He was right there with me.

So, I did.

And it was lovely.

Vintage Books + Hot Cocoa

It’s been the kind of day that calls for good books and hot cocoa.

After grabbing lunch at a cute local diner with family, I’ve settled in at home to drink cocoa, do some blog/creative project brainstorming, and perhaps work a bit on organizing my craft supplies.

I hope you’re warm and cozy today.

P.S. How cute is that vintage book bundle? It was a Christmas present from my Aunt this year.

Happiness is…

 

…a cup of coffee and a good book.

I once read a book called Perfect Elizabeth, and while I forget most of the novel, I remember these lines:

“She trusts novels not life. In novels, things work out according to plan; in life the plot is entirely unmanageable.”

(Confession: I had to Google the quote to discover that it was from the novel…)

But anyway, I remember loving those two sentences, because truthfully, sometimes I prefer getting lost in a book myself… ;-) Life can be so complicated, and it’s fun to escape for a bit into someone else’s life, knowing that by the last page, everything will be wrapped up, all nice and neat.

* * *

I have the itch to do some writing this weekend. Perhaps poetry, as I haven’t written any in quite some time. We’ll see where the muse takes me.

So, for now, I’m going to sit down with my caramel latte and my journal and do a little brainstorming—enjoy a little wordplay.

Hope you’re warm and cozy today,

{ K }

Winter Reading

{photo credit}

During the winter months, I stock up on even more books than I do during the other months of the year. There’s something so wonderfully cozy about a stack of books waiting to be read, and making plans to curl up with a soft blanket in my favorite chair, or burrow under the covers in bed.

{Photo credit}

(This lovely painting is by Dana Ray.)

{photo credit}

I recently finished Kate Morton’s latest novel, The Distant Hours. Another captivating read! All three of her books are completely enchanting, the kind that offer the reader the chance to disappear into the pages, getting lost in a world of secrets and mystery. There’s truly nothing that compares to the feeling of getting lost inside a book…

This winter, I’ve also been reading/planning to read:

* Sarah Addison Allen’s novels (I’ve already finished her newest book, The Girl Who Chased the Moon), and now I’m reading her first book (Garden Spells).

*Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier (can you believe I’ve never read this classic?!)

*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (ditto this classic)

*Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (and ditto this classic!)

*And while I’m at it, I should probably add Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen to this list, as this is another book I started a while back, but never finished!)

*Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher (I started this a few years ago and never finished it. I’d like to pick it back up, because it’s a lovely, comforting novel.)

*Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

*Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

What are you reading this winter? Any recommended additions for my list? And what are your favorite winter rituals? Do you delight in the coziness of a cold winter’s night spent inside?

Happy Sunday, friends!

K

 

A date with autumn

I spent the afternoon on my first proper date of the season with autumn. A few books, my creative daydreaming journal, and a pumpkin spice latte made for a lovely afternoon.

There’s a little gazebo in the center of the park, and I sat inside for a bit reading and scribbling things in my journal. Twinkly lights are strung all along the top of the gazebo, but when I’ve driven past the park in the evenings, I’ve never seen them on. I think it would be quite magical to spend a cool fall evening here with thermoses of hot apple cider, enjoying the sight of warm light from the gazebo and the strands of twinkly lights.

While scribbling in my journal, I decided to make a list of creative daydreams for the season. I’m thinking about signing up to participate in this e-course, for example. I’m also preparing to apply for a local craft show and dreaming up ideas for The Sketchbook Project.

{ Dear autumn, thank you for a lovely afternoon. You will always be my favorite. Love, K }

My heart feels like a Saturday morning …

daydreams flutter around and fill up my head … {Joy Williams}

I’ve been loving the sunshine and spring-like weather so much. I made a lovely spring mix to listen to that’s filled with good tunes by Joy Williams, Meredith Andrews, JJ Heller and The Civil Wars. My fingers have been itching to paint and collage. I’ve been daydreaming of words to write, and I’ve been eagerly exploring new career possibilities.

I also recently discovered a brilliant new writer, Kate Morton. I found myself completely swept up in her book The Forgotten Garden, and I can’t wait to read the other book she’s written called The House at Riverton.

{source}

I love this photo of author Kate Morton at what, I assume, is her writing desk. I’m absolutely smitten with the adorable gray vest she’s wearing and what looks like a painted picnic table desk. Kate loves and writes about some of the things that have captured my imagination since I was a little girl: “crumbly old houses, lonely libraries, forgotten gardens, discovered diaries …”

Reading Kate’s deliciously engaging novel has inspired me to want to begin writing fiction again. On her Web site, Kate offers the following advice to aspiring novelists:

I spend a lot of time before I start the actual writing dreaming up my characters and plot. I read everything I can get my hands on around the subject so that the world of my story begins to take shape. I like to imagine that the story is already out there, that it happened to real people, and it’s my job to uncover it rather than to make it up. I scribble ideas that may come to nothing, I daydream about my characters, I fill my head with the world, atmosphere, aesthetic, music, smells, voices of the story I want to lose myself inside, and then, suddenly, all the disparate jigsaw pieces start to link up. My advice would be to allow your idea the time to gestate—if it feels real to you, it will feel real to your reader, too.

I love that and have a feeling I might just take her advice and start daydreaming …

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. {Johann Wolfgang von Goethe}

Warmth + Words

“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.”

May Sarton’s lovely words have reminded me that God created each of us with a completely unique set of talents and interests. He blessed me with a heart that leaps for all things creative and happily holds on to the beauty and poetry of words and art—a heart that yearns to create. God’s been stirring up my creative heart quite a bit as of late … planting new ideas, hopeful plans and plenty of inspirations. I’m in the very beginning stages, but there’s a lot to explore and discover.

It’s safe to say I’m going to be writing much more, creating much more, trusting Him much more with each creative spark and where it will lead.

A dear friend recently sent me a new devotional called Jesus Calling. It’s written as though Jesus is speaking directly to you in each devotion. I love it.

Here’s a snippet:

Come to me with a teachable spirit, eager to be changed. A close walk with Me is a life of continual newness. Do not cling to old ways as you step into a new year. Instead, seek My Face with an open mind, knowing that your journey with me involves being transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Isn’t that incredibly uplifting and inspiring? A life of continual newness. I’m excited for the newness of 2010.

I’ve spent much of the beginning of 2010 inside dreaming up creative pursuits, spending quiet time in the Word and reading. I’ve also recently rediscovered a delightful blog, Persisting Stars. Her writing is soothing and softly poetic. Just lovely. And her photographs are all of those things, too. She finds joy in some of the same things I do … a cozy café, a hot cup of coffee or tea, the colors of the sky and trees. And books. I can’t forget books.

And speaking of books, my table has been covered in stacks of them lately. What a perfect, cozy sight on the blustery, snowy white winter days we’ve been having. I’ve also been enjoying little mugs of peppermint and red raspberry tea, too. Warmth and words. They go quite well together during the winter months, I think.

I have plans to bake homemade brown sugar banana sometime in the next week. I got a cookbook for Christmas with plenty of delicious recipes (including lots of homemade fruit breads!). Yum.

Well, I’m off to putter around and read.

Joy + blessings to you, my friends.