Critty Joy

April with Toccoa.

It has been a while since I shared any photos of my sassy niece, Toccoa... so I thought I would share some photos from this month.  :)   I often take photos of everyday things with her on my phone because I make a book detailing her year and give it to her for her birthday each year.

Maybe I will make it a regular feature!

 

Easter morning at IHOP in her Easter dress.

Sass laughing because Aunt Christy is tickling her.

Going shopping with her dolly.

She stole her Mom's turkey sandwich and had it for breakfast!

Riding her horse, Bullseye. Yeehaw!

Lately she has become obsessed with going night-night in my bed. We are not sure why but it's her favorite place at our house.

Cheesin'

She can rock the pigtails!

Have a great weekend!

If you follow me on twitter or instagram you have seen most of these ;)

Beautiful Outlaw Book Club :: Meeting 1.

Every Tuesday for the next 8 weeks I am going to be over at Exemplify for our Beautiful Outlaw book club... I am going to post a reminder every week in hopes you will come visit me.... and just so you know it is never too late to join our book club!

 

Visit me at Exemplify for today's Beautiful Outlaw Book Club meeting!

 

Also don't forget Kristen and I are giving away 5 copies of Beautiful Outlaw!  There are several ways to enter and you don't have to join our book club so check it out here!  The giveaway ends Wednesday at midnight.

 

 

Hold. On.

I have had the lyrics of a song in my head for a week.

Just one short sentence.

Hold on to hope, love.

Today I am making a choice. I am choosing hope.

To choose hope means to trust.

I have been working on trusting Him but with everything going on I just lost my way. Trust is so very hard for me.

Yet I know I must trust Him. Even when things are hard, frustrating, painful, scary, and oh so confusing.

As I journaled this evening I realized I had to hope.

I have been giving in and letting the confusion and fear control me.

No. More.

I am going to hold into hope.

To hope is to trust. To trust is to know Him.

To know He understands.
To know He cares.
To know His timing is perfect.
To know this hard situation will be redeemed.
To know He has the best for me.
To know He loves me.

He loves me.

There is beautiful, wonderful hope in that.
And I am going to hold on to it.

 

Beautiful Outlaw Book Club :: Details!

 

Hello Lovelies!

I am over at Exemplify today!  (wow... who knew I would type that again...makes me smile!)

Kristen and I are announcing the details of our book club (which starts Tuesday!) and there are two AWESOME things going on there too...

Including a way to get a FREE digital copy of John Eldredge's OutlawCast and a chance to win 1 of 5 copies of Beautiful Outlaw thanks to FaithWords publishing!

 

Go to Exemplify and read the book club details!

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

 

As of Late :: April

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Welcome dear Peaches to this month's As of Late!  

For more information on As of Late you can go here.

Just grab the button code above if you want to use the button in your post.

Announcement:  As of Late is no longer going to be a linky.  I am still going to write a post every month but no longer host a link up.  However, if you would like to join me you can leave your link in the comments and I will most definitely come visit!

Lately I have been working really hard to let go of my doubts and know He has the best for me.  Chasing my lions.

Lately the opportunity to spend some extra time with my sassy niece has been a gift.

Lately avoiding life has been easy since I have been totally obsessed with the show Brothers & Sisters...which I finished today.  Now what will I use to distract myself with?

Lately the countdown to our family beach vacation is on!  Less than 2 months.  Salty sea air, crashing waves, relaxing on the beach with my kindle.  Sigh.........

Lately just the idea of filling out one more job application makes me cringe.

Lately little glimpses of unexpected goodness have reminded me beauty will come.

Lately the days have been rainy and grey so lots of quiet time staring out the window has been good for my warring heart.

Lately I have been thinking of hope and wondering when you move on and when you keep hoping.  

Lately missing my friends has been really hard.  

Lately I am trying to figure out what this blog is suppose to be.  Change is inevitable... I just need to learn to embrace it.

 

And so I have been wondering what has been going on with you as of late?

 

 

If you would like to read Beautiful Outlaw with Kristen and me don't forget to sign up!  We are so excited to get started next week!

I am also having a giveaway until Friday so just leave a comment on this post to enter!

The Lion that is Doubt.

Last year I took a step of faith and quit my job.

While I was going through with my notice I was excited and so certain this was the right move.

Then 2012 came and I have a very part time job.... and over the last few months have put in more than 75 job applications.

No phone calls.  No interest.

Money is very tight.

I am still trying to figure out what I am suppose to do.  What I want to do.  What do I dream of?  What is my passion?  What am I meant to do?

It's weird to be 33 and have no clue what you want to do with your life.

As the months have progressed I began doubting myself.  Questions have plagued me.  Frustration and confusion have overwhelmed me at times.

Did I hear Him right?  Did I take the right step of faith?

My shouted yearnings became just regular words and then whispers as doubts assailed.

I have also doubted Him.  I have felt so very lost.

I have spent weeks trying to figure things out.

Lost is not something I do well. 

When doubts overcome... lost is where I find myself.

As we prepare to start reading Beautiful Outlaw...and as I have been challenged by the book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.... I am being reminded He always comes through.  At times it may be right in the nick of time... way past when I think it should be.  

I am reminded He does understand my confusion and frustration and hurt.  

I am reminded even when I feel lost there is direction and it points toward Him.

I am reminded He loves me.  Deeply.  

I am reminded even with how very hard things are....I love Him.

I am reminded He is the God of impossible.  He can do immeasurably more than I am even able to think of.

That there is a purpose in all of this.  When those doubts come and are overwhelming I keep telling myself... there is a purpose.  There is a a plan.

And it is going to rock my socks off when He reveals it to me.

I just have to remember the doubts are not as big as He is.

I cling to two verses above right now.  

On the days hope is severely lacking I think of those two verses and I know His version of my story is even bigger and better than I imagine.  For a while those doubts fade.  

In the end I must also remember to chase my lions... to dare to live this adventure of a life.  My doubts?  They are one of my lions and I am going to chase them...and with His help...defeat them.

So if you are overcome with doubts today... know you are not alone... I understand and so does He.  Yes doubt is big...but He is bigger...and so are we.

Joining in with the SDG sisterhood at Jen's place.

If you would like to read Beautiful Outlaw with Kristen and me don't forget to sign up!  We are so excited to get started next week!

I am also having a giveaway until Friday so just leave a comment on this post to enter!

 

 

Redeemed and A Reminder.

And the winner is...

Emily!  Congratulations Em!

(incourage) Inspired Deals!

When I saw what Dayspring and (in)courage were offering for April's inspired deals I immediately wanted to participate.

Why?

Because Dayspring had been tweeting photos from the brand new Redeemed line and I wanted every single thing they tweeted a photo of.

The line is unique and nostalgic.  

I chose to review the wallet and make-up because when I saw them...they reminded me of my Memaw.  The patchwork, the simplicity of the clasp, it all works together to make a beautiful vintage looking design.

The wallet is a great size and so roomy inside...and the detail on the outside and the inside just makes it all the more special!  It truly reminds me of something my Memaw would have loved and carried in her purse.  So when I take it out of my handbag to purchase something I just smile and for a moment the sweet memories of her rush back.  It is very room on the inside with space for everything!  And the back.... has a reminder that you are treasured!

The make-up bag is just as fabulous as the wallet!  It is just the right size and so roomy.  Plus...it's just as pretty inside as out.  It also has the reminder that you are truly beautiful.... and the things inside that bag?  They have no bearing on true beauty.... that is something you already have.  The bottom is made of soft faux leather so it will stand up to a lot of use.  

One of my most favorite things about this line is why it was designed...and the verse that goes with it...

You can click on the image and making it larger and reading the reason for the redeemed collection and what it is to remind us of...and the reminder of Romans 8:28...He works for our good becase we love Him and have been called to His purpose.  

The word redeemed resonates so deeply within my heart.  The idea of how we have been redeemed.  How His great love redeemed us all.  It's such a beautiful thing and I am so glad Dayspring has made this collection as a beautiful reminder.

It is an amazing collection and because I adore it so....I wanted to give one of YOU the chance to win something... so this week I am giving away the redeemed wallet!  

To enter the giveaway all you have to do is answer the following question in the comments:

What does the word redeemed mean to you?

I will close comments Friday, April 20th, at 5 p.m. and use random.org to draw a winner and then email them the coupon code.***

Best of luck!

 

 

I recieved this products from Dayspring for review.  The thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

***winner will recieve a coupon code for the wallet and must pay for shipping.

Also... my dear friend, Kristen and I are starting a book club and would so adore having you join us!  We will be reading Beautiful Outlaw and you can read more details here!

 

Beautiful Outlaw Book Club!

YAY!  

Kristen and I have been talking for months about hosting a book club for the book, Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge.  We are working on finalizing the details but both of us are so excited about it. Today we are going to give you the opportunity to sing up and give you our start date!

Neither Kristen nor I use the word life changing lightly so for us to tell you this book?  It is life changing means it did something to us...it shook us to our core and showed us something different about our Jesus that we MUST share.

 

 

 

On Easter Sunday as I stood shivering in the chill of the early morning and listened to the Pastor read some of the words Jesus said from the cross one phrase struck me... 

And at the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, "Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Mark 15:34

As I stood there I thought....what a human reaction.

 It never would have occurred to me that it be anything other than Jesus doing what He had to do.

Reading through the gospels during Holy Week I saw His humanness in such a different way.

The garden.  The betrayal.  His words to His friends.  His actions.  His emotions.

For years I had missed things that made Him Jesus.  Fully God.  Fully Man.  I always think of the fully God part but not so much the fully Man part.  

Through reading Beautiful Outlaw I have become aware of Him as God...but also as very much human.  Just like me.

I have discovered He understands.  My hurts, my confusion, my frustrations, my impatience.  He experienced the same thing.  He experienced life in this flesh.  On this earth.

It has brought me closer to Him in so many ways.  It has helped me see our Jesus, the beautiful outlaw, and I am more in love with Him than ever.

Read why Kristen finds this book so powerful on her blog.

 

Here are the details so far:

Starting April 24 we will meet at Exemplify Online on Tuesdays.  This will go through the month of May and into early June. (full schedule coming soon!)  

For the first meeting we will be discussing the Introduction and chapters 1 and 2.

We will be having a discussion each week in some form.  Both Kristen and I will participate and we hope you will too!  Part of what makes this book so fabulous is how it changes your perspective and helps you see Him...and YOU differently.

If you are on twitter you can use the hashtag #inlovewithabeautifuloutlaw so we know you are reading along and what your thoughts are.  We will be tweeting too.  (@crittyjoy and Kristen is @exemplifyministries)

If you would like to participate just fill out the form:

 

And if you are a blogger.... you can add the button to your sidebar!!  :)

 

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If you have any questions please feel free to email us!  kandcbookclub {at} gmail {dot} com.

I so hope you will join us as we fall deeper in love with the Beautiful Outlaw that is our Jesus.

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A Captured Moment.

Sometimes we get to capture a moment...in a photo that reminds us of so much.

On Sunday after the cookout and the egg hunt fun.... the kids were playing in the yard.  

My niece and my cousin's youngest daughter (who are a mere 4 months apart!) enjoy playing together...and soon were playing with one another.  

At first it was catch and then just running and laughing.

In one moment I snapped this photo...

I did not know I had captured it... until Monday when I downloaded the photos from the camera to the computer.  As I went through the photos I saw this one and my heart smiled.

It made me hope that Toccoa and Ellah are not only cousins but friends as well.  Just like her Mom and my brother are.

We moved to where I currently live at the end of second grade.  Soon after my Aunt and family followed.

It went from being my brother and I.... to the 5 of us.

From that time on we were never lonely.

There was someone there.  

We became more than family...we also became friends.

 

Weddings.  Deaths.  Graduations.  Births.  

Our lives merged into a journey of hard times and beautiful times.

The defining moments of lives were shared.  Burdens were carried by all of us.  Joy was celebrated by all of us.

 

And now there is a new generation.

Cousins.

They play and laugh together and love.

 

As I saw the photo above my biggest hope became that they would become more than cousins.  That like their parents before them...they would become friends.

Their journeys would merge and they would live life together, and that they realize how special it is to have those kinds of relationships.

For now I get a captured moment to remind me of the loveliness of family that becomes friends and moments that remind you life is beautiful.

Plus the level of cuteness in that photo is more than should be allowed ;)

 

Love.

The power of love displayed it's might.

Tonight as I sat quietly listening to music focusing on His death, the waiting, and the glorious day He defeated death...I kepting thinking about the line above from the song Arise My Love.

I keep thinking about that love.

The love that is all wrapped up in the greatest story of the greatest Man we know.

From the moment He was born to the moment He ascended to Heaven...and everything He has done before that and until now...is all motivated out of love.

And that the love?  It is extended to me.  To you.  To every single one of us.

Over and over.

He is the God of second chances.  And third chances.  And fourth chances.

He is LOVE.

And Oh.  How He loves us.

Just look at how powerful that love is.

It defeated death.

That is worth celebrating...today and every single day we get.

 

 

 

Happy Easter dear ones!