When Life is Too Loud Life of a Pint-Sized Mama

My name is Mackenzie, and I'm honored to be sharing on Courtney's blog today! Though I've never met Courtney in "real life," my Dad married Courtney and her husband Jerry, so it feels like we've met. :) 


I'm a wife and mom, I work with a missions organization called Youth With A Mission, and I'm incredibly short - 4'8" to be exact! I love sharing about my faith, family, and life as a tiny mom at my blog, Life of a Pint-Sized Mama. Recently the Lord has put something on my heart, and I'd love to share it with you.

***

Some days my life is too loud.

It feels like there is noise coming at me from all directions. Everywhere I look, there's an email to answer, a Facebook message to reply to, a baby to snuggle, a kitchen to be cleaned. I could probably shut out the noise if I wanted to, but it seems like I'm just turning up the volume. Though some things are "have-to's", it's mostly my own choices that are making my life this loud, this busy.

My heart feels full, but not in a good way. I'm distracted and tired. And I feel the Lord calling to me and saying,

Abide. Wait. Sit at My feet.

The things I'm choosing to do with my life right now are all good things: mommy-hood, my marriage, visiting with family & friends, networking for our YWAM ministry, blogging and connecting with other women, starting a sponsorship program on my blog (soon!), preparing for my first blogging conference in October.

But even these good things, when they aren't fueled by the BEST thing, are just a distraction.

The Lord reminded me this morning of the sisters Mary and Martha. Jesus visited their house, and Martha was scurrying around to get their home ready. (Hello, Jesus was coming over! I would have been cooking and cleaning like a mad woman too!) I think Martha's intention was to be hospitable, which is a good, Godly thing. But all of her preparation caused her to be distracted from the reason that she was doing all of those things - Jesus. Her sister, Mary, chose to sit at Jesus' feet, instead of making sure their house was perfect for the Lord. And Jesus told them that Mary's choice to be quiet and listen to Him was the better thing. The best thing.*

I don't have this all figured out. I want to be a woman who shows God's grace and love to everyone around me. I want to use my my life, my family, my blog as a platform to give glory to God. But if I am not laying all of those things at Jesus' feet and letting Him fill me first, they will be for nothing. They will do the opposite of what I intend for them to do. They will be another noise in this loud, blaring world.

Lord, help me to take a deep breath. Help me to choose You, the better thing. Help me to be quiet and sit at Your feet. Use the platforms You've given me to share Your name and Your love. And let me be willing to give up all the "extras" in a heartbeat. Breathe into all that I do. Help me to turn down the volume and listen to Your voice. I choose you, the best thing.

*From Luke 10:38-42

Connect with Mackenzie:

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / BlogLovin'

Stripped All Glorious Within

Well Hey there Baxtron{Life} Readers.
I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I am that Courtney is giving me the priviledge of sharing my heart with you guys today.

I should probably explain who I am right....

My name is L and I blog at All Glorious Within. 

I have a heart for encouraging others in their walk with the Lord,
so my blog is me sharing things I am learning in my relationship with Christ.
I married my wonderful husband in July 2010, so I often include newlywed bumps along the way.
So with that said....I what to share with you guys some thoughts I had on trials and how each of us is Made to Shine for Jesus.


-----------------------------------------

In the last few months I have been able to help a couple of different friends with their house projects. Two of them have just bought fixer-uppers and are so brave in tackling them with a deadline in mind.  These homes needed serious work I tell you.
One of them had no electricity or plumbing and people had broken in and pretty much stolen anything they could from it.
Crazy right.


So as I was helping one friend strip paint in her new hallway, we discovered that under all those layers of old paint which looked pretty awful, there was beautiful dark wood.
So we began heating the paint up and removing it piece by piece from the wood.
And I realised, that's how the imperfections are in each of us.

We all have these layers of imperfections & sin that need removing from our life.
It makes each of us look awful.
But as we allow God to help us remove them and piece by piece get them out of our lives for good.
We begin to see the way we were supposed to be.
We begin to shine from the inside out, as the inside is finally visible.

We begin to shine the way God made us.
We allow Him to shine through us, people around us begin to see Him.
To see beauty.
But it is through His incredible grace that He is helping us become the person we were originally made to be.
Just like that wood, we were made to beautifully reflect the Lord.
But all that paint that gets added on top, sinful patterns, pride, our past.....
It prevents people around us and even ourselves from seeing that beautiful person that was created.

Isn't it funny how you can put those imperfections under heat and they get removed.
Just like in life when trials come our way and we are refined.
The imperfections are painfully removed sometimes.
But they are really worth it when they free us to shine for Him.


Some ponderings for me to remember the next time a painful trial comes my way.
Want to ponder with me?

Much Love,
L

Connect with L:
Blog / Twitter / Facebook / BlogLovin' / Pinterest

Featured on Single[d]oubt Lessons Learned from A Season of Lack

#prayer #shereadstruth via baxtronlife

When Jerry and I moved back to NYC in the Fall of 2009, we had no idea that we'd be literally living out of our car, and at the grace of good friends for the first whole month. We had spent the last year and a half completely oblivious to the very real struggles that the dwindling economy were causing people in places outside of Southern Louisiana.

We were reading the articles and seeing the news about millions of Americans being jobless, but we weren't feeling the effect at all. We were in a bubble, making above average and paying below average, in the small community where we lived.

Continue reading on Single[d]oubt...

Casual & Glam Floral Sashes Eight Tree Street

Hi! I'm Maribel, mommy to four kiddos and wife to a wonderful guy. When I'm not busy with the family, I design florals and wedding accessories at EightTreeStreet, and write for my blog.

Today I am sharing with you my new found love: casual and glam floral, ribbon and fabric sashes. Ribbon belt sashes are a popular accents today in weddings, but they also make a fabulous and colorful fashion statement in everyday wear.

Ribbon sashes dress up your look from office to playground to a night out on the town, and they are very inexpensive and super easy to make. You can accessorize with sashes for a glam time at a wedding, they make the most gorgeous additions to a wedding dress. Wedding sashes can include ribbon, millinery flowers, brooches and a little bling for sparkling decor as well as handmade touches with fabric flowers, just divine!

Source: marthastewartweddings.com

For a casual yet chic playground attire, tie a favorite ribbon or a handmade flower sash around your waist over a simple T-shirt t for a perfect look. Here's a casual design fit for mommy or little gal. I love this Amy Buttler fabric sash, they will look amazing paired with a casual shirt and a pair of jeans.

Source: flickr.com via EightTree on Pinterestt

You can make a sash to enhance pillows, chair backs for a party or event, or use as a curtain tiebacks.

Source: stylemepretty.com via EightTree on Pinterest

Curtain floral sash tieback and flower girl blue sash via Pinterest,
Chevron chair back sash from EightTreeStreet

 Here's one of my designs, I love it's simplicity and fun decorations, hope you do too. Simple and elegant accessories for everyday wear!

 I would love to connect with you via on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Hope you stop by to say hello! In the meantime, a lucky reader will be getting one of my cute and casual ribbon belt sashes! 

Thanks Courtney for the opportunity to visit you today, let me know how you are accessorizing with sashes for home, weddings or a casual look! Make a fun, colorful and glam fashion statement!

***

To Enter the Giveaway:

You must be a follower of Baxtron{Life} 

Leave a comment below telling us what you think of these gorgeous sashes!

Extra Entries (Leave a comment for each):

Follow Eight Tree Street via Twitter, Facebook and/or Pinterest.


Ends 7/26 at 11:59pm

{SunBerry}Spa Water

 


 

{Tending Your Marriage}Garden

I am not a gardener.

But, last Spring I decided throw a few seeds in a few pots, 

almost like a science experiment.

I hoped that perhaps some of them would grow.

My Father-in-Law also gave me a couple of Tomato plants.

They grew like cedar trees, tall and strong.

They flowered, filling me with visions of homemade salsa.

And then…

No fruit was found on them.

Gardening is not an easy task.  

I'm not even sure that I would claim to enjoy it,

but there is something in my nature that desires to do it, 

and to succeed at doing it.

Marriage is a lot like gardening.

For most of us, we start out with a grandiose vision of what our garden will look like.

We envision an abundance of brightly colored blooms,
all flourishing together under blue skies and sunshine.

But, often to our shock and dismay, we find ourselves frustrated by the lack of fruit we are producing.

Like gardening, Marriage takes hard dedicated work.

The work of humble hands and hearts.

When I look at the old weathered clay pots sitting on my patio, I am reminded of God's word.

We are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8

Each of us is like a clay pot being molded and shaped as we seek God in our lives.

In our Marriages we start as two clay pots,
but over time God allows us to be broken down and re-formed together into one.

As He fills us with the new fertile soil of His spirit living within us,
He gives us the responsibility to sow good seed.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18:21


We have a choice, we can either sow good seed into our marriage or bad seed.  

When we sow strife, discontent, misunderstanding, resentment and unforgiveness,
our marriage, like a delicate flower wilts and withers.

When we sow good seed: quality time, love and respect, empathy and compassion, and most of all, GRACE, our marriage produces new life.

How blessed we are to have God, the master Gardener,
to continually reveal to us the condition of our marriages by the fruit He brings forth.

How is your garden growing?

Are you seeing the fruit that you desire or is God revealing some weeds that need to be pulled out?

God wants your marriage to flourish like a beautiful garden, ripe with fruit.

by Alicia Jo McMahan

Invite Him into your garden today…

You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 58:11

Images used in this post have been licensed for my use with permission from their owners, 

please do not use these images without approval.

{Outside the Box}

I am by no means a crafty lady, but occasionally I do like to try things that stretch me outside my comfort zone.  I've really enjoyed seeing gallery wall ideas on Pinterest, and other people's blogs, as well as in homes of some friends in my neighborhood.

I have been collecting items for a while to add create my own interpretation of a gallery wall, adding a little bit of a comfortable homey feel to our NYC apartment.  It is a bit of a struggle when living in NYC to allow yourself to be settled enough in one place to actually make your space "homey."  

Over the last couple of years we've moved three times, so I've been somewhat reserved to put in the time and energy to decorate and get comfortable.  But, alas, I've begun my gallery wall which I'm happy to be sharing with you here today!

 I've literally been throwing miscellaneous items into a box since before Christmas in anticipation of getting my wall started.  I've done a couple of Michael's runs, plus had miscellaneous craft leftovers from various projects I've attempted previously.

 I took all of my "frames" which were simply shoebox lids of varying shapes and sizes and covered them with scrapbooking paper.  I tried to pick a variety of colors, designs and textures that would still correspond with each other in some way.

 Next I added photographs using double sided tape, and dressed up each frame with scrapbooking stickers, and other fun things.  

Here are a few more examples:

 For the backing I used yarn and felt squares with hot glue.  

Make sure you measure your nails or picture mounts to help determine where you should place the yarn so that the actual mounts are hidden behind the pictures.

 Once you have a good collection of different items to hang, go ahead and put them up, you can always experiment with hanging them in different places until you find something you like.

 Here is my before:

 And after:

I still plan on adding a few items to my wall later on, including a few decals, 

and possibly some painted toilet paper roll flowers.

And of course more pictures over time.

What do you think?

{Priorities}

by Kristin Smith

Finding balance in my life 

has always been a

challenge.

I'm the kind of person that takes on a lot,

even when maybe 

I shouldn't.

I know I'm not superwoman,

and 

I know how to say 

"No."

It often seems that 

just when I think I have everything

under control

something always 

tips the scale 

in the other direction.

But, the truth

lies in my 

priorities.

Often when things feel like

chaos,

I find that I've allowed my priorities to

shift out of their rightful order.

I've stopped 

keeping the first thing

first.

Lately,

it's been 

Writing, Family, then God.

And it's not working 

for me.

by Andrea Brancaccio

I know what I must do.

I've discovered the 

secret:

Time spent 

with 

God

is time

multiplied.

When my priorities are right

there is

harmony.

When there is harmony,

there is 

rest.

Is your life in balance

or are you 

struggling

amidst the chaos?

The Lord says:

"Come to me, 

all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest.  

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls.  

For my yoke is easy and 

my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

by Jesse Therrien