pearls for the girls

I wear your standard white button up at least two days a week to work. (That might have been a slight exaggeration, but only slight) Never alone, though. It is the easiest piece in a wardrobe to layer and accessorize. Pair it with a sweater or cardigan or belt it around the waist for a pop of color... Your options are endless and if you don't own a solid white button up...? I shake my finger at your and say "go shopping!" (But that's usually my answer for everything) And the pearls! Other than my wedding ring they are my favorite piece of jewelry. My sister gave them to me when I was the maid of honor in her wedding (we all wore pearl necklaces of different length and styles... so cute!) I love wearing them with unexpected pieces like a slouched sweater with winter shorts and tights or one of husbands large t-shirts with skinny jeans and heels. And since it's still winter here... the big chunky scarf wrapped three times around my neck. It ward off frost bite, of course.

Something else that's been on my mind besides the clothes in my closet...

I've been going through a book called Addicted to God by Jim Burns. It's a journal guide, "50 days to a more powerful relationship with God." Well, it's taken me almost a year and I'm not quite through with it. Not because it's not good, it's incredible, in fact! But because I tend to leave it in places I forget about or because I love books and Barnes and Noble so much that I am constantly buying new books that I start and take mini detours from the ones I've already started... However... Today's journal topic is on how God is always with you. Whether you want Him there or not, whether you know He's there or not... Learning to trust God and follow God, especially when He's not walking in the same direction, has been hard for me. But I'm learning and trying, as I will continue to do for the rest of my life. Because really, I don't think anyone's got this thing down pat. Out of my own struggles, though, I wanted to share with you this story...

"One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then than I carried you."

I have been slowly but surely reading my way through the book of Psalms, and one in particular stood out in my memory while reading this story. Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Never forget that God is there and that He is faithful.
Never hesitate to turn to Him in times of trial or of triumph.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 
and do not lean on your own understanding. 
In all your ways acknowledge Him, 
and He will make straight your path."
[Proverbs 3:5-6]
Always know that you are loved.