Fearfully & Wonderfully made..

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So I've been thinking a lot.

About others. Other woman whom I am close to. Ones I just met and even ones I haven't. Who are hurting or have been hurt. Who are married but feel alone. Who are single but can't seem to find the guy they're heart so longs for. Women who have been tanted by this world and are longing to be healed.

One of the many reasons I love student ministry is because I genuinely love to see my students love the Lord. My desire is to see them grow in the Lord and lean on Him so that He becomes their everything early on in life..

because when you get older..
and you settle down..
things don't get easier.

 The more we grow and the older we get, things tend to get a lot harder. But with the Lord being our all, our everything.. we can face those hard times with Him, prepared and strong because of the Spirit who lives in us. That is what I long to see in these students lives. A true, intimate relationship with The Lord.

My other passion is for marriage and young women. My heart breaks at how many women have been let down, hurt or destroyed by others at such a young age. Being told who they are and how they should act/think/be. All the while, there is a God who loves and adores them. Who fights for them and is stronger than the most handsome prince charming. He is whispering that He knows who they are, and that girl is beautiful, adored, and thought highly of.

For all you sweet, single gals.. who have had their hearts broken a time or two.. or maybe the ones who are just afraid to love because they don't want to have their heart broken so they run. 

You are loved.
You are cherished by the only One who will never let you down.

YOU ARE SO LOVED, YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO STAND IT IF YOU KNEW JUST HOW MUCH.

Oh and Marriage? Guys, it's hard. I adore my husband, I think he was made just for me and yet I still understand, that marriage takes a lot of work.

I know a lot of women think.. If I just had a good man,then I'd be alright. If he just would swoop me off of my feet, we'd run away together, we'd be the world to each other..and my life would be complete.

But hey, ladies, that's actually not how it goes. The only reason I have a good marriage is because of God. I fall short every.single.day of being a great wife let alone just being alright at it. My husband falls short of being perfect too.. I know surprising, right? ;) 

It is only by the grace of God that I am the woman I am today. That I was blessed with an amazing husband who cares so deeply for me. Without The Lord providing for me, I would have nothing. I would be nothing.

 I was one of those girls. The one who let the world tell her who she was and that she didn't matter,or worse,that something was wrong with me. And I still struggle with this, but slowly.. The Lord, He is healing me of this view of myself.  He is allowing me to believe His truths, ones I had heard a thousand times but could have sworn didn't belong to me. I listened to lie after lie, forgetting the One who held the truth I was so longing for.

But The Lord has rescued me from that and is healing me even still. Calling me to a new place with Him. Making promises, and KEEPING them, dear friends.

I promise you, He is all you need. I know how hard that is  to believe sometimes.  I know there are lies telling you that you need more. I know because I struggle with that lie.

 But He is EVERYTHING.

I know some of you have been hurt and let down. I know you may have let the world tell you who you are and maybe even like I was, thinking something was wrong or you didn't matter. I am here, sweet friends, to tell you, nothing is wrong with you. God doesn't make mistakes. 

You, daughter of the High King, were fearfully and wonderfully made.

You matter to Him. And even though that's enough. I want to also say, you matter to me. And so many others. I beg, hold onto this truth. No matter your circumstance. Married or single.  God is on your side. Remember my favorite verse? "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. 

God SAID that.
& He MEANT it. 

Believe Him, friends. He will always keep His promises. 
Let the Lord, the One who created you, tell you who are. Because that's all that matters anyways. 

"I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well." -Psalm 139:13-16

"And in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority" -Colossians 2:10

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, (s)he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." -2 Corinthians 5:17

"Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings."-Psalm 17:8
(such a sweet, endearing and fatherly thing to say)

"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God."-Romans 8:16

"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." -Matthew 11:29 

This blogging community has become so much more to me than writing down what I did last weekend and what I made for dinner last night. It has become a place of friendship and community. Where girls are praying for me and I, them. I would personally love to pray for any of you or just be here to talk to. You can always email me.. Jessmileham@gmail.com.

With Love,
Jess 

{Lovely Christmas}

Hi friends!

I hope your Christmas was filled with joy and love!

I love Christmas every year but this year was my favorite since we have been married. My husband and I decided we would try things a little different in light of all the many families we wanted to see. We normally try and cram everyone into one house within a couple of hours but this year we spent the morning alone, the afternoon with his folks and the evening with my family. It was by far the least stressful, most fun Christmas we have had since we have been married.

Christmas Eve we were at our church service. It was really beautiful and I loved spending time with everyone that night. I wore the pretty shirt Nathan had picked out for me and given to me a couple days prior.  Here's us with Santa ;)

Christmas Eve and the morning of Christmas were my favorite because we spent it alone. We started a new dinner tradition on Christmas Eve and had sushi together. We then came home and decorated WAY too many sugar cookies.It started to become extremely late and we started joking with each other about our cookies. I stabbed the cookie Nathan decorated with a tooth pick.. so he cut off the head of mine. haha, it was late and we were having way too much fun :)

{Cara Box Reveal}

I absolutely adore the idea of the Cara box. It is incredibly thoughtful and I LOVE to meet new friends!

I was paired with Laura (whom I sent a box to) and Carolynn (whom I received a box from.) I know you don't send to the same girl who gives you your box but Laura was the sweetest and she wanted to send me a box anyways! I was so excited when it arrived, and loved every single thing inside. She put so much thought into each gift and took so much time to get to know me! 

 I was so excited when this arrived on Christmas Eve!

This is the adorable little owl that Laura says she attempted for the very first time for me!

I obviously have a new found love for owls :)

Such pretty Sparkly ornaments! The pink one Laura has the same of so now we will have something to remember each other by!

 This one is special! She even hand wrote the font that I used when I first started blogging. How thoughtful is that?!

How CUTE is this?! I love this little sign! I cannot wait to hang it up! 

And this adorable little headband along with another red one :)

I loved my box, Laura! You are so sweet and thoughtful and I am so glad I got to know you so well! Looking forward to our continued friendship!

My other box came from Carolynn:

 

Different colors of Yarn

Glittery bobby pins

Pink Sparkle nail polish

 Little glass candle with a pretty little emblem.

Carolynn, Thank you for taking the time to send me a box I appreciate that you sent all of these gifts to me! :)

I am bummed I didn't get to know Carolynn more and wish I would have gotten to know her like I did Laura. We didn't get to exchange emails.

Thank you Kaitlyn for this idea! It is truly wonderful! :)

{New Blog Design}

When I first started blogging.. and I mean ..way back when I first got married, I found this adorable little free template on someone's website. I wrote ALOT of words and didn't meet anyone. My all-time page views for that blog was 36. THIRTY SIX, friends.

When I started blogging again, I didn't know what to expect. I realized that blogging was a little different than it was before so I just was excited to start writing and was just going to see what happened. I had no idea how incredible this experience would turn out to be. God has used blogging to bless me in a way I've never known.  

I don't even know how I stumbled across it, but there is this cool link within blogger that allows you to search for others with the same interests as you. I clicked on youth ministry and wouldn't you know it..my (now) very best blogger friend, Teressa, popped up. Oh, and by the way.. you say her name like this.. Tur ess ah. Not Teresa.

Meeting her began an incredible journey of getting to know so many other awesome girls. Like Cat,  Kenzie, Shannon and so many more women who I happen to think are incredible! Needless to say, this blogging experience has been much different than my first!

So anwyays..

Nathan decides at 6 last night he hates my logo. 

Which is OK for him to say because he did make it, after all but I loved that sweet little logo. It was the first one he made me and it was the beginning of my blog. It makes me a little sad..But he insisted because he has all these ideas..he says.

Listen, I love anything my husband makes me. Dinner, a logo, you know. 

I will say that this is the very first time I feel as though my blog is complete. I FINALLY have nice looking buttons, and tabs, and all that stuff. I loved my blog but every time I looked at it I just wanted to clean it up! All of that html code and dumb stuff.. I had to do on my own. 

Alright, I didn't have to but I didn't want to pay someone else to do it if I was fully capable.

Friends, Nathan loves this new one so much, he named the owl Scrappy. Why you ask? Because he made him out of scrap booking paper. On photoshop, of course.

I know, my husband is cute. This is why I love him.

I hope you enjoy my new blog as much as I do :)

I'm off for 4 days..can you believe it?! Happy weekend friends!! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

{Fab Friday}

So, who doesn't love ending their week with all the Fab things going on in their lives! 

-Christmas is in 4 days folks. This makes me SO happy. I made some awesome gifts for my mom and sister that I am beyond excited to give to them! 

-Christmas also means a Christmas Eve Service at our Church. I love seeing new faces and others giving their hearts to Jesus. 

 

-This year's Advent study on 'She Reads Truth' has been amazing. I have loved reading the Old Testament then jumping into the Gospel. Friends, read the Gospel, over and over and each time I promise it will change your life!

-I sent my Cara box this week and my new friend, Laura got it and wrote me the sweetest email about it! I am so glad she liked it. Makes me so happy! Once it's posted on Wifessionals, I'll share why I gave her what I did. :)

-Nathan and I had a great date night this week! P.F. Changs and The Hobbit. We're risk takers, what can I say?

-I won a giveaway today! Oh man, it is the best thing ever to wake up to a email saying you won something especially when you enter almost every giveaway there is! I won a gift card to the CUTE little LuBeth Designs shop on Etsy! 

-I bought the 4-pack of sparkling cider at Costco yesterday. I think I might have finished 5 bottles, by myself, since the beginning of December. Listen, I love that stuff and I refuse to look at what the fat/calorie content is on it because frankly, I just don't care. 

-I made gingerbread cookies earlier this week and they were yummy!!

 

Have a Fabulous Friday Friends!!

{Featured} Favorite Christmas Tradition

Hello lovelys! 

 I am being featured on Sippy Cups & Pearls today by the very sweet Whitney!

Go read about my favorite Christmas Tradition along with some other great gals like my friend Teressa@newbornmama! Have a great Thursday, and rest assured, I will be here tomorrow, writing a new post.. because the world is NOT going to end. It'd be so super cool if Jesus came today though.. or the day after that shenanigans ;)

Here are some very cute pictures of my nieces recently.. you know, so you wont be totally bored by the post! I'll show you what I did for my sister with some of these pictures.. after Christmas of course ;)

A Blogger Award

So.. I figured since this is the third time I have been given this, I better hop to it! (I am going to answer the questions of the first person who awarded me :)) Thank You Karla, Cat, and Teressa!!
  

Rules
This award is given to new or up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers...the award is then passed along to other bloggers in the same category to help spread the word and support one another.

1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.

2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, and then create 

11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.

3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) 

to pass the award to and link them in your post.

4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.

 5. No tag backs.

11 Random Facts:

-I'll only drink chai with soy milk.

-I named my dog Gizmo, after a gremlin.

-I'd take salty food over chocolate any day.

-I hate planning. I'd rather just see it happen.

-I'm an extravert. Can't you tell :) 

-I was a cheerleader in high school for one semester.

-I have a new love for bath and body works lotion. An expensive habit.

-I own a house but am currently renting another.

-My favorite thing to use my journal for is praying.

-I've never broken a bone.

-I have to sleep with a fan on.    

Fab Friday

Linking up with Laura again this week for Fab Friday! If you haven't already.. go check out her great blog!

-I finally won my first giveaway this week after entering a bazillion! I was SO excited! Starbucks, cozies, Ad space and meeting some wonderful ladies! Happy me!

-I just got an iced chai & I feel as though that's fabulous. Although I can't understand for the life of me why I can't stop buying those stupid drinks.. Don't tell my husband but I think that's where all our money goes! ;)

-My husband is being all secretive about the gifts he has gotten me.. He has already wrapped them and I am so excited because I love surprises..and gifts..don't judge, I think it's my love language.. which brings me to the next one..

-We are starting a life group in January on the 5 Love Languages. Although we have already read the book, it'll be fun to go through the study.

-I am not done with Christmas shopping.. and that makes me happy because I love giving gifts!

-I am participating in the Cara Box Exchange over at Wifessionals this month and I have already met a really great gal! Her name is Laura and she blogs over Wander Lust. She is incredibly genuine and amazingly crafty! Go say hi!

-I got to see my ornery sweet little nieces yesterday. Bella was doing so good, playing and laughing and jumping all over. Happy & sweet as can be. Gabbi on the other hand.. has already figured out the stare of death and she's only a year and a couple months! Monster! ;)

Have a wonderful Friday friends!!!

Christmas stuff :)

So.. we've been busy, busy! Last week, we had something going on every single night! Finally Tuesday night we were able to keep up our Christmas tradition and go get an ornament from the mall. We have been doing this since a couple years after we started dating. We went into the mall and saw that cute little cart with all the ornaments on it. We got a funny looking couple of bears and had them put our names on em. I think they're just the cutest and I loved that we had started our own tradition. :)

At least once a month, the staff at our church tries to get together to just hang out and have fun. I had the honor of hosting the Christmas party which clearly excited me because I already had all my Christmas decor out, I love Christmas, and I LOVE hosting parties.

Those times at youth...

Sometimes, as a youth leader, I get my heart broken. It's those times when I know what's best for a student and they do the complete opposite. When I know they'll end up hurt and they choose it anyways. When my husband and I both have prayed for them and listened and advised them and still, they made the choice we hoped they wouldn't.

And I'm such a girl about it. I knew it was coming. At least, I thought I did. We had suspected for a while and so finally I got up the courage to just ask.

Before I asked, I was still in la la land. You know, when you think you know, but it hasn't been confirmed yet so you still have hope. Ya that.

And so I asked. And the answer was just a small, quiet, yes.

And you know what I did?

I said, ok. walked away, and cried.

Cried because I was heart broken, frustrated, hurt.

It took everything in me to not lose it right there. To calmly reply okay and walk away with a smile.

So here's a story...

I was watching my niece, Gabbi, the other day and she loves straws. Anything with a straw in it, she wants. And cries for until she gets it. So when she spotted a cup with a straw on our nightstand, imagine her delight. Keep in mind that she's only a little over a year. Unfortunately, that particular straw was tainted. Let me explain... Nathan had a drink from In&Out from a couple days before. It was soda and it was old. I don't know what had started to grow  in it or how gross it would be so naturally I know it's best if I don't give it to her. Well she did not like that answer. She threw herself on the floor and cried. So I left her there.. to figure it out. She whined some more then finally dealt with the fact that she couldn't have it. 

Friday Letters

I thought I'd switch it up this Friday because I saw this really great link up!

Dear Nathan, 

You have been especially funny this week. I love working with you from home and in ministry. You love me in a way I have never known before and I love you so much for that.

Dear Christmas,

Why did you come so early? I feel unprepared in both the money department and the idea department. Please cut me a little slack and slow down a bit or at the very least, toss me some ideas!

Dear Mom,

Thank you for always wanting to go crazy and spend all your money on us kids for Christmas. Although we don't need it, I love the gifts you choose for me like that cute little owl you found the other day at Kohls. 

Dear Starbucks,

I cannot believe how busy you were this morning. I was getting a little stressed out with how many people were in your small store. However, thanks for the almost done right caramel macchiato that I ordered.

Dear Bella,

You keep fighting sweet girl! You're doing so awesome and you're finally in remission! Be strong for mama and give her lots of kisses and remind her that Jesus will take care of you both! I love you so much baby girl! 

Dear Blogger Friends,

Words cannot express how great you have been. I love the friendships that we have formed in such a short time. Especially yours Teressa. You are such an encouragement to me and love that we text all the time like very best friends! :) 

Dear God,

You are so good to me. You see my needs and then meet them. Every time. You have been faithful when I am not. You are glory and You are beautiful. You are my King and I will always choose to praise Your Name. Jesus, you are more awesome than any words of mine could ever express.

Thanksgiving Day...Late

I know this post is SO overdue and you're probably all into Christmas now.. leaving Thanksgiving forgotten and lonely.. But I thought I would share some pictures of our Thanksgiving and let you know how it went.. because it's a Thursday.. and Thanksgiving is on a Thursday.. I don't know where I was going with that. Anyways..

This year was incredibly relaxed which I was so THANKFUL for! It ended up only being 3 sets of parents, an Aunt & Uncle and of course my husband and I!

The day started out a little rough..

My mom had been cleaning with some new wood spray that was extremely oily. Somehow it had gotten on our tile floor and I had almost slipped 3 times before.. the incident. She even tried to clean it up but it just wouldn't give. I was planning on sweeping and moping but just hadn't gotten to it yet. I had just made a name tag for one of the pies I had made and was going to set it up all pretty like. I turned around, walked through the kitchen.. and slipped. I was holding the little ceramic pumpkin and needless to say.. I guess I valued my life more than the pumpkin's because I dropped it to catch my balance and it shattered all over the ground.

SO What Wednesday..

Because this link up is my favorite so far...

SO WHAT:

-If I find stuff I like for Christmas then email it to my husband. I'm sure he appreciates the help, right? ;)

-If I still haven't won a giveaway & rafflecopter is being so lame lately that it doesn't recognize any of my entries... maybe one day I'll win something...

-If I haven't completed our little Advent calendar. I plan to today.

-If I just want it to be Nathan and I for Christmas this year since my sister doesn't want Bella to be around anyone (totally understandable, too much risk) and I just want to spend Christmas with my husband, I think it would be special. 

-If we have something going on EVERY night this week. It's December. I don't know what I expected. 

-If some stupid test at the Dr. cost $300+... I could have bought another iPad with that! Looks like it's going to be a light Christmas.

-If I couldn't find any presents I wanted to buy anyone online. There were plenty of things to buy but I think I secretly just like shopping in stores..well actually that isn't a secret.

-If I am more excited about Wifessional's Cara Box Exchange than anything else right now.. including Christmas. It's such a sweet idea!

-If I got super excited when I saw I reached 50 followers and thought "wow that's a lot".. I just think it's cool that anyone wants to read my blog!  You guys are the best! :)

David & Saul

Want to hear what Nathan taught on this week?.. I mean it is a pretty sweet story. We studied 1 Samuel 24:1-7.


At the beginning of the lesson, we handed out cupcakes and told the students they were laced with x-lax. They had a choice to make.. Eat the cupcake, and be sure to be in the bathroom later, or don't.

First of all.. Everyone knows who David is right?  This guy was known for the story of David & Goliath but it didn't end there. In fact, it didn't even begin there. 

Between the ages of 13-17, David had killed a bear with his staff. Then while he was tending to his sheep one day, a lion grabbed one of his sheep and David wacked it with his staff and pried open his mouth and took his little lamb out. The lion, that he thought was dead, turned on David and so David killed it as well. 

This might seem extreme, but David was the man after God's own heart. He knew the Lord would protect him and help him in everything he did so he didn't fear those animals. He only knew of the power God had. 

Then the famous story of David and Goliath. David comes to bring his brothers food one day while they are out on the battle field. He hears this Giant taunting the Army of Israel, cursing at them and making fun of them. Just bashing on God's people. Well, David wants to know why they're allowing this guy to say these things about God's people so he goes to King Saul and asks if he can fight him. So he takes a couple rocks, puts them in his pocket, keeps one out and throws it at this massive man, and kills him. Then while he is on the ground takes Goliath's sword and cuts his head off. Now guys, this Giant was recorded to be between 9-13 feet. He was almost 3x the size of David. Who but the Lord could have helped this succeed? No one else was willing. And no one else was able.