A change in a lifestyle

Lately i have been thinking about some verses in Galatians 1 (thanks #shereadstruth).

Paul is speaking:
Afterward i went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And i was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only, "He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy" And they glorified God in me.
{1 Galatians 21-24}

Wow! It just impacts me so so much. Paul persecuted Christians!!! He wanted to DESTROY the faith. Now he is going around and proclaiming the good works of the Lord.
What i love about this is that it says they didn't know Paul.... They just heard about him. It says they HEARD that he was once not living for God (pretty much as opposite you can be) but NNOOWWW after experiencing God He is sharing the faith. Makes me think "let's give them something to talk about..."

And then what did they do?? They GLORIFIED God in him because of it.
Paul's actions DID NOT save him (we are saved by faith through Jesus who died for our sins) but his changes in his lifestyle have glory to God.

Wow.... Let's read it again because it just touches my heart.

The things we do CANNOT save us... But our lifestyle changes will give glory to our Lord.

So don't do things to get a gold star from  God or to work your way into heaven - he already loves you and has paid the price..... But do it to give glory to the One.

If you have made mistakes in your past - which we all have - remember that God loves you with an everlasting love and NOTHING can separate you from Him. You are never to far gone that you can't be used by God. Look at Paul (formerly known as Saul) ... He was persecuting the early Christians but then after encountering the Lord... was so used to preach and give glory to God.

We can do that too. (:

I am made new by love, Monica

Girl behind the blog. {your influence}

Linking up with Erin at SweetnessItself.Blogspot.com and Ashley at 5ohwifey.com. (:

First year anniversary pics.

Last weekend husby and I took some 1 year photos. (:

Its something that I want to

do every year around our anniversary with our family to see how we age and grow. (: Here are some of those photos. (: One yr and love. - Monica

Crock pot pumpkin spice latte

One of my favorite things about Fall I a pumpkin spice latte (with two pumps of vanilla) from starbucks. At our home in California there is a Starbucks EVERYWHERE (two on either side of my work, another down the street from my house, plus many more across the town... I believe there were like 8 or something crazy for the 90,000 population town). Now we live in a town where the closest Starbucks is 30 minutes away. I am just not willing to drive there. (Which is actually GOOD for our bank account)

We had to come up with a alternative.
I found this recipe from good ol' pinterest -- but here is the original source .
The original recipe is made for like 8-10 people... so I halfed it (and played around with the vanilla and sugar) and I am pretty happy with it. (:

I would say this serves like 4-6.

(I know the pics are probably gonna be out of order. Lol)

Ingredients:
-2 cups  coffee
- 4 cups  milk
- 4 TBSP  pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 TBSP sugar (I did 5)
- 4 TBSP vanilla (I did 5)

Directions:
- mix the milk and coffee together in the crock pot.
- mix the other ingredients in a different bowl.
- combine all ingredients in the crock pot and stir.
- cook in high for 2 hours.
- enjoy your season of fall in a cup(:

(The longer it is in the crockpot the better. It blends all the flavors together. After the two hours I put it on low while I finished my first cup and then had another cup. (: I had leftovers so I put it in the fridge and it was just as good this morning.)

Hope you enjoy! (:

Let me know how you like it!

Homemade pumpkin spice and love. - Monica

Computer = sadness

Well... I ordered a battery for the laptop yesterday so I should be back to blogging by next week.

I miss you all and have so much to share!

More anniversary pics... crockpot pumpkin spice latte recipe... and a beautiful word I got from the Lord.

Today the hubs and I are catching up on The Voice while he is off because of the rain (yay!)

Any favorite shows back on for you lovelies? (:

Missing you!
-Monica

Update from my phone. (:

Ok... I know that I have not been around much... our computer decided to die (well the battery) and so I have to blog from my phone.... which I can do... but its not my favorite. Lol.

To say sorry... here is my cute little puppy and handsome hubby playing. (:

Enjoy (:

Watch "Hide and seek" on YouTube

Ten on ten {September}

One picture every hour for ten hours on the tenth of the month. (:

To remind me of all the lovely moments that make up my life. (:

(I have no idea why its not in order.. I had to do it on my phone ... I put the time on the picture though. )

Intro to 10 on 10 & Blog Love {Wifessionals}

I have two little blogs to share with you today! (:
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Kaitlyn is a new military wife and is here to introduce herself. (: Go check out her blog and let her know I sent you! (:
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Hey everyone! First off, I want to give a huge thank you to Monica for having me here today (: I recently started Wifessionals after I found myself in a completely new life from what I've been used to. I just married the man of my dreams, who happens to be in the Army. A week after we got married, we packed up everything
in Nashville and moved all the way out to The Middle of Nowhere, Arizona. It's been a big change and I REALLY miss the South, but it doesn't look like I'll be headed back any time soon! We just found out we're now moving to Colorado!

I post everything from: Delicious recipes - The crazy world that is the Army - Mishaps with our new boxer puppy - Fashion tips and tricks - The highs and lows of daily life -Random ridiculousness - Tips to save money - SO much more!

Basically, these are my confessions of being a wife....or rather, Wifessionals.

So come stop by and say hello! I love meeting new people. I'd especially love to hear from you if you know anything helpful about my new home in Colorado!!

God bless!

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My friend, Shawna, told me about Ten on Ten from the blog 'A Little Bit of Sunshine. On the tenth of each month Rebeckah would take one picture every hour for ten hours to remind herself of all the loveliness around her. She started it when she was working through post pardum depression. I thought it would be fun to join in on this -- go check out her blog if you are interested.

Have a great Sunday evening!! (:

Lovely people, moments in time, and love. - Monica

Trust the process

Today I have been a little reminiscent of when hubby and I were dating.

this was before he left in Jun 2010 at a friend's wedding. Cant tell in pictures we were struggling.

 After about 9 months of dating, my Mr. moved to Southern California  (about 10 hrs away) to go to a ministry school. It was something that we had always talked about and hubby said that when the school started -- he was going to go. We knew when he left for school that there was a "no dating" policy, since we were doing long distance we thought it would be alright.
A couple of weeks had passed and we found out that it really meant "NO DATING." The following months to come our communication was limited and we had to break our soul tie to each other.

Let me preface -- before he left for So Cal Martin and I were struggling. We were dealing with a lot insecurity, doubt, trust issues, jealousy, and just being so far from the Lord. We tried and our hearts cried out for the Lord... but we were still lost.

At the time when his pastors told us we couldn't have a relationship any longer and we needed to stop communicating -- I was upset!!! Oh my sadness I was upset! To put it incredibly dramaticly -- I felt like someone was ripping out my heart! Not only was my boyfriend 10+ hours away.. but now I can't even communicate with him!? Not even letters. :(

I felt confused and lost. People around me didn't understand the reasoning behind it (at times I didn't full understand the reasoning) but for 4 straight months we didnt say one word to each other. I HAD to trust and rely on the Lord. I had to pray to Him and fall even more in love with the Lord.
My love came home for Christmas break and it was a little awkward in the beginning. We were able to spend some time together -- but not kissing or holding hands or anything. We had given each other to the Lord in this season and we were TRYING to trust this process.
Hubby still proposed on Christmas morning and then left a week later back to school. The following 4 months were a little more confusing because we were engaged but still couldn't talk. I was planning a wedding with him... but it still felt a little.. unsettled.

Christmas break 2010

 Honestly for a very long time I resented that season. I was upset that I missed out on that part of his life. He was being transformed by the Lord and speaking into so many people's lives -- and I wasn't apart of it. I felt like his pastors hated me -- & that's why they didn't want me to talk to him. I had to fight back insecurities that he would be better off with someone else there (I battled that for a loonngg time! We had to talk through it with our pre-marital mentors and even after we were married the enemy would try to bring that lie back).

his graduation. (: 5.8.10 my birthday

Summer before our wedding. (: WWAAYY better place in our relationship! God is good!

 This morning I was talking with a friend about that tough season and the Lord reminded me what it was for. Its like a light bulb has finally went off. I SEE it now. Hubby and I learned (through that process) to find our identity and happiness in Christ ALONE! We were able to work through some of our insecurities, jealously, and distrust and be the couple that God intended us to be -- so that we could have the marriage God intended us to have. We are not perfect & if we try to find our happiness in one another -- we will ALWAYS be let down. But through that season we learned to rely on the Lord and leave the old behind and make something new with the two of us. We broke the old yucky soul tie -- to make a new beautiful one that is completely blessed.
We still have our ups and downs but with everything we have been through we are able to look to the Lord in any situation.

Its tough to trust the process when you are in it. When things don't seem to be going the way we want them to go its hard to say "ok, God I know there is a reason in this." More often then not we are thinking, "Get me outta here!!!" Remember that God could be preparing you for something. It may not be for right now... but it could be for your future. I don't think Martin and I would have the marriage we  have today if we didn't have that tough season. Trust the process and remember that He makes all things together for your good. :)

huge hugs from my home to yours!

processes and love. - Monica
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a weekly recap & repentance

Hello lovelies!!! I know I have been missing for like... the past ... week. hehe. I was not feeling well... and then hubby started to not feel well either.
We are better now and he is back to work today... so I figured I should too.

So this is me right now:

I am sitting on my bed folding laundry. I have already cleaned the kitchen and the living room.

I have not done very well on the chores since last week. hehe. Although hubby cleaned the kitchen and it was sooo wonderful!!!

Bathroom and bedroom are next on the cleaning list.

♥ ♥ ♥

 We haven't really done anything all week -- so no special updates. We did get a wonderful canvas from Picture It Canvas that I bought from Groupon for only $39 (its worth $110)! I am so so excited and I cannot wait to buy more.. whenever they go on sale again. lol

We also went to a frozen yogurt place this weekend for a little date. It was pretty delicious. I was jealous of Martin's though. He went with a more fruity theme...... and I went with a chocolate theme. lol.

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Also hubby and I had some really beautiful worship and prayer time. It was much much needed. We repented to each other and just kind of turned a new leaf. Repentance (to me) is acknowledging that you have not been living how you want to live -- and vowing to change the behavior. To turn your back from it and start fresh. To go and sin no more. {John 8:11}
Remember {this post} I wrote last week about being aware of what you say before you say it? Well I am still not perfected in it... so hubby and I both released everything and will put our repentance to action. 

"As long as he doesn't convert it into action,

 it does not matter how much a man thinks 

about his repentance." - C.S. Lewis

I encourage you all to pray and worship with your spouse/boyfriend/best friend. Take that time to be with your God and grow. Listen to the Lord. Praise Him. And if you EVER need to repent to ANYONE for ANYTHING -- do it. Remember it is more then just saying "sorry" its making a true commitment that you will change and you know you were wrong. Its amazing how freeing it is to do that. 

I pray for all you who read this that God will encounter you today and give you all the peace that you need! A big big hug from my home to yours!!!

Also make sure to check out my new facebook page. (:

fro-yo, repentance, and love. - Monica

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