SASQUATCH
sasquatch is happening this weekend!
we’re not going (the line-up is amazing this year!) but if we were, here are a few of the things i’d like to bring along in my suitcase…
all items from topshop
1. overalls are always a good choice
2. i’d put this lace beauty crop top underneath the overalls
3. flowers in your hair are a must for every music festival
4. cute knit for the evening
5. your gams will stand out in these embroidered cutoffs
6. take a small backpack to store your sunscreen, water, & bubbles…but don’t fill it too full because nothing is more annoying than standing behind someone with a giant backpack that’s smushing into you
7. my go to for a summer evening, pair it over the overalls, sweater or a summery dress
8. it’s time to embrace the trend of round sunnies
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
THAT F WORD
fear.
yep, i’m talking about that f word…fear.
i hate fear. i hate it. i hate it.
i hate it because it has held me back in many areas of my life. and i’m sure it has held you back in areas as well.
i read somewhere there are 365 Bible verses on telling you not to fear: enough for every single day that you face in a year. (i’m pretty sure rick warren tweeted it, so it must be true)
when andy asked me to speak at adore, i was extremely fearful. every time i would think about it, i would get anxious and let fear rule over me. i believed lies that the enemy was telling me. i was freaaaakkkiiiinnngg ouuuuut. big time. so to counter attack this fearfulness i started seeking God about it. first i started praying silent prayers about fear. He answered. He spoke to me through many sermons, & many friends including c.s. lewis. as you know from a previous post, james & i listened to chronicles of narnia audio books while we were road tripping. i remember hearing this part during prince caspian and wanting to rewind and listen to the treasure again and again…
then after an awful pause, the deep voice said, “susan.” susan made no answer but the others thought she was crying. “you have listened to your fears, child,” said Aslan. “come, let me breathe on you. forget them. are you brave again?” -prince caspian
beautiful.
i knew that was what i needed. i needed Jesus to breathe on me. i needed Him to grant me courage, to make me bold, to give me strength. i needed Him to make me forget my fears and make me brave again.
and that’s what He did. most of the mornings after that when i would feel that f word rising up in me, i would close my eyes and ask Jesus to breathe on me. anxiousness and fear seemed to blow away as courage and strength took over.
i eventually had the honour of preaching at adore (you can listen to the sermon here) sure it scared me but knowing that Christ was there, knowing His Holy Spirit was inside me making me brave was all that i needed.
i’m not letting that stupid f word rule over me. and you shouldn’t either. next time it starts creeping up, close your eyes and let Jesus breathe on you and blow it away with His breath. soon enough, courage will take over.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind - 2 timothy 1:7
The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? - psalm 27:1
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. -isaiah 41:6
be brave, He is with you!
-s.s.♥.
PLANS
well hello there,
it’s friday night and i’m all alone watching criminal minds (why do i do this to myself?) my man has gone to a men’s retreat on thetis island and doesn’t come back until monday…
i spent tonight going to the rootcellar (bought soil for our sundeck garden!), watching greys, making cookies and eating cookies (recipe was only supposed to bake two cookies, flipping thing made 5!) and planning out the rest of may & june for ssheart….paaaaarttttaaaaay, i know right.
i got plans for ssheart and i’m excited to share these with you in the months to come…but in the meantime here are some of my weekend plans…wedding errands with my sister (she’s getting married in a month people!!!), planting seeds in my new pot from sheloves conference, girls night & missing my husband!
+ i wil be definitely cracking open this baby again..getting so inspired/making practical plans for ssheart…. be excited!
what do you have planned for the long weekend?
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
SHE LOVES RECAP
there is something pretty special about going to a woman’s conference. i went to my first one in london (hillsong’s colour conference) when i was 18 years old. i left that weekend smiling ear to ear. i seriously floated out of wembley arena believing that God loved me dearly, that He had a plan for my life, that i was called and chosen and that i was surrounded by a sisterhood who would encourage me along the way.
almost 9 years have gone by since that first conference and i still love going to woman’s conferences. i still leave with truth imprinted upon my heart. i still leave smiling ear to ear.
this past weekend i attended she loves conference at relate church in surrey. we gathered a bunch of women from our church and loaded them on our big bus! it was ah-mazing. first of all, the conference is led by the incredible helen burns. this woman is hands down one of the most encouraging people i have ever met! she has such a huge heart for empowering women (especially across canada). her message on God’s garden thursday night spoke to me on so many levels.
the other speakers at the conference were monica prescott and lisa bevere. monica spoke two awesome messages, i especially loved the second one, ‘up your ask’ (lols!!) which was all about being shamelessly persistent in your prayers. i was so challenged on going to God first, actually asking Him to intervene (and believe that He will!!) and not just trying to do it my own way (because that never seems to work, ha). already i’ve seen answers to something i prayed on saturday…ptL!
and lisa, oh the lovely lisa bevere. this woman ooozes out amazing-ness. seriously. she’ll have you in laughter and tears within 5 minutes of her speaking. she is so anointed. i was literally on the edge of my seat during both of her messages. friday night’s message absolutely wrecked my heart. it was such a beautiful message on the power of forgiveness. ohhh Jesus, it was so incredible. i’m so excited to buy her new book, girls with swords (and you should be too!) forgive me for the crappy photo but the woman preached in a leather shift dress, she’s so major.
and probably the best thing about the weekend was getting away with my girlfriends, new and old. i had many inspiring, hilarious & beautiful conversations with these lovely ladies.
and then to top the entire experience off, my AMAZING husband picked me up at the end of it all with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. i wish i took a picture of him coming onto the bus all spruced up holding the flowers. i married a keeper for sure.
if you ever get the chance, go to a woman’s conference! you’ll leave feeling full, excited, loved, cherished, ready to BLOOM! #flourishbabyflourish
and if you’re in high school, join us for illuminate next february! ;)
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
HOME (BITTER) SWEET HOME
i’m baaaaaaaaaack!
we arrived home sunday afternoon from our incredible road trip. our journey home was bruuutal. we left sunny anaheim at 6am on saturday and arrived at our (sketchy) hotel in freezing centralia at 11pm. i drove the first six hours and then my incredible hubby drove the remaining 11! i am the worst back seat driver (must be because of my deep rooted control issues, ha).
we drove straight through the entire time, only making necessary stops for starbucks, gas, bathroom breaks, in & out burger (!!!!), random espresso bar (which looked promising but made a very weak americano and gross chai latte), & food in portland (went to the most amazing grocery store which was soooo portland, typical).
the thing that kept us both sane was the chronicles of narnia…on that drive we listened to prince caspian & the voyage of the dawn treader. both were so beautiful and magical. they swept us away from the long drive and transported us to stunning narnia…i highly recommend listening to these audio books (by focus on the family)
i’m still finding it hard to adjust from holiday mode to go mode…here’s what my desk looked like when i arrived at work on sunday..
our living room is even worse than this!
it was freeeeeezing yesterday..but today i got up early and ran along dallas road..it was beauty..of course i’m longing for sunny california but i’m glad to be home.. :)
i have so much to share with you about our trip, so get ready for lots of new blog posts…hooray!
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
PACKING FOR COACHELLA
two sleeps.
two sleeps!!!!!!!!!!!
two sleeps until we depart on our USA roadtrip.
we’re hitting up portland, redding (bethel church), san francisco, la, coachella, san diego, & disneyland and i am soooooo excited.
coachella knows how to do things right. they launched their mobile app, and they have seriously thought of everything. my wristband has a chip in it and it’s linked to my facebook account so basically i can “check in” to shows at the event by swiping my bracelet…uh-mazing!
we’re hitting portland first & i’m planning on doing some shopping (no tax woohoo), i’m hoping to score some festival threads.
here are some pieces i’ve got my eyes on…
seriously, how cute is that feather head piece???
ok, now i have to start real packing….eeeeeeek.
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
DIARY // EASTER WEEKEND
what an incredible weekend.
i know it’s wednesday and i’m still reflecting on the past weekend. but it was perfect. just perfect.
1. the greatest gift. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” john 3:16
2. costco feast. picked up our canopy for coachella!
3. on saturday we celebrated my mom’s and brother’s birthday. i love my family.
4. snapshots from our easter sunrise service. what an amazing time celebrating that Christ has risen!! i love my church.
5. unplanned matching bestie outfits.
6. i love him a lot.
7. picked up some tennis rackets! also enjoyed a beautiful easter dinner at my in laws.
what a weekend!
sorry for the lack of posts, will be better!
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
DIARY // DONE!!!!!!!
james & i finished our hebrews course last night….BOOOOOOYAAAAAAAHHHH! ok, it may not seem like a big deal but to us IT’S A BIG DEAL…it’s the start of a journey and getting over the first mountain wasn’t so bad. i’m excited to start my next course and continue this journey, remembering to walk, not run.
we leave on our usa roadtrip in 16 days… 16 DAYS… cannot wait to hit that open road, not to mention..COACHELLA & DISNEYLAND…be still my heart.
james is currently painting some of our furniture gold. THANK YOU LORD JESUS that you gave me a husband who approves my love of gold. gold on gold on gold on gold. we’re hoping to spruce up our living room, slowly but surely. one day we will find our dream couch (for a good price, in Jesus’ name!)
i’m pretty freaking excited that it’s Easter weekend this weekend!! can’t wait to spend time celebrating that CHRIST HAS RISEN! i’m especially excited for our sunrise service which is happening sunday at 6:30am…it’s pretty incredible to sing songs of praise to Jesus as the sun is rising up over our beautiful city. i’m also excited to spend time with our families this weekend, birthday/easter dinners are the best.
ok and one more rant here…how beautiful is the weather we’re experiencing!!? sands flashing sign reads 18 degrees right now…18! we haven’t had to turn our heat on since sunday…ohhh summer, i cannot wait for you.
hope you’re enjoying this beautiful sunshine :)
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
ONE YEAR AGO
one year ago today a very handsome man tricked me into going to an old barn on a friend’s property to grab a rain jacket he had left behind. little did i know he was leading me down a path that would drastically change the course of my life.
we entered the barn.
sparkling lights, burning candles, cranes hanging from the ceiling
oh, how my heart was racing out of control.
he sat me down, picked up a guitar and started singing. after he finished the song, he walked over slowly, got down on one knee, said incredibly beautiful words, got out a beautiful sparkly diamond and asked me to marry him.
i said yes and yes, it’s still the best decision that i’ve ever made (besides saying yes to Jesus)
one year later and we’re 7 months into our marriage.
every day is an adventure and a gift. i am so blessed to call this man my husband.
i sure love you james peter liira.
to see the full story of our engagement, click here!
s.s.♥.
FIX YOUR EYES
last week was one of those weeks.
the second half was awesome. i finished the first draft of an essay, went to the gym a few times, had a great illuminate debrief with friends, had an awesome time looking at cameras/going to walmart with james saturday night ha and wow, church was just absolutely incredible last night!!!
but the first half…oh gosh.
stress, mayhem, blaaaaah. and it’s so funny because the week prior God spoke this word to me through my course on hebrews..
fix your eyes on Me.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus,the pioneer and perfecter of faith. -hebrews 12:2
but did i fix my eyes on Him? not really. i looked out onto the storm and i saw the waves and the lightening and sure enough the water swallowed me up.
but praise God for his grace…He was there to grab my hand and pull me up out of the storm.
the same thing happened to peter..(the video below is from the bible series )
when he was fixing his eyes on Jesus he was WALKING ON WATER. and not flat glass-esque lake water, but really stormy, wavy, water.
HE WAS WALKING ON IT!!…pure cray!!!!
but the moment he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink…
it’s so easy to be distracted by all the things that life throws at you. relationships, work, debt, school stress, etc, etc.
life can be crappy, life can be hard. but what you need to know is that Jesus is there for you. look to Him, fix your eyes on Him. as i studied that verse i found out that looking/fixing (your eyes) to Jesus means not looking at anything else expect him.
the worries of life will take you down and consume you if you let them…but the moment you start fixing your gaze at Jesus instead of those things, your perspective will change. you’ll start seeing more clearly, you’ll begin to breathe fresh air & perhaps you’ll start doing some crazy things like walking on water or finding a ton of joy in going to walmart with your husband on a saturday night? ha.
well there’s so much more i could say but i must finish this second essay.
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
