Miracles from Heaven Movie Review

This was an amazing movie about a true story. It's safe for the whole family and I highly recommend it.  I really liked this movie, I connected with it somehow, it really touched me in the places that are still tender in my heart. The loss of my brothers and me almost dying as a Child.  It brought me to tears several times in it.

Miracles from Heaven

A young girl, suffering from a rare, incurable disorder that leaves her unable to digest food finds herself miraculously cured after surviving a terrible accident.

Staring:
Jennifer Garner
Kylie Rogers
Martin Henderson
Queen Latifah
Eugenio Derbez
John Carroll Lynch
Brandon Spink

and Mac Powell

And that's a wrap. Daughter Of A Hollywood Actress wishing you a blessed day.

On Being A Lady - Receiving A Compliment

This old thing? I only wear it when I don't care how I look. - It's A Wonderful Life

Look around you and listen, children and adults alike stumble and falter when complemented on anything from a new haircut to that dinner you know they took all afternoon preparing. Why is that? Why is it so hard to just say what we ought to?

When someone tells is that our outfit is pretty we don't need to tell them it is a hand-me-down from our cousin Claire, or that we found it at a yard sale for 50 cents. (Only tell them where you got it if they ask. But there is no need to go into great detail as to where. You could simply say "It was a gift" or "it caught my eye ".) They don't want us to explain all the reasons it's not pretty or that we think it makes our hips look big. We need to just say "Thank you"

When I go to church everyone says I look like one of the latest Disney princesses because of my long braided hair. I found myself uncomfortable, but we need to fight that and just graciously say "Thank you". Maybe God is using others to bless us. Others on the outside see us in ways that we never do, often we are our biggest critic.

Desperately Looking For A Hero

As a Christian teenager, I was always on the lookout for spiritual role models that could help me on my walk as a Christian.  Someone that I could even silently watch and see what it was like to walk the walk as a faith filled woman.  I would follow them on social media and reach read their feed on Facebook or even reach out to them for advice and not only did I get my hand proverbially slapped for trying to hash out the Christian lifestyle by some of those women, but was completely shut out of their lives. Thankfully I had the opportunity and blessing to have a godly mother and grandmother but honestly, it made me see what a rare jewel the woman that walks with the Lord is.

I know that we are all in different places spiritually- some more mature in their walk than others, but just as children look up to adults and even older children, so are baby Christians and children that are beginning their walk looking for a role model in fleshing out this thing called faith. We need to be aware that there are others around us that are watching us in our walk… hopefully when they do they see someone shining the light of Christ from their lives.  Perfect? No,  but walking out your life for Christ.

“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women . . . (Titus 2:3-4a)”

This is the way it was supposed to be from the beginning.  Older women teach the younger women how to live.  We need to be busy about our walk.  Study, so that we can be that older person in someone’s life.

My brother Christopher loved to copy us.  We would do something, and he would copy it because he wanted to be like us. He thought we had things figured out and so he wanted a part of it.  It didn’t matter if it was washing dishes or trying to snowboard down the hill in our front yard.  We were placed in his life to be a bearer of light, a bearer of Christ (Funny, that is what his name means.) and we realized then the awesome responsibility that we had in our family and before God of being a good influence on him and others... because, for better or worse, he was watching us.

“Then they (older women) can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2:4-5)”

Young married women need a role model as well.  I learned from my mother the importance of this. She taught me that you were supposed to have people as your bridesmaids that were the people that you would walk through life with, the ones that will help you keep your marriage vows.  These are the people that would encourage you in your walk and in your marriage in the long run.  It seems like that idea has been lost somewhere and it is sad because the divorce rate is huge and we live in an “if it feels good do it” society today that is desperate for those kinds of people. The light bearers.

As Iron Sharpens Iron - One Man Sharpens Another Proverbs 27:17

Even if we don’t think we are good enough, we need to get out there and be a light in the life of another.  Don’t let the enemy tell you that you are too anything or not enough anything. There are girls that could be thriving if you would just understand that you were made for this – you were born for this.  God has placed you right in this exact place for you to be a lighthouse in someone else’s life.  So take a deep breath and step out. Shine on!

On Being A Lady - Staying With Friends

You find yourself staying with friends? Whether spending the night or an extended period of time, there are always ways to make them enjoy your company while you are with them.

1. If you your stay is extended at the friend's house and you are sleeping there, clean the room that you slept in. Strip the bed and make it with fresh sheets and leave it as clean or better than you found it. If you are there more than a week you should sweep the room or vacuum the floor. This will bless your friend.

2. Do you own dishes, or stick them in the dishwasher. NEVER leave them all over the counters.

3. Ask before you leave the table with food or drinks.

4. If you are staying a long period of time, offer to pitch in around the house.

5. Also, if you are staying a long period of time do your own laundry. Don't expect to be waited on.

6. If you mess with it, put it back.

7. Keep your things neat, don't spread them all over your host's house, or the room you are staying in.

8. Never leave your host to clean up a huge mess, that you helped create. When my friends that I pretty much grew up with come over after long stints in another country we always have sleepovers and I hate to say it but my room looks like and F5 tornado just tore through it. We dress up, act out book characters, do each other's makeup (usually with my crazy theatrical makeup), do each others hair etc. That's all fine and fun! Just help clean it all up.

9. Please don't announce that you hate some type of food at the dinner table, just leave it where it sits.

10. When you leave thank your host. If you stayed for a long period of time it would also be appropriate to give your host a small gift or a thank you card.

Styles By Bri-Pretty Braided Ponytail Twist Tutorial

Welcome to Styles By Bri. Where I give tutorials for hairstyles, crafts, jewelry making, fashion design & thrift store makeovers. 

1. Take a small section of hair (on whatever side you want).

2. French braid the section of hair.

3. When you are done with that you can leave your hair down or go with the ponytail twist.

4. For the ponytail pull your hair back (including the braid) and secure with a hair tie.

5. Then wind the braid around the "tail" of your ponytail and secure at the end with another hair tie.

When The Smoke Clears Book Review

Christian dashed down the sidewalk dodging puddles and clinging to the umbrella shielding her from the deluge. The weathered coffee shop sign creaked its greeting as she reached for the door and pulled it open. Quickly removing her rain coat and hanging it on one of the pegs by the door she made her way to the front counter. Lizzy's bright smile seemed to chase away the dampness of the day. 

"What can I get you?" 

"A cup of tea and a blueberry muffin would be great," she said as she picked up a book lying on a cart. "Have you read this one?" She asked as Lizzy turned around with her teacup. 

"Of course! It's wonderful!" 

"That's what you always say," She smiled over her shoulder as she placed a blueberry muffin on an old china plate. It was one of the many things Christian loved about this place. The smell of books mingled with fresh baked delights and tantalizing coffee. She slid the book under one arm before collecting her tea cup and plate and settling into a cozy oversized chair to one side of the empty fireplace. 

"Mind if I join you?" Lizzy asked dropping into the opposite chair and opening a book that was half finished. 

"Not at all," Christian smiled back. 

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When 'The Smoke Clears' is an amazing about a North Cascades Smokejumper, Alexa Allen and was written by the author Lynette Eason. It is truly a wonderful read! This is the first book in her Deadly Reunions Series.  I have been reading Ms. Eason's work for awhile now and have loved them all and this one is not a letdown!
Trust me, you will lose sleep over this one, this book is loaded with suspense and peril. The characters are believable, the action realistic, and the plot is terrific!   Hold on to your seat and get ready for a wild ride.

Stop Comparing

Let's face it, we aren't like anyone else. We are as unique as our fingerprints, some may look a little more alike- but not one of is like another. And yet we compare ourselves to others, we use others accomplishments as a measuring stick for who or what we say we should be. 

We place others on a scale to build us up or tear down what He has built. You and I and the girl down the street- you know her, the one with the perfect figure and life. None of us were made to be like another one. You are Gods great craftsmanship, his work of art.

 Personally, I love to travel, would love to see the world- but I am truly horrible with languages. My twin, on the other hand, is pretty good. She picks it up well and can even throw in the right accent. See I could spend my time sulking and comparing- but that isn't going to get me anywhere. 

"Let everyone be sure to do his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work done well and won’t need to compare himself with someone else." (Galatians 6:4 LB)

Do your best and leave it at the feet of Christ. Your story isn't going to match anyone else, so don't try to force it. You're the heroine, not the writer. Trust Him, and push ahead. Stop focusing on someone else story. Focus on Him, because He is the only one that matters. He has HUGE things planned for you, but you can't embrace them if you are constantly wanting what your neighbor has. 

Think of it like a race, if you are so busy watching the people on either side of you, you A) are going to get a stiff neck and B) miss what He has in store for you.