how to be a beautiful woman......

My mother sent me this poem in an e-mail recently and it's worth sharing here:






For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.


People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.


-as told by Audry Hepburn when asked for advice on being beautiful

On Holiday

This weekend I went with a friend to go and visit the island of the ponies. Assateague Island that is, on the coast of Maryland. It was the first time that I have ever visited a beach in MD and the first time in over 3 years that I've been to any beach. I have to say that I really enjoyed this trip but it was probably one of the strangest holidays I've had ever (that's not something I can share on here though).

Here are some horses that we saw when we first arrived. The momma and baby are absolutely precious to watch together.

We couldn't find a campsite along the beach as we had hoped because of the holiday and lots of people being there but we found a wonderful place at Pocomoke State Park.

Katie went to the store to get some things while I read for a while.

The next morning we went to the beach on the VA side (we had seen the MD side the day before and this was closer to Katie's home, so her drive would be shorter going back).

Some reading done on the beach.

Went swimming in the ocean and thought of the Bible study that we're doing in James right now. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." James 1:5-8

I tried standing in the waves firmly on the ground and felt a constant tugging back and forth unable to stay any one place. I've felt this before many a time but this time I thought about it in relation to what we'd been reading and I instantly thought about the house that was built on the solid rock and the house built on sand. One house stood on the foundation of truth that is God and the other was like a wave of the sea, easily tossed about and soon crushed. How can we be single-minded with Christ if we get so caught up in our own ideas and those of this world that only want to pull us apart.

Father God, thank you for your truth and the strength to stand firm on it with you.