Inspiration for 2014 – Topic 1 of Blogger Challenge

I can’t believe it is already 2014. My life changed so much in 2013. I gave my life to Christ, I started an amazing new job, I started singing again, I started a BLOG!!!!  There is just so much to be thankful for praise God!  God has really planted so many new seeds in my heart. I felt that 2013 was a year of preparation for me. I felt the whole year that God was telling me, “In order to do this….you have to do that..”  It was a year of really feeling God’s direction in my life.

When the subject for the first 2014 Blogger Challenge went live, I knew exactly the verse that would serve as my inspiration for 2014.

¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 

John 15:16

I declare that 2014 will be a year of implementing everything that God has showed me in 2013. That every struggle, trial, and triumph I went through be used to bear fruit in His name and to bring others to fruition.  That I might be a person of light for someone who is in darkness. I hope that I can be a person like the people I had encouraging me in 2013. I want to help people break chains. I  want to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that when people are around me they feel it too and are completely consumed. It’s my desire to help people know Jesus the way I came to know Him, to trust Him the way I came to trust Him, and to fall in love with Jesus the way I fell in love with Him.

I have always been indecisive when it comes to my life goals….I want to be a teacher, I want to do makeup, I want to move up in my office, I want to go back to school and then some days I just want to be a stay at home mom.  (See….INDECISIVE!) There is just so much that I want to do in my life. I used to feel like I never had enough time. It used to make me crazy. However, God really showed me last year that he has something so much better for me. Something that I don’t even realize I can do. Something that will not only fill me but fill others.  He has a Bluprint for my life.

¹¹ 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

I started reading Undaunted by Christine Caine and it really has been speaking to me. For once in my life I feel like I truly have a purpose.

2013 became the year of preparation and 2014 will be the year I live UNDAUNTED! 

Join me and live radically for Jesus!  He is the only one who can fill us up. He is the only one who will love even our imperfections. He is the one in which we find our salvation. He is where we find rest. He is the one…the only one!

This is my first post for the 2014 Blogger Challenge. I hope you were not disappointed! Let yourself be blessed this year! 😉 Love ya’ll and God bless! – Moni<3

My Best of 2013 – New Year’s Eve

Yay for ending 2013 on a good note!  I have never felt more accomplished at the end of the year as I do now! So many good things happened in 2013!

I love it when bloggers do their “best of” posts. It’s cool to see other beauter’s go to products….beauters…is that a word?

Anyway, I decided to share my go to products of 2013. I hope you enjoy!

I’ve become some what of a lipstick junkie this past year.  I love how I can put on a winged eyeliner and a red lip and look fabulous and completely made up….yay for being lazy.  These are my top four of 2013.

<a href="http://www.milanicosmetics.com/p-153-color-statement-lipstick.aspx#!prettyPhotoMilani in Uptown Mauve-$5.49 – I absolutely love this berry colored lipstick. It was great for fall this year. It lasts all day and is super creamy.  Kudos to Milani for this one!

MAC Cosmetics – Lady Danger – $15.00 – I got this beauty for free! Thanks to the MAC recycling program!  This is my go to red! It is gorgeous, creamy and helps whiten my teeth! lol. This photo doesn’t even do this color justice…it is almost a borderline orangey color. It’s perfect.  This has to be my favorite favorite of 2013. Go buy it!

Rimmel’s Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate Moss – I think I paid about $5 for this. This is the third lipstick I’ve bought from this collection. They truly are long lasting with great pigmentation.  They don’t smell gross either!

Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids in Shocking Coral – $7.49 This has to be my favorite drugstore lipstick. I have about 4 from this collection and they are amazing!  This was my perfect summer color for 2013. Not only is the pigmentation great but it really moisturizes too. This is a winner winner chicken dinner for me!

The next thing on my list is the Naked Basics palette from Urban Decay – $27.00 I got this amazing piece of palette as a Christmas gift from my sister in law last year.  I have used the crap out of it. This is by far the best thing out of the Naked collection. It has all of the colors you need to create both a sultry sexy look or a sweet natural look on the fly.    This baby is with me at all times. If you don’t have this….you need it!  Buy it now!

Stila Make Me Blush Valentines Day Palette – $16.99 This is kind of a cheat. This is the valentines day blush Stila made a couple of years ago. I bought it when it originally came out but I dropped it and along with breaking it, it broke my heart.  This has been my favorite blush since then. I was so excited to find it on Ebay this year so I bought two!  If you can get your hands on it I recommend it 100%!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Genius Kit – $25.00 THIS….THIS STUFF IS AMAZING!  Kudos to Anastasia Beverly Hills! You have officially won me 100% over!  This year I really got into my bushy eyebrows!  I have struggled with my eyebrows for as long as I can remember. They grow way to fast and way to thick. I have finally found the best waxer and the best product to help me maintain them!  I’m excited to try their other products.  I think this is my favorite product of 2013.

I’ve used Voluminous mascara for as long as I can remember; however, I discovered The Rocket Mascara from Maybelline this year and it is AHHHHMAZZZINGGG!  It gives me the volume and length I need and holds my curl without clumping. I think it runs about $7 or so.  I pair it with my Tarte Eyelash Curler and I get the perfect eyelashes! This is by far the best curler I have ever used. I bought this special edition one at Ulta for $19 but the original is only $16. Completely worth it.  My lashes are ridiculously straight and ridiculously long and usually don’t like to cooperate with anything!

The next thing on my list is my Mac Studio Fix Fluid Foundation -$27 This is a given. I’ve used it for years and I will always love it! I also started using Mac Mineralized Concealer-$20 It really helps with my baggage and dark circles. It really brightens my face up when I use it.  It’s a keeper for me!

The next thing on my list goes with the previous items. It’s Rimmel’s Stay Matte Pressed Powder and is about $5 or so. Once again, this is a given. I’ve used this for a while now! If you are oily then you will love this! It keeps me matte all day!

The final thing on my Best of 2013 post is Beyond the Zone Rock On Volumizing Powder.  $7.49 Although this isn’t a cosmetic item I thought it was important to add this to the best of list.  My hair is absolutely flat. I’ve never had any volume in it. This little magic wonder will do amazing things to my hair. You just sprinkle it in and tease with a comb or your finger and POOF lasting volume!  It’s my only way to get TEXAS sized hair. 😉

I can go on and on about products I love but these take the taco! What are some of your favorite products this year?

Well, I guess until next year! 😉
I hope ya’ll have a safe New Year’s Eve! Love y’all and may 2014 be full of blessings for you and your family! -Moni ❤

I decided to add some photos of some of my favorite moments of 2013 down below. Enjoy!

Hillsong United Concert in Oklahoma City!

Women of Faith Operation Tamales!

Bluprint Marriages!

Family and friends!

…and the biggest blessing…worshipping with my church family.

Goodbye 2013, you were so good to me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving like I did! I had a day full of food, family and football!  Yay for a Cowboy win! I wanted to share a couple of things that I am extremely thankful for this year!

I am thankful for Jesus Christ. He died so that I could be alive in Him. I don’t know where I would be without God’s word, his mercy and his grace!

I am thankful for my sweet husband. I’m so glad to say that I have a partner that truly has my back. It is not 50/50 in our marriage…it is 100/100. We have grown so much this year and I’m excited to see what 2014 brings!
 

I am thankful for my baby. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He keeps me motivated and on my toes. He makes me laugh with his funny stories and he melts my heart with the love he has for God.

I am thankful for my entire family…both my family and my husbands family. I’m so blessed to have so many people that love us! 

I am thankful for my church family, Amarillo for Christ. They have all been there for me this year. I love the things that God has done within our young adults ministry!

I am thankful for my job at FSS. I had been searching for a job like mine for so long. I know God had this place for me. I have grown to love the families that we work with. It is so filling to know that we are doing something to help these families be successful. Pronews 7 covered our program tonight. Here is the link to the report:

I am hitting the sheets now. It has been such an amazing couple of weeks. I pray that you and your families are just as blessed this holiday season. Goodnight – Moni ❤

Bluprint Marriages

It has been such a busy couple of days. I’ve tried to make some time to write a little bit but it just wasn’t happening. With the holidays right around the corner, I’ve been getting slammed with wreath orders (Yay for extra money!), but its taken a lot of my time. Then Amarillo was hit with a minor snow storm on Saturday. I’m not going to lie though, I really loved the snow.

Despite the snow outside, I did everything BUT have a snow day! During the day I finished up the wreaths and my husband and I cleaned our house that had been slightly neglected for a couple of days.  Oops!

That afternoon we had our monthly Bluprint Marriages gathering.  Bluprint Marriages has been going on for about a year and it has absolutely blessed our marriage. It is organized by our sweet friends Stephanie and  Anthony.  This month my brother and sister-in-law hosted it at their beautiful new home.  Saturday had to be the best BP Marriages I had ever been too. I think we all needed a pick me up before the holidays.  We began with God’s word in which we studied Ephesians 5:21-33. After our study we had delicious tortilla soup that Stephanie made for us (I’m hoping she will give me the recipe soon!).

We had a newly engaged couple join us, Johan and Monica. I’m sure we all thought that BPM was going to bless them, and I’m sure it did; however, they blessed us so much more. After supper, we played a “game” that ended being so much more.  The husbands were asked to rewrite their vows to their wives and we would vote on the most creative.  All of our husbands did an amazing job; however, when it came time to vote it was clear that Johan had stole the show. To see how absolutely in love he is with his new fiancée was so refreshing to the rest of the marriages who had already been married a couple of years. It took us back to that time in our marriages. 

Kari Jobe on Worship – The Lady Who Touched Jesus in Faith

I’ve watched this preaching a million times. I shared it with a friend yesterday and decided to watch it again. It’s amazing how God reveals something different each time I watch this.

This is only part 3 of the video and the part that really moved me today.

Being a follower of God’s Word is not easy. We face the world’s opposition every day and sometimes we are set apart. In the video, Kari tells us the story of the woman out casted by the city because of their culture and beliefs of the sick being unclean. Believing in the miracles that Jesus had been doing in other cities, she finds the courage to go into the city and face the opposition and ridicule to possibly be healed. She eventually makes it to Jesus and faithfully touches the tip of his garment and is healed.

I’ve always thought this scripture was just about faith, and it is; however, tonight God has really put in my heart to be as courageous as this woman and not be defined by my culture.

Lord, I want to be as courageous and brave as she was. I truly believe that our generation has been called for this….to stand up for the Word of God. My Pastor, Iris, always mentions to us that our generation has been called to be radical for the love of God. Now its up to us to decide how radical we want to be.

I’m not saying it’s easy…because I know first hand it’s not. The enemy attacks us from every which way and makes it easier than ever to conform to the ways of the world but when will we say enough is enough!

I encourage you to evaluate your role as a follower of Christ in society. I realized that I needed to step it up. I find myself keeping my mouth shut when God is tugging at me to speak up. Imagine all the blessings we are missing out on because we are worried about what society is going to think about us. Had this woman not gone to look for Jesus in the city she would have struggled with her disease for the rest of forever but instead she was blessed with healing. Don’t let the enemy rob you of your blessings.

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Blessings – Moni ❤

Believing in the Power of Prayer

 

I’m a rookie at prayer.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve prayed for as long as I can remember (as you can see above hehe), but my prayers were somewhat selfish and with no power of belief behind them.  I prayed…but deep inside I thought that my chances of answered prayers were slim.  Today I realized I was cutting myself short. We talked about this situation a little last Wednesday in my Bluprint class.

Jesus said, ” 21 Truly I tell you, If you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:21-22

Until recently, I hadn’t realized how much I truly relied on God for everything in my life. I only realized this after I began to analyze my earlier relationship with God….a relationship without faith.  I was never really specific with my prayer. It was usually something like, “Thank God I got this and this,” or “Please do this and this for me God.” It was never a heart felt, faith filled, honest prayer of what I truly desired….and that was just for my personal petitions. I had never prayed for anyone else other than myself, family or close friends.

This year has been an amazing year of ridiculous miracles for two reasons.  1.) My salvation. 2.) My faith in God.

This January was when I admitted to myself that I was trying to do things within my own will and not Gods. (Proverbs 3:5-6) 

One of the first habits I changed was the way I prayed. I truly gave every burden, every desire…everything to God. Then things started to change. Bills were getting paid…things were getting fixed…hearts were being healed. My life started moving forward and to this day I haven’t looked back.

It’s October now and I feel like God is taking me to the next level…to my next season. Although I’ve improved on my personal, silent, in my head prayers, I stuggle tremendously with praying out loud. Which is weird because I have no problem talking in front of big groups or singing in front of people…but praying…that is something that I just can’t bring myself to do confidently.

That being said, I know God is calling me to be comfortable with it. God is placing people in my life and telling me, “Ok now go pray with them.” But you see, my God is so good to me. He’s not just going to throw me out there and set me up for failure, but rather ease me into it and what better way to do it but through facebook!

I want to share a little testimony…the testimony that led me to blog about prayer.

A couple of weeks ago an old friend from high school posted on her Facebook that she was pregnant. I hinted a negative tone and being pro-life I decided to privately message her and remind her what a blessing children are. She explained to me that she was happy about the pregnancy but that the doctor had told her that since she became pregnant while using a certain kind of birth control the she was at risk of losing the baby once they took the birth control out. She was pretty worried and asked me to pray…so I did. You see I have known multiple women in this same situation and they ended up with not so good results. I didn’t tell my friend that, instead I prayed to God trusting that He had both of their lives in His hands.

Yesterday she messaged me with good news! She told me when the doctor went in to remove the birth control IT WASN’T THERE. Apparently, it had fallen out…or something. I know how big those things are and I know it would be hard to miss it falling out. I’m not sure how it happened but God answered our prayer. He took the situation in his hands. I BELIEVE completely that He did this.

I was absolutely moved by her testimony. It reminded me how powerful and how important our prayers for others are. Also reminding me that God has called me to be confident in my vocal prayers for people.

A couple of days ago I came across this photo. It spoke directly to me and the trial I am facing.

If you are struggling in this area of your relationship with God, I want to encourage you and assure you that as long as faith backs up your prayer, you are already one step ahead.

Be blessed – Moni ❤