delight in every moment

in november i had some blood work done because i was feeling so tired and out of sorts all the time. it was discovered that my vitamin D was "morbidly low" <--the dr.'s words, and that my vitamin B was also fairly low. I'm not complaining by any means, I'm glad that that is all it was that had me feeling down.  i was put on a therapeutic dose of D and a daily regimen of vitamin B6 and folic acid. 

i recently read that we americans are so afraid of getting skin cancer that most of the country is Vitamin D deficient (most skin cancers are curable if detected early) and that one of the main causes for breast cancer is Vitamin D deficiency. 

YIKES and NO THANKS!

people get your D!

over the last few weeks i have been making an effort to go out on my back patio to drink my coffee, read my devotions and to soak up some "SON". with the time change over the weekend, by the time i make it out there the sun is in the most amazing location. the way it filters into my yard is glorious. of course i had to take a picture and look up a bible verse to go with my sunshine and i found a pretty dang good one. 

+++

Sunshine is sweet; it is good to see the light of day. 

People ought to enjoy every day of their lives, no matter how long they live. 

Ecclesiastes 11:7-8 (NCV)

i always love to look verses up in the message too.

 this is the title: 

  Before the Years Take Their Toll

Oh, how sweet the light of day,
And how wonderful to live in the sunshine!
Even if you don't live along time, don't take a single day for granted.
Take delight in each light-filled hour,
Remembering that there will also come dark days 
And most of what comes your way is smoke.
+++

such a good reminder to be present and delight in every moment. 

blessings today and always
xxO

new year, new word.

monday morning, during my usual quiet time, a.k.a. scrolling through instagram, i realized there were only two days left of 2013. my next thought was, kelly you better pick a word for 2014. the thought was fleeting and i quickly got back to looking at everyones pretty pictures. 

later that morning, i decided to multitask (since the time that i should of been spending with the Lord was spent on instagram. {that was hard to admit}) and listen to the day's readings in podcast form as i did my hair. what i didn't expect to happen was the hot steamy tears rolling down my face as i realized that a) i passed 2013 with out spending very much time with Christ. and b) he smacked me up side my head with my word for 2014 write smack dab in the middle of the epistle reading.

the  reading was this,

 "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel 

but be gentle to all, 

able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will."

2 Timothy 2:20-26

New King James Version (NKJV)

when i heard the word gentle, a warmth washed over me, my heart stirred, the tears started to roll, and i
knew gentle was My Word for 2 0 1 4.

gentle: adjective\ˈjen-t^əl\
: having or showing a kind and quiet nature : not harsh or violent 

Gentle is a reoccurring theme in my life…Kelly don't yell…Kelly easy…Kelly just talk to us, we CAN hear you. over the last 15 months my mom has claimed live gently as her motto. when gentle stirred my heart i couldn't believe it, and her words echoed in my ears.

it comes as a shock to most people when i admit this out loud, but I AM a yeller. i have been my whole life. it's not something i like to admit. and it is something that i *think about* trying to change often. but every time i *think about* changing my bad behavior my next thought is always "why should i change? i've been this way my whole life, old habits die hard, and really who cares? well self i care. your children and husband care and deserve to be treated gently." 
i truly desire to treat them gently in all that i do and say. 

as the podcast continued on, the priest gave a small homily on the reading quoting
saint john chrysostom

"Therefore let us not be provoked with these men, 

let us not use anger as an excuse,

but let us talk with them gently and with kindness. 

nothing is more forceful and effective than 

treatment that is gentle and kind."

~ Saint John Chrysostom

my momma has always said, "kill 'em with kindness" and my grandmother m always said, "you catch more bees with honey." i think its about time that i take this all to heart and live a gentle life. 

tell me what is your word for the year, or do you even do a word for the year? 

do you have and resolutions? this year i have only one, to take care of my heart: draw nearer to Christ and show love the way he does, gently.

get ur praise on

so, i decided that i'd join in on jami's super fun praisey shenanigans...finding the gospel in todays music.  totally fun right.

my whole life, when i hear a song that i like, i bend it and twist it and mold it to fit whatever is going on in my life at the current time. this particular song came out when in the summer of '01. at the time i had just turned 21, my husband was working the night shift, and I had a two and a half year old who was entering that terrible whiny, defiant, spoiled stage of life and a five month old who wanted to nurse non stop. i worried all the time about weather or not i was a good mother, wife, house keeper, chef, friend, if i dressed nice, if i dressed my kids nicely, etc.etc. i heard this song and was in love instantly.

would sing the hook non stop, and every time i'd sing it i would think of Jesus. HE got me through it all. whatever the day brought, sunshine or rain He's always there.

Whatever 

tomorrow brings 

i'll be there with open arms and open eyes. 

YEAH!

incubus -OR- JESUS

Matthew 25“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.30Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

and here's the cross reference to drive it home.

Luke 22Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.24Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26If you then are not able to do the least, whyare you anxious for the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

29“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.31But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

all right guys it's time #letsgetpraisy you can join in on the fun here.

My Cup. Revisited.

originally posted on 11.15.11
however i've let the half empty monster creep back in
so i decided to revisit it. 

i have a confession.
my whole life i have been a cup half empty type of gal. i have always played the woe is me card. this is a fact about me that i am not proud of. 

about two years ago i decided i needed to change. i had just turned 29. 29. i started to panic. i was not who i thought i would be at 29. heck i never thought i would be 29. i decided it was time to take an active approach and change all the things i didn't like about me. problem was i focused on the outside, not the inside. because you know, if you aren't pretty outside you wont be pretty inside. *rolling my eyes at my stupidity*

i started working out and eating better and lost 18 lbs. i was getting compliments on how good i was looking. and of course i 
ate.it.up.

later that year my husband had to go out of town on business for two months. i was not happy about this and fell apart. i stopped exercising and reverted to my old ways of woe is me. and guess what gained all of the weight plus an extra 10 lbs back over the course of a year. who does that. oh yes...ME!

last year i realized that i still wasn't all that happy. 
and why not? i am tremendously blessed. i am living the american dream. i am a christian...why wasn't i happy.

here is what it came down to.
i could talk a big game about the lord. but i wasn't actively pursuing a relationship with him. of course i would fall down on my knees when things weren't going my way, but how about the day to day. we prayed with our children everyday, but i was doing it because it was part of the routine not because i wanted to. shameful i know. 

over the last year i have been trying (i saying trying because of course there are days that i fail) to actively pursue a relationship with christ. becuase you really can't have a half full cup without him. i want my cup to remain half full for the rest of my life.

 the other day while reading my bible i came across this:

 "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!  You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, also."  

Matthew 23: 25-26

this rocked my world. i haven't been able to get it out of my head, nor do i want to. pretty much says it all for me. 

this is how i interpret it. if you are actively pursuing a relationship with the Lord by whole heartedly following the commandments, reading and living in the word, praying and giving thanks, that when we open our mouths love and kindness will pour forth. we will sparkle and shine without even knowing it.
if we are doing it out of routine or because we want to "look good" in front of others inside we will be a hot mess. 

are you actively pursuing a relationship with the Lord?

here's to our cups shining for all to see and when we do fail that we get right back in to the pursuit with the quickness.

xxO

this week

it's holy week.

holy week is the week leading up to easter.

i know right.

let me explain.

We are Eastern Orthodox Christians...

Christians of the eastern church (i.e churches under the jurisdiction of  *Constantinople*  a.k.a. orthodox churches whether it be greek, serbian, russian, antiochian, romainian, etc.) have not celebrated easter yet...we celebrate easter on sunday as in sunday april 15th western churches are those under the jurisdiction of *Rome* and/or follow the georgian calendar.

the eastern & western churches used to be one in the same. they split in 1054 in what was called the Great Schism. 

easter doesn't always fall separately. last year it didn't. so i didn't feel weirdo. this year it does. so i sort of feel like a weirdo. i only feel weird when i have to explain it, and i always have to explain it ha!  my boys think it's awesome when this happens because they get to celebrate Easter twice on to separate days. once with my family and once with the in-laws.

being silly before one of our many services this week.

in the eastern church two things have to pass in order for it to be Easter. 

     1. the first day of spring. i.e. the vernal equinox. the eastern and western church differ on when the vernal equinox actually is because 1) they follow different calendars.  2) the moons 

     2. passover. easter cannot be on the same weekend as because Jesus had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of passover before his crucifixion took place and died only hours before the passover meal was eaten. therefore with passover being last saturday there wasn't enough time for jesus to be crucified and rise on the third day before sunday. does that make sense?

and just so i'm clear i am not saying either is right or wrong. so please don't think that.

for a more in depth explanation thats easy to understand go here.

you know you wanted a religious history lesson. 

i was born and raised catholic. western

my husband was born and raised orthodox. eastern

both faiths...CHRISTIAN. 

when we got married and discussed how we would raise our children we decided we would raise them in both churches...but when my first bebe came along we decided to raise them Orthodox. it was on my husbands heart in a big way, so i studied and converted. the way i saw it i was still a Christian and at the end of the day as long as i'm loving JESUS together with my family all is well in the world. the rest doesn't really matter.

hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
we'll be celebrating.

Christos Anesti!
Christ is Risen!

p.s. thanks for letting me talk about this. Orthodoxy isn't hugely popular in the U.S. (in my town we have 1 orthodox church. in bigger areas like los angeles, new york, and chicago there are more) so i always feel awkward talking about my faith, because not everyone knows or fully understands what it is.
it's christian.