Good to me

Life is so busy right now. Probably the busiest it has ever been. It’s a challenge trying to get through this time in my life, but I am making it. Almost every day I wake up exhausted. Also, this year my allergies have been bothering me. My eyes are puffy and itchy, and I have hay fever-like symptoms, which isn’t very fun, of course. Even though it’s difficult, I am surviving. I would never make it without Jesus. I literally would not be able to get through each day without Him. I thank Him every day for helping me and for giving me His strength when I don’t have enough.

“I put all my hope on the truth of Your promise. I steady my heart on the ground of Your goodness. You are good to me. Good to me. ” -Audrey Assad

A New Perspective

Hi everyone!

Tonight I was listening to one of my favorite bands, Tenth Avenue North, and I randomly decided to check out their YouTube channel. I do this from time to time since they upload some unique videos every once in a while. Sometimes the videos are of Mike (the lead singer)'s hilarious character sketches, and sometimes, Mike talks about something a bit more serious. And that 'something more serious' is actually always definitely worth hearing. So today I listened to Mike's experience and thoughts on happiness and pleasure in life. He talks about the freedom that comes with shifting our perspective on what, or rather who is most important in life. I could explain more, but this video truly and awesomely says it all. Hope it resonates with you as much as it did with me. :)

                                   

Hope you have a wonderful week!

~foreverfaith <3

Standing on the Promises

Hello everyone,

Tonight I was thinking about the promises of God. He has given us a lot of amazing promises. And not only has He given us a lot of amazing promises, but tonight I was thinking about how He keeps them. He doesn't keep them sometimes...not only if He's having a good day...not only if He's "in the mood." He always keeps them. Humans will fail us, but He never will. His promises stand. They don't waver or change.

Who changes? I do. We do. We doubt, we question, we worry, and we fear. And when we do these things, our focus is shifted from trusting in Him, to focusing on our own efforts to solve our own problems. But when has relying all on our own strength ever ended well? We weren't created to carry our burdens alone. We need His help. I want to remember to keep trusting Him to keep all of those amazing promises.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." -Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)

I am nothing without Him

When I was little, I remember singing this hymn with my parents. I sang it with all my heart, and though I don't remember if I fully comprehended it at such a young age, it helps me a lot today. Sometimes it will pop into my head when I am feeling down, or when I am confused and unsure of what to do.

Standing on the promises of Christ my King. Through eternal ages let his praises ring; glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God.

Refrain:

Standing, standing,

standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;

standing, standing,

I'm standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,  bound to him eternally by love's strong cord, overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword, standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)

Standing on the promises I cannot fall, listening every moment to the Spirit's call, resting in my Savior as my all in all, standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)

-"Standing on the Promises" - R. Kelso Carter

I hope you enjoyed this post :) Happy Weekend!

~foreverfaith <3

Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hello everyone,

I'm trying out Bloglovin'! Hopefully I will get everything up and running with it soon :)

~foreverfaith <3

Freeman Feeling Beautiful Facial Clay Mask - Avocado & Oatmeal: Review

Freeman Facial Clay Mask, Avacado & Oatmeal

Hello everyone!

This summer I made a goal for myself to try to find and maintain a good, simple skincare routine. So, as a part of that routine, I have been using the Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask. I have used this product off an on for several years, but this summer I have really been enjoying it. I purchased mine at Ulta for only $3.99 which is so inexpensive for such a large amount of a great product! Currently, I use this product once or twice a week when I feel that my skin needs to be "purified" from excess oil and product build-up. Aside from using this product in a regular skincare routine, I also think this would be a great mask to use on a girls night, a sleepover, or when on vacation.

Here are some of my pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Leaves your skin so incredibly smooth
2. Not harsh or drying to the skin
3. For me, it has actually lessened some of my breakouts and evened-out my skin tone!
4. The smell is unique, but really good in my opinion
5. (Bonus pro): It's green! (for me this is a plus since it kind of reminds me of those movies where the girl comes out of the bathroom and scares her brother as she rolls her eyes because he "just doesn't understand the importance of a girl's beauty routine").

Con:

1. Sometimes it takes a bit longer than I would like for it to completely rinse off. But if that happens, I just use a washcloth to easily remove the excess residue.

The Process:

1. First, I pull my hair back with a headband. 
2. Next, I use my Cetaphil cleanser (love this stuff) and make sure to remove all of my makeup. 
3. Once my makeup is off, I dispense about a penny-size amount onto my hand and smooth it across my face, making sure that there isn't any skin peeking through (this is the fun part: hello green skin! :p).
4. I wait for it to dry for about ten minutes (for me, this means time to crank up the music and have a solo dance party!).
5. After the mask dries, it's time to wash it off (you know it's time when it feels tingly and you can barely smile...a feeling that I love for some reason...). I splash water on my face several times until it all comes off, and sometimes I use a wet, warm washcloth to remove the excess.
6. I follow up by patting my face dry with a towel and voila! I have clean, soft, smooth, purified skin!
7. (Sometimes I apply a bit of moisturizer afterwards, but you could skip this step).

Final Thoughts: Overall, I think this is a great product. What I like most about it is that it doesn't break me out; it actually minimizes my breakouts! The smell is great, and it is just a really fun product to use.

I hope this helped...recently, I also read a beauty book that featured recipes for natural masks using fresh fruit. I didn't have time to read it very thoroughly, but it looks like a great option as well! Maybe I will try some of them out and make a post on how they turned out?

Hope you enjoyed this post and thank you so much for reading! Hope your week is going great :)

~foreverfaith <3


P.S. This isn't sponsored :)

June Playlist - Summer 2013

Hello everyone!

Today I thought I would share some of the songs I listened to this month. Hope you enjoy :)

1. Keep Looking Up - Landon Pigg

I love so much about this song. The guitar, the lyrics, the melody, Landon's voice...I could go on. :) It's really easy to listen to.

2. The Moment - GOLDHOUSE

I literally never get tired of this song. The lyrics are really cute and the sound is just so nice.

3. And The World Turned - Gabe Dixon Band

The piano is so awesome in this song. Also, the story behind it is really creative. I also love this music video and I think it depicts the song so well.

4. Don't Have Love - Holly Starr

This song is so fun and SO catchy. It makes me really happy when I listen to it. And the lyrics are simple, yet great. 

5. Overwhelmed - Rachel Platten

This song is so bright and happy. Rachel's voice is really nice and fresh. Also, it's a great reminder to not stay down and feel sorry for ourselves.

6. I Want Crazy - Hunter Hayes

I just recently started listening to this song, but I love that it is so fun and creative. I especially love the chorus, and isn't this music video enchanting? :)

7. Somewhere Only We Know - Keane

I can thank Pandora for getting me reacquainted with this song. :) I feel like I have heard it a lot off an on throughout the years, but it really is a great song. I also saw that the song was in the Winnie The Pooh (2011) trailer and it fit so perfectly. 

8. The Feeling - Ben Rector

I love Ben Rector's voice and I love the lyrics of this song. It also gets stuck in my head quite often. :)

9. Bloom - Moriah Peters

This song is just so nice and sweet. And how cute is this music video???

10. So Far Gone - Thousand Foot Krutch

This song has more of a quiet and reflective vibe. Not only does it sound very good to the ears, but the lyrics are so honest and meaningful: "I want to be lost in You. Like a ship in the night. I want to get lost in You. Underneath Your sky."

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope your week is off to a great start!

~foreverfaith <3

The Summer of the Swans

Summer of the Swans

Hello everyone!

Today I have a story about a book called The Summer of the Swans. Though it is a juvenile book, it is nostalgic to me since I remember reading it when I was a young child. A little backstory relating to my early fascination/obsession/passion for reading, is that I would often look at the list of the Newberry Medal winners (an award for outstanding children's literature) and pick out books to read that sounded interesting. I was curious to know what made a book good enough to win such a great award, and even at that young age, I wanted to soak up and learn as much as I could about life through the pages of those books. I couldn't get enough of reading. As I grew up, I navigated the library, finding as many books as I could that seemed thought-provoking. I loved the feeling of learning something new each time I read a novel.

All of these memories came back to me about a week ago, out of nowhere, as I remembered this little book The Summer of the Swans. I specifically recalled the big orange sneakers that Sara, the main character, was so upset about, and the color she decided to dye them. I remembered Aunt Willie hating motor cycles and I remembered what happened when Wanda, Sara's older sister, begged to ride one with her boyfriend. I remembered relating to Sara and her insecurities and her great love for her brother, Charlie.

The other day, I read this book for the first time since elementary school and I felt so happy rereading each of my memories from when I was young. But I also discovered some things I didn't remember when I was a child. I realized some of the book's themes, including the stage that everyone goes through when they feel like an outsider. The stage when you don't have the right body, the right clothes, the right friends, the right anything (I know the feeling all to well).

But then life goes on, and you realize that what others think of you isn't as important as you had originally thought. You realize that sometimes many of your insecurities are all in your head, and that there are more important things to life than worrying about the color of your tennis shoes. (Not that you won't ever have insecurities again - we're only human - but in time it really does get better when you are steadfast in looking to Jesus to find your worth.)  :)


"A picture came into her mind of the laughing, curly headed man with the broken tooth in the photograph album, and she suddenly saw life as a series of huge, uneven steps, and she saw herself on the steps, standing motionless in her prison shirt, and she had just taken an enormous step out of the shadows, and she was standing, waiting, and there were other steps in front of her, so that she could go as high as the sky, and she saw Charlie on a flight of small difficult steps, and her father down at the bottom of the steps, just sitting and not trying to go further. She saw everyone she knew on those blinding white steps, and for a moment, everything was clearer than it had ever been" (Byars, 1970).


The Summer of the Swans is a book about a girl who found herself after losing another. A story about love, loss, gain, and self-discovery in its unique little way. I definitely recommend this book no matter your age.

 I hope you enjoyed my post and I hope you have a great weekend! Thank you again for reading!

 ~foreverfaith <3