The Greatest Place on Earth...

Saturday was rainy, it was gloomy, but my world was a little brighter because I was able to visit one of the greatest places on earth...IKEA! The IKEA just opened about a month ago in Charlotte, and I have been dying to go. I thought for sure that if I let the newness wear off, the crowds would have let up and I could enjoy my trip in peace! So, who better to venture to IKEA with than a fellow IKEA-lover my dear friends, Sarai. We did not get there until about 1:30, and we were fully expecting a parking deck which would have been great since it was pouring rain. Well, no such luck at the Charlotte IKEA....it was an open parking lot with lines a mile long to even get in the parking lot. We ended up having to park across the street on the road. We journeyed across the 3 mile parking lot (ok maybe not 3 miles but it sure felt like it) and made our way into the blue and yellow goodness!

So the top floor of IKEA is set up like little rooms that you can check out, the bottom floor is where the actual shopping gets crazy. The top floor on this particular Saturday was CRAZY. Sarai and I felt at times like we were cattle being led out to pasture. There were people everywhere, if I had never had an IKEA experience I would probably never go back...luckily I know better than to judge my experience by this trip.

The store was super nice and the deals of course were amazing! I was pretty proud of myself that I left with only spending 30.00. Here are a few things I left with...

Some super cute black and white bowls...

A cutlery caddy which I am excited to paint and spruce up a little bit...(which I can't find a picture of)

A couple of cute lanterns that I think will look really cute on my table during a spring gathering...

And my favorite find would be a black and white box, which I already want a million more of to put around my house! Gotta love it!

So all in all a great first trip to the Charlotte IKEA...Sarai even left with Her Majesty! Can't wait to head back soon....

Avoidance...

Well I guess you could say that I have been a super bad blogger for the past well, month or so. I thought of all these witty things I could tell you about why I have been absent from the blog world, you know like cute top ten lists about why I have not been blogging or blaming it on my busy schedule. But I decided to just type from the heart for now...

So, basically I have been avoiding my blog. I checked out dictionary.com to see what avoidance really meant and I found that it is a noun meaning the act of avoiding or keeping away from. And this totally fits how I have been feeling for the past several weeks. I have always been afraid to really write from the heart on my blog. The normal insecurities certainly have set in, speaking from the heart just makes you vulnerable and I was not sure I was ready to do that. But over the past few weeks I have just been really falling for and listening to the lies that the enemy tries to sneak into our hearts and our minds. Silly things like, no one really cares about what you have to say on here. Haven't you seen those other blogs, yours does not even come close. Your words do not speak to the hearts of the people you know or might stumble upon this blog. I have tried to cling to the truth that I know, but I just have fallen prey to these feelings of unworthiness and self pity.

Even when I was at church last Sunday, I found myself listening to the voice that just kept telling me I was not good enough. I was frustrated...I know that I am so much more than the lies that I had been listening to. Tonight at small group, we were reading in Luke Chapter 1. In this particular part of scripture, we are introduced to two amazing women...Mary and Elizabeth. Both women were strong examples of faithful servants to the Lord. When Mary came to Elizabeth to tell her she was expecting, Elizabeth shared these words with Mary...

Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come

true! Luke 1:45 (the message)

I think that my heart has been forgetting that God's word does not turn void and his promises endure. I have been letting the lies lead me to avoidance when I should be claiming and believing the promises that God has for me...I am a beloved and worthy child of God and should be living my life in that way. So friends, there will be no more hiding, no more avoiding...today is a new day!