B-day Gift from My Sweet Hubby!

“If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes.”
--Corrie TenBoom

Happy August Friday!

Hey y'all! Happy Friday! TGIF...thank goodness it's Friday and thank God I'm forgiven! (I saw that on a lady's shirt in Hobby Lobby a year or so ago and thought that was such a cute twist on that abbreviation!) Anywho, happy August too! Wow...the year is just FLYING by! It will be Christmastime before we know it...YAY!!! :0)

To celebrate the new month and the end of the work week, I wanted to post a few things that really touched my heart this week. First, on 8/4/2010, Holley Gerth posted on her "Heart to Heart with Holley" blog (see link at right) the following. I LOVED it! That girl has such an amazing gift of speaking God right to my heart. :0)

The world only gets one you...

You with your gifts.

You with your smile.

You with those things you do.

So take your place,

take your chances,

take this moment to know...

You've got something to offer.

Something good and right and true.

Something God-given,

Heart-of-Heaven created.

And the rest of us need it, need you.

Oh, you think it's no big deal.

Anyone could be that way.

Anyone could do it.

Nope.

Not true.

There's just one irreplaceable you.

That made me smile. :0)


Earlier in the week on 8/2/2010, she posted a similar message in her blog series.

A little reminder for wonder(ful) you...

Life is hard sometimes--

crazy, mixed-up, messed up.

And there you are,

in the middle of it all,

just doing your thing...

being strong and brave

and beautiful

like it's no big deal.

But let me tell you, girl,

it is.

Not everyone can do what you can do.

Not everyone can handle things the way you can.

And while you wonder sometimes

if you're doing okay...

the rest of us are just

watching in wonder.

Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

This goes out to my mom & sisters. Mom, I love you so much. Thank you to you & Daddy for molding us into strong, brave, and beautiful daughters of God; we three are that way because YOU are that way. J, I look at you with Baby Girl, and I am in awe and wonder. No one else could be who you are to her...who you are to me. And K, you are so beautiful and so much braver than even you realize. I get so much strength and inspiration (and fashion sense!) from you. Not everyone can go through what you have this past year with such Godly strength and grace. I look at all three of you, ladies, and I stare in love, wonder, and awe. To be a Z girl and a daughter of the King...I am immeasurably blessed!!! :0)

(the four Z girls...before Baby Girl was born)

Birthday & Bouncing & Baby...Oh My!

This weekend my sweet hubby and I went home to visit my wonderful family and celebrate my twin sister's and my birthday! For her b-day party, her hubby threw her a fabulously-fun party at a gymnastics gym. We had a BLAST playing on all the trampolines and mats like we were all kids again!

Here are the two birthday girls taking a leap of faith...


And here's me head-over-heels in fun!






I was so worried about 30...and so far, it has been a blast! :0) Here's a pic of me and my sweet hubby celebrating on my special day last Thursday...


And finally, here are some pics of my BEAUTIFUL baby niece. Oh I love her so much!!! And I know Auntie Jilly is a little bias, but doesn't she have the most beautiful eyelashes you have ever seen???

Hello 30s!

Happy Birthday to us!
Happy Birthday to us!
Happy Birthday to J & me!
Happy Birthday to us!

Today my fabulous twin sis and I turn 30. Happy Birthday to us! While I was approaching this day with much trepidation and remorse, I woke this morning feeling...well, feeling like singing! I guess today's final turning-30 Bible verse really sunk in...

Proverbs 31:30 -

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

Charm and beauty and the age number on silly forms is deceptive and fleeting...but a woman who loves and fears the Lord is to be praised...and is to be full of joy!


First, here's a b-day ditty I came up with to the tune from one of my new FAVORITE movies..."Hello Dolly".

Hello 30s,...well, hello, 30s
It's so nice to be right here where I belong
You're lookin' swell, 30s...I can tell, 30s
I'm still glowin'...I'm still growin'...I'm still goin' strong
I feel the room swayin'...though no band's playin'
As I'm singin' a ditty to a tune from way back when
So...let's have fun, 30s...have a great 10-year run, 30s
30s I'm excited and ready to begin!

Next (and completely truthfully on this day in July), in that moment between sleep and awake this morning, the words from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" were in my head. I know...random, right? But as my profile to the right detailed, I LOVE Christmas, all the year through. And that bit of Christmas cartoon nostalgia inspired this 30th b-day rendition...

"It came without terror. It came without fear.
It came without earthquakes or tsunamis or tears."
And she puzzled for hours, til her puzzler was sore.
Then the girl thought of something she hadn't before.
"Maybe my 30s," she thought, "aren't are a big, scary ordeal.
Maybe my 30s...perhaps...aren't that big a deal."

Welcome, 30s, bring your cheer.
Cheer to birthday girls far and near.
My 30th birthday is alright
so long as I have loved ones holding me tight.
My 30th birthday will always be
just another birthday for my twin and me.
Welcome 30 while we stand,
heart to heart and birthday cake in hand.

And finally, I want to leave with these words of such great wisdom from a woman whom I don't know personally but whom I have grown to adore through her blog. Holley Gerth of (in)courage and the "Heart to Heart with Holly Blog" is such a wonderful woman of Godly encouragement and inspiration. I have commented MANY times on her blog how her words are like God speaking directly to my heart. This woman has a great talent for writing and uses it amazingly to give glory to God and encouragement to women of faith. Anywho, this was on her blog on July 15th, and I just had to save it for today. So inspiring! Just wanted to share on my special day. :0)

Hey Beautiful

You, girl, are one-of-a-kind-wonderful. You started in God's heart, were shaped by His hands, then presented to the world as a gift.
No matter how it feels, no matter what you've been through, that's still true.You are of great worth, the only YOU ever made.
There's a part of who God is that gets only expressed through who you are.
You're a bearer of His image.
And that's beautiful.
It's beautiful in a way that's deeper and truer than the latest trend.
It's a forever kind of beauty that time can't touch or years take away.
God sees it in you
and because you believe it, make it yours...
we see Him in you too.

God saw all He made and it was very good. Genesis 1:31

Happy 30th Birthday to J & me!!! As Tim McGraw sang,

"I think I’ll take a moment, CELEBRATE my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here
LORD HAVE MERCY ON MY NEXT THIRTY YEARS!"

Thank You 20s

As I enjoyed my last day in my 20s today, I realized how very much my life has changed this past decade...I got my first apartment, I met the man of my dreams, I got engaged, I graduated college, I got married, I moved to the big city, I got my first job, first house, second job, second house, two brothers-in-law, first niece, eight Christmas trees, and a partridge in a pear tree. :0) The list goes on and on, in a happy, wonderful, and very blessed sort of way. Thank you, 20s...you were incredibly good to me. And thank You, Father God, for making them so richly blessed with family, friends, joy, laughter, opportunities, experiences, memories, and lots of love. When I realized that today's verse was Romans 8:28, it made me smile...

Romans 8:28 -

"And we know that in all thinks God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

God works FOR THE GOOD. For the good of those who love Him. And not just in some things or most things or even in almost everything. In ALL things. In ALL THINGS in my 20s. In ALL THINGS to come in my 30s. In ALL THINGS God works for the GOOD of those who love Him. Thank You, Father. I am so blessed.

Tuesday's "Twirling 30" Bible Verse

Today's Bible verse is Psalm 104:30(NLT) -

"When You send Your Spirit, life is created,
and You renew the face of the earth."

Hello all! So, today is the eve before the eve of my 30th birthday. As prior posts have noted, I am not all that happy about it (a.k.a. sad and depressed). BUT...my Lord works in amazing and mysterious and WONDERFUL ways! I had a TOTAL God-wink experience this morning. The post on one of my favorite blogs, www.incourage.me, was about a lady also with apprehensions about turning 30! Wow, God...You are so,so good! It has TOTALLY changed my attitude toward the whole thing, and I too have decided not to turn thirty on Thursday but to twirl right into it! Here is the post:

TURNING



Turning is never as simple as it sounds.

Turning is something you have to do when you take your driver’s license test. And I learned in driver’s education class (this is the only thing I remember) that you cannot safely turn a car faster than 25 miles per hour. So it’s a slow move.

If someone is “turning a page” in life, they are probably making some sacrifices, maybe trying to forget some past pain or mistake, or simply tired of where they have been.

Turning indicates significant change. Turning off the computer. Turning into someone else. Turning around.

There is a song in the musical Les Miserables that is titled Turning. It’s a song that the women’s chorus sings in rounds. The notes are high and somewhat shrill and you aren’t soothed by the sound. In fact, the song makes me anxious and in context, it is sad and defeated.

I don’t love the sound of turning.

Twirling, on the other hand, has completely different connotations. In my simplest, most honest moments, I often wish I was twirling. Even right now.

Twirling is beautiful. It’s freeing. Just the sound of the word brings a smile. Twirling doesn’t change who you are, I think it releases you to be open to anything.

I think of Kathleen Kelly from You’ve Got Mail. She loved to twirl. And if there is one fictional character that I find myself wishing I knew in real life, it is absolutely Kathleen Kelly.

According to the calendar, I turn thirty this month. My emotions have surprised me and the turn is harder than I expected- maybe something like making a right hand turn in your car going 65 mph.

I’ve watched some friends turn thirty with much grace, almost like a delicate curtsy into a new chapter of life. Yet my turn has looked more like a dead end involving scabbed knees and tears. If I was to use very dramatic wording, I would say it has been awful.

For many-a-reason that I'll explain if we ever sit down to coffee, I just don’t want to turn.

So I’m choosing to twirl. I am not turning thirty, I’m twirling thirty.

I’m changing my vocabulary because of how it changes my mind. Twirling thirty sounds much more elegant, more free, more beautiful. I know it sounds kind of silly, but it works with my heart.

So, with a changed outlook and a brighter attitude, I am twirling thirty years old.

I purchased a cornflower blue dress for my birthday party. It has pockets with white embroidery and delicate white stitching across the bodice. It’s knee length with a sweet A-line that falls in just the right way. It feels soft and mature and lovely.

It’s perfect for twirling.

by Annie Downs, Annie Blogs

Monday's "Turning 30" Bible Verse

Proverbs 21:30 -

"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
that can succeed against the LORD."

No plan can succeed against the Lord. No plan. For God is in control. We need to only be still, stop worrying, and acknowledge that He is.