My Beloved spoke and said unto me: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away" Song of Solomon 2:10

Here are a few additional things that I read in Chpt. 4, I pray it ministers to you all.

Read below as the author, Leslie Ludy, uses her marriage as a analogy to what our commitment with Christ should be like. Here is what she said:

"When I married Eric, I took his name. I became Mrs. Eric Ludy. I took on Eric's name to solidify my marriage covenant with Him. It wasn't just accepting the title "Mrs. Eric Ludy" - it was totally a change of focus and lifestyle.

What would be the point of taking on the name Ludy if I didn't change my life after the wedding? What if, after the vows were spoken, I went back to my own house, slept in my own bed, and went about my daily life as if I were still single? Bearing Eric's name meant building my life around my new name.

To truly bear the name of my husband - not just in title, but in my daily reality- I had to leave my own life behind and join my groom in my new life. I had to become one with him."

Did you get what she was saying? If not, let me adjust a few words and maybe it will help.

"When you became a Christian, you took Christ's name. You became His daughter. You took on Christ's name to solidify your eternal covenant with Him. It wasn't just accepting the title "Christian" - it was totally a change of focus and lifestyle.

What would be the point of taking on the name Christian if you didn't change your life after accepting Him as your Savior? What if, after the vows were spoken, you went back to your own sins, continued to live against His commandments, and went about your daily life as if you were still of the world? Bearing Christ's name meant building your life around your new name.

To truly bear the name of our Savior - not just in title, but in your daily reality- you haveto leave your own life behind and join your Bridegroom in your new life. You have to become one with him."

When viewed from this perspective, it made perfect sense. If I had chosen to bare Christ's name, if I had chosen to accept Him as my Savior, my Comforter and King.. it would only make sense to leave my old sinful ways behind for better days with Him. We can not only devote part of our lives to the Lord, rather it must be all parts of our lives. We wouldn't part ways with our husband and go back to living as a single woman, so how is it that we somehow convince ourselves that we can return to our sinful lives while still loving Christ? It would be like having a affair while still completely in love and happy with our husband. It is not possible.

Sisters, I truly challenge you to live above what the world considers "norm", we are called to be set apart for Christ. Whether it be in the way we dress, the music we listen to, the way we speak, the way we choose to socialize, our reactions to others or our personal relationship with the Lord, let us keep one key thing in mind: do any and everything to honor and glorify His name. After all, it is the one we have chosen.

"To become a true Christian- one who bears the names of Jesus our beloved Bridegroom- we must leave behind our own lives and come away with Him. We must put aside all of our own selfish desires and pursuits. He must become the sole focus and worship of our lives. As it says in Psalm 45:10-11, "Listen, O daughter. Consider and incline your ear. Forget your own people also, and your father's house; so the King will greatly desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, worship Him."

Our precious Bridegroom is calling us, beckoning us to leave all behind and come away with Him.

He is faithful..

In the past few weeks many changes have taken place and this past Saturday I found myself in tears, crying out to the Lord. I came to the end of my ropes and, as strong as I perceive to be, I could not hold on any longer. Somehow, some way, in the midst of all this chaos, I took my eyes off of the Maker of all things and led myself to believe that it came down to me to fix things, to make something happen. I was alone in my apartment, crying out to the Lord. There were questions of what His plans were in the upcoming months. I didn't know what my next step was. I asked God "where?", "when?" and "how?". He responded with a soft whisper "wait and trust Me". I pouted and cried like a 5 year old. :\

Woe to me.

The the Comforter, along with encouraging brothers and sisters, reminded me of Philippians 1:6 which says "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

I had forgotten that the Lord had His hand upon me, that he was guiding me through every single step. I had to pick myself up and bounce back into reality, back into His promises. Not only is my King loving but He is faithful. I realized that even when I find myself on my knees crying and questioning His ways, He never forsakes me and He holds me in His hands. He knows the limits to my strengths and weaknesses. And above all of that, His plans for me are greater than mine.

Though I had given Him my all, I was still left in a position of not knowing what my next steps were and there was no reason to be careless and irresponsible. So, I called my management when I arrived home from work today. I wanted to speak to them about the terms and conditions of my lease, to prepare myself as I was terminating my contract.

What a moment of relief!

You see, I moved into this apartment 5 months ago. And with a 12 month contract, the terms of my contract states IF I violated the lease, my penalty would be $2,000 AND the responsibility of paying the rent until the end of my agreed 12 month term (unless a new/replacement tenant took over the payment). This was VERY heavy on my shoulders as I live by myself and off of my own earned income.

HOWEVER, are you ready for the GOOD news? PTL, that as of 2 months ago CBU (Calvary Baptist University, the college neighboring my apartment complex) purchased our property. I had no idea what this meant for me until my property manager explained that CBU's plans for our community was to change it from public housing to school housing. What does that mean? Well since CBU had purchased the property, they had made plans to renovate and change alot of things over. One of these changes was that they had WAIVED EARLY LEASE TERMINATION FEES. Can you belieeeeeeeeeeeve that? Because CBU purchased our property, they waived the penalty fee of terminating my lease early, which saved meTHOUSANDS of dollars. I HAD to have the property manager repeat herself a few times.

The Lord not only gave me peace in waiting and trusting His ways but He delivered me from a troubling debt that was massively weighing me down.

With that being said, my dear California family, I wanted to inform you all that I have given my management my 30 day notice. My move out date has been set on March 12, 2011. I am excited to see the great things that God will reveal to me in the journey that lies ahead, but at the same time I am sadden that our time together will end shortly. I am terrible at farewells and because I have built so many great relationships here, I know the next few weeks will be a emotional roller coaster. But I am grateful for the opportunity that God had blessed me with to have known such great individuals. I will definitely keep in touch with you and I pray that I will see you all again one day, if not here then in His kingdom.

This is a amazing story that I wanted to share, to encourage you all that its true: "sometimes God takes us out of our storms while during other times He rides along through them". Its obvious that God had placed all of these things in my path since the day I moved here. He knew what hardships I would face and He prepared a way out. PTL forever and ever. Continue to live for Him, and through your trails CLING onto Him. He will never let go, so hold on as much as you can!

I love you all and thank you to my King and to you and your prayers.

Psalm 92:4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands

Credits: http://www.heartlight.org, http://littlechirps.blogspot.com

{ giving thanks }

Lord, thank you for everything. For my loving family, caring friends, my job, Harvest, Layla and most of all for your son. For the sacrifice that you've made that has granted us direct access to you. For calling this wretched daughter home. I was once blind but now I see, once lost but now am found. I can honestly say, looking back, you had your hand on every single part of my life. From my lowest point to my "high". I can still remember those lonely broken nights; the feeling of failure, disappointment, emptiness and helplessness. You reached your hand from heaven and you touched my heart. You wiped the tears my from very eyes and held me close to you, reminding me that you are my ultimate love and that only through you would I be healed and restored. I am forever grateful and though I know I can never thank you enough, I live my life as a offering to you. I can truly say with all my heart that you are my redeeming and unfailing love. Your love has truly captivated me. It it only through you that I find my happiness becuase only through you can I truly understand, accept and love myself. I pray that you continue to show me your face, continue to light my path and place those individuals in my life that will draw me closer and closer to being the person you desire me to be. <3

Yesterday marked the second year I made my own turkey :) (whoo-hoo!) Though it wasn't as flavorful and moist as the one last year, I am satisfied with it. It was still better than most of the ones I've had before! (teeheehee). Auntie Tray came in from LA and made her all time delish eggrolls and later Auntie Hlee and Uncle Bee came over to join us for the feast. What was on the menu? Veggie Penne with Alfredo sauce, Scalloped potatoes, Green beans & carrots with sliced almonds, salad, Lemongrass & Lemon based turkey, white Jasmin rice, corn, eggrolls, piggies in a blanket ;) (hehe) and peanut based hot sauce. Absolutely yumms! The dessert was banana cream pie and velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

On another note! This Thanksgiving week was surely a BAD week to start my diet! ARGH! Tuesday I did a 6 miles cardio workout just to come to work on Tuesday and stuff my face at our Thanksgiving luncheon. *Aye! I didn't workout Wednesday nor did I work out Thursday. BUT tonight shall be a night of redemption! I am attacking the gym in hopes that I can shed a few lbs before going home for Christmas to face my 104 lb little brat sister. :\ Let's hope it works out as planned, hahaha. I have about 14days until my departure date so if I'm faithful to my eating and exercise.. I should be a little OK. (too much wishful thinking?)

{ getting my butt kicked }

So a few weeks ago I purchased Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred workout DVD and yesterday was the first time I was able to get my lazy butt up to go to battle with this flab-bolous body of mine. The DVD consists of strength training along with cardio in a 20 minute workout. I admit, this work out was a killer! I've done at home work out videos before but yesterday's workout definitely got me using muscles that I have not used in a long time! During the work out, you really felt my muscles being used as there is low intensity weight lifting. :) For me it was more than enough! teehee

I'm going to make it a goal to incorporate this workout into my weekly workout schedule as I am aiming to "shed" some weight by October :\ of course that along with more intense cardio and better eating habits. I'm bad at commitment but I will try my best to journal any goals I reach. :)

On another note, my nieces and sister are coming to visit this Wednesday! Whoo-hoo! I'm so excited! My nieces have never been to SoCal & I haven't seen my sister in sometime so I'm uber-EXCITED and look forward to their trip! (This is actually one of the reasons why I bought my workout DVD in the first place haha, but back to the blogging) So far we have beaches, sailing, shopping, hiking and site seeing in our itinerary :) Come back again for photos!

Tomorrow we are throwing a surprise birthday for our manager. The theme? "Revenge of the Nerds". Word on the block is that this is his all time fav movie, and since it is fun and inexpensive we all figured it was a go. I made signs & our sorority patches. I'll be shopping for my plaid shirt, camel-toe pants, suspenders and pocket protector today :) ! Salvation Army here I come! We've all agreed to come in full gear. Funny thing is we may have a surprise visit from corporate and sales reps in our other offices. HA! That'll be funny to see huh? Will be posting photos from that as well.

As for my apartment I am slowly (but surely) putting it all together. I was able to finally find the screws to mount my TV onto the stand so now I can enjoy my HGTV without the sofa arm getting in the way ;) Along with that I have cleared of most of the junk in my living room (leaving only the wall decor) and assembled my desk. I'm proud to say my living space is ALOT more functional now *yay! Well folks, thank you for tuning into my oh-so-entertaining weekend recap ;) have a great week and God bless!

{ love & serenity }

Last week I had the Mr. come visit. :) It was quite a great visit. He's so helpful and patient with me, Lord bless him. Walked Layla for me, cooked a GREAT steak dinner, did my dishes everyday and helped me move to my new apartment. He's soooo patient with me, seriously I drive MYSELF bonkers sometimes ;) I don't know how he puts up with me, but he does.. and I'm in love with that.

My move was a great test for us. It started off a bit frustrating. I don't like packing nor do I enjoy unpacking.. or moving. hahaha but Peter Parker made it easy with keeping me busy with carrying pillows and blankets as he carried the heavier boxes. What can I say? He loves me. And, on top of that, he let me rest while he continued and unpacked my clothes. What a sweetie huh girls? haha, there was one time where he almost rammed me into a closet door knob, while carrying up the sofa (you can tell I left the weight on his end) but I paid him a favor back when we carried in the bed mattress and he was pushed all the way to the bedroom. hahahaha, good times. It turned out to be full of laughs and faster than I expected.

We decided to take Layal, so she would get use to the apt. At first it was fun adn cute, she kept running in and out of the apartment but her curousity kept driving her further and further from the apartment (take in mind, she was off-leash) so we decided to leave her in the bathroom. BAD CHOICE!!! Not only did she whine and bark but mama came back to find her knawing the door frame. Let's just say, that was NOT something I wanted to report on my inspection list. The last thing I want to do is bring attention to it. *Sigh. It was clearly my fault though, poor girl probably thought I abandoned her. And besides, I left nothing around of mine for comfort.

So tomorrow marks one entire week since the move. It's quite serene and peaceful. My previous apartment was more busy and a little tighter. I look forward to what God holds in my future there. This week? Painting walls, dyeing furnture and decorating! Whoo-hoo!

{ back to the roots }

It's been a while huh?

So, whats new? Not too much, been trying to enjoy the hot temperatures here in Southern California! Aye, sometimes the numbers are so high I can bare staying outside. This weekend I will be running around town looking at apartments then off to Vegas for a 1 day vacay ;)

I'll be moving (yes, again) as my current lease will be ending later this month. A bit exciting and stressful at the sametime. I am going to be living by myself (finally) so this should be interesting. So far I've narrowed my choices down to 2. Pretty soaces, running 800-850 square ft and closer to church. Same city that I currently live in. One I viewed this past Saturday & the other I will be viewing this Saturday. They are only a few blocks from one another. Here's what it boils down to: floor plan, pet rent and stove range. 800 square ft is ALOT to work with being just one person, but not if the floor plan is not functional and does not flow. One of the apartments has a standard $35/month pet rent fee that I do not like, and one has none. Lastly I do not like electric stoves, not only in the way they work but gas ranges are less expensive, so that will also be something I will have to factor in. I'll keep you all posted on what happens :)

Moving on...! I haven't doen too much crafting lately. Over the weekend I've decided I wanted to tackle in a new project. ~`~`~`~`~~`~~~ drum rolls please!!! `~`~`~``~``~~`~`~```~`~~`~`` hmong clothes for Layla!

It's really hard to ignore these urges in me ;) She's my #1 model and I was inspired after seeing Tray's hmong peices this weekend. I've done a little bit of stiching before so this should be interesting :) Heres a few photos that I am holding onto to inspire me, ALSO I came a adorable Hmong inspired outfit out together on polyvore by hovercraft. I absolutely LOVE it! Too bad the garmets are a bit dated and out of stock. Pay a visit and view her other cute outifts she's styled. Have a blessed day family!

Isaiah 40:30-31
"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

{ love is in the Michigan air }

So, as I stated in my prior blog, I went home again this past weekend to celebrate the union of two beautiful couples: Aong Vang & Cheng Thao and KouKhasha Kue & Tom Lee. Man oh man was it a busy weekend! Sooooo restless and hot! It was like a sticky, hot, tiresome dream! ;) hehe

Really though, it went by so quickly I feel like it was a dream. I got to see alot of old faces, Minnesota, Oaklahoma & Wisconsin faces :) My bff Ntxoo and her little family, Meng and the boys, Nancy and her family and ofcourse those beautiful Michiganders! Sigh, I was was so jet lagged when I first arrived I forgot all the people who I would be seeing.

Saturday was Aong & Cheng's wedding. It was so intimate and adorable! And I'm so surprise to have found out that Cheng is actually the son of my parents' former pastor, 5 terms ago? Earlier that day I went to visit the new (to me its new) outdoor shopping center: Partidge Creek. It was so lovely! Was a little like a cross in between Victoria Gardens and The Grove. They had all the major store I liked; H&M, Forever21, Aldos, Guess? Apple AND For Love (whoo-hoo!). I also came across a store called Love Culture. Pretty cute things in there, a bit overwhelming because there was soooo much stuff in there, but prices were good. I guess a store to compare it to would be Papaya? One thing I was SOO shocked and in love with was that they allow pets! Not only in the shopping center but in the stores AND they have a little doggie play area :) Lovely isn't it?

Sunday was Kayla (KouKhasha) & Tom's wedding. It was a HOT day! Argh! I was running late and sweating. Got lost for over an hour due to the beautiful Michigan construction, stuck in a car with no A/C and missed rehearsal! I had no time for make-up and I saw graphic/sad scene of a groundhog in a roadkill. :( It really made my day sad. Afterwards I was on a hunt for shoes at Somerset mall. Argh, dropped $80 on some Mary Janes that I didn't even love and didn't get to see my baby ALL WEEKEND. Poor baby, was so happy and crying like a maniac when I got home that night. All in all, weekend was fun-filled and full of surprises. :)

Anywho, here are photos from Kayla & Tom's wedding, enjoy! I have yet uploaded the photos from Aong & Cheng's wedding. I didn't have my camera on me much so these photos are brought to you from the hands of Pang and Sheng, thanks guys! Have a blessed weekend family!