Sole Hope Shoe Cutting Party

I first heard about Sole Hope back in March of this year via Thrive Moms. If you haven't heard of Sole Hope before, they are a faith based organization that helps provide medical relief from children & adults whom have suffered from jiggers. They provide medical care, and then also give them shoes to help stop future infections. It's an amazing organization helping those in Eastern Africa. 

In order to give people shoes, they have to be made first. This is where we can step in and help cut fabric to be made into shoes. 

My husband and I decided with all our family coming into town we wanted to do some sort of service project with them while they were here. We wanted to give back together. We wanted to do something this Christmas that took the focus off of us and put the focus back on others. We decided to host a shoe cutting party for Sole Hope with our family. 

I ordered a shoe cutting kit from Sole Hope, that explained all we needed and gave us instructions on how to cut the shoes. We sat around my kitchen table, traced patterns, cut denim scraps into shoes and talked about ways to give back. 

We showed our family a video of what Sole Hope is doing in Uganda to help aide in this relief for people infected by jiggers. 

This project sparked many conversations about how we can help give back to those around us. We cut 16 pairs of shoes that day. We prayed over the shoes and the feet they will one day cover. I'm humbled by this simple act of shoe cutting. 

If you're looking for a great way to give back right from the comfort of your home I encourage you to check out Sole Hope and host a shoe cutting party of your own, or give a financial gift or do both! 

I'm excited to host another one of these parties with the ladies at my church later next year. For more information on Sole Hope visit them here. #zerojiggers #solehope 

When God Gives it Back to You.

At the beginning of this year God asked me to give back to him three very specific things. I've mentioned them before, but simply put they'd become idols to me. These things I had been trying to hold close to them, and make something happen with them. There's was no room for God to bless them if I was holding on so tightly to them thinking I knew better than God. 

Ahh... when I felt the Lord tell me to give them up, sacrifice and lay them down I won't lie. It hurt. I mulled over it for days thinking "God is that you, are you really telling me to let this go, give this to you?"

Once I made the choice to listen to the Lord, it was a freeing feeling. I'd let go of the things I was trying so hard to control, trying so hard to make happen in my own strength. When the reality of it is, when something is truly of the Lord only He can take it where you want it to go. You can't. It's not yours. It's His. When he's called us to something, he can bring it to fruition. We are only called to be obediant to His calling. 

When I laid those things down earlier this year, I didn't know if I'd ever feel the same way about them, or be connected to them again. It reminds me of the story in the Bible when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. 

This is a crazy story, Isaac was Abraham's son. A son he'd waited all his life to have. Literally. God has kept his promise to his wife Sarah whom everyone including her thought she was barren. Can you imagine God asking you to do something like that? God tells him to take his son up the mountain and give him as burnt offering to him (Gen. 22:2) 

At one point Isaac looks at his father and asks where the lamb is that they are going to sacrifice? Good question Isaac, all the while Abraham knows it's his son. He just tells him that the Lord will provide. They get to the top and Abraham binds his son up with the wood to offer him as the burnt offering. 

Seriously can you imagine? It makes what God asked of me seem so little. Abraham does it though. And just when he's about to lift a hand to his son, an Angel of the Lord calls out to him. He says to him, that he knows he fears the Lord because he has not with held anything from him, not even his only son. 

Then God provides a ram caught in a thicket for Abraham to offer as a sacrifice. Can you imagine what Isaac must have been thinking the whole time? But what an amazing testimony that Abraham provided to his son by being faithful to what the Lord had called him to do! 

Through out this year I have been able to see God's hand working in my life as a direct result of me giving Him the things in which he asked, giving over and sacrificing the things that I'd once made into idols. It has not always been easy, it has been rough and emotional at times. But God has done something amazing in my life this year. I have more peace now that I'm not holding so tightly to things and trying to control them on my own.

The best part of all I have seen his fruit. I have seen growth in myself in areas I know now that were held back because of my lack of faith, my lack of trust in areas of my life. Just as Abraham followed through with what God asked him to, as result God was pleased with his offering and gave it back to him. 

God has surprised me this year as result of my faithfulness and drawing near to him, He's brought back things to me, and fulfilled dreams in my heart that no on but Him knew were there. 

Most of the time we sacrifice and don't even know or expect the fruit that will come from it. All we know is that we're being faithful. His blessings flow from that.

I'm thankful and completely humbled by the things he's brought my way this year, and I know they are a direct result of my sacrifice earlier this year. 

What he's brought back and blessed me with is ten fold better than what I could have done on my own, or was trying to do. 

How has God surprised you this year? Have you laid anything down at the altar this year to him? Tell me about it below, I would love to hear your stories of how God has blessed you because of your faithfulness to Him. 

2014 Year in Review

2014 was a year of a lot of firsts, some personal trails and realizations. God taught me a lot during this year. It came in waves of busy-ness and then other months were super quiet. Here's a few of my fave snippets and personal moments & victories this year.

January- We spent the first few days of the year snowed in and unable to get home in Iowa. Once we were finally able to get back home we had a few days to unpack and get back in the groove from Christmas vacation. I continued by blogging break and took time off. 

February- I re launched my blog and started a new space here which I couldn't be more excited about and feel honored for the way my readers embraced it. Thank you.

March- I ran my very first 5K with my Hubby a huge accomplishment for me and I'm so glad I did it. 

My mom surprised us by flying into town for Ava's birthday! Ava turned 4 and we celebrated with a rainbow themed party. 

I joined the Thrive Moms team. This ministry was a blessing to me even before I joined the team and it's an honor to work along side the leadership.

April - I flew to Chicago and spent the weekend with some of my girl friends from college. I'm so blessed by their 13 year friendship. We had the best couple days exploring the city, staying up late way past our bed time and laughing and eating lots of good food.

Also in April I celebrated 1 year since I started my fitness journey, finishing the year off with losing just over 65 pounds. Becoming a healthier and stronger person. 

June- Ava completed her very first year of dance and had her recital this month. It was so fun watching her on the stage. She's a natural. 

July-

My brother spent the 4th of July with us in Phoenix. 

We took our family vacation to Disneyland! We had the best trip taking our kiddos to Disney for the first time. We also spent time at the beach. We can't wait to see Mickey again. 

August- Ava started pre K! Her first school experience has been such a joy, she loves school so much! We're so proud of her.

October- I celebrated my 32nd birthday this month. We spent time in the mountains and my husband officiated his first wedding for some dear friends of ours. 

November- We celebrated Orion's birthday. 

December- Zane turned two! We had family come into town for Christmas which has been wonderful! We love having our family here. 

Thanks for following our year and allowing me to share some special snippets from our daily lives. I hope to get my act together a bit more in 2015 and share more of our daily lives. 

Our Christmas 2014 Home Tour

I'm excited to share with you today our Christmas home tour! This month marks two years of living in our home. Before this we lived in a small apartment, and all decor covered that tiny space. We moved in December 2012 just two weeks before Zane was born, I hardly decorated for Christmas that year. I think we put up a tree and stockings. And last year we didn't decorate at all since we were out of town for two weeks over Christmas. 

This year we made up for it though, we used all that we had and I quickly realized I need more Christmas decor. What I had filled up an apartment, doesn't fill an entire house. But we'll get there someday and in the meantime I'm looking forward to after Christmas sales! 

This post is picture heavy, I'll let them do most of the talking but let's start at the front door. Most all my decor is old, like a few years old. One thing I did buy new this year were these pre lit trees for our front porch. 

We upgraded our tree last year and got this 7.5 foot one. We put our little 5 ft tree we've had since we were married up in our loft area, you'll see it later. I love this tree. It's big and full and I have loved decorating it this year. 

We don't have a traditional mantle so each year I hang them on our entertainment center. 

Moving into the kitchen and dining area you'll see more traditional reds and green decor. I've had most of this since we first got married as those were the colors I went with the first year we celebrated Christmas. I pulled it all out this year and went for a more traditional look. 

For the last two years I've been hanging our Christmas cards we get from family on the pantry door! I love seeing them each time I open the door, and we leave and enter the house through the garage most of the time so we see them more. This is one of my favorite things about the holidays, getting the cards in the mail. Most of our friends live far away from us too so it's nice seeing how they change year to year.

Going up the stairs we have some simple garland, and you can see the other tree I mentioned. I was going to get rid of it and donate it when we got the new one, but I'm glad we kept it. It now sits upstairs in the small loft area. It has the ornaments on it that the kids choose each year, and some of my ornaments I had as a child that my parents gave me. Under the tree you'll find our advent books we do every night with the kids for the 12 Days of Christmas. 

There you have it, our little Christmas cozy home! If you have a question about where something is from just ask. I'd source it all for you but since most of it is either DIY or really old I might not be much help. 

Have you decorated for Christmas? Do you go big with a lot of decor or just really simple? Tell me in the comments below.

Setting Our Christmas 2014 Table.

Setting the table is one of my favorite things to do, I love pretty dishes and linens. This year I pulled out my traditional red/green Christmas decor and incorporated it into our space. Our living room is golds & greens and as you move into the dining and kitchen areas the red and green decor comes in. 

I'm hoping to have a Christmas house tour for you this week, but for today here's our Christmas table 2014. 

I'm loving the plaid trend this year, my Grandma found this at the thrift store for me and I knew it'd be perfect for my table. I got this wooden box at Junk in the Trunk Market this past Summer and I knew exactly that I was going to fill it with ornaments this holiday season. Most everything for this table we already had from years past. The only things new were this box for $20 and the thrifted table cloth. 

Another trend that's really popular this season is all things deer! I see the dear heads everywhere, do you? I wanted to incorporate it somehow in my table and remembered that I had these cute dear head dies from Lifestyle Crafts. I used my Letterpress machine and cut them out, and also used this die to make the banners. I then just wrote all my guests names on them and glued them to the antlers. You can the dear die cut here, and the banner die here. Use code: WORLEYHOUSE for 20% off at the shopwer.com site! 

Simple way to add Christmas cheer is to fill vases or anything with ornaments and pinecones! I got those cinnamon pinecones and they make the house smell so great! 

There's our festive and cheery traditional Christmas table! What about you, what are you decorating your table with this holiday season? Tell me in the comments below and for sources see the list below.

table cloth: thrifted

chargers: Dollar Tree

plates: Longaberger

goblets: Target (old)

gold dot stemless wine glasses: Target (last year)

silverware & napkins: Target (old)

wooden box: vintage market

ornaments: Ikea & Walmart (old)