Thankful Thursdays {8}

good gracious, i don't think i've been so happy to see thursday in a long time...
and i'm even more excited about seeing friday (can I get an amen?)
this has been one crazy week & i'm just thankful that i've survived it!


to be honest, i felt a little defeated before the week began.
even though I've been a sickie and am utterly exhausted
it has been absolutely full of blessings:

finally tackling a hike i've been wanting to do for years
meeting one of my sis's friends from camp + singspiration throwback
laughing at said friend/sister while being silly with my stethoscope
surviving 3 pediatric finals on tuesday. yes, 3. (done with that class... holla)
a house that's always bustling with people
crunching leaves + jacket weather
dreaming out loud with fellow dreamers
Sudafed. I have been utterly dependent on it... stupid cold.
(oh wait, I'm not supposed to be complaining...)
a Target adventure with my bestie over our lunch break

+

2 fabulous surprises!

surprise #1 was awaiting me on monday.
i came home to find a sweet little package from the
one and only shannon (at my little corner), including...

(1) a shirt from toomanymillion.org
(2) a fun fall mix c.d. (this girl has some killer taste in music)
(3) a sweet card that just blessed my heart
(4) BBQ sauce straight from the lone-star state
(5) pancake mix from Kerby Lane (a fun place we ate at when I visited in May).

surprise #2 was awaiting me on tuesday.
I came home to find a sweet gift from my daddy, including:
(1) a GORGEOUS bouquet of flowers
(2) a card that started with "jarah is amazing because..."
followed by a sweet list of things my dad loves about me.
(3) little push pins that look like cupcakes (does this dad know his daughter, or what?)


I'm so incredibly grateful
for a savior who continues to save me from myself,
for a God who is in constant pursuit of my heart,
& for friends/fam that love and encourage me through it all...

recap: fall break

what an incredible fall break...

kind of strange that it's the last of my college years!

i spent the week here in utah...
catching up with friends
working (very little of this actually)
eating sushi
trying new recipes
watching movies
playing with my sis
crafting
enjoying the fall weather
shopping
writing letters
cleaning my crazy messy room
reading (for fun)
catching up on sleep

&

taking a little blitz trip to
zion national park
highlights include:

{1} hiking angels landing
yes, i really did it! crossing #13 off the list
i was absolutely in AWE! so so beautiful!
definitely one of my all-time favorites.

{2} sleeping in my hammock

{3} enjoying the company of some amazing people

{4} rockin' the chacos

fall break, you were too good to me!
now, to leave you with a little taste of that epic hike!
{video isn't mine... found it here}

thankful thursdays {7}

hey hey hey!
hope you all are having a happy thursday!
i know it's been a golden one for me...
here's a list of a few things I've been thankful for this week:

a friday night spent with cherished old friends
screaming my little lungs out at Lagoon with 5 of my best buddies
waking up with no voice the next day
turquoise toes
a much-needed baking day & movie night with my momma
lasagna and catch phrase with friends
finally getting a chance to see Invictus
cookies for breakfast
phone dates with friends across the globe
my aunt's speedy recovery after a big health scare
tea season is finally here!
sleepy mornings + silly conversations with the goonies
not getting as much work in over fall break as I'd planned
a fun shopping date with allie
+ the green pea coat I scored
a long lunch date with jasa (one of my dearest heart-friends)
being known for who I really am, and loved just the same
good news from a faraway friend
some alone time... i need it every now & again
dancing in the kitchen to old camp songs with my sissy
a lovely update email from the lovely shannon
just for some space to breathe

"Thou hast given so much to me,

Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise."
~George Herbert

feel free to join in with this little experiment in gratitude if you'd like...

Thankful Thursdays {6}

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. ~G.K. Chesterton

first pumpkin spice latte of the season... yum!
surviving a heart-wrenching day in the PICU (definitely not my niche)
holding tiny babies with duck fuzz hair in the NBICU
(so stinkin cute... though, not my niche either)
my hippie little faith family here in salt lake

+ our retreat this weekend
(learning from this guy, singing songs, and enjoying the mountains)
+ a sweet time of worship, singing this song
+ being challenged to be still before God

Celebrating 78 beautiful years of life with my Nana
Psalm 61:2
my job... have I mentioned what a blessing it is?
5 Roses Tea (will forever be my favorite)
laughing harder than i have in a long time... it's good for the soul
an amazing clinical instructor who brought us pizza on tuesday
avoiding homework with tori
(i'm beginging to think that we're bad influences on each other... whatever!)

Hey all, hope you've had a lovely week.
Tomorrow is Friday... you can do it!
Feel free to jump on board with this little experiment in gratitude if you'd like!

celebrate rice

{via}

i've mentioned briefly that i am studying the book of Revelation with my bestie.

we've been picking this book apart & listening to lots of sermons along the way,
because, well, we are just not smart enough to really get it on our own.
anywho, we recently listened to a rockin sermon on The Letter to Smyrna,
so I thought I would share part of it with you today...

It seems that the wealthiest people we see in Scripture don’t seem to be wealthy at all. In fact if you looked at the state of their soul, they seem tired, anxiety ridden, overwhelmed. They don’t seem all that alive. Options. That’s what money gets you. Like I’ve been trying to figure out, because the Bible doesn’t say a lot about the poor, it just says, blessed are they... Do you think maybe that our options might be killing us? Do you think we can never really enjoy what we have because we can always have more?

Jonathan just got back with his team from Liberia. There’s this orphanage there that we work with, and he just asked two of the boys in the orphanage what their favorite food was. And with big smiles on their face they answered like this, “Rice! We love rice!” You know why they love rice? ‘Cause steak ain’t an option. Follow me. It’s nothing...or it’s rice. And so there’s awe and gratitude and joy built around rice. And I’m wondering how many of us loose out on depth and beauty and gratitude and joy because we can never see how blessed we are because we can always get something else.

And so we’re not grateful for what we have because we can always get something else. And I’m wondering if options are killing us. Like how many of us, we can never enjoy where we are because we always looking for what’s coming next. Like we can never enjoy where we are because we are always looking forward to graduation, or we’re always looking forward to next semester, or we’re always looking to the next promotion, to the next house, to the next car, to the next relationship. And I’m wondering how many of us never enjoy the beauty and see the beauty around us right now because we never are where we are.

It’s what the poor don’t have. Options. So they are where they are, so they celebrate rice. They celebrate rice...

Options... I cannot celebrate my daily PB&J because all I can think about is the day that I'm no longer a poor college kid and can afford something a little "better." I know that's a small example, but think about the bigger implications... Like, how often do I miss out on life because I'm so caught up in stupid things like food, or clothes, or my stuff... How much of my time is spent in pursuit of those peripheral things at the cost of my soul? The questions that he posed in this sermon hit me square between the eyes... I think he's right, as wealthy people (if you're reading this, that means you), we are too often consumed with the options. We have to fight to remember that life, not just breathing and existing, but deep and meaningful life has nothing to do with food, or clothing, or the stuff that accumulates in our closets. Depth of life is not synonymous with tangible wealth.

so, i'm posing a challenge to you and to me...
may we seek to understand that life is not the summation of our stuff,
may we come to see how blessed we are,
may we experience depth, and beauty, and gratitude and joy in this life,
and may we learn to celebrate rice (or whatever the equivalent may be for you)!

I encourage you to check out this website... just by answering a few easy questions, a quantity of rice will be donated to those in need who will surely celebrate a full tummy. oh, and if you have any patience left, you should really listen to the whole sermon (here)... it's worth your time.