Merry Christmas To All...



I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I hope you all will come to reflect upon all that God has given you this year...all the blessings that HE has poured upon you. HE gave his son for us...and now what can we give to/for HIM? I want to give HIM all of me...my gratitude, love, praise and joy...it is HIS for the taking...for it was HE who bestowed HIS grace and love upon me.

God has already given me many 'ultimate' gifts this year:
  • Jared Fisher...whom I love more and more each day
  • Willingness to step out of my cozy little comfort zone box
  • Wonderful piano students
  • Babysitting jobs...when I couldn't find work...HE provided for me!
  • Finding beauty from pain...HE alone uses ALL THINGS to HIS eternal glory!
  • Allowing me to go to FUGE...chaperoning....and letting God speak...
  • New friends...even the old ones...they have 'refined' me, as iron sharpens iron
  • A voice....to speak up for HIM...and for myself too
  • God using me in the lives of others...because I finally stepped out and just went with the flow, letting HIM use me as HE wanted to...and as HE planned to all along

May you all have a blessed New Year's as well! I will probably not post any new blog entries for the next week or so. I will be traveling, visiting with family...meeting Jared's extended family for the first time...all that said I will be away from Home until January 1st. Please pray that my travels will be safe, and that wherever I go during this holiday season...pray that I will be reflection of Christ...who was sent to die and bleed for us all! Thank you for reading my blog...may you be blessed abundantly by HIM!

Much Love,
Sarah

A Wintry Woodland Walk


Here I am...heading into the woods on our collective 10 acre homestead's land (the 10 acres includes my grandparent's property...whom I live next door to.)






Leaves gathered together in ice



I can see the path ahead that looks best to make my way down to our creek...it was a bit tricky heading down to the creek...but I enjoyed my mini excursion into the snow and woods.






I am standing on the hill...in between the two hills lies the creek down below...



I stopped to take a picture of myself...the lighting was great...and yes, I was simply tuckered out from trudging through the heavy deep snow in the woods...so I happened to be leaning up against this tree.



My feet sunk into the snow, about 8 inches in to the ground, after I started to move on again towards the creek below.



And here lies our creek...the creek was not frozen over...it was flowing steadily.






Look...a fern...a sign of life within this wintry cold bleakness...






I started walking back up from the creek...up the hill again I go!





I think this is absolutely beautiful...thorns intertwined and encased in the ice.

A Winter Wonderland


~Our Lovely Home~
These pictures were taken throughout most of the day...I braved the cold outside for a while. I had to take photographic evidence of course!

My Grandparent's home...we live next door to one another. I think I will check on Grandpa & Grandma tomorrow...see if they need anything...since we are snowed in.

You can see the wintry mix...the snow, ice, and fog intermixed.

This is the road in front of our Home. Sadly, I will not be able to go and visit my love for the holidays until after....supposed to leave tomorrow morning...but with the roads like this I shall not be heading anywhere.

Even the chair has it's 'other' there...I miss my 'other!'

The woods behind our house...beautiful snow laden trees. The snow is falling heavily still...ever on as I type this entry now. I wonder how much longer the heavy snow-fall of winter will continue on? I think I shall curl up on the couch with my knitting needles in hand...finish my scarf...and watch 'Jane Eyre.' I will choose to be happy that the snow has graced us with it's presence...although I miss Jared...absence only makes my heart grow fonder. My heart is not frozen...only the landscape.

Merry Christmas From: Soli Deo Gloria Music Studio



I love teaching piano more than anything in the world...well there are other 'things' and 'persons' that I love equally or more than too! :) Today I got to teach two of the most diligent students I have ever had. DeeAnna and Kenneth are such a joy for me to teach. Both of my students learn in such different ways, even different than how I myself learn...and yet I am able to teach them weekly and share with them my love and joy of music! DeeAnna and Kenneth (and Mrs. Pounders) were so very thoughtful and bought me a lovely gift...candy cane cocao...tree bark...and Mary Kay lotion and eye makeup. Thank you so much guys!!! Thank you God that I still have my two piano students left...they bring such joy and meaning to my life and without them I do not know what I would do!

Happy Birthday Dearest One!


Happy birthday my dearest, lovely, righteous, loving, kind, hilarious....my everything...Momma! I am so proud to be your daughter! God could not have given me a bigger blessing than to be called your own dearest eldest daughter. You are always there for me. You always seem to know what lies hidden beneath my quiet exterior. You hold me when I am weak, when I feel like dropping to my knees, you never leave me alone. You know me sometimes better than I know myself. I find that day after day I am becoming more and more like you...and that is so GREAT...I definitely took after you...I got Jared didn't I?!?!

You have always shown me how to live as Christ...even when you yourself were in the midst of struggling to live as Christ yourself...and yet you still have shown me daily what a God-fearing woman of Lord looks like. Thanks Momma! I cannot express how much you mean to me! I only hope God gives me many more years with you...to show you just how much you mean to me....to share everything that comes our way together. I cannot wait to share the rest of my life with you! Don't worry...Jared may have my heart Momma, but you had it first! I will always be there for you dearest!

With Love!
Sarah-Belle

His Little Lamb (9-14-08)

He is my protector, and I am His to guard.
Everything I need I have when I am living wholly in Him...my Shepherd, Provider, Saviour-Friend.

I am His Lamb. If broken legs need I have...perhaps they became broken because of my own choosing or out of dire need for My King to grasp my attention...not following His Master Plan! Let beauty from the painful broken times, become my lesson learned.

You bring me peace...when I cannot lie down and rest. I grab Your Word and I read and read and everything becomes as a stream...gently flowing...crystal clear to me...finally. I know there will be suffering, but I also know You will pick me up and carry me...broken legs and all.

Your grace and forgiveness restoreth my soul! When cloaked entirely in You, I begin to breathe life into these empty bones...please keep on breathing into me! Forgive me...Your Son had to die for me...mere me...Your little lamb...thank you for His atonement!

Even though I walk through the shadows of pain and of fear, You are right there walking alongside me. I can feel You leading me through the shadows, even though their cast of vast darkness leaves me wandering and delusional. When I stray away from You, You come looking for me...the one little lamb.

I am anointed, because I live within You. When I fully trust within You...oh how You bless me! I can feel it...my cup it overfloweth!

Your goodness and loving kindness will now follow me because I am your little lamb, and You my shepherd. Please keep watch over me always...'til the end of my days.

I will remain, forever Your's. I will dwell in Your House forever and ever...Amen.

Words Found Ordered Into Silver

When I feel as if I'm getting stressed, I pull out my paper and pen in duress.

What I really am feeling, and really am thinking, becomes crystal clear when ordered into words on notebook paper...like words set in silver they are written aptly down.

Writing...it is what I do when I need to think things through, or just sit and write my thoughts out to You.

The parchment and pen have become akin to me, especially when I am in dire need of letting my feelings and thoughts break free.

With pen in hand I become as the Phoenix, wild and free, set aflame, swiftly soaring...although not through the air, but rather the English language.

When words spoken aloud, outside the walls of my home, I seem to choke. Words ordered dutifully onto paper though, seem to make this old soul become reborn!

~Proverbs 25:11~

P&P...not the movie...

I am not going to be talking about the book/movie 'Pride & Prejudice.' Nosiree.....instead I want to talk about two very interesting topics that my Momma and I have been talking about lately. These two 'P&P' topics have also been on my heart lately too. I have needed to get these out of my mind for a few days, but I haven't sat down long enough to work on writing anything.

I am talking about: Perspective & Perception.

Life is greatly influenced by how we perceive (what we see or get out of) things and our perspective (how we see them in our minds and hearts.) It is all relative....in that your outlook and positivity shapes how you function and react to the world...and to God! (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I myself know all too well about having a poor perspective...seeing things like an 'Eeyore' when I should have been a 'Tigger!' I also know that when you are in the middle of having a poor attitude or in the middle of being depressed....self pitying sort of a thing...your perception is vastly different than if your perception of everyone and everything around you was positive.

Have you ever thought that when you are depressed or struggling to see joy in life and your perception and perspective is struggling immensely...just maybe...God is trying to seek you out? Don't you know that HE wants you and your whole heart....HE longs for you to dwell with and to commune with HIM! I KNOW that God uses all situations to HIS ETERNAL GLORY!

HE has used my being depressed for many months on end (not now but earlier this year) to temper me, to make me stronger and ever more resilient. Yes, I will not lie, it was not fun going through trials and heartaches...but you know what? I think HE let me go through it so that I would seek HIM out wholeheartedly. I had hit rock bottom as far as perception and perspective on my life and life in general was concerned. God wanted the key to my heart....and HE wanted me to make the choice to give it to HIM! You know HE is all about some free will...haha! (My God holds the key to my heart now... more than ever!)

As of late I have begun to see the world in a whole new light...and even my Heavenly Father in a new light! God didn't let me struggle through all Spring and Summer long for no reason at all! I am sure God did not let those things happen to me...but HE sure has used them in my life. My spirit, my outlook, my perception, ad my perspective on life and God has changed immensely. HE let my heart go through some rough scarring times....but did you know that scar tissue is the strongest type of tissue?!

God alone is changing my heart, and my perspective and perception of HIM, the world around me, and the people in it. God is making known the paths HE has set before me. I may not know where I am ultimately going...but I sure know which way I am headed. I am filled with joy and righteousness because HE is joy and righteousness! God is going to use me...if my perspective on the life HE has given me to live is lived out for HIM to HIS eternal glory...whom and what shall I fear? ...nothing. My perception of the world around me and the people who also reside in it alongside me has changed greatly since I have become filled with joy.

I know that I am ranting, but I am just SO passionate on everyone finding their joy in life in HIM! We only have one life to live, might as well live it to the fullest...joyfully to God's glory! I am not saying life is always going to be a 'big bowl of cherries,' or that things will always be 'peachy' but rather that you and I have the choice to live the life God gave us with a joyful positive outlook on life...or you can be a 'sour gummie worm!' The choice is yours!

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." -Psalms 16:11

All of this said...I choose to be joyful, to love, to worship HIM, and to not worry about the new year that is rapidly approaching. I will instead of worrying, having a bad perception, and having a negative perspective on life choose to be joyful and see the hidden blessings in disguise! I will choose to lean on God. I will choose to pour out my heart...loving unconditionally wholly others and myself. I will choose to see things in a whole new light. I will choose to view the world not as a hopeless case...but a world full of lost brother's and sister's in Christ who are living in the dark...who need a loving Saviour! I WILL BE A LIGHT...EVEN IN THE DARKEST OF TIMES!!!

-Sarah Elizabeth
PS- There is a bonus...we get to spend eternity with our loving Father God in Heaven! Now tell me that doesn't make you jump for joy!? :)

--Welcome To The Masquerade--


"Already Home"
Lyrics By: Thousand Foot Krutch

The trouble with truth is it never lies
And the trouble with wrong's
That it is never right
So I rest my head under Your light
The trouble with peace, is it never fights
And the trouble with love's
That it's always blind
I want to walk to the edge of it
Tonight, and I fall down
I am on my knees

'Cause You're everything I need
And I've made a mess of myself
On my own
Now I am on my face
And I'm calling out Your name
And I won't run away
'Cause I'm already home

The trouble with tears is that they dry
And the trouble within
Made me wanna cry
I've never felt so much like I'm alive
I wanna open my eyes and see Your face
If I have to wait a thousand days
I'll still be right here, right next to You
And I fall down

And I know I haven't always been
Where You wanted me
I'm standin' here, arms out
Broken down
Before You

Christmas Treats In The Making...


Can you guess why I wanted a pic of me 'n' the bag of pecans?

Hannah & Mary putting pecans on our chocolate caramel turtles!

Nean with her Rollos!

Chocolate Covered Maraschino Cherries....yumo!

White Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz! Oh yeah!

Arcadia (5-22-08)

Dear Lord give me peace in knowing that my heart is in Your hands...I felt as if I was slipping from Your grip...alone by myself.

I was feeling left out, lost and all alone and then I felt the warmth of Your love...'hold on darling he will come!'

You are all I want! You are all I need! You are my everything!

You spoke to me and said, 'someday...someday soon, wait until it is your turn. Thank you my daughter for remaining pure. Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.'

You are carrying me...You oh Lord know my desires and dreams. I carry them within my heart...unwilling to walk away from them...never to drift apart. Only you know...only...

I was finding it hard to trust that You would one day bring me to my Mr. Darcy.

Now my heart is in Your hands. No longer do I worry that Mr. Darcy will never come along. My heart is now set wholly on You!

You have brought me to this place of peace. This arcadia...I have found in You.

On my dresser...in my heart...

Old books and new memories...



I just love old books, and old song books too! (Of course I had to take a pic of the books on top of the quilt my Momma made for me...she calls my quilt "Stars for Sarah!") These two books in particular were given to me by my Mamaw, after my Great Grandparents Walter and Ruby Gay passed away....they passed away almost exactly a year from one another. Grandma Gay always loved to read, sew and quilt just like I do. Grandpa Gay was always quite chipper and happy like a new fledgling bird...he had to be because he practically had an aviary in his back yard! I miss my Great Grandparents....this Christmas will be hard too...but also filled with so many new wonderful blessings! I have God and love...and so I feel I have the world!

I hope to start reading the little-old-tattered-well-worn-and-very-much-loved book from my Great Grandparents, "Home For Christmas" by: Llyod C. Douglas during this Holiday season. I will cherish this book, as I know they did...many more generations will have come to treasure it as they did and as I do now. I have so much to do, and so little time to do it. So many loved ones to see...and so much love to gain and share. Christmas. Jesus. Love. Being together. Joy! Ah...memories. The well loved tattered book...drawing together family, and dearly loved ones to become a central common thread. I am so joy filled right now...no more mere words can express this gratitude and warmth within my heart!

With Love,
Sarah

A prayer for today...

To bless your heart Lord God is my desire
To let you touch my life and set my soul on fire
To see your hand of love in all that comes my way
To learn to hear your voice each moment of the day!

Glass Of Time (5-25-07)

Glass of time, an hourglass, the sand begins to pour.

If only there was no gravity, the sand would resist to fall.

Grain by grain the sand begins to flow.

A minute, an hour, a day and a night go by, and we have lost an hourglass full of time.

Hourglass after hourglass, the sand still pours, enough to cover an ocean floor.

Hourglass after hourglass, the sand finally stops.

It is the end of time and the end of your life.

The glass of time pours no more...

Girl's night...told in pictures...


L-R: Anna, Hannah, &
Sarah (me)

Gangsta Gurlies! Me & Abby!

"Charlene" & "Bridgette"

Silly Smitten Kittens! We got our beanies in
Florida...last time Hannah and me took a
random road trip!



Wild Curly Brunette Hair! What a mane...
you think Aslan could beat this wild mane? haha


I'm Blind To Your Grace (re-written)

As I lay in bed I wonder why, life feels like it's passing me by.

Why do I feel fear all the time? I cast out the fear in Your
glorious name, but then fear starts to creep in again..
it tried to steal me away...away.

Thoughts and fears float around in my mind,
when will I ever not be blind?

I'm blind to Your grace, but then You save me...
from my many fearful thoughts.

Cast out shall be fear by Your glorious command.

Delivered I am by Your beautiful grace!

I once was blind, but now I see, the amazing grace
You've given me.

I fear no more for I am no longer blind. With Your
merciful grace, now given to me, I have come alive!

"Beckon Me" (3-20-07)

Dear Lord, please help me find my life's calling.
Beckon me my Saviour, show me what must be found within.
Show me Lord so that I can take off from the ground.
Help me spread my wings so that I might fly.
My wings are wet, but need to be dried.
Breathe Your breath on me... so that my wings, they may dry.
And one day I will fly, up towards the the vast blue sky, as a beautiful butterfly!
Lord beckon me!

Jo March...

Well....I watched 'Little Women' today! Every time I watch that movie my heart is filled to the brim with warmth and happiness! I love it when Professor Frederik Behr and Jo March are standing out in the rain under his umbrella.....he says that he has nothing to give her, his hands are empty, then Jo reaches out to grasp hold of his hand and she replies "they're not empty now." '...with all of my heart!' Such a wonderful movie....I still get teary eyed every time I watch it! Not many movies, or stories for that matter can surpass 'Little Women.' It is a beloved favorite of mine....and I will watch it over and over again....living vicariously through the girls and their lives within the movie and story!

Anyway, I took a quiz....and as it turns out: I am a dreamer, loyal, and a bit of a tomboy...I am like Josephine March! :)

"Greater Than I" (re-written)

You have a plan that is greater than I.

I cannot see your plans spring forth 'til
after the fire. Only after the smoke starts
to clear I finally begin to see.

Oh Lord You are greater than I!

When will the new life sprout up out of
the ashes? I hope this turbulent storm
of the mind passes.

How can I possibly comprehend that I am
no longer in control...and never really was?

Oh Lord You are greater than I!

It's so hard, please let me overthrow myself
and give you all of me mind and soul!

...greater than I.

I'm drifting in time, and I can't seem to find a
second when I hear Your voice speaking to me,
leading me, telling me everything's gonna be fine...
at least I hear nothing lately.

My Lord, Your enduring love and all that You are
is greater than I!

I want to give You all of me...I am no longer
in control...to You I belong...with all my heart!

Lord You alone are greater than I!

First Coming

He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait

till hearts were pure. In joy he came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
he came, and his light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

Come now just let it go...let it flow...rest

"Come now just let it go, let it fall down. Let it all flow like...the water that's rushing in over your soul til there's nothing left...won't you come to me and rest?" from the song 'Rest' By: Nevertheless

As I listened to this song only a moment ago....realization hit me...I have made no time for God lately! That is a startling realization, especially since I have so many things I need to lay at His feet, praise Him for...asking Him to help out others that are on my heart right now.

He still works in my heart and in my life when I am not currently 'talking' to Him...but I know He longs for me to call on Him daily...He yearns to hear my voice call His own. He longs for me to come and rest. I am gonna take a minute to pray...and I feel it is welcomed that I post it here...I don't think My King will mind.

"Lord, right now I owe you an apology! A big one! I am sorry... You have been patient enough, and so filled with grace and love for me. I know that you were just waiting for me to realize that just resting....perhaps even sitting still...is what I need right now. Maybe that's why I have been sick so many days...could you have meant for that to grasp my attention when I had finally sat still long enough? I am sorry I have been so distracted...I fall in and out of the rhythm...over and over...and I don't understand. I feel so empty, and yet also wholly filled inside...how can it be? Thank you for my family, for my Boyfriend Jared, my friends, this coming holiday season...for the many blessings you have given me! Thank you! Please Lord help me to remember to stay in your word, and to stay in touch with you...to rest. *amen*"

'There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life.' Devotion for November 30th (My Utmost For His Highest.)

I love you for reeling my heart back in every time I cast myself away from you Lord!
-Your Daughter

A Walk To Remember...








No words have I to say today...these moments frozen in time will have to suffice. Oh yes, it was undoubtedly a walk to remember!
-Sarah

Jared Fisher


"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." -Proverbs 13:12

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I want to introduce someone very special to you, my fellow blog readers...my boyfriend, Jared Fisher. I met Jared this summer while chaperoning at Centrifuge 2009. I thank God daily that I went to FUGE. I never would've met Jared otherwise!

From the moment I met him...I knew that I wanted to get to know him better. I knew he was worth getting to know...worth putting myself out there for.

I asked for his e-mail address on the last day of camp, only hoping that we would keep in contact. I didn't think that I would ever see Jared again to be perfectly honest...but I knew that I wanted too.

So for the next 4 months Jared and I proceeded to send back many numerous e-mails to one another....until it became an every day occurrence....which was what I was hoping it would turn out to become all along. :)

I want to take the time to list just a *few* things that I absolutely love about Jared:
  • He loves God with all of his heart!
  • He is guarding my heart.
  • He is loving.
  • He is really handsome!
  • He is respectful.
  • He is leading...
  • He is family oriented.
  • He is a hopeful romantic.
  • He is very caring.
  • He is not self seeking.
  • He and I are similar.
  • His heart speaks in words too.
  • He sees my heart, and not just the mask.
  • He is funny.
  • He is smart.
  • and He loves me where I am at.
We have been in a relationship now for 9 days. I don't even really know how we made the jump! I told Jared how I felt, and he reciprocated my affections that were held in my heart. Thank God I was able to speak my heart. I do struggle with doing that so...God must have known that Jared was the one that I would finally need to speak up for...because he is truly worthy. Honestly the last 9 days+the last 4 months of talking to him....well they have been the best days of my life so far!

To Jared With Love!
-Sarah

"There's something dancing, here in the shadows. And I wish it were us." from our song...