Grace in Style: Faith

Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts

August 21, 2018

STILL SUMMER

It's still Summer.

I saw a tree turning yellow a few weeks ago. But it's still Summer!

As long as I can still enjoy the outdoors and the sunshine comfortably, eat ice cream outdoors and wear shorts and sandals, it's still Summer.

When I wrote about Summer sunshine and enjoying my first real week of Summer a month or so ago, life seemed surreal and free. I had survived the grueling years of college, medical school and residency. It was the end of long work weeks, lack of sleep and endless stress. I had reached the light at the end of the tunnel and was "living the life".

But as Summer went on, it was different than I expected. Life got busier than I had anticipated and my life was still scheduled to the seconds. It was filled with more dark valleys than sunny mountains. I felt pressure from all directions of life. My future was still up in the air. It was unsettling and it spiraled into an anxiety in a world of feeling like I was not enough.

After struggling with this reality, I decided to set aside pockets of stillness in my nonstop days to allow myself to address the issues. As I look back at my journal this past month, there is a theme of letting go of my fears, trusting God and His good plans for me, and choosing thankfulness in all circumstances. Since embracing these lessons and intentionally applying them to my every day, I've had more sunny days and true joy.

There is still a lot of work to be done before these lessons become ingrained in my life like breathing. But God is so gracious and truly Jehovah-Jireh, my Provider. Praying that stillness becomes a habit.

One pocket of stillness was this past weekend. So thankful I got to spend a slow(ish) weekend with my family. (Read this Instagram post for the drama of how it all started.) It forced me to take the time to rest and limit my never-ending to-do lists. And I always cherish time with my family since we are now spread across the country. My sister and I visited a beautiful gardening shop since we love admiring pretty plants and flowers. It was a sweet pocket of stillness I got to share with her!

Here's to a still summer and a still life. How do you fit stillness in your life?

June 19, 2018

SWEETLY BROKEN

Any perfectionists out there?

I will fully admit to it. I've always been a perfectionist, and being one, it's so easy to get bogged down with the smallest imperfect details of myself. Oftentimes, these imperfections also make me feel undesirable and as if I have to prove myself more to deserve to be loved. But I am so thankful that those thoughts and feelings are so far from the truth!

We are all human -- imperfect and broken people. We make mistakes, we say or do the wrong things, we think bad things about others, etc. If we had to earn grace or salvation for all our sins, we would never be good enough to earn it. But there's good news and sweet truth!

The truth is that though we can never be good enough to be saved, God has made a way for us through Jesus. We don't have to earn God's grace. It's there, extended to us, free for the taking. It cost Jesus' life, but God loves us so much that He was willing to make that sacrifice for us.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I love these verses. It's a beautiful picture of God's love for us. He's perfect, mighty and powerful, and yet, He wants us to come to Him in our brokenness and surrender our imperfections to Him. It's not easy and can feel vulnerable. But when we surrender it all to Him, take up our cross and follow Him, we can fully experience His perfect strength, His sweet truth and His extravagant Love for us.

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Putting together this sweet look was a blast from the past. I thought I'd play on the 50s housewife look. While externally perfectly put together and tied up with a bow, there's a lot of brokenness going on internally. A necessary reminder in the day and age of social media. No one is perfect. We're all in need of a whole lot of love, grace and kindness! I also included some fun details including a chocolate bar clutch to add some sweetness.

July 15, 2017

STYLE STORY: PATCHWORK

Life is like a large piece of patchwork.

Artists who create patchwork carefully select pieces of cloth and thoughtfully sew them together to create their beautiful finished product. But the pieces they use may not seem like they fit together. With the artist's masterful work, they fit perfectly.

This is so similar to life.

In life, there are many moments where I think, "God, why did You bring this moment into my life? This is not what I wanted." Or I've thought, "Why was this door opened for me? It's taking me in the wrong direction!"

However, as life goes on, I realize that God purposefully brought those moments in my life and led me in certain directions for His beautiful and sovereign plan for me. My desires are often different from His, but ultimately, His ways turn out better and make me a better and stronger version of myself.

Speaking of patchwork, I paired a fun patchwork top (complete with a bow!) with white denim pants. To add a pop of color, I'm carrying a bold red-orange tote and wearing my favorite floral heels. A beautiful and simple summer look to piece together!