Fabulosity Friday-Making Your Closet a Place that you Love!!!!

 It's Friday again and I've been posting here on Joy Treasure how I have been preparing my home and preparing my life in 2012. In previous posts I have shared with you the two words that God has placed on my heart for 2012. They are:

I am continuing my posts on the word 'prepare' and showing you what it looks like in my life. This is a year long process and I want you to see that small changes to your life can be made in simple small steps each day. For me, I am tackling the unseen places in my home that cause me so much frustration when I am trying to get out the door in a hurry. My closet has been a point of contention. Slowly, but surely it is becoming a place that I love.

I took most of my jewelry out of a drawer and placed them in my closet where I get ready. I looked at unused space, measured and went searching for things that could help hold my jewelry in a place where I can see it.

I found these adorable door knob hangers in the girls section of Hobby Lobby. They are $9 each and easily can be hung on a wall. They also were half off so I got them for a steal! I could have made them, but why? I am trying to save time here and get on to other things! They were perfect for my bracelets!!! No more fighting in a drawer with my bracelets. I have them all right here when I need them. And I know what I have so I won't buy something similar. STRESS FREE!!!!!

So here is what they look like. I had a few more bracelets so I ordered two more door knob holders from Hobby Lobby and will place them below. My future plans are to repaint the closet this spring to give the closet a fresh look, but for now it works for me. Problem solved!

My necklaces and scarves were two other things that were all a mess. So I solved that as well. This is behind the door of my closet. Unused space now usable!

Last but not least, I had this space above my hanging clothes that was a blank wall. It was perfect for a special picture that I wanted to hang in our closet. This picture was taken on a special trip to Hawaii and my husband and I love it. When we walk in the closet, it is the first thing your eye sees when you walk into the closet.

 As you can see this closet would not be in the glamour shots of the Better Homes and Gardens. The wall needs to be repainted, I still have some containers to buy for the shelves. But the small improvements made have affected my life on a daily basis. I simply took what I had and made it a more enjoyable place to walk into. You spend 365 days a year in your closet and why not make it a place that you can enjoy being in or looking into?

If you don't like your closet and it has caused you much frustration, do something about it.
Look at it.
Think about it.
Plan for it and then tackle it.
You will be SOOOOO glad you did!

Have a fabulosity Friday my JT friends!!!!

Just for Women Wednesdays- When Women Label Other Women

You know you do it.
You don't mean to.
But you do.

What am I talking about?
Labeling the women around you.
We all do it.
We don't mean to but we do.

But why do we do it? It is done because we are creatures of habit. And we creatures of habit like to feel secure. Anything that makes us feel insecure and vulnerable, we dash to the closest thing that makes us feel secure e.g. a close and constant friend. 

When you walk into a room, does your mind run off to labeling other women around you as friends, best friends, acquaintances and women you don't know? It's OK if it does. But when we stay in this mindset of labeling, we miss getting to know other women around us. We miss getting to know their story, their gifts, their life. We miss being a blessing to them because we are so busy focused on ourselves and staying on our own agenda. Who knows....one of those women could be your best friends for life. But you wouldn't know it because you are too busy staying in your comfort zone with the friends you always have.

The Phrase that Still Hurts my Heart

I will never forget the time when a friend of mine in elementary school labeled a friend of mine as her "best friend." Ouch!!! It still hurts a bit when I think about it. Immediately I came to feel inferior, hurt, and ousted. The girl didn't mean anything harmful to me, but it did hurt. It hurt right to my heart.

Even now as grown woman, the phrase "best friend" still can leave a mark on my heart when I hear other women refer to other women in front of me in this way. It's like someone has shot an arrow right to my heart unintentionally and I wasn't prepared for it. I immediately can feel ousted, left out, and inferior because I am not labeled their "best friend." I don't want to feel this way. But sometimes, every now and then I do. I am just being honest. I share this because if I feel it, I know I am not alone. You feel it too! Be encouraged dear sister, with God's Spirit, we have help to overcome these heart wounds.

What's a Girl to Do?

• Change Your Mindset

     It hurts our heart when we don't have a "best friend"  or when the person we thought was a good friend mentions a "best friend" in front of us. This is a real feeling. The more we hear other women talk about it,  it seems the greater the feeling can become inside our own heart. Don't let any root of bitterness grow in your heart my dear sister! Stay strong in the LORD!

      The greatest way that I have learned to deal with this real feeling of not being someones "best friend" is to seek to be a friend to them no matter what I am labeled according to their eyes. I do not search for a "best friend" anymore. I try to be a friend to all and be as loving, encouraging and supportive as I can to all. Searching to be a best friend to someone else can a lead a woman on a long journey of disappointment. Change your mindset (1 Corinthians 2:16).Pursue the mind of Christ over your old mindset. Be on the pursuit to be a loving Christian friend to all. In the journey, you will find a close friend.

• Pray

Prayer is how you don't bear the burden of not being someones besty (Ephesians 6:18). If you have to meet with a group of women have closer connections within the group than you do, pray before you go meet them. Ask God to help you keep your thoughts focused on Him and His ways (Colossians 3:2). Thank God for being able to meet with these women and ask Him to help you be about His business and not be focused on how you feel.

I pray this has been a great encouragement to you today. It's painful. But it's real. If someone you thought was a good friend to you has a "besty," love that friend in the LORD and be thankful for her. Don't let your mind simmer in the statement made by her about another "besty." You are loved by God. Chosen. The Apple of His eye and He thinks you are wonderful. Be about His business and don't let these petty things of this world steal time away from being about His business.

Focus on being a friend to all, not looking for a besty.
Ask God to bring you a close friend.
You will save yourself from lots of heartache and wasted time.

Manna Monday- Coming Hungry to God

Good Monday morning JT friends!

I pray your Monday is off to a great start this morning.
And if it's not off to the kind of start that you like, turn your attention back to Psalm 118:24, "This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Choose to rejoice in the LORD despite your circumstances.

I wanted to post a question for you all to think on this Monday morning- to think on throughout the week.
"Are you really hungry for the Word of God? "

For those of us who have been in church for a while it can be easy to be satisfied on the appetizer of God's Word from the Sunday morning sermons. But the appetizer wears off and the hunger grows. Only God's Word can satisfy your hungry heart. But are you hungry? That is the question.

What are you trying to fill your deep hunger for God with this week?
Reading magazines, surfing websites, spending hours on Facebook, watching television, home improvement projects, kids extra curricular activities, being busy, housework.....?

Sweet friend, what you are hungry for is the LORD. Nothing else will satisfy your craving. Your desire is to be intimate with Almighty God and hear HIS voice through the reading of scripture. Turn your heart toward these truths in the Bible:

"The righteous eat to their hearts' content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry."(Proverbs 13:25)

"The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." (Psalm 34:10)


When we seek God's WORD we will not be hungry. We will be satisfied. We can eat to our hearts content.

If you feel satisfied during the week and don't feel hungry for God's Word, pray.
Ask God to give you a desire for Him and for the reading of His Word (Psalm 119:36).

Open God's Word. Take it with you to work. The more you open and read it, the more your heart will become hungry for God to fill the nooks and crannies of your empty heart. The more you are hungry and let God's Word satisfy your craving, the more it will become filled and satisfied.

Fabulosity Friday

365 hours.......

That is the time you most likely spend in a year hovered over your bathroom drawers cleaning your face or putting on makeup. Out of those 365 hours, how many of them are filled with frustration because you can't find something? Life is too short to be frustrated over the little things. Make the time to clean them out and make them fabulous!

As 2012 continues to roll along, the word "prepare" is one of the words God has placed on my heart to live out. Being prepared means to be a better steward of the time God has given me in each day. For me, that has been to organize the unseen places in my home. These are the places that company would never see if they visited my home.(That's because I wouldn't let them see it!!!!) But just because no one sees these unseen places doesn't mean that it's OK for me to not give attention to this part of my life.

The HUNT for CUTE SHELF PAPER

I have to come to find that cute shelf paper is not something most stores have on their shelves. If I have to spend 365 hours of my life a year hovered over something then I want it to look nice and be a color and design that I like.

I couldn't find any shelf liner that I liked so I made my own.
I went to Michaels and bought scrapbook paper that I loved. I put it together by cutting it to fit my drawer and placed clear contact paper over the scrapbook paper to make it easy to wipe with a wet cloth to keep it clean.

Now, this took a bit more time than I wanted to take, but the result....fabulous!!!!

See how everything kind of had a place before....but it was not pretty.

No more hovering over this mess for 365 hours a year!!!!

Pretty! Love it!  Soooooo.... much better!

                          Purchasing an acrylic holder helps you see more of the paper you want to see.

I love putting my makeup on now. It's much more of an enjoyable experience!

Prepare your life so you can spend more time giving attention to the things that really matter in life.
Don't let your unseen places frustrate you anymore.

***********If you do not want to make cute shelf paper, I did find a source online that has cute options to order. Go to chicshelfpaper.com

Just for Women Wednesdays- Embracing Where U ARE!!!

 

Does your mind ever wander to a dream you want to fulfill in your life or to a life that you wish you had instead of the one you have at present? Maybe you dream of more free time or less laundry. For some of you, maybe you long for a new job with less stress and a nicer boss. Maybe you long to stay at home with your children and not have to work full time. Maybe you stay home with your children and yet you long for more purpose in life and feel like you are getting old raising your children and life is passing you by. Whatever the case may be, God desires for each of us to thankfully embrace each moment,each breath, each day because He has given us another day to rejoice (Psalm 118:24). He has made your day today my sister! Rejoice in HIM. He is the best part of each day!!!!

Turning Back to What's TRUE

Let's turn our minds away from our wants/wishes and purposefully focus them back on the truths of God.

We want God's WORD to change our minds, which will change our heart and therefore change our actions. When I find myself wondering about tomorrow and wishing away my life, these verses set me back on the straight and narrow and rejoice my heart! I pray they encourage your heart, too!

(Place your mouse over each scripture)

• John 5:17 (God is always working and never stops working in our lives.)
• John 2:4; 7:6 (Jesus had to wait for his time at the cross to come. Live in the waiting time.)
• Job 14:5 (Every moment has been given to us by God.)
• Psalm 31:15 (Our times are in God's hands.)
• Daniel 2:21 (God is in control of all things.)

Dear sister, I don't know where life finds you today. I don't know your joys and sorrows. God knows. Don't waste your life today thinking about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). Focus on the people around you today. Live during the waiting time. Learn new things where you are. Embrace new relationships where you are. Find the good in your circumstances. Stop letting the past or the present define your mood and your words. Bring your mood and wishes to the authority of Christ and let the Word of God wash over each thought, each wish, each longing.

Let God's WORD define your life, not your flesh.

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for giving me the very breath I breathe. Thank you for this day that you have made. I bring my heart to You and ask You to bring me peace where I am in life at this moment. I don't know what tomorrow may bring but I trust in You and Your truth today. Keep my mind from wandering away to the future and instead give me eyes to see every tiny blessing You have given me in each day. Help me learn to embrace where YOU have me each day. Forgive me when I turn away from Your truth and look to my own fleshly desires. Thank You for hearing my prayer.

Manna Monday: So Long Selfishness

Good Monday Morning JT friends!!!

It's going to be a great Monday! Be encouraged this morning!

Today we turn our attention to Philippians 2:3, "Do nothing out of selfishness..."

Can you confidently say that each day you are focused on others over yourself?

I am going to be honest with you all here. I have to daily reprogram my mind through the reading of God's Word to be focused on others. I don't have it in me to think of others first. I have to yield to the Holy Spirit and let Him help me to prefer others over preferring myself. I have to let scripture remind me that God instructs me to think of others before thinking of myself.

Selfishness shows up in everything:

our marriages, parenting, work, friendships....

• We want to always be right in our marriage.
• We want to have more "time by our self" over biblically parenting our children to the end of each day.
• We want our work to be appreciated and celebrated instead of being overlooked and unappreciated.
• We want our friends to think of us and encourage us before we think about and encourage them first.

Selfishness is something we fight against each day as a believer.
Even when we do something for someone else in action, we still battle in our mind having to take the time to do it. Does that speak to anybody this morning? Let me explain what I mean.

A Small Selfish Story

About ten years ago, I was in the grocery store and in a hurry. I came to the butter section and there was this elderly man staring at the butter. He wasn't moving, his eyes looked glazed over due to the various choices of butter staring back at him. Before I knew it, he asked me if I could help him find whipped butter. He went on to say that he had been given strict instructions from his wife to purchase only "whipped butter." Ten years ago there weren't many options when it came to whipped butter. I was tired from a long day at work and couldn't get home quick enough. There was no where I had to be. I just wanted to be home. At first, I didn't mind him asking, I wanted to help. But as I looked at the butter section, everything looked the same and there was no whipped butter. My selfish thoughts came rushing in ("this is taking more time than I want it to take," I thought.) 

     Even though my actions appeared (to him and others) to be unselfish, the selfish war was raging within me because I wanted to be done finding whipped butter and go home. I was being "inconvenienced" at this point when there was no whipped butter to be found. It turns out there was one brand of whipped butter that we finally found out of all the choices on the shelf.

Dear sister, this is our sin nature. Don't be discouraged. We have the victory through Jesus to walk forward (1 Corinthians 15:57-58). Selfishness is a daily fight. Be watchful. Be aware. The battle to defeat it begins each morning when you surrender your mind to the authority of God's Word.  

Consider the following verses:

Galatians 5:26

Romans 12:10

Ephesians 5:21

Why Is Selflessness Important? 

Because it points others to Christ and not ourselves. We live out our eternal purpose when we point others to Christ. Our selflessness is a witness to the selfishness of the world. Our selflessness points to a greater good because there is nothing good within us except Christ.

I don't know what selfishness you are battling in your own life, but I know that we have help through the Holy Spirt and through the reading of God's Word to overcome it. I believe the greatest way we can become less selfish is to practice being selfless.

Is God calling you to prefer others before preferring your own selfish wants and desires?

Follow His leading.

Prepare your mind through reading scripture to win the war of selfishness each day because it's always there.

Fabulosity Friday

Happy Friday JT Friends!
As I told you in earlier posts, I am sharing real examples from my own life on the blog about the the two words God placed on my heart for 2012 to live out.
They are "prepare" and "listen."

 I posted last week about being a good steward of the time God has given us in each day, so therefore organization becomes more about making the most of the time God has given us each day, not about having it altogether in the eyes of someone else.

I wanted to share my most recent way of saving time in my home. It is my jewelry holder.

My lack of getting a handle on my jewelry was stealing time away from my day. It wasn't taking hours, it was taking second which turned into many minutes.

For me, it has been the little stuff that I needed to pay attention to in my home that has not been easy to find. These little things have had a place, but the place has not been as efficient as it could be. For instance, my earrings. They were in a jewelry holder in a drawer but they were on top of each other inside the drawer. Every time I would be looking for a pair of earrings, they were all mixed up and I couldn't find the other pair.

ARRRGGG!!!!

My jewelry had a designated place but the space wasn't an efficient. Does anyone know what I am talking about!!!!

When organizing your home, get out of the mindset that you don't have the time. That's the biggest lie and deterrent when it comes to organizing. Believe me, you do. Find it. Take one day at a time or one week at a time. Write it down on your calendar and make plans to do it. You will be SOOOOO glad you did.

 I pray today's fabulosity post will inspire you to find ways to prepare your own life.

And for my bracelets

If you want to find out more about how to make a jewelry holder go to one of my favorite websites centsationalgirl.com and find out how to make one. It is super easy, super fun and the result oozes fabulosity!
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2009/05/diy-recycled-frame-jewelry-holder/

Prepare your life so you can focus on what matters for eternity, not get bogged down in wasting precious time!

Just for Women Wednesdays: The Search for Beauty

THE BEAUTY SEARCH
Have you ever thought about how you subconsciously look for things to make you "feel" pretty like monogrammed bags, pink i-phone holders, ruffled coats or spa- like bath products? Think about your hair color/cut, nails or makeup? What lengths do you go to when it comes to finding ways to have for beautiful hair color, pretty nails and makeup? It's the beauty search dear sister! It doesn't matter if you're a high maintenance woman who constantly has to be made up each day before stepping out the door or the mom whose wearing green polka dot rain boots in carpool who didn't get a shower that morning. Each woman equally desires for and longs to be beautiful. Think about it. The hunt for beautiful things can even be something as simple as searching for pretty scrap booking paper in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby to perusing the ladies section at Target looking for something "new" to wear.
 My Personal Beauty Search
I vividly remember when the frustrating search for something beautiful to wear from my closet began. I was in college.It became my focus each morning. In those days, I felt so ugly that I would change my clothes two or three times before I walked out the door! (Not now! Praise God!) No lie, my roommates could vouch for me today! But there was something greater going on inside my heart then. I wasn't remembering who I was in Christ! My mind was more focused on what I looked like on the outside (what I was wearing) than what was on the inside (my heart). I loved Jesus but I still struggled with this search to be beautiful. No one was telling me that I was ugly in college. But I felt it. Where did that beauty lie begin? It certainly never came from my parents or friends. With much prayer and reflection, I came to see I had let the things in the world like magazines,commercials, movies persuade me to believe that beauty really was skin deep. I knew better!
I have come to a place in my walk with the LORD that I embrace who I am in Him, not who I am "not" according to the world. When I start to feel low on the world's beauty index, I pray. I count my blessings. I thank God for "wonderfully" making me (Psalm 139:14).
The Beauty Search: Then and Now
As I was thinking about the hunt for beauty, I wandered how women searched for beauty years ago. So I went back a few decades and found the following. Guess what? It's still the same search. Searching for beauty transcends all generations.
Notice how magazines in the 50's appealed to this inner desire women have:

                                                        The search for beautiful things (1001 gifts)

                              The search to be beautiful (ways to improve your outward beauty)
Things today haven't changed! The search for beauty continues:


 It's not wrong to search for beautiful things. It's not wrong to be presentable for each day. It's not wrong to take care of the body God has given you and read magazines that promote healthy living. It is wrong when outside beauty become your sole focus. The Bible tells us true beauty in the LORD is timeless (Proverbs 31:30). True beauty is fearing God. It's what we become when we place all our devotion in Him. Placing our hope in beauty on the outside is deceitful because it fades. We all know that beauty fades! But we still need to hear it and have a healthy reminder of the truth. I say it because even though we all know it, we still think it and battle with our appearance daily! 
 
God sees the place where your true beauty lies- He looks at your heart.
What does your heart look like? Is it filled with a continual worldly pining for things you wish you were or had? Or is it filled with Scripture about who God is and who God says you are in Him?
Consider what the Bible has to say about the inward man:
(Place your mouse over the Scripture and it will come up)
• Romans 7:22
• 1 Peter 3:4
• 2 Corinthians 4:16
Most importantly above all we are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26). His image is the one that makes us beautiful, not our sinful nature.
You are beautiful in Christ.
God's grace in your heart makes you a timeless beauty. If you place more time focusing on the inside instead of focusing on the outside, you will become a woman who is greatly to be praised, not because of her outward beauty, but because of her character founded in Christ.
Dear sister, I am praying this for you today:
"that...he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,..." Ephesians 3:16

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Manna Monday: Are you Demanding Towards God?

What is your daily tone toward Almighty God when you pray?

 Is it one of selfishness or selflessness?

What are the first words that come forth from your mouth when you bow your head in prayer?

Do you bolt out of the gate with with a bunch of demands that you would like for Him to accomplish for you or are you daily humbly bowing before Him giving all your wants and needs in surrender to His will and authority?

The opposite of being demanding is being humble. The Bible instructs us to be humble, not demanding
(James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6). When we are demanding, we are acting like we are in charge and treating God like He is supposed to "do" things for us. He is God. He is in control.Sometimes we don't even mean to be demanding. It may be that we have so many burdens and are in need of God's touch in our life that we fail to come toward Him with an attitude of humility.

Wherever you may find your attitude toward God, take a little time to examine your view of Him.
If you come to a place where you find your tone toward God demanding (be it out of a low view of who He is OR be it out of so many burdens that you are coming to Him irreverently), consider the following truths:

1.  God knows what I need (Matthew 6:8; 32)
2. God will take care of me (Matthew 6:31)
3. God answers prayers (1 John 5:14)
4. God is worthy of my praise and worship, not my demands (Psalm 8:1; 29:1; 92:1; 104:1)

I am praying for you this Monday.
I am asking God to use today's post to be a blessing in your prayer life. We have such a great God! Give Him ALL the praise and glory and get rid of a demanding attitude towards Him. Instead, come humbly before Him in surrender.