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All Sparkled Up

~ Like dew hanging from the tip of a leaf, a single bead or word adds sparkle where there was none. BE the bright!

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Tag Archives: inspiration

Roses peeking in the window!

15 Friday May 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, encouragement, flowers, gardening, God, Inspirational, nature

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, encouragement, flowers, gardening, God, inspiration, nature, New Dawn, roses, window

I can’t count the number of friends whose lives are really complicated right now. I’m included in that number. So many troubles are weighing heavy on our hearts. But through it all, God is still there and still in charge.

This year, he gave me a little surprise again. Several weeks ago, I noticed New Dawn rose buds in the window!

The New Dawn rose has grown all the way up to my second story kitchen window again.

The New Dawn rose has grown all the way up to my second story kitchen window again.

New Dawn rose buds peek in the kitchen window.

New Dawn rose buds peek in the kitchen window.

3 Rose New Dawn
My kitchen window is on the second floor and I don’t have planters in the windows. The patio isn’t finished, the paint is peeling, lots of things are falling apart.

The patio is still unfinished.

The patio is still unfinished.

Due to disability, I had to let a lot of things go, such as pruning and training the New Dawn rose bush. Just when it was getting to a good age to work with, my spine was collapsing so there were a half dozen years that disappeared.

The New Dawn rose bush is an untrained mess, tangled up with the honeysuckle bush.

The New Dawn rose bush is an untrained mess, tangled up with the honeysuckle bush.

Those were the thorn years. Lots of tangles and brambles.

We have to be careful walking down the stairs because the railing is lined with large, sharp thorns.

We have to be careful walking down the stairs because the railing is lined with large, sharp thorns.

Even then, good things keep growing. Never forget that… GOOD THINGS KEEP GROWING.

Look how far that rose has grown! All the way to the window!

Look how far that rose has grown! All the way to the window!

All the way up to my kitchen window, the rose bush reached.
8 Rose New Dawn
The roses didn’t care that the paint was peeling.
9 Rose New Dawn
10 Rose New Dawn

Does God know where we are? Does he know our dark space? Can he see our need for beauty and goodness?

Does God know where we are? Does he know our dark space? Can he see our need for beauty and goodness?

Yes, God is aware. He knows what we need. And all those little buds lined up in my window to say Good Things Keep Growing.
12 Rose New Dawn buds
The roses are blooming now. But the weight of them is pulling the vine over.
13 Rose New Dawn blooming
I put three nails and a loose wire up to hold the roses up so I can see them from the kitchen again.
14 Rose New Dawn blooming
Roses in the window!
15 Rose New Dawn blooming
And how fitting that the rose is called New Dawn. Even without a window box of nourishing dirt, 20 feet from the ground, never stopping, the roses are peeking in my window to remind me Good Things Keep Growing.

Good things keep growing.

Good things keep growing.

And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Is 58:11

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Free Idea – Books & Eats Restaurant

04 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, baking, books, food, Free Idea, Inspirational

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

books, Books & Eats, food, free idea, inspiration, reading, restaurant, Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Oh I wish there was such a thing!!!!!!!!!
Restaurants are great for socializing. Food and friends go together perfectly.
But sometimes, you just want to eat something amazing and READ something great at the same time.
Thus, the perfect restaurant would be eat & read, or Books & Eats.
Picture this…

Bohemian decor with super comfy chairs and customizable lighting at every table.
Great, knowledgeable staff, all lovers of books and food.
Shelves of books on every wall.
Once seated… snippets of possible conversation…

White shirt bowtie waiter: “Good evening! Would you like fiction or non-fiction this fine evening?”

“Non-fiction,” you say, a bit tired, brushing at the paint stains on your jeans. “Perhaps something inspiring. Can you recommend a good book?”

“Family or Business?”

“Business,” you respond. “Well, perhaps both. I’ve reached an impasse with a new venture and need inspiration.”

“Why certainly!” says the waiter. “We have a very fine non-fiction, vintage 2002, by Steven Pressfield. The War of Art, Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.”

“That sounds perfect!” The book title sounds intriguing and you’re already encouraged. It just feels good to have someone want to help, even if their help is hit or miss. “What do you recommend to go with it? I’m in the mood for a good dessert.”

“If you want to go citrus, I highly recommend a slice of Lemon Orange Cheesecake with Vanilla Bean Kumquat topping. The mixture of sweet and tang is inspiring and the touch of bittersweet is the perfect finish. It’s the kind of dessert that you enjoy leisurely, savoring each bite and letting the flavor sink in.”

“And how long do I have?” you ask.

“For this particular all-together-yum, we allow 30 minutes. But you are welcome to purchase the book when you leave.”

“Great!” you say, as you lean back in the padded chair and check your watch. The food and book show up within two minutes so you get a full 28 minutes to enjoy the exquisite dessert and inspiring read.

Yeah, I’m there. Today.

Books & Eats, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Lemon Orange Cheesecake with Vanilla Bean Kumquat topping.  #alltogetheryum

Books & Eats, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Lemon Orange Cheesecake with Vanilla Bean Kumquat topping. #alltogetheryum

Oh I wish!

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Lune

06 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, God, Inspirational, nature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

inspiration, lune, moon, nature

Lune

Lune


Even on dark nights, behind it all there is light.

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“You’re reaching the wrong way”

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in community, crafts, God, Inspirational, Scoliosis, sewing, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

community, crafts, God, hands, helping, inspiration, Scoliosis, sewing

“What?” I asked.

I was standing in the middle of the room with my arm up in the air but those words abruptly stopped me.

“You’re reaching the wrong way.”

It had been a rough week. Someone had said cruel things. A big and unexpected bill arrived. And there was never enough light in the room, never enough light. Everything came crashing down at once so I got mad. I was angry at others. I was mad at the never ending bills. I was mad that my back wasn’t strong enough for me to get a job and how stupid was that! I was mad that I was mad. Life wasn’t fair.

So I stood in the middle of the room and puzzled all of this. There seemed to be no solution. Slowly, the anger drained out. Anger takes a ton of energy and I didn’t even have enough energy to sustain anger so I had to let it go. I forgave the cruel words. I decided to trust God that the finances would somehow work out, and maybe there could even be a solution for the poor lighting. God helped calm me down and I was aware of Him. But he was invisible and I wanted desperately to see him. Friends hug friends, don’t they? And when Jesus walked on the earth, just a touch of his garment healed disease. So I stood there and reached my hand toward the ceiling and waited to touch the hand of God.

Nothing.

How soon we forget sometimes. It was just a couple minutes before that I decided to let go of anger and now it started to bubble up again. Only this time, it was against God.

I stood on my tiptoes and said “Do I have to be higher to touch your hand?” I kept my arm up, rigid. I looked across the room and eyed the chair. “Do I have to stand on a chair?” I stretched on tiptoes as high as I could and felt the old adrenaline surging again, for all the wrong reasons. “Do I have to stand on my bed? Huh??? How high do I have to go to touch your hand, God???”

I started toward the bed, my hand still held high, but God interrupted my thoughts.

“You’re reaching the wrong way.”

His voice wasn’t angry, it wasn’t impatient or disgusted. It was calm and honest.

I let my arm drop and stared at my hand. What on earth did that mean “You’re reaching the wrong way?” If holding my hand up was the wrong way, then I had to lower it. I slowly lowered my hand, lower, lower, until it was held out down by my side, palm up. Then I looked at my hand and waited and wondered. And God answered.

God said “What you do to the least of these, you do to me. So if you want to touch my hand, you have to reach down to someone else.”

My eyes brimmed over. Yes.

This week, my hands sewed.
1 sewing tote bags
A group of helping hands gathered together to sew tote bags to tie on walkers for patients at a rehab center.
2 sewing tote bags
I volunteered to take some unfinished bags to sew at home. The smooth fabric moved through my fingers as it fed through the machine.
3 sewing tote bags
Despite the pain in my back, it felt good to be using my hands for someone else. Why should my hands be limited just because my back complains?
4 sewing tote bags
It was just a couple months ago that I still needed a walker. Back then, it took great effort just to cut socks into strips to wrap the bars. It was such an effort that I could only wrap one. One of my sons finished the other. I know what it’s like to take fifteen minutes just to walk across a room. The fabric tote bags to tie on walkers are such a small contribution. But it’s the little things that make a big difference.
5 my walker
I won’t be there to see the bags tied to the walkers. I won’t see the struggling hands tuck tissues or a pen or prescription into the bag pockets. But that’s ok. I don’t need to stand on tiptoes and reach up. God said I only had to reach down to someone else.
6 sewing tote bags

“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40
What you do to others, you do unto Me.
If you want to touch the hand of God, reach down to someone else.

It’s not so hard.

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Plan B

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, Inspirational, Scripture, sparkling, words

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

All Sparkled Up, hope, inspiration, light, Plan B, scripture, sequins, sparkling

I Figured out Plan B.  Isn’t that the best feeling ever… When you come up with a plan B that will actually work?  :)
Sometimes things are really mixed up and messed up. There’s no order. There is nothing to grasp. You watch Plan A fall away in little bits.

Plan A, scattered like sequins.

Plan A, scattered like sequins.


You go through the motions of trying to clean up. Again.
2 Sequins
And then you think maybe there’s another way.
3 Sequins
You start over.
4 Sequins
You try again.
5 Sequins
Don’t give up.
6 Sequins
Plan B.
7 Sequins
I call plan B ….
8 Sequins Hope
HOPE.

Plan B is Hope. It’s not perfect. It still has cracks around the edges. Sometimes it’s fragile and not very clear. But Plan B will work.

And Plan B is always crazy BRAVE!
Sometime Bravery is all you need to come up with Plan B.

Don’t give up!  God knows exactly where you are.  Ask Him to help you make it through.

Go for Brave.
Sara Bareilles sings Brave.

[A huge public Thank You to my son Ethan. Ever since I broke my back last year and had 17 vertebrae fused, I can’t get down to ground level easily. As I shared my idea for this post, Ethan became my Hope. Sometimes Hope from God arrives in the form of a person. They bring light when everything seems fractured and dark. Ethan, you’re the best!]

‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

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Happy New Year 2012!

01 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in New Years

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Tags

inspiration

This morning I woke to something unexpected: HOPE. It washed over me like a giant wave. My thirsty spirit drank up hope like a wilted flower in a parched land. God is the source of all hope. He is the source of all my inspiration, including that which sparkles. My wish for you, my dear reader, is that your year will be filled with hope and that you will have many beautiful sparkling moments. And that you will know that God already has plans for you, good plans to prosper you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Cheers to the first day of 2012!

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