Happy Wednesday friends! As I shared three months ago, I am excited to re-share some of the most popular devotional posts that I wrote in 2017-2018 (if you would like to see the complete list you can find it HERE!) and am excited to share this one this week! I am also excited to share that these devotional posts will soon be available (without the tie to When Calls the Heart) in a new and upcoming devotional book, February Caravan, that will be released February 1st. Stay tuned for more information to follow! In the meantime I am excited that these continue to be a blessing to so many of you! I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!
One of my favorite parts of the 4th episode in Season 1 were the words that Elizabeth wrote in her journal. There is such a simple yet deep truth that is conveyed here, the reality that the truth isn't always what may appear right in front of us in black and white. In recognizing this we find a precious blessing, a blessing that only can come from discovering graceful truth. In learning this we truly see that sometimes love can come just in time to save our lives.
I think that this episode spoke to me in deep ways because I have always been a person who has deeply valued truth. Truth in telling the correct facts, truth in sharing the exact true order of events, and truth that is black and white before us with no gray areas. This episode though has made me stop and ponder truth in a deeper and more rich way.
The beauty of truth where grace exists.
Truth that is allowed to speak freely of pain that we hold deep in our wounded hearts that we don't hide behind the insistence that we are "fine". Truth that goes beyond the pretty social media pictures that show a highlight reel that doesn't include pain. Truth that can be expressed and where it is met with grace that brings about a redemptive story of healing and love. In this type of beautiful, graceful truth, love can and will come just in time to save your life.
Recently a friend was sharing with me the heartbreak of losing a friendship that they had thought would last a lifetime. She shared that this relationship that had undergone some deep and difficult changes and instead of being a redemptive place, the friendship turned into a place of deep hurt. I know that my friend is not alone in experiencing the heartbreak of lost friendships and broken relationships that exist in this world. I have heard from so many hearties that wish that they could live in Hope Valley with good and deep friendships.
I understand. I really do. These past two years I have experienced the loss of a several friendships that I held quite dear and it was incredibly painful and a grieving season to walk through those losses. They were friendships that I believed would be for a lifetime and when these people left our friendship it was incredibly painful. A couple of the friendships were slow losses and one was very sudden.
In these types of relationships, where we have dared to risk and share our precious hearts only to have things end, it can be tender to think that we will ever experience friendship that is built on graceful truth.
But the truth is where grace and love exist, where trust is the foundation of friendships, and where we love and listen with our hearts we find true love in friendship. We find that looking beneath the "fineness" to a deeper existence and one that can bring a beauty of love that can save our lives. We find that creating a safe space for those who encounter our hearts to come and receive grace is one of the biggest blessings of love that we can pour out to the world.
I know that I am not alone in my admiration for the friendship between Abigail and Elizabeth that exists on the show. I have heard so many different hearties express that they long for a close friendship like this one. I have been so blessed to have several close friends who are my "Abigail's and Elizabeth's" in my life. As I think about the way that Abigail and Elizabeth's friendship has evolved over the course of the last four seasons I think one of the most beautiful redemptive things is the story of grace and truth that is offered within their friendship. Their friendship ebbs and flows out of graceful truth being the foundation for their friendship and this encourages and allows truth to be spoken. In doing so, in having this foundation, we have seen many times love coming to save their lives.
In this same way, in my deepest and truest friendships that I have in my life I see that when these same principles are modeled there is a beautiful blessing of graceful truth that exists. It changes me deeply and in turn I can offer even more freely to the world around me graceful truth and love. It truly has a ripple effect, not just on me, but on my community. I can forgive and release those who have chosen to walk away and live in graceful truth.
At the core, Elizabeth was right. Love does often come just in time to save our lives. Today, let's build into the friendships that God has placed before us friendships centered on God's grace, tenderness, and trust. Let us have the courage to work to create spaces of truthful grace in the midst of each of our relationships. In doing so, we will be blessed with the most beautiful thing- the blessing of graceful truth which will spread over into every corner of our lives, allowing love to come in time to save our lives.
"The truth will set you free..."
-John 8:32-
*originally published on Caravan Sonnet in May 2017*
Looking for past From Hope Valley Devotionals? You can click HERE to find a complete listing of all of the devotionals!
I receive several emails a week asking where you can watch older episodes of "When Calls the Heart". If you have a Netflix account you can find seasons 1-3 there or you can purchase them on Amazon. You can purchase and watch all of the seasons and episodes by clicking on the links below:
*Please note that the quotes used in these weekly devotionals are the sole intellectual property of Hallmark Channel, WCTH, & Crown Media, LLC. These on-line posts are in no way supported, endorsed or affiliated with WCTH, Hallmark Channel, or Crown Media. They are simply encouragement inspired by Janette Oke and this precious show.*
Nowadays, the ‘seasonal’ wardrobe is a style staple. Women across, and it can be a fantastic way to save space and appreciate the season-specific pieces you own. But, packing away your favorites for six months every year isn’t always fun and games. In fact, if you love a particular dress, going without may leave your wardrobe severely lacking, and guess what? There’s no need for it!
No one’s denying that putting away the things you aren’t going to wear in winter is an excellent way to manage your clothes, but dresses don’t always need to be a part of that. Okay, that Miami beach number might be a little chilly, but the majority of dresses are pretty seasonally adaptable once you turn your attention to this.
This is fantastic news for helping you to enjoy maximum wear, setting you up for work, play, and all those seasonal parties! All you need to do is implement the following pointers to make dresses work no matter the weather.
Start a quest for dress jackets
Matching coats with dresses is the main reason we don’t bother with this clothing choice in winter. There are few coats that don’t make dresses look, quite frankly, frumpy, but going without is guaranteed to see you freezing. Luckily, there is a compromise between comfort and fashion here, and it comes in the form of dress jackets. There are some incredibly stylish options on the market, tailor made for dress pairings and warmth to boot. Whether you fancy sparkles, sequins, or just a classy black number, this is the ideal way to wear dresses without shivering once.
Pair with the perfect tights
Going tightless might work during summer beach excursions with dresses in tow, but the same can’t be said for winter wearing. Instead, you’ll want to stock up on tights that hide your goose-bumped (and perhaps unshaven) legs. That means pairing dresses with thick tights in different colors. A black pair can be a winter staple for matching with any dress you own. Wooly pairs in different shades can also work well when specifically matched. If paired with these, even previously summery dresses can look seasonally-appropriate.
Think footwear
Lastly, you’ll want to do away with the flats and sandals of those summer months for footwear that’s a little more fitting to your winter usage. Extra wide calf boots can work fantastically for this purpose, as well as offering added warmth that you’re sure to appreciate. Shorter ankle boots are also pretty stylish when paired with dresses and thick tights at the moment. Even if you’ve never tried this, don’t be afraid to play around. You may find that you’re able to settle on something of a skater girl image that turns any dress into an entirely new outfit.
So, think twice before you put your dresses into storage until next spring. You may find that, if you just put your mind to it, you can get double the use and enjoyment out of that one simple item.
*contributed post*
Happy Saturday friends! I hope that you are having a wonderful start to the weekend so far! Today I am so excited to share with y'all a new addition to the shop - this beautiful Christmas Snowman Junk Journal (click HERE to go directly to this item in the shop)!
I found this older line of scrapbook paper last year in a specialty scrapbook shop in my travels and knew it would make a special Junk Journal for this holiday season this year! Don't you just love the bright pinks and teals with yellow colors? SO cute and fun!
This Christmas Snowman Junk Journal contains approximately 200 pages that includes gorgeous scrapbook pages, vintage paper, pretty ephemera and tags, vintage and sweet modern ribbon, beautiful washi tape, and quality coordinating and pretty scrapbook paper. You can easily add in pictures and quick notes so that you can remember the special days forever.
This special bespoke junk journal would create a treasured keepsake for a lifetime and can be used throughout the holiday season (for special holiday parties or a special occasion) or as a December Daily album for those who may be participating in that!
What I love about these precious junk journals is that the memories that are stored are timeless for dreamers to dream and wish in all different ways during the holidays for years to come. And for those who may not want to write in large amounts of writing this junk journal is the perfect size measuring at 4x6!
No matter how you would use this junk journal it would be precious. *smiles*
If you are interested in this beautiful Christmas Snowman Junk Journal can find it HERE. Or if you are interested in looking at other Christmas items in the shop you can find them HERE! New items are being added all the time, so keep checking back!
Happy Saturday friends! I hope you have a wonderful day!
Happy Friday friends! For today ONLY there is a one day christmas sale that is happening in the shop! You can go directly to the shop by clicking HERE!
I hope you have a wonderful Friday and happy shopping!
When you have children, it can feel like time moves fast and slow. The days are long but the years are short. Before we know it, our families are all grown up. It is one of those things that we don’t realise at the time, when we are navigating a sea of sleepless nights and endless chatter. When things seem hard work and time is moving at a slow pace. The truth is, before we know it, those periods have passed and while it can be hard to embrace them at the time, it is certainly worth reminding ourselves of it every now and again.
The one thing we should try and do as much as possible is to embrace the times where we can make memories with our family. It’s also important to capture the memories that you make, from small milestones to big family events. These are the things you will look back on in years to come. However, many of us can be guilty of letting these times pass us by and often regretting that we didn’t catch a photo our snap of the smiles and fun that was had. With that in mind, here are some of the best ways you can capture your family memories.
Have experiences to make the memories
First of all the best piece of advice is to make sure you have experiences worth capturing. Of course, there is a lot to be said for capturing the ordinary moments, but a good mix of the two will be a lovely reminder of your life in years to come. You will want to remember the good and the great. The mundane and the excitement. You want to be able to showcase your life. So whether it is a birthday that you want to capture, the first steps or cheeky noises that your baby makes, right down to the holidays and days out that you plan meticulously, make every moment a memory worth capturing. You won’t regret embrace your days.
Scrapbook
If you love to be creative, then perhaps you should consider a scrapbook and collect memories along the way. You could look at putting in them pictures and snaps of the day or time you want to remember, along with memorabilia such as a leaflet, a napkin or anything that will remind you of the time and fun you had an experienced. These are great to do with children as well, so don’t be shy about getting them involved. They will love to look back on them in years to come.
Keep a diary
If you enjoy writing things down, then get into the habit of keeping a journal. Writing down the memories will be a lovely thing to read back. You will be able to capture first words, funny phrases and events. Some of the things that can easily get forgotten over time. There are some great planners and journals out there that are designed for things like this. Things such as a one line day book right through to you noting down three memorable things about the day itself. It can also be a great way to practice gratitude.
Photographs
A real obvious way of capturing your family memories is through the art of photography. There are a couple of ways you can do that. Firstly, you could consider taking the photographs yourself. You don’t have to be a professional photographer to capture some great snaps. By investing in a good camera, you could get some amazing quality pictures that you will treasure. However, not all of us are confident in front of the camera and prefer to stay behind it than in front of it. This might be because of broken teeth or feeling a little insecure with how you look. Make some changes to feel better about yourself or just embrace the fact that your family loves you. You will want to see evidence of yourself when you are looking back at these pictures in years to come. Another way would be to have a professional take some family portraits. This could be something you do each year. Giving you a full catalogue of how your family has changed over the years.
Family videos
A step up from photographs would be to create family videos. This could be of your holidays, birthdays and milestones. Or you could decide to do weekly and monthly videos of your life. A popular way to capture your family life and with technology advancing all the time you don’t need to be a fantastic editor to create a nice video. You could even upload them to sites like YouTube so the rest of your family can keep up with your lives. Many people do this and it can be a lovely thing to look back on with your children and a real snapshot of the time in your life that we can often forget, especially the ordinary moments like the school run or meal times.
Create family traditions
Another fabulous way to capture memories and also create them in the first place is to create family traditions. At Christmas time, you may embrace the elf on the shelf, do a family advent or decorate a christmas tree together. On birthdays you may allow that person to choose everything you do that day from the places you go to the food you eat. Valentines, Mother's and Father’s Day, there are so many ways you can create traditions that are unique to your family, and then capturing them to look back on. These are the things that will be talked about the most in years to come.
Capture milestones
The last way you could capture your family memories is in celebrating the milestones. The loss of baby teeth and first haircuts could all be remembered by keeping a tooth and a lock of hair. Perhaps creating a height chart in your home so you can see the difference in height as your children get older.
Let’s hope these ideas provide you with some inspiration to begin capturing your families memories. Before you know it, your children will have grown up and you will wonder where the time has gone.
*contributed post*
From Hope Valley Devotional (Week 11): The Blessing that Forgiveness Brings to Brokenness
December 4, 2019
Happy Wednesday friends! As I shared a couple of weeks ago, I am excited to re-share some of the most popular devotional posts that I wrote in 2017-2018 (if you would like to see the complete list you can find it HERE!) and am excited to share this one this week! I am also excited to share that these devotional posts will soon be available (without the tie to When Calls the Heart) in a new and upcoming devotional book, February Caravan, that will be released February 1st. Stay tuned for more information to follow! In the meantime I am excited to start sharing again with y'all and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!
One of my favorite parts of the 6th episode in Season 1 were the words that Elizabeth wrote in her journal. There is such a simple yet deep truth that is conveyed here, the reality that relationships in all forms can be confusing, and how it can feel that we are all speaking in foreign tongues. Many times it can be extremely hard and difficult to understand each other. But it is Elizabeth's last part of her journal entry that really makes me stop and ponder. "What part of our failure to communicate comes from our own brokenness and what part does my brokenness play?"
Have you ever stopped to consider the brokenness
that surrounds our lives and the way that this brokenness will play into each of our
relationships? It can truly effect each of us in so many different ways. We can interpret the things people are saying in light of our brokenness instead of taking their words at face value, understanding that they may be coming from a different place. We can take offense at words that weren't meant to offend. We can sometimes even take up "causes" in light of brokenness instead of the name of righteous justice, growing distracted by things that don't truly matter in this life. We can grow bitter, holding onto pain and anger instead of having loving and open hearts due to brokenness. How do we move past this? How do we work through our own brokenness
I think that we must consider the truth and need for forgiveness to combat our brokenness. Forgiveness that will allow us to love and freely live fully in light of grace that we experience. It is true that brokenness is a part of our world and will have an impact, but by living in light of forgiveness we find a blessing that is beyond priceless. Is it easy? Absolutely not.
Forgiveness is difficult, messy, and a painful road, but continuing to carry our brokenness will always continue to cause us to communicate with others in foreign tongues. Living in unforgiveness will be like a Cancer that will continue to spread with no way of stopping the destructive path it creates.
Many, many years ago I was truly confronted in my own life with this topic when I watched a documentary entitled, "As We Forgive". The premise of the movie is, "Could you forgive a person who murdered your family?" That question is the entire basis and concept of the movie "As We Forgive". The description of the documentary said:
“This is the question faced by the subjects of As We Forgive, a documentary
about Rosaria and Chantal- two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men
who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. The subjects of As We Forgive speak for a nation that is still
wracked by the grief of the genocide that killed one in eight Rwandans in 1994.
Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the government has returned
over 50,000 genocide perpetrators back to the very communities they helped to
destroy. Without the hope of full justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution:
Reconciliation. But can it be done? Can survivors truly forgive the killers who
destroyed their families? Can the government expect this from its people? And
can the church, which failed at moral leadership during the genocide, fit into
the process of reconciliation today? In As We Forgive, director Laura Waters
Hinson and narrator Mia Farrow explore these topics through the lives of four
neighbors once caught in opposite tides of a genocidal bloodbath, and their
extraordinary journey from death to life through forgiveness.” (http://asweforgivemovie.com/)
Doesn't this challenge you friends? It challenges me so deeply as I watched the documentary years ago and then thought about it while watching episode 6 of season 1. Brokenness in the world has the opportunity to bring out the fact that communication between others can be difficult, messy, complicated, and even feel foreign. But living in forgiveness allow us to live fully in the grace that God gives and offer that freely to others.
Will we always agree with others? No.
Will we always see eye-to-eye with everything another person says? No.
But in offering forgiveness and moving beyond the brokenness we bring a grace to every situation that is beautifully unique than what is offered and seen in the world.
Today, let us offer that forgiveness and grace in light of brokenness. Let us move beyond the mis-communications that come of the brokenness that is in our world and extend the powerful hope of forgiveness. What a beautiful testimony of the truths that we see witnessed in Hope Valley this would be for our world. Forgiveness makes the path of brokenness from death to life an extraordinary journey that can only result in grace and love.
"So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love...never be without it."
-Colossians 3:13-17, The Message-
-Colossians 3:13-17, The Message-
*originally published on Caravan Sonnet in April 2017*
If you would like to watch the "As We Forgive" documentary you can find it on Amazon by clicking HERE.
Looking for past From Hope Valley Devotionals? You can click HERE to find a complete listing of all of the devotionals!
I receive several emails a week asking where you can watch older episodes of "When Calls the Heart". If you have a Netflix account you can find seasons 1-3 there or you can purchase them on Amazon. You can purchase and watch all of the seasons and episodes by clicking on the links below:
*Please note that the quotes used in these weekly devotionals are the sole intellectual property of Hallmark Channel, WCTH, & Crown Media, LLC. These on-line posts are in no way supported, endorsed or affiliated with WCTH, Hallmark Channel, or Crown Media. They are simply encouragement inspired by Janette Oke and this precious show.*
Happy Tuesday friends! I hope that you are having a wonderful start to the week so far! Today I am so excited to share with y'all a new addition to the shop - this beautiful Rae Dunn Happy Holidays Junk Journal (click HERE to go directly to this item in the shop)!
I found this adorable and popular rae dunn bag last year and knew it would make a special Junk Journal for this holiday season this year! Don't you just love the bright red letters with that adorable hand drawn tree? SO cute!
This Rae Dunn Happy Holidays Junk Journal contains approximately 200 pages that includes gorgeous scrapbook pages, vintage paper, pretty ephemera and tags, vintage and sweet modern ribbon, beautiful washi tape, and quality coordinating and pretty scrapbook paper. You can easily add in pictures and quick notes so that you can remember the special days forever.
This special bespoke junk journal would create a treasured keepsake for a lifetime and can be used throughout the holiday season (for special holiday parties or a special occasion) or as a December Daily album for those who may be participating in that!
What I love about these precious junk journals is that the memories that are stored are timeless for dreamers to dream and wish in all different ways during the holidays for years to come.
No matter how you would use this junk journal it would be precious. *smiles*
If you are interested in this beautiful Rae Dunn Happy Holidays Junk Journal can find it HERE. Or if you are interested in looking at other Christmas items in the shop you can find them HERE! New items are being added all the time, so keep checking back!
Happy Tuesday friends! I hope you have a wonderful day!
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