The Captivating Woman

Designed with purpose.

Blessings/Answered Prayers Jar

Hey ya’ll!

So a few years ago I was looking on Pinterest and I realized I had pinned a bunch of prayer jars onto my “Crafts I Love but Will Never Have Time to Make” board. It was summer time and for the first time, I actually had time to make a craft. The jars all were so pretty on Pinterest and seemed easy enough. So I went out and got the materials I needed from Michaels.

While I was making it, I was thinking about all the prayers I would write down and put in this jar. Even just thinking about it, I was thinking about putting in things like family, friends, future school endeavors etc. There were so many, that I thought if I wrote them all down I would probably fill at least a quarter of the jar in one sitting. Then I got realistic and realized more than likely I won’t actually use this every time I have a prayer because prayer is constant and I feel that I am just always adding to the list of prayers I have.

It was then that I realized how rarely I really sit down, praise God and thank him for answered prayers and the blessings he provides in my life.

It’s easy to forget to do that, huh? So I decided to make a Blessings/Answered Prayers Jar instead. I thought it was a great concept to write down answered prayers and put them in a jar as a reminder of the times that God came through and answered my prayers. It reminds me that when I am in the midst of waiting for a prayer to be answered, I need to be patient.

I have had this jar for three years now. Reading through some of these have brought tears to my eyes because God is good. He is so good. He provided. He answered my prayers in ways that I did not even realize until later. They were better than I had ever hoped. I had a prayer from before I even started college that wasn’t answered until the beginning of my senior year of college. His answer was better than I could have ever prayed for or imagined. Having this jar has changed the way I pray. It has reminded me to just say “Thank You” because He is working and He is working for your good.

Materials Needed:

  • Jar
  • 2-3” Ribbon
  • Sharpie
  • Glitter paper
  • Hot Glue
  • Index cards
  • Scissors

Step 1: Go to Michaels/Hobby Lobby/Craft and buy any of the supplies that you do not already have.

Step 2: Pick a Bible verse that you like or that you feel reminds you to be thankful for your blessings. I chose 1 Chronicles 16:8-12:

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.”

Step 3: Write the Bible verse or part of the Bible verse on the ribbon.

Step 4: Glue the ribbon around the jar. I chose the bottom portion of the jar for mine, but you can chose another spot.

Step 5: Cut out the colored or glitter paper and write Blessings Jar, Answered Prayers jar, or whatever you would like to call your jar. If you use glitter paper I recommend cutting out other non-glitter paper and writing on that and then gluing that to the glitter paper.

Step 6: Cut up a bunch of pieces of paper. I recommend index cards and cutting them in half as it stays sturdier and looks cleaner when it is in the jar.

Step 7: Enjoy your jar as well as thanking our Father for the blessing and answered prayers.

Stop. Singing. Oceans.

No, don’t stop singing Oceans. But before you do, read this.

We’ve all heard the song “Oceans” by Hillsong. If you haven’t: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING? It is one of those go-to worship songs in churches. You know, the kind that gets really loud because everyone actually knows the words. The kind where you can actually keep your eyes closed the whole song without having to look at the projected lyrics. Where hands suddenly fill the air in praise. It’s easily a church favorite. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful song with a beautiful message, but about a year ago I stopped singing the chorus.

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

You are probably thinking – “Haley! You are crazy! There is absolutely nothing wrong with that chorus.” You would be right. There isn’t. So why did I stop singing something that so many people find solace in?

I was scared.

Terrified really.

Scared of the lyrics to a song.

The lyrics are not just words but prayers and words of worship to my Creator – to my King. The words that we sing have meaning. They matter. Since the words hold meaning, we should understand what we are singing.

Beginning chorus:

1. “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders.” 

Summed up, you are asking to be led by the Spirit wherever the Spirit wants you to go. This has become a common prayer in church. “Lead me, Lord.” We pray to be led by the Spirit in different areas like talking to someone about our faith or to even having the Spirit lead us when we are making a big decision, such as choosing a college or career path. Don’t get me wrong, that is great! We need to be led by the Spirit.

To go where your trust is without borders means you have to be taken somewhere or put in a situation where you are not comfortable.

“Yeah Haley, I could do that. I could get uncomfortable for the Kingdom.”

You say that now, but can you say that when you are on your hands and knees crying because your best friend was just killed? Yet through it someone came to Christ because they saw your persistence of faith. Imagine your heart broken after a man has left you – a moment we as women never want to experience. Yet, through that we are able to run to Jesus and dive deeper in our relationship with Him. The song does not always equate to an uncomfortable experience such as being in a room of people you don’t know. It could look like depression, the loss of a loved one, losing your job and having to give up your lifestyle, being broken up with by the love of your life. The list goes on and on. Essentially this is what you are singing: to be taken to a place that will force your trust to grow. Trust grows when you go through hard things. Just like any other relationship this happens with God too.

2 & 3. “Let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me.”

We all know that walking on water is not humanly possible. Matthew 14:25-31 talks about the act of trust.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”he said, “why did you doubt?”

To “walk on water” means being able to trust in Jesus in a impossible situation. When Jesus says “come”,  you can go to Him and that He will pull you up if you start to sink.

4. “Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander.”  

Going with the whole literal oceans theme here, imagine you are walking in the shallow part of the ocean. You can see the little fish swimming around your feet yet you’re comfortable. As you start walking farther out you can’t see as much and are starting to go under the waves. Now imagine that you go even farther, farther than you would normally go. Far enough out to not be able to see any land. Are you scared yet?

Sometimes God takes us farther out than we ever intended to go. Why the heck would you pray to go deeper and farther out when you could just stay where it is safe and comfortable?

I thought that I would never sing Oceans again until I zeroed in on the last two lines of the chorus:

5 & 6 “And my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior.”  

If we put our total trust in Jesus, our faith will be made stronger. By going through these inevitable life situations, you will find that God is the only hope you have.  You will see that there is beauty in hitting the bottom and reaching out for Jesus to save you. That is where trust will grow. Without getting uncomfortable, it’s difficult to achieve. These last two lines are a reminder that when those situations happen you know that your faith is being made stronger and that you are in the presence of God.

So where does that leave us? Well for me, after feeling dragged through lines 1 through 4 in my own life, I was tired, hurt and lines 5 & 6 just didn’t feel like the end result had been worth it all. After time had passed, I have seen over and over again the beauty of what God did when I was living lines 1 through 4. I have seen how others have come to Christ through my pain. I have seen my faith grow tenfold because of it.

So, should you stop singing Oceans? Absolutely not. Whether you sing this song or not, those trials will come. Bad situations in life are inevitable. Do you hear me? Inevitable. The difference is, when you are going through 1-4 will you remember there is a 5 & 6 in that chorus? And that 5 & 6 is everything.

College + Jesus

College wasn’t what I expected. It wasn’t what it was portrayed in movies. I haven’t had the college experience that teenagers and young adults dream about. I’ve had the opposite – a nightmare. College just didn’t go the way I envisioned it. I can’t tell you my whole college experience here because, well frankly it’s long and I am tired of telling it.

Let’s put it this way, when people used to ask me about college and how it was going, they were expecting the typical “Oh, it’s great! I love it!” response. But that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t even fake a smile and say “good” without tears falling down my face and revealing my true feelings on the matter.

I only had three friends – one of them was killed by a drunk driver. My professors and community challenged and made fun of my faith in Jesus. My job as a Resident Advisor involved watching students have near death experiences over and over again, as well as domestic violence, rape and even suicide.

Though my time at college hasn’t been what I’ve dreamed of, it is the story of how Jesus was revealed through all of it.

I started college as a fresh Christian and in a “hunky-dory” faith per say. I was excited about being a Christian, but my faith had never been challenged. It was never shaken. I felt solid.

Enter college and you’ll get your faith knocked around.

I started facing trial after trial after trial and felt hopeless. Yet, God reminded me to be hopeful. As cliché as that sounds, it was true. When I was at my darkest and everyone was asking “Where is your God now?”, I wondered too. Where was my God? My Father? The King of all Kings? When everything was going against everything I planned, where was He? Then I read the poem Footprints in the Sand.

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. 
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”

Instantly I had tears in my eyes. How was I so blind? I was being carried in the arms of God and didn’t even realize it. He had bigger plans – plans where I sometimes couldn’t even see the fruit. I quickly realized that His bigger plans were not having the best four years of college. The plans I made were the center of my being and I held on tight to what I wanted. My plans did not add to the Kingdom. As I started to see how each trial brought me closer to Him as well as brought others to know Him, I understood God’s plans were always better. There may be pain and hurt along the way, but there is amazing hope in the Lord to do good and build the Kingdom.

Your life may feel like a mess and that it isn’t going according to plan, but know that God is doing something bigger than you could ever imagine. He is moving in our plans, carrying us when we can’t walk on our own, and creating an incredible story that we can be a part of.

DIY Frame Wall

Hey friends, Haley here!
If you have read my bio you will know that I am in my last year of college and studying Interior Design (such a random major I know). I have lived on campus for all four years at my University. As an interior design major, you can imagine how excited I get to decorate my dorm room every year and try to make it more like a home.
I kid you not, designing how I am going to make my dorm room my home is like Christmas morning for me (I know…such a nerd). This year, I am going for a shabby-chic and homey vibe. I want my room to feel like a home and not a traditional dorm room. To do this, I am pulling things you would normally find in a home into my room such as a nice wooden bookshelf, curtains, plants, tables and of course picture frames. A picture frame wall, I have found, is a great way for any young adult to have a cleaner and mature look, while still being able to express their interests and who they are.
Now if you are a young adult, and are like me, money is not something you have an abundance of. A DIY frame wall can look expensive, but with the help of the dollar store and some effort, I promise you it can be done for cheap.
IMG_0852
Things you need:
•Frames
•Wall Hanging Adhesive or Velcro
•Printed photos
Step 1: Get the Frames
I recommend Dollar Tree or any other local dollar store you can find. Figure out what color or kind of frame you want. I have seen walls with different sized frames, different colored frames and even walls with all the same styled frame. I personally picked all the same sized generic black frames since what I am putting in the frames are colored. Try to steer clear of frames that have the stand in the back because it makes it harder to attach to the wall. The frames I found to be the most successful were actually the ones that have fake certificates in them. Get as many frames as you would like. I got 20 for my room because my frame wall is large.
Step 2: Pick Photos
Here is the fun part – picking your photos! Now depending on the type of look you want to go for determines what you should put in the frames. If you want your wall to look more cohesive and mature, use black and white photos. I personally am a huge sucker for inspiring quotes. I raided my “Inspiring Quotes” board on Pinterest and picked quotes that had a white or neutral background. I also picked a few sketched photos of coffee and high heels. Everything I picked is relatively neutral and soft to keep it as cohesive as possible.
Step 3: Print Photos
Depending on if you have a printer at home or not determines where you will be printing your photos. By no means do they need to be printed on expensive paper. I decided to print my photos on pastel cardstock that I got from Target for 3 dollars to give my wall a little bit of color, but printing it on white will look just as nice.
Step 4: Put the Photos in the Frames
This is pretty self explanatory 🙂
Step 5: Hanging the Frames
I recommend getting the adhesive Command Strips Velcro hanging tape from Target. Each box is around 6 dollars. Depending on how many frames you are putting on your wall, you may need a few boxes. The Velcro will go on the corners of the fames when you are about to hang them. How you hang it is all up to you. If you want a more organized look, the frames could go on straight and orderly. If you want a more relaxed look I recommend making the frames mixed between horizontal and vertical and fit them together.
Step 6: Step Back and Admire
Now just sit back and enjoy your new frame wall (trust me your friends who come over will too!)

Haley Bower’s Testimony

Our testimony is one of a kind. It’s powerful. It can bring tears. Maybe even questions. Our testimonies give us a better understand of who God is and His relentless love for us. Today you will read about one of our writers – Haley. You’ll see how Jesus changed everything in her world and how He gave her new life – spiritually and mentally.

I grew up in the Catholic church, attending Sunday school and church camps. I hated going to the traditional church every Sunday because it was extremely boring to me. At age fifteen I came to a crucial point. Being forced to make a confirmation made me truly start to think about what I believed in. I mean, I knew there was a God, but I felt like there was something I was missing. I couldn’t pinpoint it. After I was confirmed into the Catholic faith, the required classes and camps came to a sudden halt. There was nothing for the newly confirmed to be a part of, other than the regular church service.

My best friend invited me to visit her churches youth group. Honestly, there wasn’t any notable difference between the two to me. I started going to the youth group more frequently and fell completely in love with the community of young people and the leaders with their love for Jesus and each other. I had never seen anything like it.

At the same time as this I had been going through a time of severe anxiety which had caused me to experience my life as if it were in third person. My Sweet 16 had arrived and there was a party with about 200 people in attendance. Everyone was crowded around me singing happy birthday. My mom came out carrying a big cake and I realized in the middle of the song that I was seeing everything from a third person perspective. It was as if I was watching everyone sing and celebrate a girl and I was an onlooker. This out of touch feeling went on for two years. It was the scariest and hardest thing to not know if I would ever feel present in my own life again. I would pray and not feel anything.

It wasn’t until one night when I was worshipping at my youth group that I broke down and realized that worshipping was the only time I ever felt truly present in my life. My leader pulled me aside to talk and that night I accepted Jesus into my life. I barely knew what being a Christian meant compared to being a Catholic. It took me a year or two to see what that differences were.

I can tell you now that the difference I found was true relationship with Jesus. There was a shift for me and from there my relationship has grown. There have been many trials these last few years with the worst being the death of a best friend at the hands of a drunk driver; that shook my faith around. These trials have ultimately pushed me to new areas in my faith that I had not experienced, but have helped me to grow in my relationship with the Lord.

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