Sarah Sandoval, Author at The Captivating Woman

November 25, 2015

Hearts of Thanksgiving

“Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.” – 1 Timothy 4:4

First off: We want to say Happy Thanksgiving to our American sisters. We pray that your time together with family and friends will be blessed. I’m not sure if we have readers from different countries, but comment below to let us know where you’re reading from.

Second: We want to say THANK YOU! We are so incredibly blessed by you, the reader. Your support is ridiculously amazing. When we started off, we had no idea the impact we could make. We are so thankful for your comments, emails, and the love on Instagram. There are late nights phone calls with Haley or Ashley in which we talking about all of you! So thank you…we love that we are both in each other’s lives. May God continue be glorified through all of this.
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Merriam-Webster defines Thanksgiving as a prayer expressing gratitude.

I’m sure in your homes you have a prayed a prayer like this:
Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for this meal. Thank you for my family…

I’ve felt for so long that my prayers have been weak; like they have been this memorized prayer that I just recite so that I can eat without feeling like a terrible person.

I know God doesn’t look at me like a terrible person and I shouldn’t lie to myself, but I have felt in my heart that I’m not fully expressing gratitude.

I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful and that my prayers sound like a voice of an adult on Charlie Brown, but I’ve always struggled with a prayer life.

I can feel God revealing in my heart that I haven’t been acknowledging the little gifts He has been giving me.

See, God is doing. He is an active God. He is doing things in our lives everyday. He is moving, paving ways, setting up situations. He is showing Himself in nature, laughter, friendships, etc. He wants us to see Him. He wants us to love Him by expressing to Him our acknowledgment. But wow, aren’t we a distracted bunch?

A few years ago I read One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp. It changed the way I looked at life. It made me see that God was DAILY giving gifts. These gifts came from giggles from my younger cousins, letters in the mail from old friends, and the taste of jasmine tea.

Those little gifts were a way of God saying, “I see you. I know you. I know what you like. I love you dearly. I have more gifts to give.”

Ann says this in her book:
“And when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me.”

Don’t you love that? Even in the smallest thanks – thank you Lord for the trees, thank you Lord for laughter between my grandparents – we make a place for God to grow within us. We view God as an intentional God – as a lover of our soul. Woah, our lover.

As we sit down as our Thanksgiving tables to thank God for this incredible life He has given us, ask Him to reveal the little gifts that He has only set out for you. He wants to be pleased by your enjoyment. Once you see, hear, or feel the little gift, thank God. Thank Him for being intentional with you and that He was able to express His love to you in such a unique way.

May our hearts become full and grow with having a thankful heart. May we recognize Him every single day. May a product of our acknowledgment instantly turn into an expression of gratitude.

“Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” -Psalm 95:2-3

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As a way to thank you for joining our community and supporting us, we are having a little giveaway. We want to bless you with Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts. The giveaway starts today and ends on Monday, November 30th. We are using Rafflecopter for our giveaway. There are a few ways to gain giveaway points – the most is by commenting on our giveaway photo and tagging 3 friends. Come back each day (if you’ve commented on it) and get your point. You have been a HUGE blessing in our life.

We also want to let you know that starting November 29th, our Advent bible study starts. Everyday up until December 24th we will be sharing from our hearts. We are excited to bring in 4 guest bloggers, too! Looking forward for this Sunday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November 19, 2015

Get in His Presence

Earlier this year, on my personal blog, I wrote everyday in a series titled: “Taste & See”. Let’s just be honest…I didn’t write everyday. Most title posts looked like this: “Day 24-25” or “Day 17, 18, 19”. But it was a cool little goal that I created to help me discipline myself (I am not that great with discipline).

I want to share “Day 23” with you.

“…I feel dissatisfied.”

After a day of coffee, delicious Italian food, and ending the night with froyo, I sat on a bench with my friend Hannah staring into the night sky.

“I just feel weird today” Hannah blurted. I was glad she said something first because I was afraid to express that same feeling. Why do I feel dissatisfied? Nothing wrong happened today – it was a good day.

But I felt dry inside – I didn’t feel happy.

It was in that instant that I knew I needed to get home, go into my room, and talk with God. I didn’t want to talk about how I feeling right then and there. There would of probably been tears in my froyo cup. There was a heaviness that pushed me down and caused cracks in my soul.

So as we drove home, we listened to worship music. The need to start receiving whatever the Lord was going to give was extremely desired.

The song “Crash over Me” by Bethel Music started playing.

I have come to this place in my life
I’m full but I’ve not satisfied
This longing to have more of you

It was as I wrote this song. The song was my heartbeat at the moment.

I can feel it, my heart is convinced
I’m thirsty my soul can’t be quenched
You already know this but still
Come and do whatever you want to

I ached for this. Lord, please come.

I’m standing knee deep
But I’m out where I’ve never been
I feel you coming
And I hear your voice on the wind
Would you come and tear down the boxes
That I have tried to put you in
Let love come teach me who you are again

I’m a big cry baby, but I didn’t want to cry in my friend’s car. It would just be messy. As we drove on, I sat motionless trying to figure out what God was trying to tell me. But I grew restless not knowing because I heard nothing.

Would you take me back to the place
Where my heart was only about you
And all I wanted was just to be with you
Come and do whatever you want to

& then I heard it: Be with me. Don’t try to look for answers. Come be with me.

There are many times in my life where I am seeking the Lord to get an answer or a sign, and I never receive it. But that night, I realized something. He just wanted me to be with Him. Cling to Him. Cry and sit with Him. No words. Nothing. He knew that being in His Presence was all I needed. I needed Him. I needed to sit with Him. I needed to cry, sit on the corner of my bed, and raise my hands. I needed to be in His Presence.

His Presence is where I find peace. His Presence is where I find joy. His Presence calms the wild sea in my life. All of that is done in His Presence. I don’t need to complete a list of things to get into His Presence – no, I just walk in and sit down.

Do you need to get into His Presence? Do you need peace? Do you need hope for tomorrow? Sit with Him. You don’t even need to speak. His Presence is powerful and you will be changed just sitting in it.

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:16

This post was originally posted by Sarah Sandoval her personal blog –bytheirfruit.wordpress.com. There have been edits from the original posting.

November 17, 2015

Nutella Hot Chocolate

What I love about the fall and winter season are the yummy warm drinks. I’m all about hot chocolate, but I’m definitely anti hot water with chocolate mix. It just doesn’t cut it. Who is with me?

I have one of the biggest sweet tooth’s out there, so my love for rich hot chocolate is evident. But not everyone love super sweet drinks and that’s okay (we can still be friends!).

Nutella hot chocolate has become my favorite drink to sip on when the weather gets chilly. The drink brings back nostalgia of studying in college while in rained outside. I remember having friends over and enjoyed a sweet conversation over a sweet drink. As crazy as it sounds, this drink brought community into my little college apartment.

It’s super easy to make and you can make it as rich or not as rich as you want – that’s the best thing.

Enjoy it with friends and family, neighbors, and work colleagues. Make it a tradition to drink during the colder months, like I have. It’s become something I look forward to every year.

Nutella Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

1 Cup of milk
2 tbs of Nutella (less or more for your liking)
Cinnamon
Whipped cream

Instructions

In a small pan heat milk over medium heat.
Whisk in Nutella. Make sure to not boil the milk and Nutella.
Sprinkle a little cinnamon into mixture.
Transfer into mug & add whipped cream. You can also add a little cinnamon if you like. Enjoy!

https://www.thecaptivatingwoman.com/nutella-hot-chocolate/

November 10, 2015

She Looks Like Her Dad

“Yep, she’s Miguel’s kid.”

My aunt instantly said that when I was born. I looked just like him. If someone asked who my parent’s were, their response to my answer would be, “Wow! You look like your dad.”

We both have squinty eyes when we smile. Light olive skin. Blue eyes and a gap in the middle of our teeth. Our personalities are the same, which sometimes can get us in trouble. Our humor is alike, but I try to deny it because his jokes are definitely “dad jokes”. He jokes with his coworkers that I look just like him but my mustache is bigger (thaaaaanks, Dad!).

As much as I love when people say “You are totally Miguel’s kid”, I want them to talk about my other Dad.

This Dad I’m talking about is our heavenly Father.

“When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself.” – Genesis 5:1b

This year I’ve learned a lot about what it means to be the image of God. For so long I confused image with looks.

“Yes, I look like Him. I’m sure we have the same nose.”

No, no, no Sarah.

God has been teaching me throughout 2015 that image means many things. I’ve learned that we are creators like Him. The way we serve can display His image. Our love is the image of Christ. Compassion, too. Humor (have you seen the Kiwa Hirsuta aka Yeti Crab? It’s the strangest/most hilarious crab I’ve seen!) When you sit down and ask God, “How do I reflect You?” He will show you.

I want people to say that I look like my heavenly Father.

Wouldn’t what be amazing to hear from someone?

“And the Lord, who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18b

Daily I want to look and act more like Him. Surrendering myself and asking God to fill me up.

“Lord, take away anything that doesn’t look like You. May I become more and more like You.”

Let that be our goal everyday. May we strive to look more like Him.

May we work on those talents that He has given us. Do you enjoy painting? Work on that. Master it. Your artistic talent reflects the most amazing Artist. Are you a writer? Great with kids? Good with money? Who are YOU?

Maybe you’re having an identity crisis. The best thing to do is talk with Him and ask Him, “Who am I in Your eyes?” Then dive into the Word. He will tell you who you are.

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator, and become like him.” – Colossians 3:10

You look like your Dad. Right here, right now. You reflect Him. I challenge you to be more like Him.

Be blessed, sisters.

October 27, 2015

Your Happiness is Important

I’ve been talking with a friend recently about how she hasn’t been happy in our little town. Though she’s attending college, her struggle to make new friends has been difficult. Her drive from home to school and back isn’t pleasant. Her routine doesn’t make her excited.

As we sat down and talked about her action of transferring to another school, I remember being in her shoes about 5 years ago. I had actually moved out of my small town to our state capital – Sacramento. Even though I was in a different place, experiencing new things, I was not happy. I actually got very depressed. I made no friends. I failed exam after exam. After class I would eat and head to my bed to sleep. There was no life in my spirit. My family and friends back home could tell.

Something her mother said reminded me of what my mom told me years ago: You are not happy here. I want you to be happy.

I think, in my case, I didn’t want to disappoint my parents. They were paying for my college and for my expenses, yet I couldn’t even do my job – go to class and get good grades. I thought, “I’ll just try to make myself happy. I’ll wait it out. I’ll finish my last 2 years of college and then find a place that makes me happy.” But it wasn’t happening. I was getting further away from being happy.

My mom said it again: I want you to be happy.

So I decided to change my scenery and move to San Jose. I even decided to change my major; I wasn’t happy with what I was studying.

I think a lot of us women just wait things out because we think that happiness is around the corner. It might be. There are times when we have to go throw some little low parts to hit the highs. We could be going through a season where God is using an opportunity for us to press into Him. But I know that God doesn’t us to be miserable. I know that there is joy found in Him but He has created this incredible world to experience life, love, and joy.

How many of you have stayed in a relationship longer than you should have? You thought to yourself, “It’s going to get better. We love each other…” But it doesn’t get better, it gets worse.

Maybe you have stayed longer in a job because of the perks it comes with, but everyday you dread spending 8 hours in a place you do not like.

We have the ability to change. We can change the group of friends that we spend time with. We can change churches. Change our diets. Our wardrobes. The paint on our walls.

You DESERVE to be happy.

Your happiness is important.

When your happy, you’re able to function well. You’re able to connect with people easier. You feel more productive. You can even love others better.

You deserve to wake up everyday excited to see what God is doing do and what He is going to show you.

You deserve friends who lift you up with grace and love. You deserve an amazing, healthy, relationship with a man. You deserve to enjoy God’s beauty and adventure for your life.

Not everyday is going to be rainbows and sunshine even when you change things. Change doesn’t automatically promise you happiness. But what I want you to see is that creating a little change can send you in the right direction.

You don’t have to stay stuck where you are. Your feet are plastered in concrete. Sister, it might be scary going out the norm to find renewal of your spirit and mind, but you deserve to be happy.

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