The Captivating Woman

Designed with purpose.

March Favorites: Jamie Edition

I feel so old saying this, but SERIOUSLY? How is 2016 already 25% done? The year seems to be flying by for me personally, at work and in ministry. I have had so many favorite things (saying this out loud makes me feel like Oprah a little). Here are five of my favorites from March:

  1. “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard Foster. Our staff uses space at my church for our offices, and each week the two staff teams meet on Thursday morning for devotions. We’ve been going through this book, chapter by chapter, and discussing it each week. Man, let me tell you, each page has so many margin notes and highlights. The chapter rocking my world so far is on Meditation. It is a word I don’t often associate with Christianity, but it something that is vital to our experience and connection with God. I won’t give too much away, you need to experience it for yourself.
  2. Iced Coffee. Being a California girl, March means two things: dresses without tights and coffee with ice. The best trick for making iced coffee at home is to put coffee in ice cube trays and freeze it, that way your cold coffee isn’t all watered down. I love my iced coffee with vanilla flavored almond milk, or from Starbucks with soy and toffee nut. However you choose to indulge, iced coffee is here to stay (until October that is).
  3. March Madness. If you follow my personal account on Twitter, you know that I am a sports junkie. I will watch any sport on television, and March Madness is no exception. This year, I had three different brackets. That’s right, three. And all of them were busted after the first round thanks to Michigan State. Still, I have watched nearly every game from various locations. I love the chaos of the tournament, and it is the perfect thing to hold me over until my true love (baseball) begins.
  4. Rescue. This year, my church’s theme for Easter was Rescue. We spent the whole month talking about stories of Rescue, from the Bible and from within our church body. It was a great reminder to me that everyone has a story, and God is faithful to Rescue all who call on His name.
  5. My final favorite for March is the latest Hillsong Young & Free album, “Youth Revival.” It is equal parts worship and EDM, equal parts hype and depth. The sophomore album from the next generation of Hillsong does not disappoint. While their first album was all about finding their sound and being as different from Hillsong United as they could be, “Youth Revival” is about them are settling in. I promise this album has a little something for everyone, definitely check it out.

 

Now, what should have made my list, but didn’t? Let me know in the comments or by tagging me on social media. I want new things to make the list for me in April.

Favorites: February 2016

We wanted to do something fun at the end of the month. One of us ladies will share some favorites for the month or we might either reflect for the month. It’s not set in stone. Each of us have a different writing style. I know for myself, I have to do something different to get my creative juices flowing again. Today I’m sharing some of my favorites things from this month.

February has been a great month. Can you believe that March is in 5 days? Yeah, me either. This month consisted of a lot of Jesus Culture – especially their new album “Let it Echo“. I couldn’t tell you a favorite song from their album because I love it all. I listened to it 3x in a row. It got better every time. I’ve tweeted lyrics. Shared their clips on Facebook. Sat in my bathroom & worshipped. It’s been good.

Where have I been listening to their album from? Spotify, of course. When people tell me they use Pandora and have never heard of Spotify, I gasp. “You don’t use Spotify?! Oh, we are changing that.” If you haven’t heard of Spotify, let me introduce this great service. Spotify is a way to stream music. You can download the App on your phone or download the program on your computer. You can create playlists. Listen to whole albums. You can check out what your friends are listening to. There is a free version and a paid version – Spotify Premium. I’ve discovered a lot of new music from Spotify & the playlists they have created. You can listen to books on there, as well as learn a new language.

IF:Gathering. Wow. What an amazing gathering. This is their mission: We exist to gather, equip and unleash the next generation of women to live out their purpose. I rounded up a group of girls from my home town and we spent most of our weekend relaxing on couches live streaming the event happening in Austin, Texas. David Platt, Jo Saxton, Angie Smith, Eugene Cho, Jennie Allen, Sweet Maria Goff….the list goes on and on. If you haven’t heard of IF, well check them out – click here. You can purchase this years gathering, too – click here!  Their leaders are some of my unofficial mentors. These women can passionately preach the Word. I want to be just like them. I love IF.

The last thing I’ve been loving, which has been every month, is Benefit’s “They’re Real” mascara. I’ve very picky about mascara. Many mascaras lie to me. They may do 1/3 things that they advertise. I love this mascara because it does curl my lashes, as well as lengthen. There is volume and lift – it’s amazing. People have asked if I’m wearing fake lashes or if it’s my lashes. I proudly tell them I’m not wearing fake lashes. Now, let me explain. My lashes don’t have a fake look. When people ask, they are just surprised that lashes can look like this. I’m a big fan of the formula. Go ahead, buy yourself a tube – click here.

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