music monday: brooke fraser

Tonight has been a longish night for me. Matt and I have to move soon, and we've found the house we really, really, REALLY want. We walked in the door and I just felt at home. I can just picture us living life there for a long time. I can picture us starting a family there and me having a little garden and playing in the yard and making yummy meals for friends and family. But it turns out we're not the only ones who feel that way and we have some competition with another couple who saw it this morning. We find out tomorrow if we get it or not, and I have been freaking out all night. I want it so bad and I might be heartbroken if he doesn't pick us. But I've been praying through it and remembering that 1. it's just a house, it's a material thing and it will pass away. If we don't get it, we will move on and God will still provide us with shelter. and 2. God really does give us the desires of our hearts if we find our joy in Him. I've been praying really contradictory prayers. One minute I'm asking God to help me just let it go and be ok with whatever happens and the next I'm literally BEGGING for this house. I took a little break from my praying/freaking to read some blogs and I stumbled onto 2 really encouraging ones that I've never heard of before, In His Grace and Life Made Lovely. I think just reading things that woman who have put their trust in Jesus, even if they're not writing about exactly what I'm going through makes me feel encouraged and at peace. Another thing that makes me feel encouraged and at peace is this song by Brooke Fraser. It always lifts me up and reminds me of what's important. I don't even watch the video because it just distracts me from the words. I love the words, and I believe them, so I'm singing this song tonight and trusting that no matter what I find out tomorrow, I'm heard and I'm safe and taken care of. And there are bigger things in life than whether or not I get exactly what I want.



hope you're having a wonderful Monday.

~Lanna

Frost Like Ashes

(not so) random thoughts from the lady's mind...

Boy, I sure do wish I were as good at blogging as I always thought I would be. In my blog dreams, I always envisioned myself exactly like elsie. She is my blog hero. But alas, I let the everyday stuff get in the way of something that I would like to be a creative outlet for me. I found out this week that at the beginning of the year, my schedule will be opening up quite a bit. As in, I don't have a job. It's no secret that the huz has no "real job" right now either, aside from his awesome band. So that adds up to a very small income for the Hoffman's.Rather than freaking out about this, my awesome bearded other half has encouraged me to focus on the dreams I've been wanting to follow that I haven't been able to follow to the extent I wanted to; like our store, being creative together, building relationships with other creatives who love Jesus,and this blog. So rather than being afraid, I'm choosing to trust that our God is bigger than a 9-5. He is bigger than a paycheck. He will provide for us. And there is a gift in every page of every chapter of life. I'm choosing to believe that the gift in this new chapter is the freedom for me to follow my dream and be creative. And, thanks to the gentle and passionate encouragement of a certain bearded stud, and the many prayers I've received over the past few days from people who love me , I can say with complete truth that I am grateful and ready for this next chapter.

I can also say that we will actually start writing on this thing. And I can't wait to build deeper relationships with other creatives all over the country!!