Caity Alice's Blog: Caity's Element, page 11

More of Christ, Less of Me

Our service for Christ is important - it's our purpose for living - but what the world needs to see and hear of first and foremost is Christ's work in and for us.

Our service should merely be an overflow of gratitude and  obedience to our creator.

His work is our testimony, and deserving of all praise and proclamation.

May we never forget.

Chin Up, Buttercup

Times can be uncertain, but Jesus never is.He is always the same.He is always in control.Sometimes there must be clouds so we can better appreciate the sun. 

The Integrity of His Heart

"So He fed them out of the integrity of His heart..." Psalm 77:72

These last five words fill me with awe and overwhelming peace...

Because God is a God of integrity (honest, whole, undivided), I can trust that He will ALWAYS do as He promised; to doubt that He will come through and provide each of your needs is to question His sovereignty and to believe that He could fall short of who He is...if He has promised it, because of he integrity of His heart, He. Will. Do. It. And any amount of doubt, questioning, fearing, or complaining on our part will not make an iota of difference, except to make us more susceptible to the anxiety of the world.

Because God possesses a Holy integrity we can hardly fathom, we can say goodbye to the anxieties and worries of this world, and hello to the peace, joy, and rest found in relying on His promises.

Confidant Dwelling

"Feeling confident in your own style and with your decor choices might take time. It helps to start with the courage to experiment and the inspiration to spark your ideas...what really matters in our home is how it feels to be there. A home is a place to dwell. It's a sanctuary that can invite us to be ourselves." -Melissa Michaels, Blogger and Author at The Inspired RoomInterior design/decorating is one of my low-key passions.I enjoy combining it with my love for personalities and figuring people out; having a conversation with someone, asking them questions about them, and then creating vision boards on Pinterest for their home based off what they said- down to paint colours and wood tones, quirky flairs and subtle nods to their favourite book- and then watching their eyes light up when they open that board and feel an immediate connection.Oh yeah.

Choosing House Guests

What are you focusing on today?

I've been learning so much during this time about focusing and refocusing my thoughts away from the "loop" any of us can easily get into, when we take one uncertainty and invite it into our brain to touch each surface and sneeze in each room, leaving us paranoid and afraid, as it intended. This is not how we are called to employ our thinking; our thinking was designed for greater things. It is not some unruly child that we get frustrated with and either simply let loose or pacify, but like any that must be disciplined and trained to do right...when the uncertainty and fear and worry creep up looking for an invite, we must instead take them captive and bring them to our landLord - God - and ask him to replace them with house guests that will aid us in honouring Him.What thoughts are you letting slide, and which could you replace them with? We absolutely have control here (if we're dedicated to the task and willing to humbly seek help from the Lord) and have no excuses for the disorderly "guests" we ourselves have allowed to take residence; serve up those eviction papers and start inviting in promises, truth, peace, wonder, and joy.

Scribbled: A Journey

Though the entire process was long and intensively full of growth, the actual writing of "Gentle Revolution" was the quickest and easiest part...

I began feeling that God was laying certain things on my heart in 2017...starting with the title.Thoughts and ideas would come to me at the oddest times, and I had them scribbled on scraps of paper...receipts...envelopes...napkins. All of which I just dropped into a notebook without sorting them because I was still in denial that they would ever become a book. ;)After several years of gathering, learning, and procrastinating, God finally brought me to the point of surrendering to write and share what He had been leading me to.I adopted a "sticky note" approach to writing, because it fit more with my butterfly tendency to flit from one thought to a next and get discouraged by a timeline...I took a day and a half and sorted all of my notes into the thoughts they carried and paper-clipped them together; these were my "chapters".It was amazing how each day I sat at my laptop I felt an excitement and clarity about one or other of these specific thoughts, and the words would just come; and at the end I knew exactly where each should go to make the book flow.Starting after I sorted my fieldnotes, the actual writing took eleven days.God truly brought this together.My prayer is that in reading it, you will be amazed as you notice the ways God is working in your life and what you have that He desires to use for His glory, as He has amazed me through this process and used it to enhance my wonder at His gracious control.

People Are Oceans

Another great tool for connecting with people today is in the study of personality...with all the tests and quizzes and assessments we now have to take deeper looks at how we and our fellow comrades operate, we have the opportunity to know each other better and better serve each other with our words, actions, and understanding.My personal favourite is Myers Briggs.I hope that you feel welcome here to share yours or your favourite quotes, quirks, or "problems" about your type.Community is created through stories and our willingness to hear those of others...I'm an INFJ.And every bit of it. ;)

 

Gentle Revolution

God is so good to continue working in us and giving us opportunities to surrender to whatever He may be asking us to do, even when we lamely bring up our weaknesses as excuses for being afraid.He is patient, forgiving, and gracious to still let us be a part of His will...even when it takes a nationwide quarantine to get our cooperation.
“Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” Exodus 4:12
2+ years of thought/note gathering (ok, procrastination),A handful of faithful friends and family encouraging me out of my comfort zone,And buckets of coffee later...
Brought with a whimsical, sassy flair that I can't help, but ultimately from a heart of love...I'm so excited to share my project "Gentle Revolution" (GR - pronounced Jr. - for short), written and released during quarantine this past April!
(Check out the sidebar ad for a direct link to the Amazon listing!)
Burden + Conviction + Niche = Your Revolution

Living Testimony

Let ALL my life tell of Who YOU are, God...The ups...The downs...The waiting...The busy...The tough...The answered prayers...The unsettled times....May I respond to each of these and other times with humble reliance on God to do what He sees best, and with joyful, peaceful faith that will be a testimony of His presence in my life.
Is the way I react and respond in every situation telling those who may be watching that I know my Redeemer lives, and He is more than enough for me?

Emma - A Character Study

I've found -as an introvert and reader- that one of the easiest ways for me to connect with and get to know other people is to discuss our favourite fictional characters. 
"I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." -"Emma", Jane Austen
We all have characters from stories (be it book or movie) who we connect with and relate to for any number of reasons...Sometimes it's completely- everything about them- sometimes it's in little ways that they act or even think, or even what we take away from between the lines and apply to our own lives.
Emma Woodhouse is one of those characters who I have always been drawn to, in her contradictory- and not all flattering- ways; she enjoys company and is generally good with people, but doesn't always have patience for them...she wants adventure, but loves her home/hometown...can talk to anyone, but is occasionally too blunt...she is mostly independent, but values relationships and is loyal to (and sometimes possessive of) her close friends...she is quick to deny needing anyone (particularly romantically) but wants to feel loved and needed.
Emma is such a reassuring heroine for me, because you can really start out not liking her much, but her character develops and grows so much over the course of the novel that by the end you feel proud of her and glad that she ended up with THE best hero in classic literature. 
"She was one of those, who, having once begun, would be always in love." 
(Also, the 2009 BBC mini series is the only worthy adaptation, in my opinion. ;))Feel free to comment with some of your own fictional friends/mentors, or quotes about them...