Jen Russum

Lovely Little Things.

Lovely Little Things.

I honestly feel that my life could not get any lovelier sometimes. Each week of summer brings its own beauty. Times of rest and then times of exciting busyness. And the next few weeks and months are full of so many celebrations and fun activities that I can hardly wait, yet I delight in the anticipation of it all... anniversaries, weddings, birthdays, trips to see old friends. My life is so blessed. Hello new patio lights. We officially had our biggest party yet over at Resort Russum. Final headcount was over 70 people. Good thing we got our new lights strung up just time time for our guests to overflow into the backyard. Hello Greek yogurt. I'm not sure about you. You tasted good, but I got sick the same night I first tried you, so now I'm nervous to try you again even though it's very unlikely that you were the culprit of my stomach woes. Hello new sandals. Sometimes I hate Ross and sometimes I love it. I scored these sandals for $10.99 a few weeks ago. It was a love day, I guess. Hello husband. This is the new picture that pops up when Micah calls me and it makes me laugh every time I answer the phone. Also, sweet husband is treating me to a trip to visit my best friends for my birthday in September. Tickets are officially purchased. Texas, here I come! Hello Heather! My darling friend Heather came up to visit last week. I get giddy every time I get to see her in  person, because it just doesn't happen often enough. The two hours between us are just WAY too much if you ask me. The special treat this time is that her husband, Josh, came too, and I got to snap some maternity pictures for them. It was such an honor and I'm so excited about how they turned out! Hello date night. Micah and I went to the monthly adult's night out at the Arizona Science Center. We had fun playing with all the exhibits and got a sneak peak at what our future child might look like... yikes! Hello organization. After a myriad of visitors this past month and hosting three different parties in one week, my kitchen was out of control with dirt and leftover party food. At 7:30am on a Thursday morning, I went to town, cleaning out our fridge, freezer and pantry. And I even mopped our floors. Whoa. *Linking up with Hello Hue and Life Rearranged.* ... Read more

Flowers Fade Friday: Forgotten God

Flowers Fade Friday: Forgotten God

There is a book by Francis Chan called Forgotten God. Honestly, I have not read it yet, but I want to because I love the premise. It's about how we, as a church, put all our emphasis on God the Father and God the Son and neglect the Holy Spirit... {Forgotten God} And it's true, isn't it? We have the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God, the power that raised Jesus from the dead {!!!}, dwelling within us each and every day. And yet we don't think about Him much. And we don't often draw from that power. And sometimes we even shy away from it because it's freaky when people get tooooo spiritual and we wouldn't want anyone to think we are some crazy charismatic now, would we? At least, I have thought that... and sometimes still do. But over the past few years, I have been more in tune with the Spirit, asking Him to come in and move me and prompt me and give me power and discernment when I am in need. And sometimes He whispers commands or encouragement to me and I listen and obey... not because I'm charismatic or off my spiritual rocker, but because the daily guidance and power of the Holy Spirit is Jesus' gift to me... But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. {John 14:26} And today I just want to show you one teensy tiny picture of what this looks like for me. Not to force you to do it too, but just to show you what it might look like to invite the Spirit in without being some overly spiritual freakazoid. And maybe you can ask God to show you new ways to invite the Spirit - His Holy Spirit - into your own life. This is what it looks like for me. It is small. It is simple. But it is powerful. Because the Holy Spirit is God, ya know? This is what my quiet times used to look like. Think: I need to read the Bible. Open Bible. Read one or two chapters. Close Bible. Sometimes journal or write out a prayer to God about everything wrong in my life or everything I need help with. Go about my day feeling pretty good about myself for reading one to two chapters of the Bible, and feeling exceptionally good if I wrote down a self-centered prayer. This is what my quiet times look like now, only by the grace of God and His work in my heart and my life. Open Bible. On the reg. Pretty much every morning. Pretty much first thing in the morning. Pray: Lord, let Your Spirit be active in me as I read these words. By Your Spirit, open my eyes to your truth and transform my mind and change my heart as I read today. And when I am done reading, may Your Spirit be alive and active within me that I might live out and obey what I read in Scripture. Amen. Or something like that... And sometimes after I read, if I feel compelled to write something... a journal entry or a prayer or a Scripture Doodle. I pray one more prayer. And I do something totally freaky. Like over the top. I hold my pen out in the palm of my hand while I pray. And I say something like... Holy Spirit, let these be your words, not mine. Your prayer, not mine. For you know all my thoughts and desires and you also know the will of the Father. So you take control of this pen and these words and bring my prayers in line with God's will. That's it. One more simple prayer in which I surrender my pen and my prayers to the Spirit. Because the Bible says that Holy Spirit knows what we should pray for even when we do not. And I can tend to get a little selfish without His help... Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. {Romans 8:26} That's it. Two simple prayers and one slightly odd action of holding out my pen. But the impact is HUGE. I promise. Have you ever tried reading a passage of Scripture only to find yourself reading the same verse over and over again or thinking about your to-do list as you read the very words of the living God? Or do you ever read the Word only to go out ten minutes later to do exactly the opposite of what that it says, whether sinning in thought, action or word? Me? I know I'm guilty. But I also know I have a Helper that can control the chaos of my self-centered mind and guide my thoughts and actions throughout the day. So what about you? Are you wiling to try it? A simple prayer to ask the Spirit of the Living God to be with you as you read the Word and go about your day? Let me know if you invite Him in. I would love to hear what the Spirit - that Holy Spirit who can raise the dead - does in your heart, your mind, and your life. *Linking up with Casey Leigh* ... Read more

Keyword Analysis #5

Keyword Analysis #5

It's time for another round of crazy-search-terms-that-lead-the-weirdos-to-my-blog, or more politely referred to as a "Keyword Analysis" post. {See past posts here:  #1, #2, #3, #4} Foot worship. It's seriously a little creepy how often this gets googled.... what is wrong with you people and why does this phrase lead you to my blog? Adverbs A-Z. Hmm... like abundantly, briefly, continually, definitely, early, first... etc??? I'm getting my PhD in English and this sounds like a boring activity, even to me... 1 like = lunges. I am not familiar with this equation. {I don't do math. I avoid it like a plague.} However, I think I get your point here. Lunges get 1 "like" because they do you good in all the right places, but they only get one like and not more because they hurt like heck and cause awkward walking and bending for about three days afterward. At least... that's what they do to me {see here}. Maybe I should do lunges more often to avoid these results. 1 like for lunges! 100 dislikes for not being able to get in and out of your car like a normal person the next day. Nascar summer outfit. Hmm... is this really all that different from the Nascar winter outfit? Because when I went to the races last November {see here}, I saw some very short shorts on the premises. Bingo dauber tote pattern! You have no idea how much this makes me want to truly learn to sew like I've intended to for so long now. Bingo dauber tote? Yes, please! Sprint phones that look like iPhone Or you could just buy the iPhone, since Sprint sells it. Just an idea. Student boring studying Please tell me this does not describe me... Sexy Woman Arizona So what am I? A boring student or a sexy desert woman? Make up your mind, people. What is #ootd? Yes, let's answer the question I also had for quite a long time. #OOTD means "outfit of the day" and you can read more about it here. If you need help with other confusing hashtags {like I do!} go here. Cottage cheese mixed with yogurt... Umm... I only referenced this when explaining how my best friend mixes strange foods together. Please don't tell me other people do this too. Blech! That's it for now. Can't wait to see what pops up over the next few weeks! XOXO! ... Read more