Friday Coffee Date

 

It's Friday once again. Time for my weekly Coffee Date link up with the Rags to Stitches blog. I don't have a whole lot of anything new to share. It has been pretty quiet week in the Gustafson house. Last weekend we were down in Madison playing at a waterpark while Neil was at meetings. Sadly Olivia came home with the stomach flu, which is not the way we wanted to end a vacation, but we all enjoyed the waterpark and catching up with friends.

This is just one of my favorite pictures of Caroline from last weekend. She looks like a big girl here, despite the fact that she is kind of shrimpy!

 

This week I did a post and linked up with the Dove #BeautyIs campaign. I took a no make-up selfie and gave my definition of what true beauty is to me. That was a lot fun. I am really starting to get in to these link-up blogs.

 

I have been busy cutting away at fabric, getting a some projects ready for the quilting retreat I am going on next week. I am excited to have 5 days of pure quilting bliss! I hope to get 2 full sized quilts pieced, 1 mini quilt, and also dabble in a few other projects. It is amazing when you have 5 days with no interruptions how much you can get done.

This coming weekend we have absolutely nothing planned, which is really nice for a change. I have a couple of errands to run tomorrow morning, a last minute trip to the quilt shop, pick up some groceries, and I know Neil wants to do some work on his new truck, other than that, we will be spending our weekend hanging out with the girls.

Pretty boring week around here, so that's all for now. I do hope to get a post or two up next week while I am gone, but I am not positive what the internet is going to be like, so there is no guarantees.

I pray that you all have a wonderful week.

Dove's #BeautyIs Campaign

 

 

Well, here is! I have bared myself for the Dove #BeautyIs campaign. I am just getting into taking 'selfies', let alone taking ones without make-up on, so this is WAY out of my comfort zone. But I have learned a lot about true beauty lately, and more about judging others. 

As a society we are great at point out flaws in everything. Like the acne broken out all over my face, or the crazy hair that I didn't do anything with for the day. However that is not at all what most people see, and certainly not what they will remember you by.

 

I was recently in a situation where I judged someone just based on first impression, from what they looked like from across a room. I thought that this person didn't fit who I wanted to include in my life just purely based off of what she looked like. Well, God had a different plan, and He used my own judgment to show me His grace.

The person I was judging showed me nothing but grace despite the judgment I showed her. She prayed for me and truly loves me because I am a child of God, not because of how I look or dress. And now I can't imagine my life without this amazing person, and has truly been a blessing in my life. She showed my just how powerful God's grace is. I certainly did not deserve grace from this person, I deserved judgment, just as I showed to her, but that is not at all what I received from her. She showed me that God does that same thing for everyone.  I do not deserve His grace and love, I deserve His judgment. But yet He still loves me, and sent His only Son to die for my sins, and judgments, just as he does for everyone.

 

What people will remember about you is certainly not the acne, hair or any other physical ailment. But they will remember the grace and love that you showed to them in whatever situation they meet you through.  Whether it is a clerk at the grocery store, a classmate or co-worker, they will remember your attitude and your actions, and through that you have the power to touch someone with God's underserved Grace.

The way in which you show God's Grace to others is what True Beauty is to me.