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For a girl with words I’m actually not sure how to write this.  What it comes down to is that I’m so grateful and I’m still a bit in shock.  My book Spoken & Heard: 31 conversations with the Maker of stars is out in the world!  It’s been such an incredible and growing journey.  Last year I posted that it would launch in 2017.  October of this year that happened!

This book is my heart on paper.  Here’s a little peek into what it’s about:

Prayer doesn’t have to be boring or fake.  It doesn’t have to be a chore.  It can be gritty, beautiful, and real.  When you come to the Lord of the universe you can pour out your heart in truth, withholding nothing.  Here are 31 conversations, heart cries, and spoken word poetry pieces (one for each day of the month) to draw you closer in relationship with Jesus.  This is an invitation to see God afresh.  This is an invitation to get real with God.  This is an invitation to speak.  You will be heard.  Don’t you want to have a conversation with the Maker of stars?

Your responses to this part of my heart have been so amazing.  Your reviews, comments, pictures holding the book in your hands, have all been such grace to me and I’m incredibly grateful.  Thank you.  And if you don’t have a copy yet get one here! It’s perfect for starting a new month out as it’s set up in 31 day portions.  One to read every day to have a conversation with the Maker of stars.

Last week I listened to a podcast about a woman who was widowed at 25 and had two small children and a newborn.  She said something that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget.  She asked the Lord to not let her waste her pain.  That stopped me in my tracks.  It’s a completely amazing way of looking at grief, pain, and loss.

In the past I’ve dealt with intense health challenges. For so many reasons it’s not something I talk about often.  Recently I’ve been dealing with symptoms that I haven’t experienced this strongly for a while.  As I listened to this podcast I realized that I don’t want to waste my trials. I don’t want you to waste yours either.

The amazing thing is that even though we all have painful, challenging things happen in our lives we don’t have to let them win.

As I wrestle right now with my health I want to say this.  God is good in the pain.  He is faithful in the difficult times.  He doesn’t leave me.  He is just as beautiful and magnificent to me when I’m hurting as he is when life feels perfect. 

Exploit your challenges.  When I looked up the word exploit I was greatly encouraged by the meaning. It means to “make full use of and derive benefit from (a resource).”

In my weakness I’ve found that Jesus is stronger.  In my pain I’ve found comfort in the Lord.  In my struggle I’m reminded that heaven is going to be a place where I never have to experience this physical break down ever again.  In this challenge I’m reminded that I’ve walked through things so that I can turn around and really empathize with someone else.

Friends, are you facing hard things right now?  Ask yourself how you are going to use the painful things in your life.  Will you let them destroy you or will you get every last ounce of learning and benefit out of it as you look for the redemption?

If you liked this post and want more you can get some weekly encouragement by just signing up HERE! 🙂 Pull up a chair friend. I’m glad to have you as part of the crew!

Recently I had a birthday so here are 29 things I’ve been learning the past twenty something years of my life. I say learning because I’m still growing. (Also if you’re not part of the Dear Wednesday crew that’s where I’m writing weekly these days and I’d love for you to be a part of it!  Just sign up HERE for the good stuff!)

1.  Enjoy right now.  If you’re not finding contentment where you are you probably wont ever find it.
 
2.  Give.  Generously. You won’t regret it. 
 
3.  Strike up conversations with strangers.  You never know what wonderful/surprising things will happen.
 
4.  Learn to ask good questions.
 
5.  Always put Jesus first in your day.
 
6.  You can revisit something you once tired to do and told yourself you couldn’t.  You can actually do more than you think you can. 
 
7.  Enter into the joy of others. You are blessed to be a blessing. 
 
8.  Hear people out.  It’s okay to just listen and not have all the answers.
 
9.  Listen to your gut.  Don’t be so worried about what other people think.  And remember that God does direct you.
 
10.  Commit to long-term projects that take faithfulness.  It builds character and endurance. 
 
11.  Just start.
 
12.  Accept compliments graciously.
 
13.  Always say, “I love you” when you leave the people you care about.
 
14.  Celebrate the little things.
 
15.  Learn to have a schedule and a morning routine.
 
16.  Exercise daily.
 
17.  Let people go who are one sided friendships
 
18.  Be a “clever fox” in how you rest.  Rest intentionally knowing that it is important.
 
19.  Say no.  And don’t feel guilty about it.
 
20.  Praising Jesus is always a good option no matter how you feel.
 
21.  Take time to be grateful and write it down every day.
 
22.  Don’t compare your timeline to other people’s.  There’s never been a you before.
 
23.  Make donuts! Eat the ice cream! Have the chocolate, maybe even a few.
 
24.  Hug often.
 
25.  Let yourself feel whatever it is and then move on.  But it’s okay to feel it and process it.  Don’t just stuff it.
 
26. Do things you never thought you would do.  Surprise yourself.  Crash the wedding.
 
27.  Be extravagant with love.  Fly halfway across the nation to be in a friends wedding.  Write a note for every day of the year your friend will be gone and surprise them with it.
 
28.  Be proactive about rewriting the lies in your head.
 
29.  Trust Jesus with everything in you and pray often.   
 
What would you add to your list?

If you liked this post you can get some weekly encouragement by just signing up HERE! 🙂 Pull up a chair friend. I’m glad to have you as part of the crew!

Phew! So I said I was taking a month off from blogging to work on a project. Well, I have been working on said project but surprise, surprise it’s taking longer than a month. While I haven’t been blogging I have been writing weekly for the Dear Wednesday crew (a once a week email I send out).

What’s this big project I’m working on? I’m writing a book! Wow. Yep, I just said that out loud to you didn’t I? I’m launching a book in 2017 and I couldn’t be more excited! I can’t wait to share it with you. It’s truly going to be a piece of my heart and I don’t want you to miss out on this. If you want to be one of the first to know all about it I’m going to be launching it to the Dear Wednesday crew first. That means if you’re not a part of this awesome crew already then you should be!

How do you join the crew? Well you can sign up HERE or you can leave your email + first name in the comments below. (Make sure to check your email since you need to confirm you want to be on the list if you use the link I’ve provided.) Pull up a chair friend. I’m glad to have you as part of the crew! And stay tuned for more news because I’m going to keep you in the loop now.  Here’s to launching a book in 2017!

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Hello, beautiful people!  I’m back at blogging and it’s going to be better than ever!  The past few months I’ve been radio silent for so many reasons but one of the biggest ones is that I’ve been figuring out what direction to take this space.

It’s both scary and exciting to be doing a 180 when it comes to this blog.  After fundraising for over four years and finally reaching the $100,000 goal for children in India (because of your faithful support and God’s grace!) it was time to reevaluate.

This space is now going to be a source for learning how to live an intentional life and create beauty in various ways.  I hope to encourage and inspire you to live with purpose right where you are.

Look at the news or talk to your friends and it won’t take you long to see that there is brokenness, pain, and suffering in this world.  This is a problem but I know there is a solution.  I believe that when we choose to focus on bringing beauty into the world through our words and actions we assist in healing some of that brokenness.

“In small and large ways, when we create beauty—in our environment, relationships, music, cooking, poetry, and celebrations—we push back the effects of the fall and express our hope for the new heaven and the new earth that God promises. When we give artful attention to detail, we point people to a truer and better reality. When we offer beauty we touch something in the human soul. We remind others of who they are and what they were made for. We bring hope and inspiration. This is a way of caring.”

Andi Ashworth

You can expect to see posts in these new categories: DIY, STYLE, E’NOTES, and SERIES.  This is a place for those looking to be refreshed through devotionals and encouragement.  This is a space for those trying to add beauty to their lives and the lives of those around them.  This is where you can learn how to live a more conscious culture lifestyle.  I certainly don’t have it all figured out (not even close!) but I hope you’ll come along and learn with me.  One thing I do know is that even little steps of change can make a big difference!  This isn’t a place to come and feel condemned or like you can’t do it all.  No one can make all the changes all the time!  It’s about being inspired and choosing to think through why we do what we do.  It’s about appreciating beauty and sharing it.

The DIY section is included because I believe that making things for our lives and for those around us is soul nurturing.  It is a way of choosing to not buy into the consumerist attitude that says we need to buy more and more things.  When we take the time to make something it becomes more valuable to us and to those we give it to.  It’s also a sweet way to say to someone, “I care about you so I took the time to make you something.”  It’s NOT saying that buying something is wrong or even a bad choice but it IS saying yes, to creativity and art and the personal touch in an increasingly impersonal world.  You’ll find ways to create lovely things for yourself, your space, and for others.

The STYLE section comes out of an interesting place for me.  It’s something I sort of fell into when I wore 1 dress for 100 days.  During that time I chose not to buy any new clothing. It was challenging but also very freeing.  I realized I had more than I thought and I also realized how I didn’t want to live a “more, more, more” lifestyle.  Frankly it’s really easy to fall into and I still struggle with it at times.  Yet, statistics show that slavery is a bigger problem now than ever before.  Forced labor is one of the many causes and it is used to produce a lot of our clothing.  I’m still learning about this.  Being a lover of fashion I’ve found that one of the solutions is to style thrifted items so that we can dress stylishly and ethically. This not only helps reduce waste on our planet but also ensures we aren’t funding inhumane work environments and practices.  Not to mention that it’s much more inexpensive for your pocket book!  In the style section I’ll show you how I build outfits from thrift store or consignment finds but I also want to highlight pieces/companies that are more ethical.  One of my mottos is “quality vs. quantity.”  You may pay more but in the long run it will last longer and you’ll be supporting a healthy work environment.  Regardless of your finances there are little ways to make changes that have an important impact!

You’re probably wondering what E’NOTES are.  Here is where I’ll be writing about relationships and giving you (and myself!) encouragement.  It’s here that you will hopefully find refreshment for your heart as I share devotionals and talk about the real-life-nitty-gritty-joys-and-struggles of life.  I believe Jesus is the most beautiful thing we can have in our lives.  My faith is the most important part of my life as well as what I believe is the source of light for the world.  I’m really excited about this part of the blog!

And because not everything fits into a perfect category there will be a SERIES section where I will from time to time feature food, travel, life updates, quotes, and link love.

It will take some time for these categories to fill up but I’ve already planned some great things for this month so stay tuned!

Let’s stay in touch! You can follow me on Instagram, which is my favorite app!  I’d love to see you around on Facebook, Periscope (misselaini), or Pinterest.  You can also shoot me an email at: misselaini [@] gmail.com (remove brackets and spaces).  Looking forward to being friends!

xxx
~elaini

Please pardon the bit of mess we have on the site right now as we are under construction.  I’m really excited about launching back into blogging consistently here in 2016!  Come January I’ll be revealing more of what’s to come for the future of this space.  Thanks for sticking around!  Until then I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. 🙂

How many ways can I say this…

$100K

one hundred thousand, one hundred and fifty-three dollars and four cents

$100,153.04

one, zero, zero, one, five, three. zero, four

100% raised

Friends, we did it! Together we’ve been able to help hundreds of children in India who are no-longer-orphans! Need proof?  Read this.  The person that tipped us over to reach the goal donated in honor of Hosanna.  I ugly cried.  Because these kiddos have touched my life more than I will have ever touched theirs.  God graciously allowed me to see $100,153.04 raised for my darling kiddos.  To God be the glory!

THANK YOU!  I wish I could give you all hugs and thank you personally!  This isn’t the end of the journey.  I’m not entirely sure what’s next (although I do have some idea 😉 )but I hope you’ll stick around to find out.  It’s going to be grand!  This is just the beginning of new things for this blog space.  Let’s celebrate!

 {Drawing/painting by:  Damaris C.,  First two photos of children by: the Indian staff members, Last two photos of children by: F. Robert Openshaw,  Picture of me by: Jenn Lynn Images}

P.S.  Want to relive the 100 day journey?  Just click here to see all the outfits in a few minutes!

When the time actually comes for you to write something you’ve been waiting years for it’s as if the moment renders you speechless because it’s finally arrived. That’s how I feel right now, speechless or else a torrent of words. On Monday I received the email I’d hoped for since 2012. Lately it was the email I thought I might never receive.

I’ve heard it said that good things come to those who wait. Sometimes the waiting seems so long though that you begin to doubt. That’s where I’ve been the last few months. You see when I set out to raise money for orphaned children in India I clearly knew God had whispered into my heart a nice round sum of $50,000. Even though I didn’t raise that amount in the 100 days I had set I still knew it was what I had been told. Continuing on after the dress project seemed like the right thing to do. Then at the end of 2011 I got word that we had surpassed that goal. It was a miracle only God could have done. I was awed. So many generous, supportive people have given to change hundreds of children’s lives. I can never thank all of you enough for that.

After that I just kept raising the goal and when a friend said to put the new goal at $100K I decided there was no reason not to. But I never really prayed about it and recently three years after setting a new goal I began to wonder if it was really just my goal or if it was the Lord’s. I’m learning lately that sometimes something that is a good thing in and of itself still isn’t meant for me. These last two months I asked the question my heart didn’t want to ask. I asked, “Lord, is this $100K your goal or was that my goal that you never intended for me?” And you know what? I began to think that it was time to stop fundraising. It was brutal for me to consider.

I’m a pretty determined person and when I say I’m going to do something I really try to follow through. Knowing I might not finish was hard and felt like a failure. Honestly I was so weary and I felt guilty for that. Those children in India have my heart but the funds just weren’t coming in. There were no new ideas popping into my head. Yet all I can think is, “Just because people stop donating doesn’t mean those children still don’t need help.”

And then Monday came. I opened my email and there was one of the best emails that has ever landed in my inbox. In short it said that my new total of funds raised was $99,919.82. It didn’t come in the way I thought it would but it was there. I jumped up with my heart in my throat trying to tell my mom. My hands took on a life of their own and I bounced up and down as emotion welled up inside of me.

I’m here today telling you this because I want you to know Jesus does miracles. Jesus takes a few loaves and fishes and feeds the multitudes. He takes a lot of donations from people all over the world and uses it as a means to change lives, souls that have value. When I think about how he has used so many of you to help my 545 kiddos in India I’m stunned and incredibly grateful.

You’ve helped little girls who might have been trafficked into the sex trade now have a safe home and a future outside of being a child bride. You’ve helped little boys who would have been slaves in brick kilns get an education so that they can become doctors, teachers, engineers, or whatever they want to dream of now.

Please stop for a minute and realize the impact one life can have. Think about someone like Mother Teresa, a president, an author… Someday one of those children you gave money to may become someone like that. Or maybe 545 children will and they will help change the world for good. I know they already are.

There are just a few things I want to leave you with:

THANK YOU.
I love “my” children in India,
I love Jesus and most importantly:
May God receive all the glory for he alone has accomplished this.

Oh and one more thing? Who is going to help push us over the $100K goal?! Only 80 dollars to go! WOW!  You can donate here. 🙂

“The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.” Psalms 126:3

Hello you wonderful person,

I think you’re pretty amazing. Yes, you!  At some point you realized that being a gift to others could change the world.  No, I didn’t get the wrong person.  You see, you realized that putting actions to words makes a difference.  You invested in the lives of children you don’t even know by donating to orphaned kiddos in India.  So, in my book that makes you a world changer.  And oh, how you have changed lives!

Since I started my dress project back in 2011, you along with so many generous people have provided hundreds of children with a safe place to not just survive but thrive.  Want to look at it another way?  Approximately five dollars feeds an orphan for a month.  So that means that the $93,479.82 we’ve raised could feed 545 kiddos for almost three years. You’ve been a crucial part of that.  We’ve used your generous gifts to provide food, clothing, education, and homes.  It may not seem like a lot to you but it is to those sweet darling children who have lost parents and security.

So here’s the thing. We’ve almost made it to the 100K mark but I need a little more help.  If everyone gave just $17 we would reach the goal! Would you please partner with me today to make this miracle happen? You can click right here to invest in these precious lives.  Thank you so much!

Gratefully
~me

P.S. I chose these twirling pictures of me and and my kiddos because it’s something we can both do even though we are on opposite sides of the world…

Hey friends! Sorry I’ve been MIA lately.  There’s been a lot going on and I just needed a break.  During the last few weeks though one of my best friends and I have joined Brittany’s (from The House that Lars Built) instagram contest to #dresstherainbow.  Basically we were supposed to go find colored walls and then snap pictures of ourselves wearing the same shade of clothing.

Thankfully my girl Malia is amazing and was totally up for this fun adventure with me.  Tripod in hand and melting in the heat we took photos all over the neighborhood and city.  Yes, we got stared at.  Yes, there were embarrassing moments.  Yes, running back and forth from the tripod to a pose gets interesting.  Yes, we changed in the car sometimes.  Yes, we laughed our heads off.  Yes, it was totally worth it even if we don’t win.  (But let’s be honest…we REALLY hope we win!)

Also here’s a funny side note about the pink picture from Malia’s perspective: “You know that moment when you burst into laughter with your friend because something weird just happened?  Well this is ours. 🙂 @Misselaini had her fingers on the bow of her dress to show off the stylish 50’s vintage dress that her mother wore growing up and I thought, ‘I’m going to join in accentuating the bow.’  I reached out my hand to the bow and Elaini matter-of-factly says, ‘Malia you’re going to make me look pregnant.’ This pictures was the result.” 😉

It’s amazing how much color there is around us if we will only look for it.  I’m curious to know…what fun summer adventures have you had?  Did you have any that were so enjoyable and memory making but didn’t cost any money?