Author Archives: thewaywardwisteria

Reality Boots

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What I’m Listening To: Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand 

I know, I know, it’s a terrible pun based off the title of a movie that came out before I was born (it was called Reality Bites for the whippersnappers in the audience). But let’s be real, if you’re not at least 35% here for the puns you’re in the wrong place my humor adverse friend. Anyways, it’s finally starting to cool down here in Arkansas, (meaning it’s dropped below 87 degrees) so it’s time to break out the fall stuff. What constitutes fall stuff you may ask? Boldly printed long dresses and blue suede booties in this case. Check it! 

Happy Almost-Winter-But-It-Feels-Like-Fall! 

Peace, 

Kick

Week Four: Grace & Faith

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What I’m listening to: Man in Black by Johnny Cash

Welcome back to the fourth and last week of my month long weekly devotional series! As always, if you’re new, be sure to check out my previous posts in the series. The intro post has some additional information about our September of Peace devotionals. 

 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

                 – John 16:33 (NIV)

God does not want to scare us into inaction. Yes, the world is a hostile, angry place, but we were put here for a reason. In this verse God is letting us know that the peace we desire can be found in Him. He conquered the world, not so that we would never face any obstacles, but rather that we would know that we

 “can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

              -Philipians 4:13 (NIV)      

So, as we wrap up our September of Peace, I want to take the opportunity to sum up our series as two points. 

1. We live in a shattered world that we can never begin to repair, and we ourselves are shattered because of it. 

2. Our God isn’t asking us to fix it, or ourselves, only that we rely on Him; that He might do miracles both around and through us. 

Prayer Prompt: That we might be as blessed with understanding and guidance as we are with God’s infinite grace and wisdom. We pray for these things not for ourselves, but for His cause, to be able to be used as forces of good in this fallen world. 

Week Three: Strength & Sin

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What I’m listening to: Human by The Killers

Welcome back to week three of my month long weekly devotional series! As always, if you’re new, be sure to check out my previous posts in the series. The intro post has some additional information about our September of Peace devotionals. 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

                          – James 1:2-3 (NIV)

I know that the Bible teaches us many things that may seem to go against the grain of what we have both learned and know it our lives, but this verse is extremely difficult. Endure? Yes. But “pure joy”? That seems crazy. However, as with most things in the Bible, the next verse clarifies. We should rejoice, not because bad things are happening, but because we are becoming better Christians. The benefit of living in a sinful world is becoming a stronger Christian. God has promised to never lead us astray. Anything that the Lord sets in our path He has also set a way through, through Him. It is because of this that we must persevere and attempt to find joy, because God can save us from anything.

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. 

                      – Matthew 19:26 (NIV)

Prayer Prompt: That we may find peace in the Lord, even if the world is working against us right now, for we know that His light will shine in the morning.  

Week Two: Rebellion & the World

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What I’m Listening To: Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis

Welcome back to week two of my month long weekly devotional series! As always, if you’re new, be sure to check out my previous posts in the series. The intro post has some additional information about our September of Peace devotionals. 

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 

                   ~ 1 John 2:15 (NIV)

That can be a tough pill to swallow, that even loving the world just a little means that we don’t love God. That’s not to say that we can’t like, or enjoy the things of the world; rather that we should be wary to not let them consume us and become our idols. This is made much easier if we remember two things that God tells us. One, that the world hates us because we are not like it. Yes, God makes it explicitly clear in John that the world is not merely unfeeling, but actually despises us. 

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 

                      ~ John 15:19 (NIV)

Two, that not only has God chosen us out of the world, but that we are actually not of the world the same that He is not. 

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 

                     ~ John 17:16 (ESV)

It is because of our likeness to God that the world does not like us. Why should we love anything that hates us for being like our Saviour? Therefore, we should rebel against the world, and turn to God, that the world might be pushed away from us through the love of Christ. 

Prayer Prompt: That we might be granted the strength to turn away from the Faustian offers the world attempts to bribe us with, and instead turn our face toward our Redeemer and the promise of Heaven. 

Week One: Sin & Mercy

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What I’m Listening to: Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line by Waylon Jennings

Welcome to week one of my September of Peace! (And a happy Labor Day Weekend as well). 

It can be easy to think of ourselves as “good people”. We donate to charity, we try to be nice, hey, we even paid for the person behind us at Starbucks one time. This is dangerous thinking. In Romans, the Bible teaches us that

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

                            – Romans 3:23

Now I hear you, you’re saying that you thought yourself a good person, but not like God-level good. Just, you know, better than average maybe. Definitely better than some. This is the heart of that dangerous territory. We can never save ourselves; Isaiah reminds us of this in this passage. 

All of us have become like one that is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 

                   – Isaiah 64:6

Think about that. Not only are we all horribly unrighteous, but our good deeds are useless in the face of our immeasurable sin. What should we do in the face of these (rather harsh) facts? Well, thankfully the Lord has the answer to that too. 

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

                         – Proverbs 28:13

The truth is, we are all innately sinful, but God’s not asking us to fix ourselves, He’s just asking us to be honest. Like a tinker, he can fix anything; but only if we give it to Him to patch and heal. We will always be sinful, but if we allow the Lord into our life we will also be sinless. 

Prayer: May the Lord help me to not attempt to fix my sin myself, but instead be honest about it in the face of His immeasurable mercy. 

September of Peace

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What I’m Listening To: Daddy Sang Bass by Johnny Cash

Your suspicions are correct. Every Sunday for the month of September I’ll be doing a short devotional. Each will tie in with the larger message of why the world, and the trials that we face during our time in it, present us with the opportunity to become better Christians, not worse. As for the name? I’m calling it ‘September of Peace’ because September is a month of relative quiet, a sanctuary between the end of summer and the beginning of the holidays. I hope that you will follow along with me on this journey as we attempt to find peace in the Lord this (pre) holiday season.

Peace (literally)

KJ

Happy Birthday + Laura Ashley

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What I’m listening to: Someone That Loves You by HONNE

Happy birthday to me! I spent a better portion of yesterday making this Momofuku Milk Bar style cake. And seriously, let me tell you, when they say it’s an amazing cake recipe, they mean it. It’s like what you always dreamed a box cake would taste like. Recipe link here btw. (You can thank me later)

I got some amazing things this year, but one of my definite favorites was this vintage Laura Ashley dress.

 
A flouncy sundress made practical by my favorite shoes of the summer; Addidas Superstars, is perfect for long, end-of-summer days. (Also for opening presents!)

Cheers to the new year! 
Xx

KJ

Blueberry Picking + Cobbler

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What I’m listening to: He’s a Rebel by The Crystals

It’s June. That means the beginning of summer, avoiding your third cousin’s wedding invite, and of course, blueberry season. I’ve gone u-picking for years, but for the non-hippie children in the back I’ll elaborate. Basically it means you drive out to a farm and spend a couple hours battling bugs, heat and the odd small animal for the right to search for blueberries you could buy at Kroger. Except that u-pick blueberries will be the most amazing blueberries you’ve ever had. The endless piles of berries that you heaped in your plastic bucket will be gone within a matter of days (they make the most amazing desserts). So anyways, here is my absolutely factual recipe for blueberry cobbler, from farm to table. (And yes, you are allowed to punch me for saying something so pretentious.) 

First step is to find your local u-pick place. They’ll give you a bucket, and off you go. If the blueberries are ripe they’ll be indigo and almost fall off the branch. 

(If they look like the berries shown above, move along, they’re not ready.)

 Now that you’ve picked all those blueberries, take a well deserved break. After all, you just did hard labor your great-grandparents would have considered a vacation. Now you’re ready to go home and make your cobbler. Here’s what you’ll need: 

1 casserole dish 

1/2 cup butter

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup white sugar

1 cup milk

3 cups blueberries

First, melt the butter and pour it into the casserole dish.

Next, mix the flour, sugar and milk together in a separate bowl. 

 Once it looks like the above picture, pour it directly onto the butter. DO NOT MIX! 

 It should now look like this. Pat yourself on the back, you’re almost done. Now dump the blueberries on top of everything. (Yes, on top. And don’t even think about mixing it.)

 Throw it (not literally) into the oven at 350 for an hour. 

All done! Top with ice cream (I know, I know, I’m betraying my Georgia roots but ice cream beats whipped cream any day of the week in my book.) 

 And enjoy! Seriously though, just to give you an idea of how many blueberries were picked here’s a bonus picture. 

 I’m gonna go eat cobbler. 

Peace

KJ

My Makeup 

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What I’m listening to: You Don’t Own Me by Grace

I’m back, phone in one hand, bagel in the other. (I’m kidding, bagels are the evil stepsister of the doughnut.) Anyways, I figured I’d answer some questions I know you guys have asked in one long post. So, what makeup do I wear? It would take more time than an Ed Sheeran breakup for me to photograph it all, so I’m just using photos from each respective website (links underneath!) Here we go

Eyes

  The original Naked Palette by Urban Decay. The best eyeshadow palette ever. I don’t know a makeup artist who doesn’t swear by it. 

 Lollipops Paris Black Eyeliner. I got this in a Glossybox and have been using the brand since. A great smudge-able liner.  MAC’s Haute & Naughty Too Black Lash mascara. My favorite thing about this mascara is that the double use brush lets you pick how much of a dramatic lash you want. It’s also doesn’t shed much, which is always a plus. 

Make Up For Ever Ink Liner. A dependable liquid eyeliner that goes on as easy as liquid liner can. 

Face 

 Urban Decay’s 24/7 Concealer Pencil. I don’t wear foundation, so this concealer pencil is perfect for making small touch ups. (Like hiding the fact I was formatting a book chapter until 2am last night)

So Susan’s Universal Blush. Gone are my days of wondering which exact shade of pink blush I should buy (am I raspberry pink or scarlet fever red?). It’s a super flattering color, and it has a really natural look.

MAC’s Prep+ Prime Fix +. It’s not a setting spray, but actually a finishing spray (according to the website). It goes on light and gives your skin a nice dewy look, even over your makeup. This stuff is my jam. 

Lips

Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Liquid Lipstick. Possibly one of the all time coolest makeup innovations, liquid lipstick goes on like a gloss, then dries matte. As long as you’re fairly careful, you won’t have to fix it for hours. 

Maybelline’s Baby Lips. My favorite drug store steal. Unlike other lip balms, it won’t dry your lips out. Plus it comes in a thousand colors/flavors.

 Yves Saint Laurent’s Rouge Volupté Shine Oil-In-Stick. I know, the name’s a bit of a mouthful, but it’s worth it. My YSL lipstick was one of two lipsticks I took to Korea and I don’t regret it at all. 

MAC’s lipstick. The other lipstick I took to Korea. 

Brushes

Artis Brushes. My new beauty obsession. Literally the softest (and most effective) brushes ever. 

MAC eye brushes. I’ve had them for a couple years and they still look great. Unfortunately, this exact  set was discontinued, but similar set can be found here. 

That’s pretty much all of it! (And no I’m not getting paid or sponsored for doing this.) 

Party on, 

KJ