What I’m Listening to: Just What I Needed by The Cars
Happy Easter! (April Fools!) Isn’t this rose pattern pretty? When I saw it I knew it was going to be my Easter dress. There’s something so spring-y about it! Of course I couldn’t not do a statement shoe, but I wanted to look outside the typical white Easter shoes. These 1980’s inspired red patent leather pointed toe heels were exactly what I was looking for. (Try saying that 5 times fast!) 
Peace,
KJ
What I’m Listening to: Needles and Pins by The Searchers
Is this really my first DIY post? Well no time to start like the present. If you follow me on Instagram then you knew this post was coming. I’m making two fancy Easter baskets, all with supplies bought at Michael’s craft store. I bought everything on sale, as part of a sales event. For two baskets, here’s what you’ll need.
2 wicker baskets, plain
1 plastic garland with fake flowers (whatever kind strikes your fancy, I went for pink roses with white accents)
2 bags of decorative moss
(You’ll also need a pair of scissors to cut the garland)
The first thing I did was unwrap the moss and fluff it. The moss, much like regular Easter grass, gets flattened by being in the bag, so I pulled it apart to give it some more volume in the basket. Below you can see a comparison of the moss, pre- and post- fluff.
Both of the baskets that I bought were on the small side of what Michael’s carries, small enough that I was able to cut my plastic garland in half to wrap both basket handles. I started with just a basic wrapping technique until I was satisfied with how it looked. I secured both edges of the garland by tucking the ends inside the basket.
Finally, fill that Easter basket with candy!
Ta-da! A truly easy DIY that gives so much pretty character to a simple wicker basket.
Peace!
KJ
What I’m Listening to: (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding
We are, truly, God’s worst creation. Nothing else on the planet rebels against Him. The trees grow and die as he beckons them to. The animals, the birds and the fish and the mountain lions, all of them obey their innate directions given to them by God. And yet, God loves us most. He put us in charge, He sent His own Son to die for us. Us. His biggest mistake, His worst creation. We reject and rebel against Him at every turn. He should have long ago stripped our responsibilities away, reduced us to nothingness and let something more worthy step into our place. Something more obedient. But He didn’t. He knew we would fail, but He gave us the job anyway. Because we’re not supposed to do it on our own. We are not in charge of the planet; we do not have to rule over ourselves and the other beings. We are apprentices. Servants. The infants that He is raising to be something greater than our genus species. He is shaping us, we are His children and He would never abandon or replace us.
“And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.
– 2 Corinthians 6:18 (NIV)
Lean on His understanding, for He is teaching us His way, not our way. When you don’t want to, look up at the sky. See the way He paints each cloud, formed each bird, see the care, love and patience.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
– Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
He is our Father, our protector who will never fail or abandon us. He trusts us, despite every failing, with a deep and unworthy devotion. He does not limit our responsibilities, He increases them, because He knows He will be right alongside us, to help us take our wobbly first steps on the path He designed. God is not looking for our fear or sacrifices. He does not want the things that our earthly leaders do.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.
– Mark 12:17 (NIV)
All He asks is that we don’t try to solve things on our own, that we turn to Him and let Him show us the way. He does not wish to watch us struggle on our own when He can instead help us succeed.
Prayer Prompt: Ask God to show you the way to tackle a struggle or issue you are facing right now, even if you think you know how to solve it. He always has a better way.
What I’m Listening to: Wish I Knew You by The Revivalists
First off, I know. Isn’t it amazing? A timelessly romantic silhouette, ready to sink into the river à la Ophelia but with bold graphic script and photo printed kittens to make it exactly the sort of statement piece I love. This kind of dress needs an equally trendy shoe, so my Ash platforms give me that fashion feel (and the height I love, fight me I like being extra-tall).
Peace,
KJ
What I’m Listening to: Take My Love and Run by Bad Suns
And just like that I’m in my last year of being a teenager. Somehow 13 seems like it was both yesterday and a very long time ago, so I guess that evens out to, like, 6 years. Life is weird, but I don’t want this post to just be me pondering the concept of how life seems to move fast and slow at the same time, so let’s talk about my birthday. I went to New Orleans for the weekend and it was a total blast. I went to see live jazz playing on Bourbon Street, ate beignets at Café Du Monde and just generally explored the best of New Orleans. Here’s the greatest hits (yes, I did buy one of those paintings): 
Peace,
KJ
What I’m Listening to: God Will by Johnny Cash
I couldn’t fit everything I wanted to talk about into one post, so here is part two to wrap up this mini-series.
Now, I want to talk about the two stages we see in Mark 11. We talked before about how we have this emotional “downswing” from the jubilation of Palm Sunday. This is because after Jesus is essentially lauded as a king, He makes some judgements, He points out the failures that the Jewish community has. In a way this is a real life parable.
When we learn of God, it is an awesome day! We celebrate, we cry out with joy. But after that initial happiness comes one of the hardest periods that every Christian faces. When we invite God into our lives, He starts to look around and point out where we need to improve. And in a lot of cases, that can make us angry, make us plot to make Him go away, much like the Pharisees. This is because now that we are being called to make difficult changes and choices we begin to think it might not have been so bad without Him. That’s our sinful, evil nature of course, to seek our old, threadbare comfort rather than letting God guide us to a new, better, eternal comfort. Now, this is most pronounced when we first know God, but we feel this rebellion all the time; in fact I would even go so far as to say most of us believers feel this discomfort almost all the time, we just push it into a corner of our mind so we don’t have to think about it too much. We live most days trying not to think too hard, we look at our Bibles and our religious Facebook posts and we reassure ourselves that that’s what God wants from us.
Is it? Because I’m pretty sure Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to go to church and only half-listen for fear they might feel called out or to exchange uncomfortable conversations with God for buying a pun-based Christian shirt. God is not a nanny, our immediate comfort is not His only concern. He cares about our forever, He wants us to spend it with Him. So yes, He is going to push us outside our comfort zone, He is going to point out the sin that clouds our life but He is also going to rebuild us so much better and stronger than we ever were before (if we will just put ourselves aside for literally two minutes).
So, today, just take a moment to ask God what He actually wants you to do. Don’t shy away when you start to feel uncomfortable, realize you can’t live for yourself and recognize what God’s calling you to do. Don’t face this conversation or the next steps He’s going to have for you with fear, because He’s right there with you and He is so excited to help you. He literally has the best of intentions for us.
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
~ 2 Corinthians 12:10 (KJV)
Peace,
Kathleen-June
What I’m Listening to: Are All the Children In by Johnny Cash
This is part one of a two part series covering Mark Chapter 11.
This last week in my church’s bible study we covered Mark 11, which starts with the story of Palm Sunday.
When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
~ Mark 11:7-10 (NIV)
Then, the next day (still in Mark 11) the narrative takes a bit of a downswing from the parade we see above, mainly through three events that round out the chapter. The first is that Jesus is walking and He sees a fig tree.
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
~ Mark 11:12-14 (NIV)
The next event that happens is that Jesus arrives at the temple courts.
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.
~ Mark 11:15-16 (NIV)
Finally, some chief priests, scribes and elders of the Jewish religion come and talk to Him.
They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”
Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)
So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”~ Mark 11:27-33 (NIV)
Now, if I leave the story there, it sounds not great doesn’t it? Jesus sounds kind of fickle, spiteful and out for His own gain, like a selfish, fallen human. But the truth is, there is important context missing from each of those stories. In the first, it’s important to know that fig trees bring forth leaves and fruit at the same time, so there should have been plenty of fruit on the tree, (if perhaps hard and underripe), not only leaves. In this way, we are shown that God does not hunger for us to have “perfectly ripe fruit”, only that we have some, perhaps very imperfect fruit; that we try to grow and serve and fulfill our heavenly purpose. To have only leaves is to live only for ourselves, to be selfish and unwilling to aim for the prize of Heaven.
The second story is important because Jesus was not walking into a place of Holy worship and turning out the faithful, He was casting out people who were perverting God’s laws for their own selfish gain. The money changers would charge exorbitant fees to exchange money for tithing. As for those selling sacrifical animals, they would force people to buy their wares by warning travelers that the animals they had brought were not clean enough to be sacrificed.
The final story is all about intentions, when the Pharisees ask Jesus what authority He has, they did not want to get a real answer, they wanted to trick Him into saying something they could decry as blasphemy.
The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
~ Mark 11:18 (NIV)
Mark 11 is such a powerful passage, and one of the reasons for that is because when you skim it you’re a little taken aback because some of the things that Jesus does seem uncharacteristic. However, when you read deeper into the passages, you begin to understand that they are actually perfectly in the character of a, if you will, perfect character.
Peace,
Kathleen-June
(P.S. I’m not apologizing for closing my devotional with a pun.)
What I’m Listening to: First by Cold War Kids
I had a very long post (by my standards) written out for this post, it used all kinds of illiteration and adjectives, just the thing to make my old writing 200 teacher very happy. But let’s be real, you don’t want to hear me wax nostalgic about a peach farm you’re never going to visit, so I did us both a favor and scrapped it. The gist of my day was: I went to a U-pick peach farm in rural Arkansas and it was such a beautiful day outside that afterwards I dragged everyone to this little historical site just to hang out and enjoy the day a little more. It was such a fun day, the kind that makes you understand why 2/3rds of all songs on the radio are just based off the concept of summer. (Though arguably I think they should definitely sing some more about peaches, because they were amazing.)
Peace,
Kathleen-June
What I’m Listening to: Senza Un Perché by Nada
Aaaand I’m back! It’s been a glorious time, and I am now approximately 20% more tan and 80% more sunburn-that-will-hopefully-fade-into-a-tan. I’m short on words and long on pictures today so, here, then, is my vacation in photos. 
Peace,
KJ
What I’m Listening to: Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits
I have a love/hate relationship with sequins.
This has mostly to do with the fact that in my experience they fall off, get bent and after approximately half of one wear the dress doesn’t look the same as when you put it on. (Which is probably my fault for being rough on clothes but whatever). However, against my prior judgements when I saw this dress I knew we were meant to be. I am so glad I did because it is so much fun to wear! It legitimately reflects light like some kind of colorful disco ball, (which I personally view as a plus to any garment). Stay groovy! (I’ll stop now)
Peace (out),
Kathleen-June
Miniskirts and margins 
