Remembering you,...

To my dear friends in college,... remembering you girls. Can't wait for you to come home soon for more silly, crazy, joy filled times! I love you girls and can't wait to see you soon! Hugs!

"I thank my God upon every rememberance of you,..." Philippians 1:3

Love you!

Tawney Rae

"Undeserved Love" series, prt. 4 -- Broken to Beautiful takes acceptance.

Beauty....

This picture was really inspiring to me when I first saw it the other day. It reminded me of what the Lord has been teaching me over this year about Image, along the lines of being His Hephzibah. For me, beauty and the teachings from my Saviour about undeserved love are closely tied together, because of how I viewed my image being something that would make me more deserving of God's Love. So for me, they are very intricately woven together. Acceptance was one of the things that the Lord had to work in me about Undeserved Love, and what true beauty is,... accepting that you are created in His image, and loving yourself as who you are in Christ, because He loves you for who you are unconditionally. Not all struggle with image though. You might not be able to relate to that area of your life. But I think we can all relate to the feeling that WHO we are defines our worth, and that God would Love us more if we were,... better. Or that He won't love us because of the things we have done. I came to realize, though, that we as Christians must remember it is nothing we do that could ever make God Love us... it's something given unconditionally. We have to accept that. If we do, what was broken can become beautiful. In Isaiah 62, the Children of Israel viewed themselves as a forsaken, desolate people. One who was broken within. When God told them that He changed their name,... do you think they believed that? When He said that they were more then their surroundings and situations declared them to be, do you think they could truly fathom that? When God touched my heart with the simple message of Isaiah 62, and showed me the heart of the name Hephzibah, it wrecked me. I honestly couldn't believe it because of the way that I felt within, as well as the things around me that seemed to say otherwise. I didn't feel that God could call me His delight. I didn't deserve that. And yet He did, because He loved me... unconditionally. The only way that the healing process started for me was by accepting that. So often we do not simply accept what Jesus Christ has done for us on the Cross. We don't accept the fact that God has made old things pass away, and all things become new. We just don't. When we do, though, Christ can begin to work healing in us, and show us who He made us to be in Him. It is only then that which was broken can become beautiful in Christ. Healing begins there; and the Love of God surely flows through a life that accepts Love that they openly acknowledge as undeserved. It is then we can say, out of a heart of belief, that "God commendeth His Love towards us, that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us." Even though we fail to see why or how He could Love us with all our faults,... Christ died for us. That makes us truly beautiful, when we can look upon what was once broken, separated from God, and see a new creation at work. We can cast aside the old sin,... the old names, whatever that may be; maybe it's depressed, cutter, eating disorder, runaway, used, failure, broken, desolate and forsaken,...  God says all those things are passed away, and He no longer sees that, He sees you as a restored Child of God. Praise God for such Love! That is true beauty of God! Learn to cultivate a Hephzibah spirit through accepting God's Love and delight, and you will have a truly beautiful, Hephzibah heart.

Love you all,
XOXOXOX,
Isaiah 62:4
Tawney Rae

Sweet Sixteen

Hello everyone!

I thought it would be fun to post some of my pictures from my Sweet Sixteen photo-shoot with Mrs.Fuller for you all! Enjoy!

Those are some of the edited Sweet Sixteen pictures we took. I had a lot of fun with Mrs.Fuller doing it, and was grateful she'd take the time out of her schedule to do that with me! It was such a blessing!

Love you all very, very much!

XOXOXOXOX,

Tawney Rae <3

P.S. Just thought I'd add a few funny pics at the end... just for you guys to see. This is a private viewing, and will not be allowed to be used for black-mailing, etc. If I hear of anything of the sort.... you will get it good! :)

You guys better know how much I love you to subject myself to this, just to make you laugh! :)

Tawney Rae

Hello, life; where did you come from?

Hello everyone!

Yes, you read the title correctly. It sums this post up though... things lately have been... CRAZY.
Thought we'd take a breather here before we dive back into the "Undeserved Love" series, and simply talk. :) Just talking is good. We all need that. Now, if you go to my other blog, well, sorry... talking over coffee type of posts just don't have their place there. :) But here, I want to just bare my Heart a little to you all (maybe sometimes a lot), in hopes you will always leave encouraged and looking to Him! I also love giving you all a little bit of a glimpse into my every day life, its a good way for us all to stay more "connected" throughout the week, and when we are apart! <3 So, as to my life...

Life has been so full. Just as when Jesus asked His disciples, "Lacked ye anything while ye were in the way?", I feel I too can answer, "Nothing, Lord". He supplys all we need, and even beyond what is needful, as a caring Heavenly Father. I have seen only recently in my life, that God sees our hearts when we ask things of Him, especially in our trials. I was asking the Lord specifically for Him to deliver me out of something, by what seemed the only "possible" route... well, that is not fully true. But I did not ever dream that the thing I timidly hoped for instead would actually take place as my "deliverance". And yet, even in that, the Lord chose to fulfill that exact "hidden desire", and though my other prayer was not given, it was fulfilled in a way far sweeter than what I had asked. It is beautiful to have a Saviour who delights in giving His Children the best gifts.

As to the "trivial" side of my life,...

*School IS my life right now. Just sayin'.

*I have been drinking copious, unhealthy, even almost ungodly amounts of tea lately.

*I am somewhat jealous of the percussion players at Band (esp. "Tiffy"-- gosh, can that girl play!). Darn percussion. They have all the fun. ;)

*I had my Sweet Sixteen pictures done by Jamie Fuller-- so fun. Love that lady. She's amazing with the camera!

*INDIA. Just dreaming-- won't say more now, that's for another post.

*Reading "Rose From Brier" by Amy Carmichael lots lately. It was my consolation when I was sick at the beginning of the year, and so I just started reading it again. Beautiful.

*Prayer. Burdened for someone I barely know, yet have been spoken to about for over a year, and has recently become an aquaintance. This new "friend" has already blessed me so much!

*Long conversations,... about God, our past, failures, misunderstandings, blessings, joy, and unconditional Love.

*Michael Buble. Oh yes. Look out world, here comes Jazz.

*Science tests. Lots of them. No comment.

*Needing time to write. My new novel "Hephzibah" has a thought-through to the minutest detail outline,... with no time to give the STORY decent work. That is very depressing. I shall work on it religiously over the summer, if I am still not done with it then. I love my story.

*Designing a new neckelace. Purple, silvery-grey, and black. Possibly some black chain. Beautiful.

*Dying.To.Fly.SOON.

*"Composing" a new piano piece-- if you can call that "composing".

*I am full of excitement for Christmas! AND we have a PINK christmas tree in our basement. Oh, divinity!

*Still in Isaiah. It is really blessing me. I love Isaiah.

That is the end of my list. I might make another next time we do some catching up. It makes things so much simpler.

XOXOXOX,
LOOOVE,
Tawney Rae

Dare to Do.

What would you dare to do if you knew that you WOULD NOT FAIL?

Love,
Tawney Rae

You Are For Me (prt. 3 of the "Undeserved Love" series)

Hello everyone!

Here we are on part 3 of the "Undeserved Love" series. I am, to be honest, really enjoying being able to share my Heart <3 with you all on these things-- it's been such a blessing to be able to open up to you all about it; and even get feedback from some of you about the posts! Thanks to those of you who comment about it; it truly does encourage me, and even gives me some thoughts about what might be best for me to write next!

This is something that the Lord just recently brought to my attention along the lines of our Undeserved Love series... something that the Lord taught me all throughout the time that I was struggling (but ESPECIALLY afterwards when I was growing and letting Him change me,) , but that He just recently gave me a "phrase" and verse for, if you will.
After I got things right with the Lord, I think I was in a battlefield with wanting to do what was right before God, but was still feeling all the opposition from the world, and so called "well-meaning" Christians who were pressuring me to look just a certian way. I felt very caught in the middle of a battle-field, and didn't know if even the God who just told me He loved me unconditionally really wanted to see me make it through. But I believed that if God said He wanted to make me into something new -something I was already beggining to feel grow within me- then He would be the the One who would be my ultimate source of encouragement and strength. He wanted to see me get victory... even if the images, and the mirror, and the voices, in my Heart (that so often I listened to), said that they wanted to bring me down-- my God was for me. And "If God be for us than who can be against us?". I had to realize that I wasn't in this alone; and no matter how I faltered and fell in the battle, God was still going to be with me. You have to realize during the fight that God isn't going to give up on you. He isn't standing over you saying "if you mess up one more time, it's over"-- remember, God loves you unconditionally, and that Love will not rest until you are the man or woman of God you were created to be. This principle is found in Isaiah 62:1, "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof goeth forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." He will not rest until you are fully restored and you are "burning bright", if you will, for the Lord once more! True, Unconditional Love ALWAYS desires the beloved to be made "perfect" (complete) , over the temporary comfort and happiness of the beloved one.
So if you are in a battle of opposition, if you feel that everything is telling you that you will never make it; than hear this-- God is for you. So don't give up; keep fighting, and reminding yourself of the God who is on your side. Even when you fall, He is still going to be by your side. Remember, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,". God is faithful. And whether you feel you are failing or not, He loves you unconditionally, and that isn't based on feelings.
"If it had not been for the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick,... Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:.... Our help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."
-Psalm 124:1-4 & 8
The LORD is on our side.

Oh God, thank You; You are for me.

Love Always,
XOXOX,
Tawney Rae

Oh My Dear... (prt. 2 of "Undeserved Love" series)~

Hello everyone!
This is a song by 10th Avenue North. It is about unconditional Love, and forgiveness between two individuals,... and how, as the book of James speaks of, we can begin to be healed spiritually by confessing our faults one to another. As Christians, we must always be willing to listen to each other in our struggles, help each other be restored to Christ, and uphold each other in prayer during that season!
Let's always remeber to Love and forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us!
Ephesians 4:32.

Love you all!

XOXOXOX,

Tawney Rae