Above image courtesy of the volunteer photographers for Pixabay. ~ ~ ~ AFFILIATE LINKS INCLUDED IN THIS POST ~ ~ ~ If you're anything like me, you probably like to hang around on your phone far too much. All the social media, pictures, and funny cat GIFs just will not leave me alone. But then, the dreaded joy-killer comes along. It comes when the phone is plugged in and trying to charge. It's a notification that says: Weak battery charge detected. It then continues to prompt you to check and see what's causing the issue. I go through the steps and I also include a tip from one of my tech buddies; he said to actually go in manually and remove the cache partition (basically all the unnecessary files that get buried under the surface and take up space). The same can happen with our spiritual life. If we aren't plugged in regularly to the Word of God and regularly removing the junk from our hearts, we're eventually going to get a nudge from the Holy Spirit prompting us to do so. He tells us that our charge is weak and we need to do something about it. What's taking up space in your life? What's pushing the important stuff to the side? Is it family? Friends? Cat GIFs? Whatever it is, we need to get our priorities straight. God's Word should come before all else. It's our daily bread, not dessert for later. Are you plugged in correctly? The wrong doctrine and the wrong teachers will get you fouled up pretty quickly. Get under good, Bible-based preaching and teaching. Line up what they are saying with the Bible. After years of using the same phone, it's probably time for a new one right? It gets messed up, dropped, and the screen breaks. But it's okay! New phones are always available. Did you know that your relationship with God can also be renewed? Did you know that His Word is always available too? Sometimes we just need to take a step back, rewind, and get our lives back in order. We want to start fresh. Staying in tune with God isn't always the easiest thing to do, especially with the world clamoring for our attention. That is why there are a million options as to how you can be in your Bible (yep including Bible apps on that phone). The first option is a study Bible. From maps to word studies to in-depth articles, study Bibles are a great tool to use. They come in handy when you don't have time to do a Google search, or if you want the answers straight from the Word of God itself. Check out the range of study Bibles here to help you get started. Another wonderful tool to use is a journaling Bible. All of your thoughts, prayers, and ramblings can be stored here. If you're artistic, there are Bibles that have pages you can paint on or color. If you're more of a writer like myself, you'll enjoy taking notes and jotting down important things along the way. See the journaling Bibles here! The last tool is something that I highly appreciate as a creative mind. Author Sarah Young published a book titled Jesus Calling, and it pulls at your heartstrings as you hear the voice of Jesus speaking directly to you. He comes down to our level and gets real with us. It's almost as if He is writing a love letter to you and I. Look at it here! ~ ~ ~ Feel free to browse any of the products mentioned! I receive a small portion of your purchase to fund my projects such as this blog, Youtube videos, and more. Thank you!
0 Comments
Above image courtesy of the volunteer photographers for Pixabay.
~ ~ ~ Hello hello! I hope you all are having a good 2020 so far! There will not be a new post today but I've put together a brand new schedule for 2020 for SGAB. I hope that it won't be too overwhelming for either the reader or the writer (myself). So read on to see what I've got planned! ~ ~ ~ THEMES Okay so let's talk about themes. Each day that I post will have a theme so that my readers will get what they came to see. If you're into Christian growth, that's what you'll get. If you're into beauty, there's a little bit of that too. Lifestyle? Got it too! ~ ~ ~ SCHEDULE Starting on Sunday, January 26th, a brand new schedule will be in place for the blog. It will hopefully go as follows: SUNDAYS - Devotionals WEDNESDAYS - Christian growth and/or lifestyle (it will switch up from time to time for those who are not into the religious aspect) THURSDAYS - Beauty/fashion FRIDAYS - Lifestyle ~ ~ ~ Please keep in mind that the schedule may change depending on how it works out. It got a little confusing as I was putting it together in my organization program, so bear with me! ~ ~ ~ As always, suggestions and feedback are appreciated! Have a happy 2020. Image courtesy of the volunteer photographers for Pixabay. ~ ~ ~ As an esthetician, it is my job not only to help my clients feel and look their best, but to inform and educate them. Often those of us in this profession tend to forget that the average person does not understand the jargon and fancy stuff associated with the industry. So below, I've created a small, basic listicle of essentials that you will need to get started with your skincare routine. I also curated a video to supplement what you're reading and it will go more in-depth about each step. ~ ~ ~ NOTE: I will discuss the usage of toner in another post/video. The first step in any skincare routine should be your face wash or cleanser. While it's totally okay to use a bar of soap and water, it might be good to step it up a notch. Cleanser will help get rid of the dirt and impurities from the day/night. Choose your cleanser based on your individual skin type. Once to twice a week, you should be exfoliating. Exfoliation takes care of the dead skin cells on the surface of your skin. It will help ensure that the next two steps do their best job. WARNING: Certain types of exfoliation can irritate sensitive skin. If you have any level of sensitivity, chemical exfoliants can do more damage than good. Once to twice a week, again, familiarize yourself with different masks and treatments. The majority of your skincare benefits come from those. Like your cleanser, choose them based on your skin type. For instance, if you have dry skin, look for ingredients such as shea butter or coconut oil. Moisturizing/SPF are very important. Moisturizers will lock everything in that you've just finished doing. SPF is to be worn during the day whether or not you wear makeup. It protects against the sun's harmful UV rays. PRO TIP: - For dry skin, find something heavy with a cream-based consistency. - For oily skin, lighter gel formulas will work the best. ~ ~ ~ Do you have any skincare tips, tricks, or hacks? Let me know in the comments or below the video on Youtube. Image courtesy of the volunteer photographers for Pixabay! ~ ~ ~ I know Christmas is technically over for the majority of us, but in some cultures, it's still going on. Inspired by discussions with my family, I decided to write an impromptu blog post on some local fun! If you aren't from around here, you may enjoy a little treat from down south. See, Christmas around here is pretty special for folks like us. Read on if you'd like to know more! The number one reason why Christmas is so special to us, myself included, is because of the picture you see above. Our Jesus is celebrated at his birth every year on December 25th, and a lot of churches in the area like to start around December 1st. Christmas pageants, caroling, and lights all abound in our little neck of the woods. Would you believe me if I told you I saw live camels this past Christmas? Yep, a church up the road had a live nativity in their front lawn and had live animals! How neat is that. Christmas, like Thanksgiving, is very much looked forward to due to the massive amounts of food being prepared. Now, not many people like the preparation part, but in our house, we make it fun. Whether it be a gingerbread house or a cake, it's all done here. I personally covet my sister's green bean casserole and banana pudding. When it comes to tradition, my aunt makes a killer stew; it's making me hungry just thinking about it! One of the things that my hometown is famous for is its giant display of Christmas lights. They leave them up until December 26th, and boy is it a beautiful sight. The carousel is lit up with white lights while the more colorful displays take center stage all around the block. If you drive around the path from the main road, along the route of the library, and back around to West C Street, you'll get a magnificent glimpse of how seriously the locals take Christmas.
(If you'd like to see pictures, please let me know. I'll post them on the SGAB FB page from my phone.) Speaking of lights, I'd be hard pressed to say that the majority of us around here don't like to go light-seeing (you know, like sight-seeing? get it?). From simple fairy lights trimmed around the rooftops to fun things like Rudolph, Santa, and the nativity scenes, people absolutely love to drive around in the middle of the night to look at lights. ~ ~ ~ Let's reminisce a little. Back when I was little, Kannapolis used to hold some amazing parades. Some of the local high schools would send their bands to play in the parade, and the floats were incredible. One of my fondest memories was standing on the sidewalk with my family beside of First Baptist, and the only thing I had on my mind was getting cotton candy from the stand nearby. By golly I got some cotton candy while I waited for the Santa sleigh to appear. The night of the parade (and sometimes while light-seeing in general) we would ride around downtown and look at the lights there. Wreaths were hung on every street light and on every business door, and there were decorations out on the lake. If I remember correctly, they had a waving Santa out there with some reindeer. They even had some colored lights that spelled out Merry Christmas. It was pretty cool to see those things from my grandmother's house across the street. ~ ~ ~ Well, I'm curious now. Where are you from and does your area have any neat traditions? Do you have any Christmas memories? |
Archives
August 2020
Categories |