Praise is what I do!

I'm the interim director of the dance ministry at my church (a position I've held for about 2yrs...it's a long story). We minister twice monthly and this month is our pastor's appreciation/anniversary so we teamed up with the male mimers to minister in dance and mime which was no easy undertaking. We ministered to "Praise is What I Do"...the extended version. We had flags, sheets, streamers, scarves, I joked in practice what's next a hoolahoop? But all jokes aside the experience was awesome. I think the beauty of ministry, but especially those related to the arts, is when we give our meager talents over to the Lord to be used to His Glory we find that He magnifies them. In college I was a member of a dance group and I used to kid and say I was on the remedial squad because I couldn't choreograph, took forever to learn things and would forget an 8-count by the time you counted to 5. So imagine my chagrin and reluctance when I was tapped to be over a dance ministry!! I didn't know how I could make up one dance...much less 20? But God is faithful when we trust Him and our little becomes much when we place it in the hands of the Master. I am not good at what I do but God is awesome at what He does, so we being every practice with prayer and we dedicate our gifts and talents to the glorification of God....and in all modesty He does a great job with what we offer unto Him for His use (we're on YouTube ; )
Now on to the fashion: welcome fall!
Simple stuff, a mustard hi-lo skirt and sweater. I bought both pieces from the same store but the sweater is actually several years old, while the skirt was purchased this year. A little secret about this outfit is I had the wear an extra slip over the lining of the skirt because the actual lining was realllllly short, but since the skirt zips I could only pull the skirt partially up. Yeah, but it sound more complicated than it was. The colorblock shoes provided the inspiration for the outfit.

Enlarge my territory...

My pastor had been doing a series on the prayer of Jabez recently. While I was familiar with the prayer of Jabez because I had read a short book on it years ago I still find it to be interesting because it's a powerful example of how a simple sincere prayer can change so much. Sandwiched amongst a long list of begat this and begat that lie Jabez who was noteworthy for two things: his mother bore him in pain and he prayed and asked God to bless him, expand his territory, keep him from evil and keep His hand upon him...and God did. Two verses (1 chronicles 4:9-10) but it's so powerful because it clearly outlines steps we can take to be blessed. Jabez's prayer wasn't only about God blessing Him but also about keeping him from harming others, a reminder that we have a obligation to be mindful of how we impact others. In essence God heard Jabez's prayer and blessed him because Jabez prayed in accordance to God's will. How then can we receive God's blessing pray in accordance with God's will and His word.
Now on to the fashion...first Sunday! Aka Ninja Sunday dressed in my traditional all black I was inspired (loosely) by Audrey Hepburn and decided to put on just about every piece of pearl jewelry I could find in my jewelry drawers...but I think it works, so don't judge me ; )

God is watching you

The topic of today's sermon was God is watching you. Despite its basic message the sermon was profound in that we so often forget that God is ever watching us. Admittedly, at times, I have taken for granted the fact that God is always watching the things do, the places I go and the words that come out of my mouth. While as Christians we are forgiven of our sins and God still readily extends His grace, mercy and forgiveness to us, it's still important to strive to be a better Christian today than we were yesterday. As Christians we are to constantly devote ourselves to spiritual growth. How would you day be different if God was sitting in the corner on a stool at our jobs? Or on the couch in our homes? How about riding in the passenger seat of our vehicle? We joke about "big brother" watching us or listening in on our phone conversations but the reality is someone bigger than "big brother" is watching and listening all the time. God. He might not physically be on that stool, or couch or passenger seat but He is always be our side watching us, protecting us, providing for us and guiding us.

Black faux-wrap blouse:
Grey leopard print jeans: Vanilla Sky
Black o-ring belt: Gap
Black suede peep toe booties: Steve Madden
Black carryall purse: Coach

In the valley.

The pastor of the church down the street from my house is doing a series on the valley. He preached a message from the 23rd Psalm that completely changed the way I looked at a text that is so familiar I could quote it verbatim from memory. It was encouraging because no matter what every individual is either entering a valley, going thru a valley or exiting a valley. The beauty of the valley is we are never alone in the valley. Even when it seems like we are going thru a trial or a problem and all our friends, family members and love ones have left, we STILL are not alone. God goes before us leading us INTO the valley. Contrary to popular belief, those trials are not always punishment for things we may have done sometimes God orchestrates situations to teach us a lesson or build our faith and trust in Him. Even when our trials are a consequence of poor choices on our part God isn't going to abandon us to ride out the storm, He sticks right by our side as we maneuver our way through our trials and when we see the light at the end of the tunnel guess what? God is bringing up the rear, His goodness and love follow us!! So the next time you think your alone in your situation, whatever it may be, BE ENCOURAGED God is with you! And remember valleys exist between two mountains so while you may be transitioning through the valley you can only emerge on a mountain!!
Now on to the fashion: yea my dress is colorful...blame it on my foreign roots ; ) This dress actually has a drawstring waist but I didn't particularly care for it so I added a belt to the dress. As for the heelless Mary-Janes they're remarkably comfortable, it's just a matter of balance. This outfit pretty much put an end to my summer brights but at least I got a chance to go out with a bang : )

Have a little talk with Jesus...

Since summer has ended and school has begun I had to change my schedule/ routine. Earlier mornings, longer days the whole nine yards. Throw in a Monday class that disrupts my entire week and the ripple effect begins in earnest through my life. I could bore you all with the details but lets be honest that's not why you're here...you're here for fashion and the Lord (in whichever order floats your boat). Sooooo while my work schedule has little to do with fashion it has a lot to do with my relationship with the Lord. See, I have a prayer partner. We pray daily during the week. While we used to pray around 7:30am my new schedule requires me to leave my house 20 minutes earlier, so now I'm leaving at 7:30am. Well this left me with two options: pray earlier or skip prayer with my prayer partner and just pray by myself. Well I have to tip my hat to my prayer partner for being a trooper because we now pray at 6:30 am and I KNOW they're tired and would much rather sleep until 7:15 because more often than not I'm tired and would rather sleep until 7. The reality of the situation though is that sleeping in is not an option. In Proverbs 8:17 God promises that those who seek Him early shall find Him, and I definitely need to find Him daily. If you aren't starting your day with prayer and devotional try it, I promise you'll find Him early in the morning and your days will be better, even when they're worse because your mind will be set on better things.
Now on to the fashion!
Summer is over so except for Youth Sunday I'm pretty much done with casual looks. I'm still trying to squeeze the last bit of bright colors out before the cool weather starts but since I live in South Florida I've got time.

Coral and royal blue blouse: Local boutique
Royal blue capri's: target
Royal blue suede pumps: Steve Madden
Royal blue clutch: express

Not rain, nor hail, nor sleet, nor snow

I live in South Florida and earnestly prayed for several days for a tropical storm day (don't judge me). Well, God blessed me with tropical storm Isaac and in turn a Monday off from work and the best part of it all was despite a lot of rain and wind we basically got by unscathed. But that was Monday afternoon rewind 24hrs to Sunday when the meteorologist still was giving conflicting reports on the severity of the storm and the estimated arrival of the most inclement weather bands. Although some ministries had cancelled morning service my church had not, and honestly I was quite apprehensive about our church's decision to have service because according to the weatherman the most inclement of weather would arrive as service let out. Honestly, I would have loved to go to 7:30am service go home and bunkered down for the rest of the day but as the coordinator for the dance ministry with a dancer on program for the day I knew I needed to be present, so off to 10:30 service I headed...and boy was I glad I did! Not only was the young lady's dance AWESOME, the weather held up ALLLLLLLL the way until Sunday night! I know I've said it before but I really do think sometimes God just waits for us to step out on faith and trust Him so He can show out in our lives and our situations.
Now on to the fashion!
I wasn't exaggerating when I said I had some reservations about heading out to service in potentially inclement weather. My outfit definitely reflected my sentiment for the day. I kept it really simple and went with wedge booties because I HATE getting my feet wet. I also have a guest in my picture, "button", my niece, but since her mom dressed her I won't go into details about her outfit ; )

Yellow cotton safari shirt: Apostrophe (British clothing line)
Drab skinny fit cargos: The Limited
Brown ultra suede wedge boots: Wild Diva

Planes, trains and automobiles!

Yaaaay! God is really awesome! This picture was taken less than 24hrs after I'd just gotten off the plane from London. I'd just spent the last week in England, Manchester and London, enjoying the Olympics, English culture, history and ramen...because the food there is gross.
Now I'll be the first to admit getting to church was a struggle. Changes in time zone and 12 hours in the air is no joke...but I felt that we press our way through to so many other places and for so many other reasons, how could my walk with Christ come any lower on the list? So I went and was it worth it? Yes! And did I go home and sleep the rest of the afternoon and evening? Oh yes!!
On to the fashion...
I kept it remarkably simple: black pants with a hot pink flutter crepe blouse. I was supposed to get my hair done two hours after arriving back in the states but as I took my phone off of airplane mode for the first time in 8 days I was greeted by a voicemail informing me that the young lady who does my hair would be coming to town the FOLLOWING week. Well I did what any tired fashionable naturalista would do...reached in my stash of scarves and tied my hair up.

Pink crepe top: Pretty Good
Black pants: Mossimo
Black platform Mary Janes: Steve Madden
Pink and orange scarf: Versace for H&M
Orange braided belt: H&M
Fuchsia hobo bag: Coach