Heart & the Gospel

My heart breaks as I read Facebook posts of old friends who used to be dear to me, but we have since lost touch --though we are still "friends" via the interwebs. There is so much heartbreak in their posts - so much anger towards the world and towards God - that's what breaks my heart the most. If someone is angry towards both God and the world, what is left? This is important! My heart breaks for the those who have not found Christ and even more, those non-Christians who have been hurt by Christians AND/OR  led down the wrong path/deceived about the gospel and the reality of the Christian faith.  If you're not a believer and you've read this far, I ask you & I beg you to continute to read the rest of this post before writing it off.

I want to share with you who the God of the Bible really is, who Jesus is, who I am and everyone else is as a sinner, and why you (and most definitely myself) need a Savior and the Gospel. Again, I ask you to please read this with an open mind and heart.  [[Or you can watch the video here: www.sharetheumbrella.com/ ]]

So let's start. Who is the God of the Bible?

God is our Creator. The first verse of the Bible says. 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.'(Genesis 1:1). The Bible teaches that God created everything that is, including you and me. The implications of this truth are huge. If God made us, then He is ultimately in charge! He owns us and we are responsible to Him. He retains full rights over us as the Designer and Creator of human life. The Bible tells us that people were created in God's image to enjoy a perfect relationship with Him and with each other. God intended and designed the ultimate in quality and quantity of life for the people He had made. Part of this ultimate relationship between God and His people included His desire to have men and women choose to love and serve Him for who He is willingly and freely.

God is Holy. First Peter 1:16 tells us that God is holy. That means that God is perfect. That verse also tells us that God requires that people be holy too. Unfortunately, from the very beginning the people that God made chose to use their freedom to please themselves instead of obeying God and being holy. The Bible calls this sin. Because people chose to sin they forfeited their priviledged position and their ultimate relationship with God ended. The Bible teaches that everybody born since Adam and Eve were born into a state of separation from God. Sin created a barrier that ruined what should have been a prefect relationship.

God is Just. The Bible also tells us that God is just. Because He is perfectly just He cannot overlook sin. Accoring to passages like 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 God promises to punish sin severely. Though his kindness prevails for now, the Bible is clear that there will come a time when each person will stand before God and payment for sins will be required. That's what hell is all about. It is the place away from God's kindness where people will pay for the sins they have committed.

God is loving. Thankfully, the Bible also tells us that God is loving (1 John 4:8). In His love for sinful and separated people God has provided a solution - a way out for people who otherwise would have no hope! This is the "good news". Much like an umbrella God has provided Jesus, His own Son - God in human form - who has endured the punishment that we deserve so that we won't have to. As God, Jesus lived the perfect life for us as well as incurring the wrath of God for us while dying on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because the umbrella is rained on (because God is just) there is a place beneath it that isn't - so it is with Christ! After living teh life we needed and dying the death we deserved (because we are sinful), Jesus rose from the dead to prove to the world that sin and the penalty for sin had been adequately dealt with.

Repentance and Faith. What Jesus has done is definitely good news, but it does not do us any good until we respond to it the way that God requires. Though many believe that amassing a lifetime of good deeds will somehow earn God's favor and forgiveness, to the contrary, the Bible says that we can acquire God's favor and forgiveness right this moment by repenting of our sins and placing our trust in Christ (Acts 20:21). If today you would choose to turn from your sins (1 Thessalonians 1:9), and trust completely in what Jesus has done for you (Philippians 3:9), then God's Spirit will place you "in Christ"' guaranteed to never incur the punishment your sins deserve. Are you ready to that right now? If so, express to God your desire to be "in Christ," tell Him you right now turn from your sin and you are placing your trust in what Jesus has done to save you from God's wrath.



And so I leave you with this: Jesus Christ is the Father's one and only Son. He humbled Himself and took on the form of man to live a perfect life we could not live in order to be a perfect sacrifice to God, in order that our sin would be paid for so we can have a relationship with God the Father and enter into His kingdom when He calls us home.

He has a plan far bigger than we can see; because God is sovereign, what we see as bad is often a part of His good & perfect plan - even though we cannot see it immediately.

Please, if you have any questions about this leave me a message, and know that I am praying for you!.

http://www.sharetheumbrella.com/
Please.

God's Lessons

God is teaching me a lot about myself since coming to Arizona. I'm learning that I doubt myself a lot, but that there is no reason to because I am fully and completley, 100%, without a doubt accepted by God because of Christ Jesus. I'm learning that I'm a lot more willing that I thought I was. I'm learning that I'm a lot more sure of myself than I thought I was, though I still have moments of doubt. I'm learning that no matter what life does, I trust God in all things - but this is the most complicated thing, though it should be most simple.
There is a particular heart burden than I have, though I know where it comes from, I can't help but feel it on my heart pretty much daily for the past few years. It's a touchy thing, but in my most rational moments I am completely ok. I'm completely trusting. I'm completely patient. I'm completely content. I'm completely blessed. I am so thankful for this burden, but at the same time it tends towards heart break. And it is with burdens like these that I am SO SO SO thankful for the promises God gives us, for His Word and the free access I have to it, for His salvation that comes through Christ Jesus - who became sin, though He knew no sin to be crushed and crucified because of my wretched sins so that He could defeat death by being resurrected, so that I could have the great blessing of eternal life, for verses like Romans 8:18 just because it has always comforted my soul, for godly examples of people in my life, and for music like Laura Story's "Blessings"....

"We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise"

The most delicious Teriyaki Sauce EVER!!

Teriyaki sauce tends to be hit or miss with me. Half the restaurants I've had it at are good and the other half are not so much - BUT I've found the most delicious teriyaki sauce. Seriously. I wanted to drink it.

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup soy sauce
1 Cup water
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garlic powder
5 TBS brown sugar
1-2 TBS honey
2 TBS cornstarch
1/4 Cup cold water

Directions:
In a sauce pan, mix all ingrededients EXCEPT the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of cold water. Begin heating.
In a separate bowl or cup, mix the cornstarch and cold water and dissolve. Add to the sauce pan.
Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness.

If you make it too think, you can always add some water to thin it out.

Simple. Easy. Delish!

Meal Planning

If you're a newlywed like I am, you may struggle with meal planning as I have. Unfortunately, I forget grace to myself so when I would plan in my head to do something, when I would get home from work we usually didn't have all the ingredientsand then we would end up eating dinner at 8 or 9 PM....which is LATE! Thankfully, my friend Ashleigh introduced me to meal planning and a fun way to do it too! Enter the Menu Board.

Now, apparently, this is old news - my mom informed me that she used to do this all the time! She thought I already new. :) Anyways, this board is really easy to make and it's brilliant.

All you need is:

 an 8x10 picture frame

a piece of scrapbook paper; whichever color/print you'd like

letter stickers

decorative stickers (optional)

a dry erase marker.

Directions:

Make sure that your scrapbook paper is cut down to 8x10 and then put it in the picture frame.

On the glass of the frame, using the letter stickers, add the word: "MENU" (or whatever you want it to read - MEAL TIME, MEALS, GRUB, etc.)

Then on the left side of the frame, add letters to signify the days of the week.

Add additional decorative stickers if you'd like. And you're done!
Just write on the glass with a dry erase marker, and you've got a nice dry erase menu board that can be made for under $10!

Another thing that I have found to really help with this is this spread sheet of sorts frm theprojectgirl.com:

This is absolutely fantastic - and I have no idea why I didn't think of it before I found this! It's a printout to help organize the weeks shopping list - not only does it help with meal planning, but it helps the entire grocery store trip not be overwhelming or excessively long since it's broken down into department. I actually enjoy going to the grocery store now, which is something I used to HATE doing. And I mess up dinner a lot less now that I'm planning more adequately and intelligently.
I hope that this helps anyone who may be struggling with overwhelming grocery store trips or making dinner :)

Happy dinners!
S

Post Thanksgiving

I love this time of year! Family, friends, colder weather, cozy sweaters, Christmas music and family. :) This Thanksgiving we were blessed with being able to spend it with Anthony's side of the family. It was nice to Moms & Pops again and it just made me more excited to be able to see my mom, siblings, niece, nephew and my in-laws next month! This year we are thankful for SO many blessings! I launched my business and it's been successful, I was able to reflect on 2 wonderful years with the best little ones ever, we made a big decision to leave Cali and move to the Zona, we were both blessed with jobs here pretty fast, we've made more friends and we adopted a bunny. We've had some downs, but the ups outweigh them. We've learned even more how important prayer and family are, and it has pretty much solidified my desire to have a big family again :) This week A's work has really taken off, and we continue to pray that it will continue in this way. Sunday we have an appointment for Christmas pictures, which I'm not quite sure A understands my excitement on it, but I'm really excited for it haha! I'm also looking forward to decorating for Christmas and getting the kids gifts! It's amazing to see how God is working in our lives here, sometimes it's hard to believe the blessings He has poured out on me and A over the last 3-4 years, seperately and together. God is so good and we are so thankful for all He has done and are looking forward to the things He will do in the future.

We hope that all our friends and family had a great Thanksgiving and that you were able to reflect on all the blessings God has graciously given to you!
In Him,
S

oh my goodness.

My boss must think I'm a HUGE dork!

(for some background information: my work schedule is: Tues/Wed = full day, Thurs = half day).
And now, the texting conversation.

Me: Just so you're aware - I'm still sick.... can't talk bc I have no physical voice
Boss: Ok...keep me posted.
Me: Will do
....
Boss: If you feel up to working when you wake up tomorrow youcould do half day tomorrow and full day on thurs....whateve rworkds! Call or text tomorrow and we can decide then.
Me: Ok....todays monday right?
Boss: Yup :)
Me:oooooooo I get what you're saying. Hah! It's all the hair dye, the fumes must have affected my brain.
Me:.... cause thursday is usually a half day....


REALLY?? REALLY??

Oh my Sanitation!

I recently received (ok bought) a "training" DVD from a well known Make Up Artist and/or Company. By recently, I mean yesterday. In my excitement to learn more about my art, I ripped open the packaging and popped the first DVD in! I have to say I was horrified at things this Artist and/or Company said was ok to do.

For all make up artists, aspiring make up artists, and people receiving the service: it's really not ok to put the product on your hand before using a brush to apply it to a client's face. If you have to pour out some of the product before using a brush, use a clean palette not your hand. Also, don't use your fingers on a client's face either - it's ok to do this on yourself, but not on a client. Use a brush or a sponge. It keeps away excess germs and dirt which can clog pores and cause acne, and it's just kinda gross - would you want someone you barely know putting their hands on your face?

I will say that this particular DVD had some excellent tips and techniques which I am grateful to have been exposed to, but the unsanitary things that were said to be ok was horrifying.

Arizona: healing and growing

     Arizona has been really good for us. It has been a time where we have had to rely 100% on God and trust that He knows exactly what is best for us. We have struggled here, but that's ok. God is in control and He is doing a good thing.
     One thing it has made me face more than before is my pride and my "need" to limit myself before God. I have always struggled with pride and I am so thankful for the people God has placed in my life who have humbled me and shown me grace in the area. It has been a learning experience, but I still have WAY more to learn; I will continue to do so utnil the day I die. The lifestyle and pace here is so much nicer than what I'm used too. I feel like I can just be me and not have to worry about what I look like - what I dress like, how my hair is, how my make up is. And I think this allows for me to be more real with people. I have admitted to more than I have in the past, as I feel I have more freedom in Christ - which has EVERYTHING to do with my reaction to the world, and not necessarily the people in my life. We shouldn't hide things we struggle with because of what someone might say, that is more damaging than anything else. God wants us to be open and honest with our brothers and sisters, he wants us to share our burdens - afterall we're not in this alone.
     I am thankful for the fact that He has brought us here, I am thankful that it hasn't been stress free, I am thankful for the opportunities to break down walls, I am thankful for the opportunities to grow closer to Him, I am thankful for the ability to rejoice in Him, I am thankful for growth and I'm thankful that I have room to grow and always will.

Sickness & Sin

    You know what I hate about sickness? The fact that something has infltrated my healthy body and has made the entire thing unhealthy - and I could have avoided it had I been willing to listen to the signs I saw on Sunday. But that's a lot like sin, isn't it? It can be avoided if only wer are willing.
     God created us in His perfect image and He created a world that was "good" (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."  So here we have a "good world" and man that is created in God's perfect image, which is "very good".
     And then along comes sin, the diliberate disobedience to the known will of God (thefreedictionary.com). In Genesis 2:16-17 is reads, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of he knowledge of good and evil you sall not eat, for in the day tha you eat of it you shall surely die." God's will for Adam was to not eat of that particular tree - enter sin. The serpent came on the scene and tempted Eve by making her doubt God's will, though He had been very clear. It could have been avoided, had she taken the proper steps, had she stuck to her guns. Eve's initial response the serpent was "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the gruit of the tree that is  he midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die'" (Genesis 3:2-3). Her initial response suggests that she was willing to be obedient, but the serpent keeps on her and quickly tempts her to disobey God's will. It started out as the smallest hint of doubt and deception and it has infiltrated EVERY aspect of our lives ever sinc. This sickness started out as the smallest hint that something wasn't right, when my voice started going after 1 worship set, and I chose to wave it off like no big deal, similar to Eve wavig off the LORD's warning.
     Life would be so much easier if we would just heed the warnings at the beginning and obey God, but it's not always that easy.

1 year!

A year ago today, at this time, I was sitting in the lobby of the Montage with my mom, bridesmaids, friend/make up artist/hairstylist, and one of Anthony's co-workers (also a hair stylist) awaiting my room to be ready (which was late) so that we could start getting ready for my WEDDING! Today I look back on this past year and see how faithful and loving God has been, is and always will be. We've had our ups and downs this year, but all for the better. We made some big decisions, moved to a new state, started a new church, are presently fostering a bunny (we can officially adopt her on November 21!), but most importantly grew in Christ together and trusted Him more than we have in the past. So I felt it only necessary to share something that has been a great tool in our marriage, though I wish I had gone through it more regularly than I have.

Shortly before we were married, it may even been right after we got engaged, my in-laws gave Tony & I a prayer card each. Mine reads: Lifting My Husband Through Prayer; his reads: Lifting My Wife Through Prayer. You can get these cards for $0.99 at FamilyLife.com and are perfect to tuck into your bible as a reminder to pray for your spouse during your quiet time!

I will share with you a little of what is on mine, I don't know where Tony's is, so I can't share that - but I would GREATLY encourage buying it from FamilyLife.com where you can have all of it on it - they have such great resources there! In fact, they would be nice to get for a part of a gift :)

[I won't give everything listed on my card; it's quite descriptive and provides a LOT of Scritpture references]

"Lord, I lift my husband to You today and pray, according to Your Word, that:

• You give him strength to lead, time to know his family, and a passion to manage his home.
• You bless his work and show him daily how to honor You in his attitude and spirit; confirm the work of his hands unto Your purpose.
• He will be a wise steward of our finances and all we possess, remembering that all things are Yours and entrusted to us for Your purposes.
• He will love You with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and hate evil.
• He will be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger
• You protect him physically, mentally and spiritually
• You give him the desire to teach and model a godly lifestlye for his children.
• You will instruct him and teach him in the way he should go; give him peace in the circumstances and integrity in decisions he must face today.
• He would meditate day and night on Your Word, pray without ceasing and stay faithful to Christ to the end.
• He would develop strong relationships with other godly men."

On the back of my card it has a section that says: Praying for myself as a wife and The Powe of Prayer. The first is an excerpt from The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian (c)1997, page 45 and the second reference says Ibid., 13-23 [I'm not entirely sure of what that means...]

Again, I would highly suggest checking it out:
Lifting My Husband Through Prayer
Lifting My Wife Through Prayer

Life with the Bunny

Meet Pocket! She's our little baby bunny! We are still fostering her, we have a couple more weeks before we can officially adopt her, but we love her. She forces me to get up earlier in the morning than I would normally get up, which is good! And she's hilarious and cuter than a button! She's active in the morning and at night and spends the rest of her day laying in her pen. She loves bananas and has grown to like celery, though I still don't think it's her favorite. She's very curious and tries to get into everything. She's recently discovered that the door to the bathroom that is always closed leads to another room and is very determined to get through it. She keeps things interesting here and gives us something to do at night that doesn't involve media. BUT, Pocket does not like going to bed at night. She creeps up to the edge of her pen, looks over her shoulder at me and the runs to the other end of the house. It's funny :)  So here's Pocket & she's a lovely addition to our little family. :)



Confidence

     It is absolutely AMAZING how God works in our lives and I cannot contain the joy He has given me this week. We have been busy lately with trying to restart our businesses out here (Anthony Colello Hairstyling & Make Up by Sara Colello) and have been working hard to get booked for photoshoots.
     Earlier in October we had the opportunity to work on a calendar shoot with Miss October and a couple weeks ago had the opportunity to collaborate with Pink House Boutique & Eloquent Photography for an advertisement that will run in JAVA magazine along wtih at least one other magazine, a window display and possibly a few websites. This past weekend we had the pleasure of working with 2 brides and 2 great photographers (31 Photography & Frank Wise, Digital Obsession) and have received some of the photos already - talk about efficiency!
     God has really been showing me a lot through all of this -in short, it's ok to be confident in yourself. I don't know where, but somewhere in my life I came to the conclusion that confidence was this evil, terrible thing. I've had bursts of confidence in my life, though I can't recall any time where I felt completely confident for an entire day, until last Friday. It's definitely freeing to get to the point of understanding that confidence does not mean cocky and that it's ok to say that you are good at something - not that I ever thought that someone else saying they were good at something was bad, I just had it in my mind that if I said I was good at something it was bad. Not sound thinking, but I have felt confident since last Friday and it's weirding me out. I want to talk with people, meet people, hand out my business cards, admit that I'm good at what I do and it is SO incredible freeing. God created me to glorify Him, and if I'm shying away from my talents that is NOT glorifying Him. He gives us talents so that we may work to the Lord and give honor to Him. I am saddened by the fact that I have lost out on so many great opportunities to do just that, but I am rejoicing in the fact that I have many more opportunities ahead of me in which I can. He has blessed us abundantly and we will use our talents to work for Him.
While we work on re-building our businesses out here, please like us on facebook, visit my website, and help us spread the word in AZ!

Anthony's Facebook
Sara's Facebook
Sara Colello - Make Up Artist

In Him,
Sara (& Tony)