Gina Marie

Life Changes…

Jeremiah 29:11-14a (NLT) “For I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you” says the Lord

I am on a new path and a path of where I have no idea where its headed. I have offically retired from the bakery. A bakery that I have worked at tirelessly and have found some purpose in my life. I have had a lot of joy there and have found some amazing lifelong friendships with people who God has placed in my life that have become like family to me. I feel very blessed to have them in my life and its time for me to discover what God is calling me to now, which has yet to be discovered. Truth be told~ I feel a little lost right now. I am not sure of who I am but I am confident that God will let me know.

I find myself soaking in lots of different church services online. I am intrigued and expectant. I am in search of what God is up to and I want to be apart of that! My heart has always been ministry and the one thing I want people to know until the day I breath my last is that God sees you, he knows you and your heart and most of all he is for you! The things that we go through in life are meant to propel us closer to God not further away. Because we are human we have free choice and unfortunately we live in a fallen world and people are bad.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NLT) “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperatley wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

You see God doesn’t create those bad things, he just helps us get through them and helps to use those moments in our life for something good. Sometimes and most often, it takes a hot minute to see how and where God is going to use them so be patient and keep pursing Jesus.

More than anything right now I want to be used by God. I want to live a life thats full of purpose and where people come to know the love of Jesus. Where they find Jesus for themselves. Where they aren’t relying on their parents or friends relationship with the Lord but where they have their own deep encounter with the living God.

If you want to have your socks blown off listen to the song called “The Blessing” by elevation worship. It is a game changer!

I pray this week you and I both have an encounter with the Lord where we each know without a shadow of a doubt deep down inside our very soul that he is for us! I can’t wait how about you????

Be blessed friend xoxox

Getting Weary….

Who else is getting weary? I am definitely ready to get everything opened up to the “new normal”. Maybe because I am a 6 on the enneagram and well we don’t like the unknowns. We like to know what’s coming and how we are going to respond to it. We don’t like the unknowns. I want to get things moving because I want to get things settled inside of my own-self.

I am ready to go to all of my favorite stores like TJ Max, Ulta and Home Goods… Who’s with me??? We have still been working countless hours at the bakery on a very limited staff and we are getting weary. We laugh a lot because we don’t understand the quarantine life. We don’t understand what or how it feels to stay home every day all day..sometimes we joke about how it sounds dreamy but then we realize we actually love to work and then start laughing.

Last weekend I did some work in my garden and cleaned out the beds. I raked them and rearranged some stuff in the yard and that was awesome! It felt great to be outside in the sunshine doing what I love. I love plants and flowers and I could buy millions of them. I did plant some roses in my garden beds this year. I want to have a little rose garden and with deers that love to eat them, I decided I need to plant them in my fenced in garden that my husband built me a couple years ago.

How are you doing? How and what are you doing that makes your soul sing? Are you painting something? Are you planting a garden? What helps you?

Hang in their friends I’m hoping this is getting near to the “new normal”… xoxox

My New Friends…

So I wanted to share with you what happened today while I was at Costco during this crazy virus time which leads to its own experience all together. If you haven’t attempted Costco lately maybe you should give it a go just to feel the experience of it all haha…

So the morning started off fine. I decided that at 8:10 am I was going to first head to Safeway to see if they have any toilet paper. We have some rolls left but I have looked for the last couple days and have found nothing so I started to kinda think about it a little bit more like maybe I need to be a little more proactive about this particular situation. So after not finding anything at Safeway I headed to Costco to get in line. It was 8:30 now and the line was already starting around the side of the building and the doors open at 9:30. People kept pouring in and getting into line and now it was wrapped behind Costco. I thought wow if someone is really desperate for something there is no chance they will ever get it way back there. I started chatting with the couple in front of me and I was telling them that I have been looking for toilet paper for the last several days and how my son told me last night that he and his brother go through about a roll a day! I was like well you boys are going to need to dial that down and I probably need to figure out what everyone is eating around here hahaha…Anyways we had a good laugh and kept chatting. Well the doors opened and the line started to move and we were told that the toilet paper was right by the door so I was already starting off a little rough because there were a lot of people still in front of me. We got to the front of the line and they handed us the sanitized cart and we went in. I saw the staff handing out the toilet paper and I got in line behind my new friends leaving a little room so I didn’t hit them. Well a gal on my left literally cut in between us and got the very LAST package!Like right in front of my face!! I was like what just happened. I looked at the guy and said “oh wow did you just see that”. He said “yes I am very sorry.” I said “its ok I will just keep looking”. Mind you we have some rolls at home but after my sons story I got a little concerned I’m not gonna lie. Anyways I proceeded to keep walking and my new friends pulled to the side and put their toilet paper in my cart! I said “oh gosh you don’t have to do that!” I was literally chocking back the tears. Not because I just got toilet paper I honestly was ok but because there are still the most kind people out there. I have been thinking about them all day today and I have been praying over them asking for the Lords blessing in their lives. Again not because they gave me toilet paper, it’s because they put someone else’s need above their own.

So as I finish my story about today I just pray that when I see someone in need I pray my first reaction is to give them what they need if I have it and put myself second. We are in a time right now where everyone is out for themselves and the “me first” attitude and I don’t want to be like that. They may never know how much they actually touched my heart today but I pray that I see them again maybe even at Costco 😉

Just go out and be the blessing 😉

PEACE

As I was reading this morning in a devotional that I have been doing this really stood out to me today. The simple word “peace”. As I have thought about this today I was thinking about everything that is going on all around us and the very thing we are all lacking is peace. There is literally no peace anywhere to be found right now if you look at anything on tv or read anything online. This is what my devotional said today about it-

Peace (Order)-God is not the author of confusion and disorder, yet he is active in the midst of confusion to bring about HIS eventual fully controlled order. (This is from the Trustworthy devotional by Lysa Terkeurst on You Version bible app.)

You see all of this craziness and confusion and chaos is not caused by the one who holds our future but he can bring a calmness and give us peace in the midst of it. The enemy is defiantly working overtime right now to cause a lot of worry and fear. God never said following him was going to allow us to be free from all of these things but he did promise to be with us during it.

Here are some verses to ponder:

Philippians 4:6-7- Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

John 16:33- “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart I have overcome the world”

John 14:27- “Peace I leave you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid”

God is the author of peace. I know for myself personally I struggle with fear and trust which doesn’t bring much peace at times. I don’t want to live that way so I have a choice to make. Either I choose trust and trust that the Lord is in control or I give the enemy a foothold in my life. Is it easy? Absolutely not but it is my choice and mine alone. Every day I have to wake up and choose peace. Everyday I have to get up and choose to believe and trust the God is who he says he is and keep moving forward in him. Am I anywhere near perfect at this nope I’m not and I fail at it everyday but I keep getting up and choosing Jesus.

What area’s do you struggle with and in what ways can you choose peace in your circumstances? We are all on the crazy journey together we call life so let’s help lift each other up and help each other keep moving forward and keep building each other up. If we are to be Jesus to people then let’s start by changing the culture around us and lets spread peace but what the world needs is peace but only the life giving peace of the one who created it Jesus…

Blessings

Jeremiah..

As I read this morning chapter 1 in Jeremiah…this is what I learned about him.

Jerm 1:4-5

4-Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5- “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

*He was a prophet for a worldwide ministry.

*Jeremiah was called by God specifically. His ministry was 2 fold-destructive and constructive. God’s word is accompanied with power so that Jeremiah would accomplish these objectives.

*God never makes a mistake in choosing his servants. He empowers all he calls and provides the encouragement and help they need.

*With God Jeremiah is invincible.

*The secret of spiritual victory in Jeremiah’s life is that Jeremiah is assured success on the condition of his faith in God.

The last thing I learned today is Jeremiah knew his calling and his calling was specific. Although he faced many challenges and opposition he was a butt kicker! He was called to speak the truth of the Lord and many people turned against him. Although I’m sure it was hard at times but he knew that God was with him and he knew his calling and he went out and did it.

What is your calling? As we are all on this path to hear and see God move~ I challenge you to press in and listen to that still small voice inside that is speaking to each of our hearts and ask God to show you what your calling is and then go and kick booty!!!

Plants…who loves plants??

I do! I love going to stores that have plants, I love buying plants, I love looking at them and touching them! I literally can not stop myself from buying them. In the summer, I love planting in all of my different planters and containers. I love shopping around for vintage items to plant in. It is so fun coming up with different ways and things to plant in. One place that I found has great plants for very affordable prices is Trader Joes! You can find all kinds of different plants there. Not too long ago, I purchased an Olive Tree.. not sure if its going to make it but I am sure giving it a go. The other thing Trader Joe’s has is amazing cut flowers! They’re a great price and you can get a variety of different kinds and make amazing bouquets.

PINEWOOD SOCIAL…

Pinewood Social is located in Nashville, TN and it is a must go to! This place is unreal.. From their amazing atmosphere and food to their retro bowling alley located inside. They have individual work stations with retro desk lamps attached at each space. You can stay all day and work, eat and meet up with friends for dinner! You can follow them on IG at @pinewoodnashville their place is absolutely one of my favorite spots we visited while in Nashville in January.

What’s my story?

Welcome to my newest adventure… I am not sure what I am doing but I am glad you are along for the ride.

I am a wife, a mother to 4 amazing talented kids and live on a small farm with lots of funny things that happen every day!

Why do this?

I thought it would be fun to share my crazy ideas and my life lessons
I love to rearrange things in my house and love a good deal when shopping. I love to hunt for awesome vintage pieces and hope to go travel around a bring stuff back (bucket list)

What I’ve been up to for the last couple years:

My daughter started baking when she was 7 years old now fast forward several years and at 23 she opened her first bakery. The day after it opened she turned 24! So I jumped into the crazy adventure with her and for the last 3 years we’ve done our 1st commercial build-out together (which was a lot of fun), and I helped her open her 1st successful bakery. Since opening she has opened another location in Lake Oswego, Oregon and her 3rd set to open in Scottsdale, AZ in a couple of months.

For the last month I have stepped back from working so much at the bakery so I can go back to being wife, mom and figure out who I want to be when I grow up. I am still working some for the bakery, running our wholesale and specials orders but I am excited for a new adventure.

One of my favorite things is to look at peoples decorating styles and try to duplicate it myself. I love looking in magazines and peoples social media and read what they are up to! I find it quite fascinating…

So that’s a little about me and I hope you enjoy our time together.. G