Social Issues | 7 Days of Disciplined Writing

This week I'm disciplining my writing time and going for quantity. 500 words, 1 hour, 7 days in a row. The prompts I'm using will post every day at 12:00 AM if you want to play along! Also, you can use your own prompts! Make sure to tell me if you're playing! 

How I'm Playing:

• Each morning (12:00 AM, Monday-Monday) a new prompt will be posted
• Set a 1 hour timer
• Choose the poison: laptop, journal, notebook, iPad, etc
• Write, without getting up, and a minimum of 500 words
• Close the book and walk away (*If I want to edit my piece, I will do so later in the day)
• Let loose with it!

See the rest of the prompts here.

Good Morning House | 7 Days of Discipline Writing

This week I'm disciplining my writing time and going for quantity. 500 words, 1 hour, 7 days in a row. The prompts I'm using will post every day at 12:00 AM if you want to play along! Also, you can use your own prompts! Make sure to tell me if you're playing! 

How I'm Playing:

• Each morning (12:00 AM, Monday-Monday) a new prompt will be posted
• Set a 1 hour timer
• Choose the poison: laptop, journal, notebook, iPad, etc
• Write, without getting up, and a minimum of 500 words
• Close the book and walk away (*If I want to edit my piece, I will do so later in the day)
• Let loose with it!

See the rest of the prompts here.

A Life Changing Moment | 7 Days of Discipline Writing

This week I'm disciplining my writing time and going for quantity. 500 words, 1 hour, 7 days in a row. The prompts I'm using will post every day at 12:00 AM if you want to play along! Also, you can use your own prompts! Make sure to tell me if you're playing! 

How I'm Playing:

• Each morning (12:00 AM, Monday-Monday) a new prompt will be posted
• Set a 1 hour timer
• Choose the poison: laptop, journal, notebook, iPad, etc
• Write, without getting up, and a minimum of 500 words
• Close the book and walk away (*If I want to edit my piece, I will do so later in the day)

7 Days of Disciplined Writing

Some say that the world is in a "hipster phase of writing," where being a writer is cool, fresh, and everybody loves doing it. But I say that people are finally feeling free to tell their stories. It's nothing new that everyone writes. We're just hearing more about it because of the amazing internet tools. 


But there is a lot of work that goes into writing that is easily illusional by witty blogs and quick minutes of fame on highly trafficked content. From what I am learning and what is unanimously spoken and written about from actual professional authors, is that writing takes work. 


A lot of work. 


I am not a professional writer. I am not a seasoned writer. I am not a paid writer. Yet. But I am searching for new ways to stay sane in this machine of a creative process. I know I need more discipline, that is no secret, and I know I need more inspiration.


So I am making myself write some beefy word counts for 7 days this week. Kind of like a brain and hand boot camp. Yea, something like that.


Wanna play? 

• Each morning (12:00 AM, Monday-Monday) a new prompt will be posted
• Set a 1 hour timer
• Choose the poison: laptop, journal, notebook, iPad, etc
• Write, without getting up, and a minimum of 500 words
• Close the book and walk away (*If I want to edit my piece, I will do so later in the day)

FYI: Topics will be random. 

Today's Prompt:
Describe your earliest memory. 


Go. Happy writing days! 
(PS. If you're playing, let me know!)

Stay Focused. Finish Well.

This weekend I am organizing 4 years of school work into one tight, clean, pretty portfolio. I've tried to blog like 6 times and it's just not happening. But a new series is starting Monday! Check back. Especially if you like to write ;) 


Happy holiday weekend~ BBQ something. 

Della's Story | A Singing Success

Raised in a musical family, Della never thought her voice was good enough to be heard. When she came to me she had never ever sang in front of her husband of 13 years. Her first homework assignment was to do just that.

Now, a year later, this girl is the queen of karaoke with the voice of a jazz diva. She was recently chosen for the leading role in a theater production. 

The control, range, and power she has gained over the last year has blown me away. Her fear of failure paralyzed her from singing for the world.

Not anymore. 

She was afraid, but she did it anyways. This is her story.

From Faux Peace to All-Surpassing Peace

Lately I've been indirectly fearful. I'd like to call it smart, trusting, or even okay with whatever happens. But now I see it for what it is: faux (or fake) peace. I think we all experience some degree of faux peace at different points in our life. 


This time, I am afraid that if I ask God for what I want or what I think I need, and He says No, then I won't trust Him anymore. I'm afraid I'll loose faith, which isn't super big right now as it is. In fact, it's about the size of a mustard seed (aka: just enough). 


It's easier for me to let Him assume His rightly placed position as the Sovereign Creator of Heaven and Earth and do whatever He wants. Right now, it's easier for me to have no say in the matter I am begging for. It's easier to be the empty vessel by which He does His will.


But that's not what He wants. 


He wants relationship. 
He wants partnership.
He wants struggle and brokenness to become undeniably beautiful by burning away the dross and muck. 
He wants the Church to be built by witnessing and praying and weeping and laughing with one another. 
He wants us to ask Him, together, so that our circumstances do not effect just us, as individuals, but all of us, as a community. 


There's a story in Daniel 3 about three men who trusted God with their lives and He let them go to their impending death by way of a burning hot furnace. They had refused to disclaim God as the only object of their worship and they were to be punished for that stark decision. 


We'll start reading in Daniel 3:19-29 (MSG)

Nebuchadnezzar, his face purple with anger, cut off Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace fired up seven times hotter than usual. He ordered some strong men from the army to tie them up, hands and feet, and throw them into the roaring furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, bound hand and foot, fully dressed from head to toe, were pitched into the roaring fire. Because the king was in such a hurry and the furnace was so hot, flames from the furnace killed the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to it, while the fire raged around Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, "Didn't we throw three men, bound hand and foot, into the fire?"

"That's right, O king," they said.

"But look!" he said. "I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!"

Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the High God, come out here!"

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.

All the important people, the government leaders and king's counselors, gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn't so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes, not even the smell of fire on them!

Nebuchadnezzar said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They ignored the king's orders and laid their bodies on the line rather than serve or worship any god but their own.

"Therefore I issue this decree: Anyone anywhere, of any race, color, or creed, who says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and their houses torn down. There has never been a god who can pull off a rescue like this."

The faith that was developed in those three men was put to the test and proved to be a life-changing experience for everyone around them. The testing of their faith wasn't for them. I'm sure their faith and trust in God grew radically. I mean, they survived the inside of a furnace that killed men from the outside. But they already had confidence in who God was before they passed the test. This wasn't for them. 


I am quickly realizing that what we are going through right now, it isn't for us. Sometimes I know that, and don't care. It hurts too much. Other times, like this morning, I know that and weep while seeing another woman weep because she too, is feeling the same sorrow. And it's those times that remind me just how much I love my God. 


It's in those time my faux peace is exposed and I desperately cling to His word for strength and real, all-surpassing peace.


I end with my journal entry from May 7, 2012:


Talk to me God. Teach me. Show me what you are doing. Guide me and give me peace. I want that all surpassing peace you promise in Philippians. Please. When we do conceive, I pray in faith, God I want the circumstances to bring honor and glory to You. I want, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to have a faith so strong and a story so rich with Your presence that it causes people, like king Nebudchadnezzer, to have life changing encounters with You. If we're going to do this, we might as well do it big eh? 


I know many of my prayers are *misguided. I pray for comfort instead of character. I pray for an easy way out instead of the strength to make it through. I pray for no pain, when the result would be no gain. I pray that You would keep me out of the pits and away from the lions. But if you answered every one of those prayers, it would rob me of my greatest opportunities. 


Amen. 

Are you living in faux peace? Do you long for the all surpassing peace? It's okay, me too. Email me or post your prayer request in the comments below.

(*Portion of journal paraphrased from this book)

Free Download + A She Seeks Kind of Day

This song has been stuck in my head this week. So I thought I'd share the love. (You can hear the song >>>here: Micah) *Click the picture, then right click the bigger version to save for your desktop. 
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PS. Me and the boy I met at Starbucks are over at She Seeks today. Over the last week, that story got crazy and is to be continued on Thursday. You'll see. Make sure to check back to the She Seeks video blog.

Weekend Links

// This is the one portion of my blog where I get to tell you all the crazy, fun, beautiful, and random things I've been reading, seeing, hearing and obsessing about throughout the week. In no particular order. -JM // 

I was scouring Pinterest this week for apartment ideas and this picture made me crack up. That poor mom. (Pinterest)


Never thought I would say this, but I love everything about this post. Still totally using my aluminum full deodorant and shaving my armpits, but I still love it. (Jeremy + Kathleen)


I hear consensus on Moleskin Journals is that everyone loves them for everything. This tutorial made me want to buy 10 of them and convert them into planners I will probably never use. But it'd be fun! (Kyla Roma)


Anyone who ever comments about anything, ever should read this article. I especially love this line: "I do not believe that personal right ever trumps personal responsibility." (Lisa Whittle) 


If you're a creative person, you'll wanna frequent this blog. She is where I get a good chunk of my inspiration. (ElsieCake)


I use this site everyday. Cleanest to-do list I've ever had. (TeuxDeux)


This dress is everything I believe. Okay not really, but it's yellow and I love it. (Nasty Gal)


I mentioned this in my Mother's Day post, but this blog and this blog rocked me this week. 


I love Summer so much (especially in SoCal!) so I'm giving ad spots away at 20% off :) Go to the link below and use the promo code: SummerLovin (http://bit.ly/JqOh1X) If you have a shop, a business, a blog, a family farm, well then Happy Birthday!
And last for this weekend, a video of a new favorite singer girl I've been listening to. Stacy King in Sucre. 


Happy Weekend ~ What are you up to this weekend?? Come hang out on Twitter or Facebook.

Seeing Mother's Day from the Other Side

--- Today, in honor of this year's Mother's Day and my current season of life, I am intentionally bringing light to the many women who are going through the battle of loss or infertility. Just as a somber reminder that we are more common than we realize. I did ask my mother's blessing to replace my usual gushing of her with today's post. You can read about how much I adore and love my mother here, here, and here. ---

There is a large degree of hopelessness in infertility, one of waiting and constant disappointment, and it is often isolating. 

Last night, after church, I was packing up my things in a side room and my friend Marcy came bursting through the wooden door. "I've been looking for you," she said. "Well, here I am!" I replied with a smile. She held out her hand and in it were two roses. One white and one pink. "These are for you, because you're a mommy twice." I was definitely caught off guard, 1) because I forgot we give out roses for mothers on Mother's Day and 2) because she remembered me. 

I gave her an almost-too-tight-hug, said thank you, and she whisked away. I stared at my roses and was overcome with emotions equally split between sadness for my reality and gratitude for my friend. 

I know my story is 1/10 of the length and pain some women have grieved and lost. I have a lot to learn when it comes to this new journey of my life, but if there's one thing that has kept me moderately sane it is this: It is fact, the one thing God has done over and over and over again in the bible is opening the barren women's womb. 

Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Samson's Mother, Hannah, the Shunamite woman, and Elizabeth. (Mical, Kind David's wife, was the only recorded barren woman who we know for sure did not conceive. She will be getting her own blogpost soon.) 

In all these instances, there are moments in the stories when the women lost hope. They gave up. They got to a place where they accepted their reality of being childless, though their longings never wavered. Even through the black and white lettering, I can sense the intensity of their emotions and imagine the weariness in their voices. Probably because I've been there. There's no way that is possible. I can't have babies. I've tried, you can hear them saying. 

But God saw them. He saw them in their weariness and He loved them. To some He gave the miracle of children and to others, He didn't. But to all of them, He showed them who He was amidst their pain and sorrow.

And in all circumstances, they saw God and they worshipped Him. Probably not bubbly and excitedly. No, it was more likely to be through the tears of ugly crying, but they worshipped Him nonetheless. 

I don't know what your Mother's day holds and what your past ones mean to you, but I know the brokenhearted mother (or mothers to be), are often unmentioned. Not maliciously or intentionally, of course. But as one of them, I wanted remind us that wherever we are today, the Jehovah God, He sees me and He sees you. He knows our names, He knows our pain and He sees us right where we're at. That is a promise.

And, if you are a mother, who has been sovereignly blessed with children, pray for your sweet sisters who are broken hearted today, remember them, and enjoy your sweet (and sometimes crazy) children to the fullest. 

Happy Mother's day friends. ~

Reads that have inspired me:

+"I became a mother the day I held my head high and walked into the reproductive endocrinologist’s office for the first time, putting my dreams into someone else’s hands." -Erin

+ "I would cry out and sometimes scream out to God, what was wrong with me that He wouldn't entrust me with a child?? And then came Weiland. If we did not miscarry, we would not have Weiland. If our fertility treatments were successful, we would not have Weiland. I am in love with this little boy." -Elizabeth

+ "Doing good was the only way I found to go from a sobbing mess on the floor to a strong, confident standing baby loss mother. And, honestly, part of me is forever going to be that sobbing mess on the floor. But I’m a better person because my daughter was here. I want to make the world a better place, too." -Kristine

Dear Season, Please End Soon

This line came from a wearisome moment I tweeted out yesterday. Sometimes you're just ready to move on from the heartache you know? I'm there and ready for it to move on. ~ 

"Have you not known or heard that Yahweh, the everlasting God and Creator of all the earth, does not faint or ever become weary? Indeed, His understanding is inexhaustible! He gives strength to the weak, and power to those who have no might. Even the youth will faint and be weary, and utterly fail; but those who wait on Yahweh will receive new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run, and not become weary, they will walk, and not faint!" (Isaiah 40:28-31)

An Instagrammed Retreat

On our way home today! I can't wait to see Ty. It's crazy how much I miss him. This weekend was filled with sweet rest, long talks with old and new friends, time with my beautiful mother, sunbathing and worship. Pure, unadulterated worship. So many posts are blooming from this weekend. Hold on to your hats! ~

Singing in the Sunshine // Weekend Links

This weekend I will be in a sunshine paradise, doing what I love most with these ^^^ amazing girls. Singing, sunbathing, and learning more about Jesus'. Tune into #instagram (username: themorlets) or #twitter (username: juliannamorlet) to see some behind the scenes pics from the weekend. 


What are some of the songs we'll be singing, you ask? 
Our God, Desert Song, Hosanna, Break Every Chain, This is Our God, None But Jesus, Til I See You, How He Loves, Amazing Grace, God Is Able
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Enjoy your ray of sunshine! Here are some fun reads for ya: 


So there's this adorable girl I know, and you know her too, and she finally started a blog where she will be sharing her perspective of life and faith as a young musician. Show her some love! (iamxenia) 


I love having a calendar as my comp's desktop. Do I use it? Nah. Are they cute? Yup! Here's the one I'm using for May. (Thorn + Sparrow) 


Did you know you can get addicted to tanning? Crazy! (Huffington Post)


Doesn't this video make you want to change the world?? (YouTube)


Totally irrelevant to everything, yet perfectly relevant to any woman, I found the perfect ponytail. Yup. (Pinterest) 


The Good Women Project is catching some major momentum and if you're a woman, you should check it out. Lauren, the founder, wanted to start a project that  exists to restore a woman’s identity as God created her to be. And I'm a huge fan. Hopefully I can do a full post on them soon. So good. (Good Women Project)


Happy Weekend friends! ~ See you on Twitter or Instagram!

We Aren't Meant to Be Self-S...(A Thought Interrupted) | Moving Days

We were at a conference all last week, that spoke specifically to the work we are wanting to do in Los Angeles. It was 4 full 8-hour days, including dinner together, learning, discovering, sobering, and inspiring us for the future. It was both refreshing and overwhelming, in a good way. 

We made so many amazing connections with couples that really spoke wisdom and encouragement into our lives. I know for me, as the wife of a risk-taking dreamer and being one myself, we can often loose sight of reality. You know, like bills, money, living situations, just little things like that. It's safe to say the conference gave us tools and knowledge that will take us far, so long as we use it. haha.

There was one day where all the women got together and had a session of our own. We talked about girly things and the emotional aspects of church-planting as wives. The challenges of balance and family, ministry and rest. One sweet lady said something that stuck to me like super glue. In telling her side of her church-planting story she said, "I have an overwhelming tendency towards self-sufficiency..." I don't even remember the rest of the sentence, but as soon as those words flew out of her mouth, I leaned over to Ty and said, "I want to be her friend." Why? Because that is me. 

I have an overwhelming tendency towards self-sufficiency.

It's not a secret and it's not okay either. And I think some of you may feel the same way too. It might be a woman complex, or probably more like a human race complex. I can't even count how many times, just today, I have struggled to grasp control over uncontrollable situations. And it's only 11:00 AM people. Her point was, that though she tries to accomplish life on her own, or fix unfixable situations, she's learned she makes a bigger mess that way. 

We aren't meant to be a self-s

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Funny story. As I was writing this post, a dear friend walked in and we just got done talking for over an hour. Totally a divine appointment. Her presence reminded me how much I need encouraging people like her in my life. 

I prayed for confirmation this morning in a couple areas of my life, one of them being relationships and friendships. I'm so boggled and overwhelmed and grateful right now. 

So the remainder of this post will forever be a mystery because friends, God is real. He loves you and He loves me. He sees you in your need and me in mine and He proves Himself faithful every time. He will always provide what you need. Crazy. So, so crazy.