Something to be said for Silence

I woke up this morning with high hopes of writing a full chapter in my book. Since I am @ Jr. High camp, our morning was fairly full with breakfast, chapel, and game time. But this afternoon seemed promising. After lunch I grabbed my computer and a book and sat on our comfy queen bed and literally stared at this screen for an hour. 

 Then, I decided that I should maybe read to clear my mind and get the wheels rolling again by someone else's work of art. I'm halfway through Elisabeth Elliot's book, A Chance to Die. Amazingly intriguing book, but I couldn't get past the page I started on!


So I conceded and just sat there in silence. Pondering anything and everything that came to my mind. Kind of a crazy experience. 


You know when you ask a guy [any and all] what they are thinking and they reply, "...nothing." 


Well, I was hoping that I could see what that was like, but I don't think girls have the capacity to just think about nothing. I thought about my book, my family, how I have to move when I get home from camp, how my dog is doing, did she run away? Then the running away thought reminded me of one time when she did run away and we found her flailing in a pile of horse manure. Then, horse manure reminded me of how much I love riding horses and I should go again soon. 


You get my drift. 


So yesterday I prayed, God please let my mind be silent or fill it with your Word. And for the next 2 hours, it was. It was either completely blank or pondering the things of the Lord. Later it got me thinking about how we we go, go, go, go, and we never stop, it is no wonder that our emotions and minds and bodies get so jumbled. It is no wonder that I get wound up so tight. It is no wonder that I am worn out so easily. I never make myself rest.


So rest my friends. Rest. 


~JM

How do we know God's Will?

This is a questions many many people ask themselves on a daily basis. God how do I know whether or not this is from you? Can you just show me...give me a sign?

For me, this is a frequent conversation. In the shower. When I'm driving. Eating. Sleeping. You name it, I've had it. Then a couple weeks ago, a dear friend of mine spoke something that I could of sworn was God himself speaking into my heart. 

In conversation with our wifey study about a friend's situation where we didn't know exactly what to pray for, she said, "Well, we know what we are asking for is God's will because it says so in His word. Very Clearly. So there is no question as to whether this situation will or will not be resolved. It will. We just don't know when. That is what we should pray for."

Amen sister!

It is like a light bulb went off in all our heads and beamed through our eyes. That ushered us into a powerfully transforming time of prayer for our dear friend. I know the Holy Spirit was present because the prayers that fled from our lips were not of us. They were fashioned by the confidence of Christ. Tears were shed. Hearts were moved. And we were impacted. We were brought together, closer as a community of wives lifting another up to our heavenly Father. 


All this to say, I have learned to frantically search the Bible. Answers are in there. Not all of them, but most. And the ones that seem to not be, maybe, just maybe it is because the wrong question is being asked. 

Matthew 6::31-34

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I love love love it when the Lord reveals new truthes to my heart. I overflow with joy because I get to live a new day with new perspective. 

Just one more day.
One more truth. 
One more chance to acknowledge and be moved by my God. 

~JM

A Wall of Inspiration

So I had this idea last night before going to bed. I am going to create a wall of inspiration. I have so many girls that have sent in their stories and I have been greatly moved and crazy inspired by them all. So much so, that I thought it a good idea to make a wall full of this inspiration.

I have heard of writers dedicating an entire wall to their plot, characters, events, places, etc. But since I am not writing a fictional book, I saw no reason to do that. But now after reading through all these stories, I realized that you are my plot. You are my characters. You tell of the events and places [hypothetically]. So I want my wall to be of your stories and faces. I am excited! Renewed and ready to be inspired.

~JM

If you haven't sent your story in [it doesnt have to be long at all] please do. Send it to juliannamorlet@gmail.com. 

What am I writing about?

My Beautiful Mother

From what I hear, motherhood is one of the hardest jobs around.

From what I have seen, motherhood either fashions or destroys a woman.

And from what I know, motherhood holds the highest value both in this life and the next.

I once read this quote from a from the website of a favorite TV show of mine. The entire show was based on the relationship between a girl and her mother. A woman and her daughter. The Gilmore Girls. [Don't judge, you watched it too.]

It read: 

"My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn’t do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. I don’t know if she realized that the person I most wanted to be was her." –Rory Gilmore

When I read this I thought, "That's me! And that's so my momma!"

Growing up, my momma instilled in my heart and mind, that I was going to be whomever God called me to be. Now as my mother began to see the gifts and desires that were being birthed inside of her little girl, she never pushed any of them because she knew God would flourish what He wanted and fade those He did not.

Let me give you two examples:

One: When I was in 6th grade, I decided I wanted to be a horse vaulter. I loved horses and was involved with them until my freshman year in HS. She was my number one fan. Leotard uniforms, shoes, lessons, crazy hair pieces, competitions [both near and far], my mother was there the whole way cheering me on as close to the ring as she could get. But that quickly faded out as I realized how much dedication it required and I didn't have it. 

Two: When I was 3, my momma says she walked passed my room and heard me singing. When she peeked in, I was laying on my back, feet on the wall, soul singing the songs from Sunday school [and maybe some originals]. She walked away and prayed, "Jesus, give my daughter a voice because she is going to sing whether she has one or not."

Since then, I can count on one hand the times my mother has not seen me sing. She never pressured me to be good. She just consistently reminded me that my voice was not from me, it was from the Lord.

Aside from her devotion to her children, my momma is something that I wish every mother to be. She is a prayer warrior. 

She prays for everything and everyone.

I have told this story so many times but I'll tell it again and again til I die because it powerfully impacted my life as her child. I have memories of me and my siblings falling asleep to the sound of my mother's prayers. Kneeling beside our beds she would pray for each of us. The next morning we would wake up to her again praying by our bedsides. Whether she ever went to bed at night, we'll never know. But she knew in her very core that her role as a godly mother was every bit dependent on the power and work of God.

She couldn't be to us who she needed to be without His provision. Time and time again she surrenders to God whom she believes, with confidence, will faithfully lead. Her marriage and all six of her children are living proofs of that.

Wise. Sweet. Encouraging. Discerning. Forgiving. Loving. And not to mention, a phenomenal cook. There are not enough adjectives to describe this woman.

She has actively lived a legacy of faith that will continue. And when I have my own ensemble of kidlets, I can only pray that that legacy will continue through me.

I love you Momma. You have never left my side. You have always been my #1 fan. You let me and sometimes made me make my own decisions; but you made sure to never let me fall off the deep end. You have comforted me and uplifted me. You make me laugh at the silly things you say and do. You love daddy. You love us. And most importantly, you love Jesus Christ with all your heart.

I love you, 

Your Julie.

@ my bridal shower.
















A quiver full.

Raise a child in the way she should go, and when she is old [and married] she will not stray from it.

Three Wishes

Remember when you were a kid and you sat in your big girl [or boy] second grade desk? It was the first week of school and your teacher was getting to know her classroom full of students. 

She gave you a writing journal, made from red construction paper, for you to decorate with freshly opened markers, crayons, glitter and beads until your heart was content. And inside that journal was what seemed like hundreds of clean white lined pages just waiting to be scribbled upon.

After a while of artistic decorating, she rang her little golden bell, signaling you and your fellow students to wrap it up.

Then the moment came. She began writing a sentence on the chalkboard [a what??]. Yes, I wrote chalkboard. [You mean a white board?] No. A chalkboard.

It said this:

 

If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?

Rule: 

*You cannot wish for more wishes.



But for most of us, this question was nearly impossible to answer. How can you only wish for 3 things when there are so many options...especially as a 7 yr. old. 

So I am re-writing that first prompt from Mrs. Shepherds second grade class.

But this time, I needed two categories.

Non-Serious

1. I wish I had a super power [like flying].

2. I wish I would never grow another pimple.

3. I wish I could eat brownies all day every day and never gain one pound.

Serious

1. I wish to have 6 beautiful children [preferably 4 boys and 2 girls].

2. I wish child exploitation never existed or would be brought to justice.

3. I wish I could tell all the girls in the whole world just how beautiful they are.

Have you ever thought why we wish? I mean who came up with all these crazy [but fun] little superstitious ideas about wishing anyways?

You make a wish @ 11:11AM
You make a wish when you blow the fuzzes of a dandelion
You make a wish when you throw a coin into a fountain
You make a wish when you blow out your birthday candles
You make a wish when you break the turkey's bone
You make a wish when you see a shooting star


What are you wishing for?


Naptime,

~JM

So We Took a Week Off

And we traveled by a borrowed Honda Civic up the golden coast of the beautiful Cali-for-nia. It was a last minute trip and so we [by "we" I mean Ty] decided that we should just go. Just drive and find those road signs with the tent camping logo on them and stop there. One night here, one night there, all the way up to San Fran.

So we packed our little car and started driving at 12PM on Monday afternoon. We got to our destination at 10:30PM and it happened to be a Comfort Inn....in Ventura. Long story. So we just stayed within Ventura county. But by day 2 we found our little nook off the highway [Faria State Beach] and it was a keeper. We stayed there the rest of the week. And we got to bring our Taylor girl. Here's some pictures to sum up:















The first night Tay got her own bed...lucky duck.

















Great City!


















The overcast was making us crazy.



















This is all she did all week. Chasing and barking at these squirrels. Then this glorious moment came, finally a face off.













Who says camp food can't be good? [Ty cooked all week!]



















Our little home :)

I have always loved camping with my family, but never thought it would have been something I'd do with just myself and my hubs. But it was so much fun! Like...so much fun! And way more chill than I thought. We slept alot. Ate a lot. Read a lot. And laughed a lot!

Needless to say I had a crazy good time with my little camping family. Celebrating 365 days of marital bliss.

Love you babe, and you still owe me shampoo.

~JM

The Fab Five

It is crazy to think that I am now of the age where I can say, "Back when I was in college..." This blog goes out to my college girls for life. We only spent two years together but they were full of fun and crazy memories...as you will see. There were five of us and we liked to believe we were hilarious. We were inseparable.

-These girls made me break the dorm rules the very first night of school...we snuck out to McD's for some ice cream...and got caught of course.

-We would watch scary movies and then try to see who could scare the others the most.

-Freshman year, we sat and talked for hours about the boys in our classes.

-We would predict who we thought the others would marry...none of us were right :)

-We would dance all the time, in our rooms and down the hallways.

-Pranks were inevitable, mostly on the freshman. One time they got my room baaaad. Chips in the bed, baby powder in my hairdryer, diapers ducktaped to the ceiling, and a big sign that said, "We love you!"

-When the sun didn't come out for 3 weeks, I began to feel droggy and sad, and they made me a giant sunshine and posted it in my room before I got home from class.

-They took me to the beach [in January] to cheer me up after a breakup.

-We threw each other in the shower...fully clothed. All the time.

-We cheered each other on @ our school basketball and soccer games.

-We went everywhere together...meals, church, classes, chapels, road trips.

-We argued...alot. But always made it through still loving each other.

-We felt the liberty to speak truths into one another's lives.

-We cried together when times got tough and life was hard.

-We laughed with each other about nearly anything and everything.

Now we're all split up in 3 different states, some graduated from college, others still pluggin' through. Some married and some almost married. No kiddos yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. We're all grown up but will never forget those days. [especially after they see these videos :)]


Sleep over @ Amanda's house, in the middle of the country.



Valentines Day/Amy and my birthday celebration. We bought those shorts because we thought it'd be fun...and it was. This is also proof about the dancing part. And note, Hannah's kicking Amy in the face.



This is what people do for fun @ the beginning of winter in MI. We slide on the snow in the parking lot.


I love you So, Amy, Hannah, & Mandie. Always will.

~Julie

My Knight in Shining Armor.

I know this is late, but I was out of contact with all major electronic communication for the past week so today is my catchup day. Sunday was Father's Day and I hope you all had lots of good food and Dad time.

Many of you know my Dad and will agree with me when I say, "He is the best". This man came into my life when I was 9 years old and our great God could not have picked a more perfectly influential time. I proudly call him my first Knight in Shining Armor, because that is what he is.

The list is endlessly filled with things he taught me, grew in me, pushed in me, and showed to me, but here are just a few:

-He taught me how to play the guitar.
-He taught me how to ski.
-He taught me how to drive my first car [an '84 Volvo].
-He goes out of his way to make us laugh until all of us pee our pants.
-He made me breakup with my first boyfriend.
-He taught me that boys only cause girls to be more emotional.
-He cared enough to monitor my wardrobe as a teenage girl.
-He disciplined me as if I were an adult, not a child.
-He trusted me to make the right decisions.
-He taught me how to change the oil in my car.
-He taught me the great treasure of loving Jesus.
-He was always ready to talk when I needed him and bold enough to give me advice he knew I wouldn't like.
-He never shut down any of my crazy dreams and desires.
-He flew with me and my mom to North Carolina for a singing competition I'd never win, just to show me he believed in me.
-He is a family man.
-He never turns his back on his children.
-He built our house with his own hands.
-He never runs out of grace and mercy for us.
-He showed me what to look for in my husband and that "a man tried and true will always rise above the rest."
-He treated us as his own flesh and blood.
-He is a man of his word.
-He taught me what the love of a father truly looks like.

And most importantly,
-He loves my mother.

That is my father. He is a tool, used by God, to redeem our family. As a now married woman, I cannot express the gratitude I have for my father. By his actions, he showed me what a true man of God looks like so that my sisters and I would have a template for our husbands.

I love you dad. I always will. You are forever my first Knight in Shining Armor.

~Your Julie.












My 10th Bday Party.




Christmas Eve 1999.

Our 2 year house-building project. It was a family ordeal.

My Senior year in HS.













One of the craziest moments in my life.