Grace upon grace.

A few weeks ago I was scrolling down my twitter feed and read a tweet from our teaching pastor at Newspring Church. It read, "Someone asked me yesterday if it was possible to emphasize grace too much. I certainly hope so, and I will try my best to do it."

It reminded me of a verse I love.    

"For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." John 1:16 

It made me want to dig into the very essence of what Gods grace looks like and what it's intended to be. I feel like sometimes we, as Christians, don't emphasize grace enough. I feel like we forget what that grace looks like in our own walk with The Lord and expect the rest of the world, Christian or non-Christian, to "just get it." We don't emphasize that the very essence of a relationship with Him is built on the grace that our Savior chose to extend to us when they nailed Him to the cross. We stand in grace, are strengthened by grace, and empowered by grace.

I found this excerpt written by John MacArthur. "Grace is not merely unmerited favor; it is favor bestowed on sinners who deserve wrath. Showing kindness to a stranger is "unmerited favor"; doing good to one's enemies is more the spirit of grace (Luke 6:27-36). Grace is not a dormant or abstract quality, but a dynamic, active, working principle: "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation…and instructing us" (Titus 2:11-12). It is not some kind of ethereal blessing that lies idle until we appropriate it. Grace is God's sovereign initiative to sinners (Ephesians 1:5-6). Grace is not a one-time event in the Christian experience. We stand in grace (Romans 5:2). The entire Christian life is driven and empowered by grace: "It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods" (Hebrews 13:9). Peter said we should "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).

Thus we could properly define grace as the free and benevolent influence of a holy God operating sovereignly in the lives of undeserving sinners."

Happy Valentine's Day!

 "We love because He first loved us." ~  (1 John 4:19)

My mom and dad always made holiday's (no matter how big or small) super special. 

My dad always had flowers waiting for me on the kitchen table for every holiday and my mom always went all out with decorations and themed everything for the particular holiday we were celebrating. 

And so it continues..

Happy Valentine's day, my Love's! Xoxo

Hair!

I usually post more serious heartfelt things here on the blog but I love to throw in the occasional girly post here and there.

I've had several ladies ask how I get my hair to keep its volume so I wanted to share a few of my tricks. 

First of all let me just say I have the most amazing stylist who cuts and colors my hair. I credit all my good hair days to Keri Bailes at Ashley's Alley salon in Columbia, SC. She rocks! Go book an appt. with her stat! 

Some days I wake up and my hair decides it wants to have some texture and I don't have to do anything but brush it and set it with a spritz of my favorite hairspray. Other days, I wake up and it decides it wants to look stringy and lifeless and needs major attention.  I dislike those days... I'm a mom with two busy kiddo's and if you're a mom you know, in the words of sweet brown, "ain't nobody got time for dat." Those are the days I skip washing my nappy locks and pull out my dry shampoo! It's a miracle in a bottle. Seriously. 

I have two favorites when it comes to dry shampoo. 

For days I can splurge, I use Big Sexy hair volumizing dry shampoo.Found here.

For days when I'm on a budget, I use suave with keratin infusion.Found here.

Both are awesome and smell great!

I don't wash my hair everyday because I have super dry hair but even on the days when I've washed and conditioned my hair I still use my dry shampoo. Especially, if I need my hair to hold some curl. 

I also swear by backcombing (aka teasing) my hair. I learned how to backcomb like a pro in cosmetology school and I've been using this fast and easy trick ever since. 

Also, for my super wavy locks, after I use my dry shampoo (and lots of it) I curl my hair. 

I'm obsessed with my hot tools curling iron. 

I purchased a wand some time ago but hated the kinky curls it created so instead I took the clamp off of my 1" curling iron and I use it like a wand. It's perfect. Find yours here.

After curling my hair, I take small sections all over and backcomb the areas I want the most volume. Then, I strategically run my fingers through my locks and give it a little fluff. 

After getting dressed and before heading out the door, I give it another quick tousle  and smooth out all those extra fly-away's I get and...

Voila! Wavy, voluminous hair for days!

To set my curls and keep the volume, I use Chi enviro 54 hairspray. Its light and doesn't  give you that ridiculous looking helmet head that most hair spray does. It smells soooo good! It's a bit of a splurge but its the perfect hairspray. Find it here.

I hope this is helpful to all you gorgeous  ladies!! Go knock 'em dead with those gorgeous locks!

XOXO,

Jennifer 

Disclaimer- *I'm a beauty school drop out so backcombing may be the only thing I'm a pro at in the hair dept.