Balcony Love

We started moving our stuff into our apartment in the beginning of June of last year, just about 10 days before our wedding. We bought our bedroom furniture, bathroom amenities, and left the rest to furnish after the honeymoon. The week we got back, we bought our sofa, tv, and began furnishing our living room/office area. The poor balcony was left for last since it came last in our list of priorities. The Summer came and went, and only now that Spring has begun again has our balcony gotten a little bit of love. 

Since it's only the two of us I decided to go with a folding table, set for 2 with 2 chairs. The table expands to seat 4 when there's company, but rather than storing 2 extra chairs I decided to go with a storage bench that can be easily moved for extra seating when needed. 

I originally had wanted to tear out the carpet and put down an easy to assemble/disassemble flooring I had found at Ikea. That was before we got the surprise of a little one on the way (due early December)! We decided on renewing our lease for one more year this June, but this will most likely be our last Summer at this apartment, so it was a no-go on investing in flooring.

I'm happy to finally have use of this outdoor living space. In fact, I'm typing this post on the balcony itself.  :)

Table, Chairs, Chair Cushions, Bench - Ikea

Bench Pillows - Home Depot

Shelf - Home Goods

Watering Can, Lantern - Ikea

"Life is Beautiful" Frame - Home Goods

Bird House (repurposed from my Bridal Shower Card Box) - Home Goods

Spoken For

Being a teenage fan of The Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn, and more recently a follower of Alyssa's blog, I literally squealed at the announcement of the two ladies co-authoring this book called Spoken For. The book came out earlier this month and I just had to purchase it. It is a very easy and straight to the heart read. I recommend it to everyone, but especially to all teenage girls & young ladies.

We often give into the lies about ourselves based on how the world perceives us or how we feel about ourselves, but the Bible is very clear about what God says about us. There is a powerful and extensive list included in the book, but I just had to share a few...


What God Says About You:

- You were made in my image (Genisis 1:27)
- You are my treasured possession, my peculiar treasure (Exodus 19:5)
- When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you (Psalm 34:18)
- I know everything about you (Psalm 139:1) I am familiar with all your ways (Psalm 139:3)
- You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
- My thoughts toward you are as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore (Psalm 139:17-18)
- I have loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3)
- I will never stop being good to you (Jeremiah 32:40)
- I will take pleasure in doing good things for you and will do those things with all my heart and soul (Jeremiah 32:41)
- I rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17)
- I am your provider. I will meet all your needs (Matthew 6:31-33)
- I am the Bridegroom and you are my bride (John 3:29)
- I revealed my love for you through Jesus (John 17:26)
- I am for you and not against you (Romans 8:31)
- I will never allow anything to separate you from my love for you (Romans 8:35-39)
- I did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7)
- I desire to lavish my love upon you because you are my child and I am your Father (1 John 3:1)
- My love for you is not based on your love for me (1 John 4:10)
- I will one day wipe away every tear from you eyes, an there will be no more crying or pain or sorrow (Revelation 21:4)
- I have written your name in my book (Revelation 21:27)
- I invite you to come (Revelation 22:17)

Throughout life, we may feel unwanted, alone, rejected, "not worth it",  unloved, enslaved, (you name it) but these are all lies that keep us from accepting the truth. The truth is:

You are wanted. You are pursued. You are loved. You have been called. You are of great value. You are a peculiar treasure. You are set free. You are covered. You are promised. You are spoken for.

I hope these words are as powerful to you as they were to me. If you'd like to explore more of this, I strongly encourage you to read the book.

-Angie :)