Summer Lookbook

Summer Lookbook by lifewithliz on polyvore.com

Hello all!

After a long process of brainstorming and writing sessions... I have decided to give fashion advice. I know everyone seems to be doing it these days, but I really want to be able to help girls look cute AND modest for less money. While it seems near impossible these days to keep up with trends and be able to modestly pull them off, I would like to assist you in finding modest and trending outfit ideas for less than it would be in a normal retail store. I myself enjoy thrifting and will be giving a lot of advice on how to successfully go about thrifting. Today I wanted to write about popular trends with tips on how to make it more modest, how to make it yourself, and ways of making different items work for other seasons.

                       {HIGH WAISTED SHORTS}

GOOD-
I for one am extremely excited that high waisted shorts are in style right now. They are a lot more comfortable and you can pull off shorter shirts, due to the extra stomach coverage.
BAD-
 I do not like that every store I have been to only has the high waisted shorts that are cut far too short and have more holes than denim. I also do not like girls using the high waisted shorts as an excuse to wear insanely small shirts.
SOLUTION-
 Instead of paying near $40 for one pair, go to your local thift store and find a pair of high waisted jeans that you can cut and roll into shorts. Than you will have the ability to pick whatever length you feel most comfortable with. When thifting for the jeans make sure you look for a good fit in the waist and your thighs. That is the only part that will matter. If you are one of those girls who enjoys crop tops, you can make it more modest by simply adding a cami or a cute cardigan to cover more skin. 


        {BOYFRIEND JEANS} 

GOOD- 
 They are super loose and do not draw as much attention to your curves, they are a lot more comfortable than skinny jeans, they are a lot better in the summer heat than skinny jeans or normal jeans.

BAD- 
 They tend to have a ton of rips in them and I do not like the name. Other than that I love the style and it's pretty modest in general.

SOLUTION-
 You can go to the thrift store and go to the boys sections and pick up a pair that is loose in the legs and tighter fitting on your hips. Youll want a pair thats longer so you can cuff them. You can also add a view rips, if thats the look youre going for.


   {SHORT RAZOR BACK SUNDRESS}

GOOD-
 They are great for summer, because they get great air flow and they are easy to layer. 

BAD-
 They tend to be extremely short and because they are so flowy they blow, whenever there is a breeze.

SOLUTION- 
 Because they are so easy to layer you can easily put on a cute pair of colorful skinny jeans or leggings, so you don't ever have to worry about a strong breeze blowing up your dress. its also cute to wear a long lace vest with leggings and cute heels or sandals. 



           {CROP TOPS} 

GOOD-
 They are very comfortable and are extremely airy.

BAD- 
 They tend to be worn with low rise shorts, so most of the times most of your stomach will be showing. 

SOLUTION- 
 If you wear a cami and high waisted shorts it covers your stomach so you dont have to worry about raising your arms and having your whole stomach show. You can also wear them with high waisted skirts.


I hope some of these ideas have helped you find new ways of keeping up with trends, while staying modest at the same. I should be doing one of these each week, so stay tuned for some more fashion tips and new trends!

 God Bless,
  Charity

Gluten Free Lemon Tarts

Hello everyone!!!

As a few of you may know, since returning home I have been working on new recipes for a cook book I am writing. This is one of the latest additions to that book. It is a super easy gluten free lemon tart recipe that is perfect for summer. It has the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and savory. By baking them in mini muffin tins you are also stretching the recipe so the tarts last longer. They are perfect for picnics, desserts, cook outs, and midnight snacks.

Ingredients

Crust

1/2

container Pillsbury Gluten Free refrigerated pie and pastry dough or homemade pie dough

Filling

2

organic eggs

1

cup raw sugar

2

teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel

1/2

cup fresh lemon juice

1/2

cup butter, softened

Fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or whipped cream, if desired

Steps

• 1
• Heat oven to 425°F. Knead dough until softened and no longer crumbly. Press evenly in bottom and up side of ungreased 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom or 9-inch glass pie plate. Prick bottom of crust with fork.
• 2Bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven; prick bottom with fork. Bake 8 to 10 minutes longer or until edges are golden brown. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
• 3In small bowl, beat eggs slightly. In a 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice with whisk. Heat to boiling over medium heat. Remove from heat. Quickly stir about 1/2 cup hot mixture into beaten eggs; mix well. Gradually stir egg mixture back into hot mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just comes to a boil. Gently boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter until melted. Let stand 10 minutes.
• 4Carefully pour hot lemon filling into baked crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set. Garnish each serving with berries. Cover and refrigerate any remaining tart.

First update from Thailand !

Hello all!

I thought I would send an email with an update on all that is going on in Thailand :) We arrived at the YWAM base in Bangkok at 2am on the 20th of March. Because we had such bad jet lag we didn't sleep much. We woke up and went to go pick up lunch at about 8am. After that we had cultural orientation for two or so hours and then we had a scavenger hunt that we had to do. We had to practice our Thai, during the scavenger hunt, which was the hardest part. We got to pray for a student in the university, which was the best part! During the scavenger hunt we were suppose to find a fruit market and we were going all around the town trying to find it and we didn't have a translator and we ended up getting on a bus, which led us to right outside of downtown Bangkok. After searching and searching for this market and trying to ask the locals we decided to go into this huge mall to get a drink. Big mistake! The mall was so insanely large and it took us forever to get to the food court and we couldn't find our way out for half an hour! It was four stories tall and half a mile long or something like that. After we got out we had to find the right bus to get back to the base on time to leave to get food. Well after walking three miles to supposedly get to the right bus stop and we ended up getting on the wrong bus, but thankfully the bus driver was super nice and drove super fast to catch us up to the bus we needed to be in. After we were on the bus for a bit we were told that we would have to get off and get on a different bus. After we got off and asked a local where we should go, we found out that we would have to walk in the the road and dirt for the rest of the time. After almost walking for 5 miles we saw the rest of our team walking to get dinner and thankfully we showed up just in time to join them for dinner. I guess you can say I was tired. It was only 103 degree, which isn't too bad. I was honestly so ready to sleep. I now fully understand what it means to have jet lag. We had a one hour plane ride to Seattle, a 8 hour layover in Seattle, a 13 hour plane ride to Seoul, a 2 hour layover in Seoul, and a 9 hour plane ride to Bangkok from Seoul. Saturday the 22nd, we left early in the morning and took a bus, two trains, and a boat to get to get to a Buddhist temple. We spent about an hour just going on a prayer walk through a few temples in Bangkok. After that we walked a mile or two and got some lunch. After that we had to hurry up and get back and pack so we could make it to a bus on time. We are on a 12 hour bus to Chang Rai, where we have been for the past week, and will stay for the next 4 weeks. Our first week of ministry was busy! We held a children's camp from Monday-Thursday. We would start at 10am and go until 3pm. We got the chance to teach 30 elementary students English as well as share our faith with them. They were so precious and so eager to learn more about God. We really got to bless these children and show them Gods love. What we didn't know at the time, was that the majority of the children were orphans, and that was one of the first times they heard about God and felt loved and wanted. I am very thankful for the time we had with them. After that we spent a day rehearsing for an Exchange camp we were hosting for local university students that weekend. We spent all day Saturday and Sunday doing skits, dances, worship time, games, and sharing the gospel with 50 university students. It was incredible to see God move in the students. A lot of them on the last day asked us to pray for them and they wanted to know more about God. God is doing amazing things with the students! This week we will continue to be working with the students from the exchange camp. We will be teaching them English and just spending time loving on them. Tomorrow we will be driving 2 hours to a hill tribe in Chiang Mai to share the gospel with a local Thai tribe in the mountains. Please be praying that God would be preparing their hearts to hear the gospel! After being there all day, we will be coming back and hanging out with student and teach them more English. Please also be praying for my team. A few of us have been battling sickness and we do not want that to effect our outreach time ! Friday we will be going to the other Side of Chiang Rai for three weeks. We will be working with Home of the Open Heart for the remainder of our time in Chiang Rai. Thank you so much for all your prayers! I can't wait to update you all again next week. God bless!!

-Charity

Spokane ~

 

          As some of you may know, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Spokane, Washington for a mini outreach. Originally, we planned to go to Seattle, but our housing ended up falling through, so we got to go to Spokane instead. NOT A SURPRISE TO GOD!!!!

          While we were there we got to stay at a church in Hilliard, which is in Spokane. We got to do street evangelism, a community open mic night, we got to serve local non-profits, and we also got to go downtown and worship right outside of the bus station.

         The first day I was able to help at a clothing bank during the day. I got to meet and talk to some of the local homeless people. It was so amazing to be able to bless them, even if it wasn't a lot. I was able to give out some of the bags my friends and I had put together for the homeless people. That night we were able to go downtown and worship and sing out front of the bus station. We had the chance to show the love of God to the locals and even pray for a few of them.

        The second day a few of us were able to walk around the neighbourhood and talk and pray for some of the locals. It was so awesome to be able to talk to the locals and help a few of them out as well. They were so kind and open to conversation! It was truly a God thing! Every person we talked to let us pray for them!

       The third day we had the chance to reflect as a team on the past few days. It was so cool to be able hear everyones God stories and be able to encourage each other. We also got to pray over each other as well as pray for the people we had met.

       The forth day we got to work at a non-profit that puts together diaper bags for single moms, who don't have the resources to buy things for their baby. We got to sort through baby clothing and help them organize, so that they can fill orders quicker and serve more people. It was so cool to hear all the stories of all the young women and babies that were helped through this organization. God is doing amazing things through them! Later that day we had an open mic night at the church. I had the chance to talk to a girl there and pray for her. IT WAS AWESOME!!! Through the week I kept feeling like I needed to sing at open mic night. I didn't know why God wanted me to sing, but I went through with it and God used it! When I was talking to the girl she shared her love for music, but how she was too nervous to sing in front of people and I got to tell her how I felt the same way and that that was my first time actually singing in front of people. After that she totally opened up and even asked that I pray for her.

        God did incredible things this past week and I would not have been able to experience it if it was not for everyones support and prayers. I am so thankful for all of the encouragement and support. Because of everyones support and prayers I was able to go to Spokane and be a light among all the darkness there. Please continue to pray for the people we had contact with! Praying you all have an amazing week!

                                          God Bless,

                                            Charity

     

Frog Legs & the Flu.

Hey friends!!! I am so sorry I have not updated my blog as much this week. It has been a bit of a busy week. For the past two weeks people have been coming down with the flu, and I ended up getting some type of bug a week ago and have been trying to get rid of since last Sunday. I am so thankful that it was not the flu and I was able to get better within a week.

This past week we were learning about the Father heart of God. It was awesome!!!! We had an amazing speaker, who really helped me to understand God's heart. One thing that really stuck out to me was when I was talking to the speaker after class and He told me that because I was made in God's image I am creative. I had never really thought about it like that. It makes sense that if we were all made in His image that we would have some traits that He has.


After a rather intense week of class and sickness, I was so thankful for a quiet weekend full of new experiences. I was able to try spicy frog legs, had an at home spa day with my gluten free buddy, went on a hike, and enjoyed a lot of time with the Lord. It was a lovely weekend and I am eager to learn more this week.

I am so thankful for everyone’s prayers and support. It has been so needed and been such a blessing to know my friends, family, and strangers have been praying for me. I just found out that in one week my team will be heading to Seattle for mini outreach for a week. We will be doing street evangelism, possibly working with the homeless, as well as other little things through the week. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!God is going to do amazing things! Please be praying that we are safe and things fall into place for that trip.

Love you all dearly and I am beyond thankful for all the prayers and love. Please be praying that the sickness would end and people would stop getting sick. God is doing amazing things and I can not wait to update you all on the trip.


                                                   God Bless-
                                                    Charity

New Friendship and No Snow

                          Hello everyone! I am extremely thankful for a wonderful weekend. I had the chance to try out a new little church over here in Lakeside. There were about 20 people there, but I must say it was very good and I enjoyed trying a new church. I met a sweet older women that had extremely cute curls to match her sweet personality. Lakeside is very small, so I have enjoyed experiencing something new.

                         This was my very first weekend in Lakeside, so I had the chance to do some exploring with my new friend. We went to this pretty little Chapel for church, and then had a chance to explore nature for a few hours. It was so relaxing to just walk in God's creation. So many times I feel like I get so caught up in all my tasks that I need to do, that I forget to enjoy my Father's stunning creation. I loved to just walk and think about the blessings that had come my first week here. 

                         Before getting here I had prayed that God would bless me with friends. Sure enough God bless me with an incredible friend that is like my twin in a lot of ways!! DOES GOD PROVIDE OR WHAT?!?!?! It reminded me so much about what I had studied in my quiet time that week. God has a fathers heart and loves his children. He loves to bless us! I feel blessed to have my sweet new friend. God knew my heart and blessed me with not only a friend, but someone that is so much like me!! 

                        I was extremely excited that this weekend was warm, because I got to walk to church and enjoy the company of my new friend, but sadly there is barely any snow here. That is due to how warm it is, so it will rain, but thats it. Because it is my first winter, I have been excited to have some warmer days. This made for a very lovely first weekend, here in Montana. I am so thankful for everyones prayers, love, support, and letters. I have felt extremely bless and encouraged by everyone this week. Thank you guys so much!! I'm praying that you all have an amazing week, full of funny little moments.

                                                            Love,

                                                           Charity

Life is a test and a trust.

                           Hey guys!!!! Wow.. it has been a long, but amazing week! I'm coming to the end to my first week at YWAM and I have already learned so much. It's been so good to learn more about God and develop an even greater love for Him. Going into this new adventure I had a list of personal goals as well as things I had been praying for. One thing I had really been praying about and made a goal, was to grow my faith and trust in God, and not just when I felt like it. I found it can be so hard sometimes to give Him complete control, when it seems like He is taking you away from something you loved that wasn't bad.


                      About two months ago I felt God put Muslims and Thailand on my heart. I kept praying about it and it had continued to be on mu heart. I ended up buying everything I needed for outreach having hope and faith that I would be going to Thailand. I continued to feel God putting Red light districts on my heart and kept praying for the people and the possibility of God using me to love on people, who had been in sex trafficking.


                       When I had arrived in Montana I still prayed about Thailand and still felt like I was going to be able to go do my outreach there. Wednesday night we finally had a free night so a few of us went into town and went to a store and then to a church to meet my friends twin. As we were about to leave one of the Pastors said, "Are you Charity? I really feel like God is telling me something I need to tell you." As you can tell I was a bit surprised by the situation, but was intrigued to hear what He was going to say. "I feel like you've experienced a lot of major changes and I wanted to let you know God did that for your benefit not your harm and He did it to get closer to you. I feel like He is going to do big changes in your life this year and possibly change your original plans during the DTS and that He just wants you to trust Him."

                         After that I was extremely curious what that could mean, but I just gave that to the Lord. The next day was the big day, where we found out the choices of places where we can go. So there we sat listening to them announce that we could pick between Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Thailand. Because YWAM is so spirtit led, they had asked that we would go pray about it for 50 minutes and encouraged us to go where God called us.


                        As I walked upstairs I felt my heart sank. I honestly did not want God to tell me not to go to Thailand, especially after He put Thailand on my heart two months ago. I sat in my dorm and I knew in my heart God wanted me to put Thailand as my second choice, but I continued to pray. I felt Him telling me to put Czech Republic as my first and Thailand as my second and if I was going to be picked to go to Czech Republic that I was to give someone who was going to Thailand all the things I had gotten for the trip.


                       I was so confused at first. I didn't get why God would tell me that after putting Thailand on my heart, but I knew He had my best interest in mind and did what He told me to do. I felt so at peace with it and knew I trusted God and wanted to be used anywhere He called me to go. I felt so much joy knowing that I did what was right. Later that night at around 9:30, when I was doing art in the art room, one of the leaders came in and said she had been looking for me and needed to talk to me alone. There we were walking to the office and for whatever reason I was wondering if I did something wrong. When we got to the office she said, "After the staff all prayed about where God is leading everyone to go, we would like you to pray about going on the second one you put down. We truly feel like that is where God wants you to be and we would like you to go to Thailand instead of Czech Republic." Of course I was deeply shocked, but the first thing I thought of was what the pastor had said the night before. I truly believe God used that to test my heart and trust in Him.

                  I am so excited to see and write about all the God moments that we will have, while in Thailand.  This moment so much reminded me of something I learned with my family, during The Purpose Driven Life devotional. Life is a test and a trust. God uses things to deepen our trust in Him. I was excited to go to Czech Republic, but God used that to test my trust in him. I want to encourage you, if you are frustrated or confused about change that you do not understand give it to God. He loves you so deeply, and if you allow Him, He will use it to deepen your trust and relationship with him.



                                                           Lots of Love,
                                                             Charity

"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
    but the Lord tests the heart." ~ Proverbs 17:3