MATERIALS: MINI GARLAND (target), TWINE, AND A NAME TAG

3. Now that your wreath has been established, it's time to add the name card. Cut roughly six inch strands of twine. Secure a strand onto the wreath with a simple knot

4. This is when you'll slide the name tag onto the twine. Secure with a bow.

5. Poof! You're done! Whether you set it on top of your plates or use them as makeshift napkin rings (like me), these place cards are absolutely adorable and will complement any place setting.

Don't worry! Thanksgiving photos still to come (;

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." // Psalm 107: 1,8-9

xo, Alyssa

PS // November 30th

For the last several years, I've made a point to do something for Valentine's Day. My something usually involves another single girlfriend, a movie, and some watercolor paints. (Last year it was Pride and Prejudice; this year it was Anne of Green Gables. I called it my date with Gil.) We had such a lovely evening; it was really good for me to have some purpose besides simply cuddling up with Netflix. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I did actually hit up another episode of Fixer Upper after she left for the evening. ;)

But, do you know what I was reminded of this morning? I already have a date. I already have someone who loves me more than anyone else ever can or will. And, you do too if you have accepted Christ into your life! He is ours, and we are his.

Some words spoken by St. Augustine:

"To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement." 

Also, a thought by the beloved C.S. Lewis:

"I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait."

Piece those two thoughts together with me. If I am waiting on God to present me with an opportunity of a relationship, then He is certain that this waiting is beneficial to me. Perhaps, instead of focusing on a dating relationship, He wants me to explore the romance and adventure of falling more and more in love with Him -- spending more time with Him, growing myself in the Word, preparing myself for whatever he has laid out on the map that is my life.

Today my pastor preached a sermon about desires laid on our hearts to serve him. He used the comparison of David and Nehemiah. David's desire to build the LORD a temple, and Nehemiah's desire to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. He pointed out that God was pleased with both of these desires, but did not allow for both of them. Doors were swung open and Nehemiah's desires were fulfilled beyond his own expectations. However, the LORD had ordained Solomon, David's son, to build the temple not King David himself.

It is my prayer and desire that major landmarks on this map of my life include a special someone and a family to call my own someday. Being the romantic that I am, I tend to fantasize and dream of what it will be like to love someone so much I will want to spend the rest of my life with him. Sometimes, I long for the years to slip away and land me happily married with one on the way.

This is my heart's desire. But, I know it isn't time.

And, as C.S. Lewis points out, the present DOES mean something. As the old saying goes, I am to bloom right where I am planted. Right now, that means focusing on my last years of high school as a successful, single daughter of the King. It is good for me to wait. And, it is where He wants me to be.

A closing thought from the lovely Elizabeth Elliot:

"I have one desire now -- to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it."

He is my Valentine. Let me ask him everyday to BE MINE.


Watercolor Inspiration Credit: Kristine Brookshire

 Listen to this morning's sermon.