No One Told Me

No one told me I'd be sick for a year

and my love of dancing and singing would veer.

No one said that a daily migraine would be

something constant to keep sanity.

No one asked if I'd like to be sick

or if my tears would fall till my cheek was slick.

No one informed me that my fatigue

would feel like I'm constantly hiking a league.

No one questioned if I'd like this at all

but would you want to hang out this fall?

No one needed to ask me a thing

or tell me that this wasn't a one time fling.

No one let me know

that God would make me grow.

No one could tell me that my heart would break

and that some days I'd feel like a fake.

No one would say about the intimacy

I'd grow with God infinitely.

No one should ever get sick for a year

and let their favorite hobbies veer.

No one wants to have a migraine every day

yet I'd never ask God to not have His way.

No one knows that if it weren't for this

I wouldn't know letter writing bliss.

No one mentioned that this trial

would make me fight to find joy each mile.

No one explained each day I'm blessed with 

is truly a gift from God, (and that's not a myth).

No one comprehended how this would be

effective to my testimony and future ministry.

No one treasures sickness of such

yet I do as I have been strengthened so much.

No one may be able to say

Moriah lived joyfully each day.

Yet I pray that someone will say,

God worked on her faithfully each and every day!

Poem by Moriah Peters ~ Written the other day when pondering the past year as I've dealt with pneumonia, mono, and frequent migraines.

Photos by Josh Vanosdell ~ Hello, my name is Joshua Vanosdell. I'm just a beginner photographer. I was born and raised in Louisiana but now live in New Mexico. Thats where most of my pictures are taken now. It has been a culture change for me in New Mexico, but it has its perks. I've been living there now for 5 years and I just love it. If you want to check out more of my photography you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Google+.

Beautiful Blessings - 11/23/15 & 11/24/15

~ Our first real snow!!!!

~ Waking up to screeches of pure joy from the kids!

~ The pure joy of the neighbor kids who never saw snow before!

~ Declaring a morning of snow/Christmas movies! "Its a Wonderful Life", "Muppets Christmas Carol", and "White Christmas"!

~ Our new spice and jelly cabinet!

~ Setting aside Christmas presents with Mom!

~ Plotting ideas about presents I would like to give!

~ 30 days till Christmas!!!!

~ Singing Christmas carols with my sisters!

~ Counting down the days till we get our Christmas tree!

Beautiful Blessings - 9/20/15

~ The simple joy found in riding a carousel!

~ Enjoying donuts and apple cider as is tradition!

~ And of course, enjoying cotton candy!

~ Saying goodbye to the Fall Festival until next year!

~ Mom graciously giving me her iced tea after mine spilled all over the ground! <3 Thanks Mom!

Beautiful Blessings - 9/13/15

~ Getting a pair of reading glasses to see if it helps with my reading. Especially after migraines. They are the most basic pair but they seem to help already. :~)

~ Passing by a restaurant and seeing pure joy in the faces of the employees as they greet a friend!

~ Having people pray about my migraines for me...tis an immense blessing!

~ My sisters being okay after they got stung this afternoon!! (3 of the 4 got stung)

~ Watching how God works throughout the day throughout our lives. Its amazing to see His perfect timing!!!

“If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest.”
-Corrie Ten Boom

Beautiful Blessings - 8/30/15

~ Laughing with Heidi before service about something nonsensical...shoulder eating butterflies to be precise. We were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe, our stomachs hurt, and our eyes began to water. I love laughter!

~ Singing with the congregation! I havent been able to due to my headaches.

~ Having Dad hug me after service and say he missed hearing my singing voice <3

~ Going over the hills in the countryside and seeing the fields abounding with crops!

~ Rejoicing with L-Jo that Minnie Mouse has been found!

Sometimes a Breath is Needed

Sometimes a breath is needed.

Sometimes it's hard to love.

God's love never ends.

I wasn't happy when a mysterious sibling erased part of the Bible verse on my wall. I just left it alone. The irony was beautiful.

Someone erased my "EUCHARISTEO".

"Charis, Grace

Euchatisteo. Thanksgiving.

Chara. Joy."

- Ann Voskamp One Thousand Gifts

Lights bring peace, and joy. Grace and love. A breath.

And our messy world continues.

A Journey of Becoming a Young Woman of Faith - #9 Woman of Faith

Be joyful always. 1st Thessalonians 5:16

I have a friend who always has a smile on her face. Rain or shine. Neither rain nor snow nor wind nor sleet keeps her from smiling. Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration but true. She isn't perfect but I can see that she does a wonderful job being joyful. A common stereotype for Christians is constant happiness, which is clearly nearly impossible. We may not be happy always but we can be joyful always. The New Webster's Dictionary's definition of happy is: joyful, pleased, glad, content. The definition of joy is happiness, pleasure, and delight. They are obviously similar words, but they have different origins. I'm not talking as if one is from Latin and one is from Greek (though I just looked it up: happy derives from hap from Old Norse, joy derives from gaudia from Latin). I'm talking about the origin in our lives. We tend to have happiness over things of this world, stuff, money, vacations, etc. Joy is from the heart when you spend time with God, who is of the utmost importance, family, and friends. In a popular hymn, "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" it does a good job of showing this. When we adore and worship God, we have deep joy.

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man. 

 Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

I challenge you today to ask God to show you deep joy. Only God can aide you in this. Pray, worship and ask him how you can be joyful always. 

Fun at the Zoo

T-tot. L-Jo, Lil' G, and T-bug :)

The penguins!

The snow leopards!

The baby Muntjac and parents! 

The 2 year old elephant! :) 

The bubble man!

Bubbles + kids = Pure Joy!

A bubble in a bubble is still a bubble!

The baby monkey and his Mommy.

My friend, who we adopted for the day.

We were twins and unplanned matching shirts. :)

Lots of fun at the Zoo!