Thursday’s Thoughts – Reasons to Place our Trust in God

Trusting God can be hard, especially when we are going through trials. We tend to place our faith in ourselves, trusting in our own faulty thoughts and emotions, and putting too much emphasis on what we do and accomplish. I know that I have been guilty of this so often in my life. Whether it was relying on what I do right now to take care of my future, or putting my feelings over the truth of what God says in His word. Sometimes I forget God, and forget to place my trust fully in Him. However, I strive to have more faith in Him, through His grace. Here are some compelling reasons I have found to put your trust completely in the Lord. 

He tells us to! This is the most important point, as He actually commands us in His word to trust in him with all of our hearts.  

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,  and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

He is constant and unchanging. And we are not. Our feelings and emotions change almost constantly. Mine have an uncanny ability to make a complete 180 in less than a minute sometimes, whether for better or worse! Basically though, we humans are in a state of constant change as we experience hardships and joys in life. However God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Doesn’t that seem like a good reason to trust in Him over ourselves? 

“The heart of God is eternal and unchanging. Before God laid the foundations of our universe, He was a being of infinite power and love, and He will remain so throughout all eternity” Corrie Ten Boom

He is sovereign and all-knowing. He made us, and he knows everything there is to know about us, and our future. I find it so comforting to know that nothing could happen to me that’s outside of His will, even if it’s not something that I prefer. And if it’s not, I know that He will work it out for good. 

“When terrible things happen…there are two choices… We can trust God, or we can defy Him. We believe that God is God. He’s still got the whole world in His hands and knows exactly what He’s doing.” Elisabeth Elliot 

In everything that happens, we have a choice to make. We can trust God, or we can trust in ourselves. Anyone who has tried that knows that that usually ends up… Not well! I pray that God will continue to give me grace to place my trust fully and completely in Him. He is faithful!

Rosy Marr

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Join my Mary and Martha Newsletter!

Hey friends! ❤️

Something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time is set up a newsletter for my business, Mary and Martha. I don’t know what all of what it’s going to look like yet, but it will include…

1. Early sale announcements
2. Featured/favorite products
3. Updates on my business
4. Maybe a giveaway or contest every so often
5. Biblical encouragement and inspiration
6. And more fun stuff!!

Also, I will probably be sending out some amazing new product launches in February, which I’m so excited for! Also, I won’t clog up your inbox, and your email will remain private. 🙂

Please consider joining if you are interested in any of the above, plus whatever I come up with in the future.

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Looking forward to seeing you there!!

Love, Rosy ❤️

Humanism, and its Effects on the World – An Essay

Hey friends! This isn’t my usual go-to type of post, but regardless, I hope you enjoy this essay I wrote for school a bit ago. 😀

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Humanism, and its Effects on the World

Essay by Rosy Marr

Humanism is a worldview or way of thinking that brings greater importance to men rather than God. It started to become popular in Europe in the early 1500’s, at the same time as Reformation. It seemed innocent at first, but the effect it would have on the world would be cataclysmic. 

Thomas Aquinas was among the first to popularize humanistic philosophy, by attempting to separate philosophical and theological knowledge; the problem with this is that theological doctrines do answer philosophical questions, and are needed to make accurate and Biblical assessments. But Aquinas took this notion even further and further, until what he called philosophical knowledge, completely contradicted every important component of theological knowledge. As men took on this way of thinking, it separated God from their own personal ideas. Mankind was never meant to function independently of the Lord’s ways, that He has shown us in the Scriptures. 

Men such as Rene Descartes, John Locke and Sir Francis Bacon continued this ideology. Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am”, bringing man to the center-point of his own existence. Locke believed that the human mind was the starting point of all knowledge, gained by his own experiences and discoveries. Bacon rejected the Bible’s teachings as truth, and instead trusted in man’s scientific knowledge, research and analysis. Man’s reason was his king. 

More and more, men abandoned God’s Word, and looked to themselves as the highest source of truth. They ignored Psalm 36:9, which says, “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light, we see light.” According to this passage, man cannot properly see any truth, apart from the light of God. It is His truth that enables us to find truth and comprehend it. For Christians, there is only one source of truth – the fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 1:7)

Ideas produce consequences, and the consequences of humanism are seen all throughout the world today. It has affected our modern lives in the following examples.

Educationally; This is seen in the removal of the Bible and prayer from public schools. While school used to be heavily influenced by Christianity, that began to decline when men like John Dewey worked hard to include humanism in their newly secularized curriculum. Now, we can see that current primary education goes through great lengths to avoid the acceptance of God, instead teaching humanism, evolution, socialism, and new age beliefs.

Politically; We can see this in the outcomes of Leopold-Loeb and the Scopes trials, huge milestones in the fall of the West. Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto brought about his socialist agenda in America. People surrendered more and more power to the government, and the state fought for more control over people and families. 

The Church; The Church has also been majorly affected by humanism. The Church has always been looked up to as a source of religious truth, and has a big influence on many people’s minds. Consequently, it’s extremely dangerous when it begins to pick up false teachings. The teachings of the Bible were replaced with modernism and experimentalism, leaving behind the teaching of those such as John Calvin, John Knox, Martin Luther and William Tyndale. In the last 200 years, much of the Christian Church has been corrupted. Attributes that were once only attributed to God, were now put on man, as they began to see themselves increasingly more and more powerful compared to their Maker. Man made himself the chief end of man in worship.

So many other areas of Modern American culture have also been greatly affected by humanistic ideology. The world, in relying and trusting in themselves, have strung themselves into a spiral of hopelessness. They have attempted to cut God from their lives, and therefore have nothing to hold on too. 

Humanism, and many other related concepts, are so readily accepted in our world today, that sometimes it may be difficult to recognize it.  It’s important to be able to distinguish it when we see it around us, so as not to be caught up in it. We should always remember that God is the highest source of truth, and that He is our Lord.

2023 Reading Journal Set Up 🤎

Hey friends!!

For 2023, I’ve decided to keep two bullet journals. My regular journal, and a reading journal. As you know, I love to read, so I’m very excited about starting it. Here’s what I did for my 2023 yearly set up. 🙂

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I decided the theme would simply be brown, since it matches the cover. Here’s the notebook I’m using, by the way. This was my bullet journal in 2022, and now I’m using it for both of my bullet journals this year as well. So as you can tell, I really love it!!

On the very first page, I wrote a bookish quote, and a quick cover page.

After that, I made a tracker to keep track of my Goodreads reading challenge, which is 160 books. I accidentally drew too many squares, but that’s probably a good thing, in case I decide to increase my goal in the future. XD

I also have a page to write down every book I read in 2023, but it’s quite simple so I won’t post it here.

A page to keep track of all the book I purchase in 2023. Probably should have done more than two pages…. 😂

These next two pages have a place to write down my favorite books, authors and characters of 2023.

I listed all the books of the Bible on this page, and will mark them off as I complete them. I am still working on the second page, as you can see. It’s a book bingo game, and I’m writing a bunch of bookish goals in the squares. I’m still trying to think of more goals! XD

I’m so excited about this reading challenge by Chantel!

I also decided to do an alphabet challenge where I try to read a book starting with each letter of the alphabet. It should be easy, except for a couple of letters. (like x?!?!?! Lol!) I also made a series tracks. Those are the ones I’m reading right now. I left an empty space at the end of each one, JUST in case the authors publish another one in the series…. haha!

And that’s it for my yearly spreads!!!! Now, here are my monthly spreads for January while I’m at it. 😀

My cover page has the name of the month, plus a place to write the books I read. That way when I look back at it in the future, I’ll instantly be able to see exactly what I books I read in that month. 🙂

On the second spread I have my planned TBR for January, and a Days I Read tracker.

A journal area to write my thoughts on the the books I’m reading, and a place to put my reviews.

Here I will put in all the books I finish reading, and also keep track of some of the reading related habits I want do each day. Also, some monthly stats. 🙂

A page to write down my favorite quotes I come across – if I end up remembering any of them. I need to work that. XD And on the next page, I can keep track of the books I’m reading, and mark each chapter as I read it. I’ve been doing this page in my regular bullet journal, but now I’m moving it here. 🙂

In the following month I want to do spreads and collages dedicated to my favorite books I read. I’m so excited to use this journal throughout 2023!!

Thank you for reading this post!! I hope that it will give you all some ideas and inspiration for your own journals, if you enjoy that sort of thing. 🙂

Love,

Rosy ❤️

Marr Family Christmas, 2022 // What I Got

Hey everyone!! How was your Christmas?

My family celebrated Christmas on the 26th, since the day before were busy with other stuff, like Church. 🙂 Even though I wasn’t feeling too well, it was still a really good day!!

For breakfast we made Buñelos, a Mexican Christmas treat, which is a fried flour tortilla with cinnamon and sugar. So yummy!! We also had eggs and bacon. (Sorry the photo is kind of dark. It was still dark outside, so I didn’t have good lighting.)

When breakfast and chores were done, we read Luke 1 and 2 in the Bible. After that, one of our Christmas traditions is the saran wrap ball. My mom wraps up a bunch of stocking stuffer type gifts in saran wrap to make a big ball, then we take turns unwrapping it and seeing what we get. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s fun! 😂 😄 Then a few people had some of their own gifts to give out.

For lunch, we made a charcuterie board! We’ve never done one of those before, and it was a lot of fun to put together! And it was so pretty!!!! 😍

What I Got

Washi tape from the saran wrap ball. I didn’t get all that myself, but one of the funnest parts of the saran wrap ball is the trading that happens afterward. So I traded to get a bunch of washi tape… 😂

Some snacks and healthier candy from the saran wrap ball. Some of this was also traded for. And my brother got me the Doritos. 😄 😋

I got the gel pens in the ball, and traded my brother for the fiber tip pens. I’m excited to use these!

The notepad and hair claw are from my sisters, and the rest from the ball. I’m excited to learn the Clue card game – that should be interesting!! And those Dr. Suess book earners are adorable. 😍

And that’s what I got! My gift to my family was a one month subscription to the Adventures in Odyssey club.

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That evening, for supper we had leftovers from the charcuterie board. (We continued eating those leftovers for the next couple of days, haha!!)

Then we watched a Christmas movie together. We usually try to watch one Christmas movie every year. This year we watched The Christmas Shoe. Everyone but my dad had already seen it multiple times, but we wanted to watch it with him. I really love that movie! I cry every single time. (If you don’t, do you even have a heart?!?!) 😭 💔

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It was a really good Christmas!! Praise God for the gift of His Son.❤️

I’m sad it’s over, but I’m so, so, SO excited for the New Year and 2023. CAN’T WAIT!!!!! I’m so ready for it. 😂 Lol.

Tell me what you did for Christmas! Have you watched The Christmas Shoes, and if so, did you cry? Are you excited for 2023?

Love,

Rosy ❤️🎄

New Family Photo//Christmas Poem//Christmas Vlog

Hey friends!! ❤️

So, I know I haven’t posted in a while, and I’m sorry. I’m hoping to pick back up a bit in 2023, even if I don’t do all the same things as I did in 2022. 😄

This post is just going to be a smorgasbord of a bunch of different totally random things I wanted to share. 😁

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First, my family got a new picture taken! It’s not actually that new, it was taken in October, but we sort of forgot about it for a while, and only remember it recently. 😅 This was taken in Colorado at my uncle’s wedding. It was SO beautiful there! I love the fall foliage in the background. 😍

❤️❤️❤️

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I wrote this very short poem in about 3 minutes, following the prompt “Silver Bells”. All I could think of at first was the song, but here’s what I got. 😂 Not super original, but.

The News of the Silver Bells

I hear the sound of silver bells

Calling me from rest,

News for all they have to tell

It cannot be suppressed

They’re ringing out good news for all

For man, woman and child

That’s what the silver bells will call

Of baby Jesus, meek and mild

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I posted a new youtube video today, about how I prepared and decorated for Christmas. It’s just a fairly short little vlog, but I enjoyed putting it together, and would love it if you’d check it out!! (And like and follow if you enjoy… Lol!!) 😂

I hope everyone is having a great December, and enjoying the Christmas season. ❤️ 🎄 Please comment below and let me know what Christmas-y things you’ve been doing!!

Love, Rosy 💕

Meaningful Gift Ideas, PART 2 (Amazing Black Friday Deals!) 🙌

Het friends! ❤️

I’m back with even more Christmas gifts ideas to bless your family and friends. Check out PART 1 if you haven’t seen it yet!! All of these products are from my new business, Mary and Martha. 😀

(Note: I will receive a commission when purchases are made through these links.)

1. Planner Sticky Pad Set

These are so pretty, and really useful as well. 🙂

2. Ampersand Letter Board (Black Friday Sale!!)

Y’all, this is on a MAJOR sale right now. It’s 45 dollars off until the 28th!!!

3. Filled with Joy Tumbler

Isn’t this tumbler so cute?

4. Be Still & Know Boxed Card | Set of 18 | (Black Friday Sale!)

Perfect to send out encouraging Christmas cards this year!!

5. Love Baking Set (Black Friday Sale!)

I especially love that cookie press!! 🥰

6. 100 Pass-Along Note for Joy

These would be so much fun to sen to pen-pals, or pass out to your friends!

7. Rejoice Coasters (Black Friday Sale!)

These are pretty, AND useful!

8. The Living Table Cookbook

This cookbook definitely on my wishlist! Perfect for anyone who loves cooking and baking new recipes. 😀

9. Candace Cameron Bure Bible Tabs

Look how pretty these Bible tabs are!!!!

10. Unfailing Love Wood Sign (Black Friday Sale!)

I actually own this, and it’s amazing!!

11. Woodland Friends Puzzle Books | Set of 4 (Black Friday Sale!)

These children’s board books have SUCH cute illustrations. 😍

12. All I Need For Christmas Gift Wrap Bundle (Black Friday Sale!)

Ok, so you have purchased all of your gifts, now you need something to wrap it up in… Mary and Martha sells that too!!!! Here’s a really nice set of Christmas wrapping paper and gift bags. 😀

13. Christmas Gift Bag Bundle (Black Friday Sale!)

I hope you guys enjoyed these last two posts, and that it gave you some gift ideas for Christmas this year. 🙂 I enjoyed putting it together!!

Also, Mary and Martha’s Black Friday sale lasts until November 28, so if you want to purchase anything on the sale, do it soon!!! 🙂

I hope everyone’s having a good day, and had a good Thanksgiving!!

Love, Rosy ❤️

15 Christmas Gift Ideas to Bless and Encourage Others//Part 1 (+Black Friday Sales!)

Hey friends!! It’s getting to be that time again… Time for early Christmas shopping!!

I’ve compiled a list of a few of my favorite products from Mary and Martha, to give you guys some ideas for meaningful gifts that you can give to your family and friends this year. These gifts are inspiring, encouraging, and filled with God’s truth.

I tried to include all kinds of different things in different price ranges and interest levels, so that there would be something for everyone!

Also, several of these things are on a MASSIVE sale for Black Friday, so now is the perfect time to same some money while buying gifts! I’ll mark the ones that are on sale. Let’s get started!

(Note: I will receive a commission when purchases are made through these links.)

1. 2023 Hope in His Love 12-Month Planner

This is perfect for people who love planning. It has a beautiful cover, and it can be used for an entire year. Speaking of, can you believe it’s almost 2023? Crazy?

2. 2023 Woodblock Calendar (Black Friday Discount!)

Moving along the same line, this woodblock calendar has a monthly calendar on one side, and a Bible verse on the other side of each block! And I love the floral design. ❤

This is on sale in this really cute bundle.

4. Today and Always, This Is True Board Book

The kids in your life would love this adorable little board book. The illustrations in it are so cute!

3. A Place of Mercy Candle (Black Friday Discount!)

This candle smells like Bergamont +Vanilla, and the price has been knocked down to half for Black Friday!

5. Daily Bread Box

A fun way to remind yourself each day of God’s promises to His people.

6. Plant Grow Bloom Love Planters |Set of 4|

I love how these coordinate so well together. 💙

7. Happy Hand Lettering with Maghon Taylor

This fun, colorful book incorporates Scripture while teaching you pretty handlettering.

8. Hope & Encouragement Bible

Mary and Martha also has Bibles!!! This is one of my favorite product that they offer. I’ll definitely be featuring more than one Bible in these lists. This one is a pretty green color and the inside is stunning as well. Check it out on the website to see more pictures of it!

9. Wall Organizer (Black Friday Discount!)

This would come in handy in any home! It includes 3 interchangeable verse inserts, so you can change it up whenever you want.

10. Bible Verse Postcards

Brighten up your friend’s day by sending a bit of truth and encouragement to their mailbox!

11. One Word a Week Book

One week it’s grace, another it’s gentleness… Focus on one word a week all year long!

Or get the calendar version of this book HERE. It’s only $5 for Black Friday!!

12. Grace Water Bottle

Remind yourself of God’s grace, while keeping yourself hydrated.

13. Card & Pen Set

14. Good Things Bracelet

This bracelet will remind the wearer of all the blessing God has given us. ❤

15. Photo & Card Holder (Black Friday Discount!!!)

Display you favorite photos and cards! Plus, it’s super aesthetically pleasing. ❤

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That’s all the ideas I have for today, but Y’ALL, I have 15 more coming very soon! So keep an eye out for that!

Love, Rosy

Comment below, and tell my which of these gifts would you appreciate the most?

Mary and Martha Mug Sale! ☕

What’s better than a nice mug…? Two nice mugs!!!

Hey everyone! Mary and Martha is having a very cool sale right now, that I wanted you guys to know about. Buy one mug set, get one mug set 50% off! Look at the awesome options they have!! I love them all. 😍

These would make wonderful gifts for your tea/coffee lovers in your life. Or yourself, if you like me… lol!

This sale lasts until November 14, so get yours while you can! Also, let me know which mug set is your favorite in the comments. Mine is the Known + Loved / Fearless + Free set. So pretty!! Click on the images below to check each set. 🙂

Or click this button to see them all!

What’s your favorite hot drink?

Rosy

October 2022, Recap

Me:*is determined NOT to be late on the monthly recap post again*

Also me: Still proceeds to wait until the very last minute to even start it*

Anyways…. XD

Hey everyone!!! How was everyone’s month? I can’t believe October is already over…!! *cries because fall is going fast* I’m super excited about November though, for multiple reasons included my and some siblings birthdays, and a planned trip to my grandparents for Thanksgiving. I can’t wait!! However, this post is about October, so here’s what we did.

October 1st was my uncles wedding! If you remember in my last update, we left off in Colorado at my grandparent’s house. The wedding was a few hours away from there. It was a lot of fun!

We stayed a few more days at my grandparent’s house, and then drove 8 hours to Wichita, Kansas to visit New Hope Bible Church, and visit with friends. 😀 We went to Botanica, a garden in Wichita. It was SO PRETTY! I had a lot of fun taking tons of photos, and spending time with friends.

The butterflies there were AMAZING!! There were sooo many. I had so much fun photographing them!! Hands down my favorite thing there. ❤🦋

They had a WHOLE bunch of pumpkins, which made me super happy when I saw them!! ❤

There are tons more photos or our trip to Botanica, but this computer is incredibly slow, so I think I’m going to leave it there. 😉

That evening we attended New Hope Bible church’s Wednesday night service, and my dad preached and gave a mission update. After the service, we had a great time visiting with friends!

We spent the next (very long…!) two days driving home. It was an amazing trip, and I’m so glad we got to go, and spend time with friends and family! We were glad to get home though, and get back to normal life. 🙂

As soon as we got home, I was really looking forward to decorate for fall, even though it was a bit late! 🙂 I had bought several things to decorate with on the trip, so I was really excited to put them up! 😀

Yay for autumn!

While on the trip, we went to a used book store, and I found this really neat looking copy of Bleak House by Charles Dickens. It looked old, but there was no publication date on it, so I wasn’t sure how old. Back home, I did some research, and it took a WHILE because apparently this edition isn’t very common. I found out that it was published between 1870 and 1890! That was a really cool find, especially since it was only $3. 😄

October’s Books

1. The False Prince – Jennifer Nielson (5 stars!)
2. The Quest of the Missing Map – Caroline Keene (4 stars)
3. Macbeth – William Shakespeare (3.5 stars)
4. Maple Syrup Murder – Grace Lemon (3 stars)
5. For Keeps – Chautona Havig (5 stars)
6. Front Window – Chautona Havig (4 stars)
7. Broken Windows – Deb Kramer (4 stars)
8. October – J. Grace Pennington (5 stars)
9. Radialloy – J. Grace Pennington (5 stars)
10. The Demise – Dianne Moody (3 stars)
11. Guardian Eagle – P.D. Atkerson (5 stars)
12. Flagellant on Horseback – Richard Ellsworth Day (3.5 stars)
13. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – Washington Irving (4 stars)

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Alrighty, that’s gonna be it for this post. 🙂 How was your October? Have you been enjoying Fall?

Love, Rosy ❤