This little light of mine

Hello world! I'm back from a very busy past couple of weeks. Life can really pass you by when your busy! A lot has happened in the Stouts life here but I feel the need to really only discuss one certain part. Last Wednesday and how God works in ways we don't understand. Showing constantly his perfect timing. I love it!


Last Wednesday Tyler and I had the chance to attend a Special Olympics swim meet. One of our sweet youth members was apart of this. I don't even know where to begin with this post except by saying how blessed we felt from our experience.


lets fast forward to last nights youth devotion. We are currently discussing how to really follow Christ. How to totally die to ourselves and this world and follow Him. One of my youth boldly says "I'm scared sometimes to let my light shine." I ask her why!? Her response is "this world is so hard on us. People pick on me and judge to no end." Broke my heart. Middle school student were talking about here. A young girl that is so full of Gods light and so willing to follow Him.


ok rewind to last Wednesday. Here we are in a small indoor pool area at our local YMCA surrounded by children with special needs and their parents and teacher. My heart was so full. So full of love and happiness because of these children who I'm sure didn't even know I existed in that crowded place.


Why so full??


So here's my point.


These kids were so pleased. SO excited and so content. Their lives are far different from mine. I have so much to be grateful for but that's besides the point. Point is these kids had no idea that their sweet smiles and excitement, no matter if they finished first or last, totally made my day. I was so happy I wanted to cry. They had the sweetest glow around them that no one could put out. Their light was shinning so bright that this girl felt the excitement they felt.


This changed our lives. Tyler and I left that place lost for words. We get in the car and both just look at each other in amazement. God is so good. These precious children of His made so perfect in his sight just changed our lives.


In Tyler's words: "To me that's kind of what I picture heaven to be like. Pure joy. So much happiness we overflow into each other."


Last night I did my best to assure my youth that there will always be something in life that someone doesn't agree with. But don't you ever let your light go dim or allow someone to steal your joy. There's way too much in this world that can shut you down. But like the children last Wednesday,  we need to take life as a gift. Everyday. Nothing is ever promised. No matter if we finish first or last, the ultimate prize isn't in this world. Its what's to come way beyond what this world could ever offer. That's why we need to let our light for Christ shine daily. You never know who around you needs to see that glow like what we experienced that day.

this little light of mine. im going to let it shine.

love. pearls glitter and grace 

For God so LOVED the world.

love. What does it mean to you?
To love those who are in your "circle"?
To love those of a higher authority?
Or to love as Christ loves us?


I've had a lot of both sadness and joy on my heart these past few days. Ill go ahead and get the sadness part out of the way and leave you with happiness. I've had a very specific question running through my mind that has actually broke my heart. In moments like right now as I lay in bed and think about some events that have occurred over the past few days, I cant help but think of this one question.

What if God loved like we love???

If you can see why this question breaks my heart then you must have some similar events going on in front of you as well. From some of my youth coming to me with sadness because of how others treat them to grown adults looking down on "the least of these". I cant wrap my head around this. I cant understand why its so easy for us to call ourselves Christians yet still have no compassion for Gods children.

What if God only loved those who were more fortunate? What if He only loved those who show a "perfect image"? What if He only loved those who truly love his people. Who no matter the persons situation, showed utter compassion toward him or her? Would He love you? 

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31-46



I know that we are human and God doesn't expect us to be perfect. But how are we to set good examples and show Gods love when we cant even find compassion for those who have nothing. For those who are lost and hurting. Someone may only need a small glimpse of who God is through you showing them. An act of a kind service or even a simple smile can change their world. Have you walked all those miles in their shoes? Do you know what their heart is troubled with?
Ask yourself this: What if God loved like I love? Would He love me?

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

As I lay here beside of my husband, I cant help but feel so full. I guess the reason that question breaks my heart is because of how much love and mercy God has shown this sinner. Me. SO undeserving. I am thankful I have a God that loves at all times no matter what. He loved me enough to give me a testimony. He loved me enough to take me out of the pit I was in and set me free. He loved me through my darkest days, when I was so far away that I didn't see why God would even want to show me his GRACE. (In case your wondering where grace came from in my blog name) He loved me enough to send me a man that from day one has prayed for me. Who believed in me and never gave up hope. Who loved me even when I was hard to love. Who saw what God saw in me. That people is love.

God I pray that everyday my heart will love even the unlovable. I pray lord that you help me seek out some ones heart and see past their situation. Lord help us all to love your children as you love us. Even the least of these. And I pray Lord that you will touch the hearts of those who struggle with this. Show them in a mighty and special way, that only you are capable of, how your love for them should shine into others lives as well. I love you and thank you for all your mercy for my own life and God I pray that my testimony will touch the heart of even one person. I thank you for my past and where you have me now. I promise to give you all the glory and honor for all you've done and all I know you already have planned for my life. You are wonderful!!! You are so good! Amen

love, pearls glitter and grace

Simplicity

This post is to the point and slightly raw. It's real.

Every where around us these days society gives EVERYTHING a label. I feel like as a woman I'm tested everyday on what being "content" really is all about.

Ever feel like you just don't "fit in" because you "don't have what they have"? 

9 out of 10 times those people are wondering what your world is like also. This is where being content comes in for me. I am so blessed! No I don't have everything you have but I do have everything I need! God is so good people! 

Lets get to the point. Sometimes we need to sit back and take a look at just how good we do have it. I will be the first to admit I am constantly wanting something new. I mean hello everything around us is forever changing and lets be real, we're women and we're into keeping up! But who can afford all that change?

The last few days some things have been weighing on my heart about these thoughts. No really I've been planning this post for days. I've been apart of and heard stories about people in situations where they just don't fit in to the group any more because things have changed. After these few days of thinking and positive influence from great girl friends, I've come to the self promise that I will live a more simple life. It's not all about the material things in life. Those things get old and fade away and for crying out loud CHANGE everyday. Ill never be able to keep up!

The things of this world will some day be of absolutely NO WORTH!
I am not for one single minute saying that if you enjoy keeping up that your wrong!  I'm simply saying as for me, my husband and our future family, we will live a simple life.

Currently we are house hunting. Honestly this is where it all started. Looking at these great grand homes with so much space to keep everyone separated in their own little area may be great for some, but not for us. Small and homey. A place to call ours. A home our future children can come and feel love. A home we can make memories because the space we share doesn't separate us. Most of all a home where God is center. After all that's what it's all about.

Ladies, if your having to go in debt to keep up with your friends, something is wrong! If you don't fit in because you can't shop everyday or have big dinner parties at your home because the space isn't there, that's not the "group" you need.
Again I say, if your into this, great! I have no problems with that. I love this life the good Lord has given me. I have more then I need and more then I'll ever deserve. I just don't stand for hurting those around me who don't have all that I do. It's so sad to see women falling into these situations. Nothing is more downgrading then having the attitude of being "better".

And to those of you who see past this. Who can love beyond material, your amazing. 

I pray that any woman effected by this feeling sees her worth quickly. See how blessed she is and loved through the grace of her Heavenly Father. And I pray an over flow of blessings on her life daily so that her happiness can flood into and touch the lives of those around her because of who she is and not what she has!

Follow me and many others in living a simple life and being content because we are beyond blessed. 

Here we are. Reality. Real life.

Were married!! Ok so its been a month tomorrow and holy cow where has time gone?! I love this. I love being his wife and I love how much he loves me.  But it's real life now and sadly I see things I fail at when it comes to being a "wife". Please tell me these things will come with time or that it's ok to not know "how to". First thing is I can't get this whole having dinner prepared thing  in line. And to be completely honest, I have no clue how to grocery shop. Yup, I said it. Where do you even begin with that? I always went with my mom as a child but she had a routine and it was the same thing every time. With the exception of me talking her into junk food, but that's besides the point. So here I am walking the aisles at the grocery store (Walmart, first mistake) and I have in my hand a list of things I need for this recipe I plan on fixing.  What do you know I have no clue where anything is. Mom to the rescue! Thanks to her I was able to successfully grocery shop.

Good thing I have a very patient husband! He encourages me every time I "fail", that with time I'll get what being a wife is all about. By the way, the meal I prepared that night was on point! I didn't even have leftovers for work the next day! So I'm getting it. Slowly.

My point here is perfection isn't in us. It's real life and I'm human. We can sit back and laugh about this in years to come and have stories to tell our children like "hey honey remember that time you were in the grocery store for an hour looking for ranch BEANS in the "salad dressing" section!"

I hope you enjoy reading through our journey. Don't mind my run on sentences and random moments of ADD. After all, this is REAL life.

Pearls, Glitter & Grace