September Favorites

Did the month of September fly by for anyone else? It seems like just yesterday school was starting and here it is almost October. Be sure to check out how I styled my favorites and other things this month on my Instagram @MonogrammedMadison.

1. Baseball Caps

Thank you to baseball caps for always being around for those bad hair days. During the month of September I have been spending lots of late nights studying which means waking up late (oops). I have found throwing on a baseball cap is not only convenient but also really cute.

One of my favorite baseball caps from J. Crew.

2. Rain boots

This month the Sunshine State has had more rainy days than sunny days so I have gotten lots of use out of my rain boots. I wish I had pictures of the way I have been styling my rain boots (future blog post?). To me, rain boots are absolutely adorable and this past month I have found them to be extremely functional when walking around campus and running errands

Rainy days call for monogrammed
umbrellas and pink rain boots.

3. Hot tea
Although the weather here in Florida doesn’t feel like fall, I have been sipping on hot tea all month long. My favorites are green tea and passion tea, whether it be from a coffee shop or my own kitchen.

The Grind, a local coffee shop, has been a
favorite of mine this month. I love their green passion
tea with a banana nut muffin (yum!).

4. High School Football
I love me some SEC football, but this year I have really gotten into high school football. I have spent every Friday night under the lights cheering on my high school’s football team with my friends. My school’s student section’s enthusiasm and loudness is so fun and makes me love my school even more.

No where else I would rather spend a Friday night. Go eagles!

5. The Red Band Society on Fox
Although this show just started two weeks ago, it is definitely a favorite of mine. It is about a group of teenagers that are all in the hospital with illnesses ranging from cancer to a failing heart to an eating disorder to cystic fibrosis. The show is all about them growing up, dealing with their illnesses, and their friendships. It’s the kind of show that will having you laughing one minute and cry the next. You can watch the first two episodes online and tune in on Wednesdays at 9pm on Fox.

Picture courtesy of Fox.

 

6. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.” -1 Thessalonians 5:28

This month this verse has really stuck with me. Life gets busy and it’s easy to grow apart from God during those times. I found myself getting caught up with life and straying from my relationship with God, but then I remembered this verse. Taking the time celebrate, pray, and thank God is what God wants us to do and no matter how busy we are we should make time for those things.

The Creator vs. the Creations, the battle for our focus

Hi y’all! My apology for the lack of posts lately. I have been keeping busy between classes, studying for the ACT, applying to colleges, and golf practice. But between all the craziness I managed to write this post and I was once again reminded how much I love blogging, especially about my faith. More of my blogs will be faith based rather than fashion because sharing my faith brings me such joy and truthfully during the school week I mostly just wear running shorts or tee shirt dresses (not too blog worthy). I hope you will continue to follow my blog and share your thoughts with me in the comments below or on Instagram @MonogrammedMadison

Afternoon treat and blogging.
Iced green tea and an old fashion doughnut.

 

Today, I wanted to talk about how material things can cloud our focus on God. We are all guilty of it. We say we are living solely on God, but get distracted by all the ‘shiny’ things of this world. Let us not get caught up in the creations, rather focus on the Creator himself. We live in a world that promotes and stresses the importance of always having the newest things, like electronics and clothes. These temporal things are just that, temporal. The satisfaction we get from a new phone or dress fades. God’s love and living with Him in eternity is everlasting.

Along with taking our focus off of God, we tend to define ourselves by our material possessions. The way you dress, the size of your house, and the car you drive, are some of the things we use to describe ourselves or others. God doesn’t use this standard, therefore we shouldn’t either. The bible says in Peter 3:3-4, it is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine that should make you beautiful. No, your beauty should come from within you.

To me, social media has this an increasing issue. We log into Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites and are bombarded with pictures of all the things people have whether it be what they bought or pictures from a recent trip. I am not saying social media is bad or it is wrong to share information on social media. I am saying if we aren’t careful we can let social media cloud our standard of self-worth and take our focus away from God. To give a personal example, I recently cleaned out my followers list on Instagram. The accounts I unfollowed were not doing anything wrong, but the constant posting of their latest hauls or #ootd made me jealous of their stuff and distracted me from living for God. I am not saying this criticize others Instagram accounts; I know I have posted pictures like that too.

Without intention, it is easy to get distracted by the material things of this world. It is easy to believe or worship the things we see because, well, we can see them. We are stubborn and tend to have the mindset of we won’t believe it till we see it. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, so we must focus our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. We cannot see or touch God’s love and mercy for us but it is deeper than anything of this world. I pray that we can refocus our eyes on God and only God. Like Psalm 119:37 says, let God turn our eyes away from worthless things and preserve our lives according to His word.

XOXO,

Monogrammed Madison