EST. 2014
Hi everyone! So it looks like God had other plans. Enjoy, and don't forget to tell me what you think in the comments! On Sunday, the 17th of May, I had an epiphany. He loves me unconditionally. In the few years I've been alive, I've heard many many sermons on God's love. And it's hard for me to remember not having John 3:16 memorised. But still, it was a grand realisation. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 (KJV) No matter how hard people may try, God is the only one who will ever be able to see past my beautifully crafted masks. He's the only one who sees all the pain, shame, insecurity, and pride. The only one who sees every single one of my downfalls (and achievements). And yet He loves me. I will never be able to understand why, but that doesn't make it any less true. Neither will replaying the past. Nothing will. "37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:37-39 (NIV) He loves me unconditionally. He won't justify my sins, but He'll be there to forgive and comfort me when I go to Him. "13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love." - Galatians 5:13 (NLT) He loves me unconditionally. HE loves ME unconditionally. GOD, who is perfect and omniscient (and all sorts of other 'omnis'), loves, confused 1 out more than 7 billion, ME. It's amazing.
<3 Have a great weekend!
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Hi everybody! So, I'm going to be taking a break from writing my "Masquerade Ball" series, but a lot of my posts can be linked to the concept of masks. I hope you enjoy the posts that are to come.
<3 Hi! So this week has been amazing for me - productive, enjoyable, AND restful. But there has been ONE thing that has been ruining this perfect week for me - series. I sit there seeing multiple aspects of each problem and I love it. I love being semi-omniscient about what's going on, but it comes at a price; I have to endure watching the protagonistic (not a word...) characters make obvious mistakes. I have to watch them pass up growth opportunities - opportunities to catch villains, fall in love, and become who they want/need to be-for three main reasons. (1) They're scared, (2) prideful, (3) or resistant to change. While viewing their entire world from the outside it's so easy for me to get annoyed. Buuut, "everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." - Carl Gustav Jung. I don't remember when, but I read somewhere or someone told me [something along the lines of], "we often dislike qualities of others, because we see them in ourselves." (If you know the source, tell me in the comments!) As I've been sending strongly worded telepathic signals to these fictional characters, I've had that quote stuck in my head. They made me wonder; how many opportunities [big or small] have I passed up because I'm scared, prideful, and/or a resistor of change? How many am I willing to give up before I decide that these are terrible reasons? I've decided to adopt a new quote into my life motto collection; now, I just need to memorise it. I found this quote through my discovery of Pinterest's awesomeness. I hope to have an original graphic up for it in the near future. "Do the crazy thing, the hard-to-imagine-but-somehow-you-did thing, the brings-you-to-your-knees thing, the no-one-would-ever-do-it-that-way-thing, the safety-net-would-not-even-matter thing, the it-could-kill-you-but-not-trying-is-another-kind-of-death thing, the thing on your heart. Do it and let them gasp right before they call it a thing of wonder." - Ciona Rouse <3 Have a great upcoming week!
Tell me your life quote(s) below in the comments! I wonder what makes us so different from each other. The way we look, the things we say? Maybe it's simply the masks we choose to wear and the things we choose to let people hear and see. We all wear masks, but it's the one we choose to wear that makes a difference.” - Kim Yannayon If this is the case, then our masks can seriously hinder us from completely enjoying the people and experiences around us. We are all crazily complex people, and we shouldn't let our surroundings stop us from appreciating that. "It comes down to this: If you want to be seen, heard and understood in the most genuine way possible, be open to the possibility of vulnerability. Allow yourself to be open. I know it’s a scary place, a place very few people dare to venture, but just try it. Try moving the masks away and really looking at a person the next time they engaged in conversation with you.” Each day we have to choose what to do with our masks. There are so many opportunities out there that we miss because of them. We think we're protecting ourselves, embracing who we are today, but it can very easily be the opposite. Without even realising it, we keep ourselves from experiences that will help us grow stronger and become who we want to be. All because we're all too comfortable in our masks or just scared to take them off. I personally love wearing masks. It's so easy for me to romanticise them and believe that this is all there is - that removing them is of no benefit. But I also don't want my dislike of change to stop me from shedding [now] uncomfortable masks, and those that just are plain unhelpful. I hope to make sure that no matter the day, they're not a hindrance. I don't want my life to be full of could be's and should be's, because I can't imagine a life with a specific mask. On the other side of the spectrum I don't want get rid of masks before I'm supposed to...but that's another post. <3
Don't forget to like, share, and comment what you think below! The day I learned about "lies of omission" was a sad sad day for me. That was the day I learned that when I don't tell "the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth" I'm TECHNICALLY a liar. Emphasis on technically (if the capitalised, bold font wasn't enough). I think that the world is built on lies as much as it is on facts and truth. So according to the complete definitions out in the world, I lie often. Maybe not to you, maybe not obviously. But I do. My lies intertwine to create a perfectly formed mask. A mask so imperfectly perfect that few realise it's there - and even fewer see through it. It's my opinion that a small minority of the people around us live without masks (and I commend them for this). Our masks tell the outside world we're content with mediocrity. That we know where we're going. That we're comfortable with silence surrounding us and the chaos constantly filling our lives. That our struggles can be summarised in one hashtag. Our masks save us from stares and questions. They save us from "lonely" lunches and silent phones. They save us from expectations and responsibilities. They save us from ourselves. They're as separate from our identity as they are entangled within. Most all of us dislike fakes. Fake electronics, fake websites, fake people. All of which seek to profit from us, one way or another. But let us not confuse masks which can be essential to many of our well beings with masks that simply hide "fakes". I've been thinking a lot about masks, how to define them, what makes them bad, why we need them, amongst other things concerning them. So, possibly with random posts in between, I'll be writing about masks.
I hope as I learn and figure out more about them, you will too. So stay tuned for part one coming later today or tomorrow. Check Facebook for updates and don't forget to comment what you think below - it would mean a lot! <3 |