EST. 2014
Do you remember when you had hope for the future and so much love for today? I do. I remember the dreams you had about a land that didn't seem so far away. I remember when your eyes lit up every time someone mentioned your love. We were too young to understand and even feel true love. At least that's what they told us. But you proved them wrong, and loved with undoubtable sincerity. You loved deeply, and beyond all reason. Even today no one knows why. Your love was this life, and all that was in it. And life loved you back. The stars shone brighter when they were lit up for you. Because an audience of one is all they ever wanted. And an audience of one is what you guaranteed them. You watched the stars intently each night with more attention than most kids did, and I didn't understand why. What was so interesting about the stars? The little dots were there the night you told me they were special. They were there the night after that and the one after that. Obviously you saw something I did not because to me they were always there and always, more or less, dots. Wrong about love, maybe. But it seems to me that they were right when they said all good things must come to an end. Because I remember when your heart cracked. I remember seeing hope and love spill out; I remember seeing the stars disappear. I remember when you found out that the pot of gold came from a rainbow, but that the process didn't begin there. But that the gold only came because of a storm that ripped the world to pieces. I remember the days you cried without shedding a tear. I remember the distinct sound of your heart breaking while you sang and skipped with a smile on your face. I remember looking into your eyes, and pretending that the white wall behind you is what I wanted to see. I remember your eyes, because they saved my life even though I never knew you. I knew you could change, but I liked to believe you wouldnt. I knew love could change, but not that at any moment it could decide to up and leave. I knew life could change, but not that it could turn on you. I knew the stars existed, but not that their beauty relied on the eyes of the beholder. I never knew any of this till you. Till love left you, and life hurt you, and the stars dimmed in response. I remember this all, because you asked me too. I remember because such a person is unforgettable. I remember each event and its precise moment, because it was played out in front of me again and again in his and her life. I remember because I can see it all happening today. And now I know that the stars beauty doesn't rely on whether you or I has enough strength to look up and appreciate them. I now know that they'll be there each night to remind me of who we were. I know that each time I remember yesterday and the days we were too short for chairs, and later too big for theirs; each time my heart mimics the breaking of yours, I can do more than just notice. I can do more than pretend not to see and not to care. I can, in fact I need to, because the moment I saw the stars for stars everything changed. I could see the wonder created by a God I'd heard of and even sometimes limped after. I could see He meant it when He said we could be like eagles if we just asked, no limping required. Now that I see the stars for stars, and am beginning to see God for God I must give love for Love. This love is broken and overdue but it's all I have to share with you. He first loved me, and so now I'll try show that I love you. And maybe the next time you see me you'll see the piece of Him that you showed me. You might see some bruises and scars; don't feel bad, dare to ask me why they're there. Maybe I'll answer you and finally let you know the power you have to change lives and the beauty of your own.
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Hey guys! Here's a little poem for your weekend. I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to go like Red Ink on Facebook!
Hi everybody! So today (Sunday, August 16, 2015) was Communion Sunday at my church, and this is what was on my heart. I hope it's encouragement to you. As always, don't forget to share on Facebook and tell me what you think in the comments below.
Believe that I say I am who I am; I can do what I say I can. I believe in you. <3 Have a great week! "8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." - Romans 5:8 (NLT)
"17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) "14 God replied to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exodus 3:14 (NLT) "13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13 (NLT) Every day life restarts and hands you a whole set of new challenges, while still managing to keep hold of yesterday. Every day you have to write a new page; a page that has the prospect of perfection. Sadly, reality says that this page is inevitably doomed to be miswritten.
A little typo here, a contradiction there. A complete misuse of vocabulary or a premature ending. You tell yourself these "mistakes" are okay - that they add depth even. They pile up to create a chapter loaded with low-points. But when you turn the page, you can't let go. Writing a perfect chapter is hard enough and now you have the added distraction of rewriting the last chapter which is far from unwritten. Each of the pages and chapters add a whole new weight. And now enter in They. They believe you can finish this volume of your story. They believe you can be an award-winner. They believe in who you are, because They can remember your well written chapters. They choose to. Of course They insist on telling you this. You ignore them, because They "just don't get it". How could They? You don't try and make They understand. But the truth is, you don't have to. You "just don't get it". You see mistakes or A MISTAKE. They see a building block. They see a person "fearfully and wonderfully made" in God's image. One who is capable of incredible things. One who inspires thousands. One who saves a life and gives hope from behind a register. They see one seriously amazing person. And They hope that one day you'll recognise that you just happen to be that person. They hope that one day you'll get it. <3
Disclaimer: I realise that there is Mother's, Father's, Children’s, and Best Friend’s Day as well as a bucket load of other love-base holidays. Valentine’s just happens to be my favourite. Plus! it’s like the pre-holiday to each of these. I also realise that many of my rules have their annoying exceptions, but let's not worry about those!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Even though it’s not enough of a holiday to warrant a day off, Valentine’s Day is by far my favourite holiday. Here are my top 5 reasons why.
(1) Red and pink! The simplest reason that I love Valentine’s Day, is the colour scheme. I just love red and pink so much!
(2) You get to be nice! It seems to me, that February 14th is one of the few days when people can be honest and NICE without others [feeling the need to] wonder and worry about secret agendas etc. I really miss those adorable cards we'd give out to EVERY person in the class...ahhhh!
(3) The smiles on people’s faces! Next time you compliment someone or give them an unexpected gift, watch their response. If it’s not totally awkward and creepy, their responses can be amazing. I wish I could bottle people’s happy responses up for a rainy day (in a completely non-serial killer way). (Slight side note: Compliments are like little tiny gifts packaged as sentences!)
(4) A whole day full of hearts, chocolate, and pink all in one day?! I find this reason to be fairly self-explanatory.
(5) I just love love (love in the purest sense of the word). I don’t think that Valentine’s brings out love in its purest form, but love can be expressed in its purest form with no problem.
I wish every day could be Valentine’s Day. I get sick of all the Facebook posts that are soliloquies about the compounded love between two people. I get sick of the shared Instagram photos of the “perfect” Valentine’s Day. And the gazillion “Why Being Single During Valentine’s is a Good Thing!” posts.
But. I wish every day could be Valentine’s Day, because then you wouldn’t have to wait to say a sincere thank you. Thank you to your mum, dad, or sibling. Thank you to your friend or teacher. Thank you to that random person who made your day that ONE time. You’d get to say thank you, without receiveing weird looks. So, next week, when the buzz of telling your dad you love him wears off, tell him you love him anyway. And while you’re at it, even though “her day” was 2 months ago, tell your mum thank you! Do me a favour and help me make every day Valentine’s Day? Tell a sincere thank you at least once a week. A thank you with some meaning behind it. <3 What’s your favourite holiday and why?
"Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten." - Lilo and Stitch
Pre-writing worries: Last night, I was feeling super inspired to write this super amazing post and go a little crazy and post my first ever video. But as I sit here today, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm so psyched about this invisible post, but severely lacking in the inspiration department. I was very close to not posting at all today, but got a push in the right direction from this lovely post right here.
Disclaimer: I apologise in advance for my excessive use of parentheses as well as my copious number of references to middle school.
When I look back, which I hate doing (but do often anyway), I see a very confused version of myself. I see a girl obsessed with the future, but terrified of changing. I see a girl so caught up in appearing to be smart and focused, that she forgets that report cards aren't end of the world (...unless a parent gets so upset because of their child's report card that they drop atomic bombs all over the world thus leading to the Apocalypse...). And in this moment, I realise, that to some degree, these things are still true about me.
Yet another thing that has not changed about me, is my love for thinking. I love to just sit and think. But my thoughts tend to get in my way...a lot. They lead to me having to reread my school text over and over, missing a lot of what people say, and freaking myself out. I could have easily driven myself crazy (and I do mean that literally) many times in middle school, because of the combination of all these traits. But I didn't end up in a mental institution, because someones (I'm aware that that's not a word.) always had my back. My past was and friendships were not all "sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows", but I am very lucky. From the beginning of middle school (a time I've tried many times to block out) I was given the most amazing group of friends. I always had AT LEAST one person to challenge me, watch Disney movies with, and give me a slap back into reality. Some of these people I noticed right away, but it took me awhile to realise most of them. I'm so grateful that all these people were able to look past my incessant talking and forever slowness and were present. My life would have turned out a whole lot different without them--and I happen to love my life quite a bit, thank you very much. I am writing this post as a "thank you" to all of those who have had my back over the years, but also to encourage all of you who have read (or skimmed) this far to just stop. Stop looking backward and even forward and just look at what's here. Stop and do more than just see people - notice them. Notice the little things that they do for you. Notice that they take the extra time to explain something to you, that they notice you. Notice when people realise that you're more than just a human, but a person. A person with opinions, feelings, and random knowledge floating around in your head. I've made the mistake many times of not noticing. Some days I just wouldn't notice. But on bad days I would days I would notice and move on with my life or choose not to notice to escape guilt or obligation. But people should never be treated as obligations. I find it very easy to live in my own little bubble, where the world is exactly as I want to be, but there's so much more out there than my hopes, my dreams, my likes, and my dislikes. There are your hopes, your dreams, your likes, and your dislikes. I've missed out on many months and years of friendship, because I love my little bubble. Because I made the conscious choice to do nothing. And I'm sad that I have; but, there's nothing that I can do about lost time except, do my best to not make that mistake again. <3
Everybody deserves to have this song memorised!
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! I love you. In my opinion, these words are just as hard to hear as to say. The minute you hear these words all of sudden there are these responsibilities given to you, as unwanted as they may be sometimes. You have to take this person's feelings into consideration, because now you don't have plausible deniability. And these feelings and fears come in hand with any relationship/some relationships. All of sudden you have to start replaying your friendship/relationship in your mind and decide if you feel the same way - if you haven't already. I love you. The minute you say this sentence you've forfeited your ability to deny it any more. You put yourself out there, and you become vulnerable. Either way, you start to think about what it really means to love someone. Does it mean you'll never hurt them again? Does it mean you'll stand by them no matter what? Does it mean they even need to know? Saying 143 or ily isn't the same as saying, "I. Love. You." There are circumstances where 143 IS what you need to say or write or hashtag. But it isn't the same thing, and we shouldn't pretend it is. I shouldn't pretend it is. Life's too short to not say, "I love you." Sure. But this sentence is way too precious to be JUST a hashtag, JUST a greeting card, JUST an obligation. “We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past, but by the love we're not extending in the present.” - Marianne Williamson
As an elementary school student I grew up listening to Wow Hits. This led to one of my favourite songs being “We Live” by Superchick. Besides that song I didn't really listen to any of their music. But in middle school that changed.
I remember being introduced to another one of their songs called “Stand in the Rain”. This song talks about a girl going through a depressing time in her life. It talks about how she’s slowly breaking and nobody knows. When I was told about this song it was more because songs make good conversation than anything else. But since then I’ve listened to this song tens of times; it’s consistently been a source of encouragement. It’s amazing how the things we say that seem insignificant to us can be the things that keep others going. The things you say may encourage someone to keep improving a talent, or improving themselves, or keep them from a huge emotional breakdown. Not everything that comes out of any of our mouths or that we write will be profound. And we may never know about the things we said and wrote that were. All we can do is try and be aware of others and do our best. In my eyes it's the simple thoughts, the simple actions, the simple words, the simple phrases that hold the most weight - that change the world, a world. |