Big World

Have you ever felt like packing up your life and everything your use to and moving away? Moving to a little apartment that overlooks a big noisy city filled with different kinds of people. Moving somewhere completely alone, where you know no one. I think of this all the time, in fact I desire to do this someday. I don’t mean move forever, but wouldn’t it be neat to do such a thing for a little while. Imagine how much you could learn about yourself. Imagine how much you could learn about other people. The things you could accomplish during those moments of being alone are endless. Not having the distractions of everyone and everything that you’re use to, not having a set schedule or a routine life to live by. Wouldn’t that be so neat? I’m a people watcher, I am fascinated by people. Every person is so unique and different that I find it so interesting. A persons style, a persons speech, a persons mannerisms, whether a person cares about the views of society or whether they are completely independent… all these things stand out so much to me and I am captured by it. I want to live somewhere that is filled with different people; I want to live in a little apartment that overlooks such people and watch them pass by my window each day. I wonder if I would see familiar faces, I wonder if I would give them a name or if they would just pass by and that would be that. I think about such things, and I hope to someday turn my “wonders” into a reality. I think my favourite kind of people are those with the “not a care in the world” attitude, those who go about each day with a smile on their face doing their own thing. Those who could walk down the street and sing to themselves and not care about others passing by, those who could walk out of their homes wearing something so unique… those are the people that stand out, those are the people that I admire most. I think the world is filled with so much beauty, and so often it is right beside us and we let it pass us by. Notice the people of this world, notice their uniqueness, notice how beautiful each and every person is. Maybe someday I will get that little apartment that over looks a big noisy city filled with different kinds of people. That apartment that overlooks the beauty and wonder of this world.

Wuv, Twu Wuv, is what Bwings us togeva today...

True love… what is true love? Is it the love we see in movies, or the love we read about in fairytales? Is it the love we see in a couple who just celebrated 50 years, or is it the stories we hear about high school sweethearts? I suppose I don’t know the answer to this question, because everyone has a different idea of what they think love is. I am going to tell you what I think of when I hear the word love… men… plain and simple, I think of the opposite gender. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Let me elaborate, I think of the ideal man… not sure if he exists, but… he might. Alright here it goes, my ideal man:

1. He MUST LOVE JESUS
2. He must have a sense of humour
3. He must be respectful
4. He must love me for me

Notice how I made the first point stand out? I did that to show how important that is to me. I refuse to go into a relationship with a guy and have this attitude… “Well I mean he’s not a Christian … yet… maybe someday? Maybe I will be that person who shows him who Jesus is!” NO! I mean of course be that person to show him who Jesus is, but be that friend, not that girlfriend. Some people might see that first point as such insignificance in a relationship, but I know from experience how truly, truly important it is. How easy a person will step foot into a relationship, completely aware of all the red flags that surround it. It is heartbreaking to see girls and boys place themselves in relationships where they get treated like dirt… key words “prince & princess” if the person you are currently in a relationship with doesn’t treat you as such… GET OUT! When you’re in a relationship Jesus should be the center, he should be the focus of the whole relationship, and the most important thing is you must make sure you do not lose focus of Jesus, that your love for him stays so strong, Jesus comes first always. If you date a non-Christian how do you expect to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, how do you expect to stay strong in your faith? You may think “Oh, this is no problem; I love Jesus so much; nothing will separate me from him!”… And then your relationship with the “significant other” gets more serious and voila… Jesus who? It breaks my heart to see people push Christ away so easily, it breaks my heart to see people get into relationships that are so unhealthy; it breaks my heart when they are so blind and they think “oh he loves me, most of the time… when he’s not mad.” Does that sound healthy to you? Does that sound like your ideal relationship? I hope not, and I hope that if this is you… you see that you are so much better than that, that you get out of that relationship, mend your relationship with Jesus and wait till the match God has for you comes along. Don’t waste your time with people that aren’t going to do anything but hurt you, and it’s a sad reality that most of the time those people don’t yet know Jesus. Surround yourself with someone who will bring you up, not down. Someone who will love you, not break your heart.

Beauty from our Pain

        “I wish she was here… I still remember driving 180 down the street; running into the house and doing CPR on Kate… I remember holding my little brother telling him everything was going to be okay.” Its crazy how one phone call can completely shake your world. It could be anything from a relationship ending to a sick grandparent to finding out your going to lose your house. How about a phone call telling you that your little sister just hung herself? I can’t even begin to imagine. That short drive could not seem any longer, holding her lifeless body trying to bring it back to life could not seem any more hopeless, holding your little brother telling him everything was going to be okay could not seem any more terrifying, especially when you’re unsure yourself. Imagine how many regrets you would have in that moment, how many “if only I did this” or “maybe if this went differently things would have happened differently” but the one that breaks my heart the most is “this is all my fault.” I can’t stress enough how circumstances such as these are no ones fault, and it is a sad reality that most people cannot comprehend that. When tragedy strikes the first to blame is themselves. It is heartbreaking; don’t they have enough to deal with let alone putting all those burdens onto their shoulders? My respect is endless to those who have faced tragedies in their lives such as losing a family member, the strength that those people portray in inspiring. To be able to sit back and watch them go about their lives, trying their hardest to keep it together for their little brother, trying their hardest to wear that smile that is so familiar to everyone, trying their hardest to act as though everything is okay. I commend those people. I feel that those people are going to be able to go into the world and conquer anything that comes their way, any challenge they are faced with will be so insignificant to them because of the challenges they have faced at one time in their life. I know someone who fits in this category… lets call him M… he is person who has lost so much, but still wakes up each morning knowing it is another day, wearing that smile, heading off to work to make the best life for his brother possible. He is a perfect advocate of strength. “For when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great JOY, for you know when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” James 1:2-3 M uses his troubles, he uses his pain and finds beauty within it. He notices the beautiful things in life despite all he has lost. This is so amazing and I can only hope others would do the same, when your faced with a tragedy your life doesn’t need to stop, you must persevere and grow… find the beauty within your pain.