flaws

Just a few months ago, I discovered the band Bastille. Since then I seem to be hearing their music everywhere I go! Not that I mind that in the least bit. However, it's hard to let go of songs that were close to your heart. Their song "Flaws" is absolutely beautiful. I especially love this live version. There's so much depth and honesty to the lyrics that I just really appreciate it. Not to mention, his voice plus the strings is breathtaking. Two favorite lines in this song. "You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve, and I have always buried mine deep beneath the ground." The second favorite, "All of your flaws and all of my flaws, when they have been exhumed we'll see that we need them to be who we are, without them we'd be doomed." Those two lines are just so perfect. Flaws are what make a person unique. Everyone struggles, everyone goes through hard times, but everyone has it a little different. I consider my issue with speaking words to be a flaw of mine. Because of it, I feel as if I can never communicate properly. I hope someday I will find someone who won't give up on me, but rather, will pry the words from right between my clenched teeth. 

the secret life

     Tonight I took my younger brother and sister out to see The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. Highly recommended. It was so beautiful and breathtaking, and the story line was incredibly unique. Not to mention, the cinematography was top notch. Anyways, the movie really got me thinking, and left me totally inspired. To be alive. To live, fully, and adventurously. Walter Mitty tends to zone out a lot, creating fantastic daydreams inside his head of what could have happened, or what he could have said. Ah, it really got me. There are so many things I know I've left unsaid. I imagine that all the time, actually. But I hang onto those words and tend to let that moment pass away. 

     I make up for my inadequacy with words. Words, words, words. Words on paper, and not words spoken. In my mind it's something I'm good at. Because of this I write on anything and everything, anywhere and anytime. It is stupid? Maybe. But it makes me feel a little bit better about things, because those words are something they can't see. Yet it's so frustrating to not be able to say what I want to say. That's are something I've struggled with all my life. I've decided that I'm so quiet, not because I have nothing to say, but because I have too much to say. There are so many thoughts swirling around in my head and I don't know how to process all of them, to sift through and find the right words for that exact moment. Either that or I know what to say, but I'm afraid to voice it out loud. I thought I'd gotten past that struggle, but in certain moments I know I totally haven't.

     That's why I really enjoyed this movie. To see someone become who they always wanted to be; to see that someone was able to overcome those fears and to really live. I appreciated that. If you have a moment to spare, I'd say the movie was definitely worth watching. I mean, I'm already ready to see it again! On a side note, the soundtrack is equally fantastic. I'll leave you with a little quote I really enjoyed. 

"I live by the ABCs of life: Adventurous, Bold, and Creative."                        That's how I want to live.

winter scene

     Snowstorms are unlike any other storm. The snow comes heavily, yet softly. Whirling around in the sky as if someone had picked up a snow globe and shaken it hard. The sky is white, the ground is white, the trees are heavily laden with white. The world is all so soft and frozen, and oh so quiet. The stillness of winter amazes me, and I find it absolutely beautiful.
      People talk about summer and wanting it to come quickly. I just wish they'd slow down and take in the beauty of winter. Even in spite of the cold, the air is so clean and refreshing. Just a deep breath of the cold, and I feel as if everything dirty on the inside has been swept away. It makes my heart swell, and I stand on tiptoes just itching to catch that next breath of fresh air.
     I want it to take me away, that ice cold wind that whistles through the dead trees. I'm one of those people who hates to see the fresh snow trampled on, melting, and dirty. I wish the snow could stay clean and pure forever, but winter doesn't work that way. Each  individual snowflake glints and gleams in the fading sunlight. Capturing a burst of gold and dazzling white diamonds. Did you ever see anything so lovely? Yet so many people don't notice, and winter goes unappreciated.
     Winter can be harsh, and it can be fierce. But there's a beauty there in the harshness. There's a rare exquisiteness to the bitterly cold landscape. Don't let it pass you by. Don't let the breathtaking beauty of the winter scene pass go unobserved. I know it's cold, but take a minute to marvel at the beauty of the snow. The way the snowflakes drift gently to the ground, the way the cold air feels like cleansing for the soul, and the majestic pines shrouded in clouds of white, and the glimmer of the snowflakes as the catch the rays of golden light.
   

passing time

I'm always amazed at how fast time passes. How is it 2014 already? It's just blows my mind. Time has really been on my mind lately. Our time on this earth is so short and so precious. It goes by in just the blink of an eye, really. I worry so much about the future, and how I'm going to pay for school, what I'm going to do when I finish school, and many other things. This year, however, I want it to be different. This year has the potential to be the best year ever, spiritually and physically. With all that being said, I want to share something with you that adequately sums up my feelings. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

"It's so easy to get caught up in this life and the hustle and bustle of everything. It's easy to get caught up into thinking that we're in control, and that this life is all about us. I'm very guilty of this kind of thinking myself. The flesh wants to think it's in control; it tries to tell us that we know better than God, but how untrue it is. Whenever I try to do things on my own and in my own strength, I end up stressed, exhausted, and worn out. What's the answer? "Be still and know that I AM God." It's more of Him, and less of me. 

     Today I finally finished a book I had started long ago, and there were some truths that just really hit home. These truths were about how God is in control, and i am not.

"Sabbath (Sunday) is not so much about a day off as it is a "day up"--a day to remember that He is God and we are not. Without Sabbath, we forget who we are and lose sight of who He is, leaving us to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. When there is no Sabbath in our lives we become intoxicated by the lie that the sum of our lives depends on our effort alone. We get to the place where we truly believe that the outcome of the story fully depends on us. But in truth, we are tiny, limited beings. Our biggest and best efforts still accomplish far less than what Go can do in us, through us--or without us--in one breath."

"Let's face it, stillness is not exactly easy to come by in today's culture. We are far more likely to be restless, anxious, fearful, worrisome, and busy. But God's invitation is to be still--and to find again, in the calm pause, the assurance that He is, in fact, God. His plans are undeterred, and with or without us He is going to receive glory from all peoples on the face of the earth. But how do we find stillness when finances are tight, tragedy overwhelms, the kids seem out of control, nations are at war, relationships are strained, and there's just too much left to do at the end of the day? It's simple. "Be still and know that I AM God. The only place true stillness of the soul can be found on Planet Earth is in the super-close proximity to the God of all Creation. Our peace of mind is found in the assurance that God is present wherever we are."

I'm thankful that i am small, and that God is big. He is in control, and I can rest in Him and His promises. For as He said, "Come unto Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "