True Beauty.

Hey everyone,

I will have done 3 posts in 3 days when I'm finished this post! I'm happy, I think I should get a medal or something for blogging so much when I haven't been doing much over the past little while. I got the idea for this in business class today. It kind of came to me when I was searching quotes on the internet.

Beauty. Beautiful. What does that really mean? What are the standards for beautiful? Do I have to pass a test? Does a boy/girl have to like me and then I can be called hot/cute/good looking? Do I have to look like every cookie cutter girl/guy on the covers of a magazine to be pretty? The questions get kind of overwhelming, don't they? I know that we're all taught in school that we ARE beautiful, well at least the girls are. I know the guys who read this may be like, Well, I'm not typically described as beautiful.. WELL, even so, you are beautiful. Everyone is.

But, do we really believe what they preach at us? When they say, You don't have to be a size zero to be beautiful. You don't have to have blonde hair to be beautiful. We may listen to it, but we don't necessarily BELIEVE it. I know that I don't all the time. But the thing is, is that we ARE beautiful human beings. We ARE worth a boy or a girl and good grades and best friends and a happy life. I think that for us to truly believe that we are beautiful, we have to recognize our faults, and then realize that for every fault, there is a good thing that counter acts that.

For me, I know that I'm loud. I annoy the heck out of people because I don't shut up half the time. But to counteract that, I listen really well. I listen to my friend's problems and I give them the best advice that I can. Here's another one. I wish that I were taller. Not model tall, but at least an inch taller. I know I still have some growing ahead of me, but I haven't grown in about 2 years. BUT. To counteract that, I know that I don't block most people's views at concerts and in church.

See what I'm doing? My challenge for all of you guys today is to make a list just like I did. I know that we think of beauty and something to do with our faces. Has anyone her the term Butterface? But her face? She's got a nice body, but if only she had a nice face.. Not very nice, is it?

WELL. I challenge all of you to think of yourselves as well created, extremely unique and wonderful human beings. You may hate your legs, well they take you places. You may hate your nose. Well if it wasn't for your nose, you couldn't smell fresh flowers or homemade cookies or your favourite perfume or body spray.

LOVE YOURSELF. God loves you. Why can't you love you?

Happy Thursday everyone. :)

Bible Verse

Hey everyone,

I've got a quick little passage for you all. I was just flipping through my Bible and I found it and thought, Wow. I have to blog about this. So, here it is.

Psalm 138:8

The Lord will fufill His purpose for me;
your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands.

What did you guys think? I read it again and I still think it's amazing. No matter where I am in life, I know that God has a purpose for me. My being on this Earth is not a fluke, my life was planned out before I even breathed the air that I breathed when I was born. That's pretty hardcore stuff, isn't it?

I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. Psalms are a great book in the Bible to read, FYI.

Happy Wednesday. :)

Lent

Hey everyone,

This is going to be a super quick post because I'm in class right now! :S I know I know. But I'm done all my work, and this is semi - educational, right?
Anyways! What are you guys giving up for Lent? I know that it's already started, but I'm still curious. I'm giving up my hair straightner and curling iron. I was GOING to give up my blog, but I was so torn that I decided to do my hair products. Because HOW would I be able to blog about Lent if I gave up blogging!? Hopefully my hair will be healthier after, and I learn to love myself with exactly what God gave me. It's going to be hard, I can tell. This morning I almost got out the curling iron, but I stopped myself just in time.
For those of you that don't know, Lent is a time before Easter when christians give up something that is important to them. I'm pretty sure that it symbolizes Jesus' sacrifices for us so we could live a better life. And, we do the same for Him, except it's not as dramatic as giving up your life so someone else can live an amazing one.

Anyways,
I gotta go!
Comment me below with what you're giving up.

Busy Bees

Hey all!

New post time. I promised one of my friends that I would do another post ASAP, so here it is. I just got the idea for this post now, actually, as I was sitting down at my computer, about to type.

Being busy. Some are more busy than others, and I am fully aware of that. Some people, who are type A personalities, can't function without BEING busy. I know alot of people like that. I think that the majority of us are a bit of both. We like time to relax, but we need to be doing things sometimes too. For me, I'm exactly like that. At the moment, I've got alot going on for me with school and work on Saturdays. It gets overwhelming sometimes, doesn't it?

I think that we so often forget to take a step back from our lives are relax and calm down for a while. So, my challenge to you guys today, is to take a step back from what's going on in your life right now, and take some time for YOU.
One of my favourite ways to do that is to take a walk around my block, and just look at everything around me. I force myself to become hypersensitive to my surroundings. It's wonderful when we figure out what most of us call silence, is alot of tiny little noises mixed together. Have fun with it. Your choices are endless.

Have fun destressing guys. :)
Happy Tuesday.

Commitmentaphobia.

Hey everyone!

Long time no talk. I got the inspiration for this blog mainly because of what is going on in my life at the moment. You know when something just pops into your head, and you're like, Uhm HOW did my brain just come up with this? Well yeah. That's kind of how this idea came to me.

Commitment. We all know what it is. We commit to things, like work, school, keeping promises and staying out of trouble. We commit to alot of different things without even knowing it. But, when commitment is shoved in our face, pure as daylight, alot of us are scared. I know I am. You have to stick with something that you're not sure you will. Marriage is a HUGE one. Lately I've been feeling like I have to make commitments, but I feel like I'm bad at them, and ultimately that I'm afraid of them. I think I have commitmentaphobia. I never used to think of myself as a person who was afraid to make commitments, but now more than ever, I'm finding that I am. I don't know about you guys, but making promises scares me sometimes, because I'm not always 100% sure I can keep them. How do you feel about this? I'm hoping it's not just me who feels this way.

I want to challenge you guys to think about a commitment that you've made. Why did you make that commitment? Why did you feel so strongly about it that you said, I'm going to stick with this? Whenever you're feeling afraid of latching onto something, think about that. How much you loved something, and how badly you wanted to do it so you made a commitment. I think one of the main reasons why I'm so afraid of commitment is because I'm made into this vulnerable person when I do. I let my guard down, and that scares me, especially in relationships. I don't like having something I can't run away from, when I can't extract myself from something and pretend like it's not happening.

So I guess this is a more honest blog post than most of my others. I hope that's okay with you guys. This one doesn't have as much of a message, more of a little update I guess. I hope it leaves you something to think about.

Happy Valentines Day everyone! :)
God loves you!

Notes

Hey all,

I have come to the conclusion of 2 things. 1, I am horrible at blogging. 2, I've missed you all! :) I'm so so so sorry for not posting over the past what, 4 days? You guys may not care, but I do! I feel like I have a responsibility to post something at LEAST every 2 days for everyone to read. Do you think that's reasonable? I do. SO. Onto the blogging, saying as I haven't done much of it in the past little while.

I was going through my Ipod today, and I noticed something in my notes that I thought might be blogging material. Just some info for you guys, I am a TOTAL, self proclaimed note freak. I make mental notes and real notes all the time. My whole life is on paper. It comes out in writing, as you guys can tell. ANYWAYS. I was going through my Ipod and I found some lyrics to a song, and I was like, Oh. This is cool. The song is called By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North. Personally, I really like it. I'm not sure how popular of a band it is in the christian music world, but I'm into kind of indie undiscovered music, so I guess it may fall into that category in christian music too. I'm going to give the URL to the actual lyrics at the end, because this post would become WAAY to long if I posted them here.

What I had done, was change the lyrics up a little bit, so instead of saying YOU, it was saying I. Get it? So, this is what I changed it into.

Why am I striving these days? Why am I trying to earn grace? Why am I crying? (LEAVE SOME OUT)

Why am I looking for love? Why am I still searching as if You're not enough? (LEAVE SOME OUT)

Chorus: And You'll be by my side wherever I fall, In the dead of night, Whenever I call.

Pretty powerful stuff, isn't it. Now, I know that I can relate to this. I constantly look at other things to fill the void in my heart that I know, for a fact only God can. I know it sounds stupid, but I do it absentmindedly. I think we all do sometimes. So my challenge to you today, is to think about your 'God Substitute.' What are you substituting God for? A boy/girl? Drugs? Alcohol? I'm not sure. But I AM sure of this. God can make you feel better than any of those things can. BY THE WAY, I'm not saying if you're in a relationship, get out of it. I'm saying are you getting swallowed by it instead of getting swallowed by God. Think about it.

http://www.6lyrics.com/music/tenth_avenue_north/lyrics/by_your_side8.aspx

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Telling the Truth

Hey everyone!

This is a kind of spur of the moment entry. I just thought about it tonight, to tell you the truth. So hopefully I will have something of substance to say, because it's fresh in my mind! Anyways. I told my mom and my brother some pretty hardcore stuff about myself approximately an hour ago. It was kind of like word vomit, if you know what I mean. It just slipped out. I hadn't told them for about a year, even though I'd told my 2 best friends. I would tell you guys, but I'm not 100% ready for everyone else to know yet. Don't worry though, I'm not pregnant. Just one of those bumps in the road that people go over in life. BUT. This isn't the point.

The point IS, that telling the truth and getting things off of your chest is really important. I'm sure we can all agree that when we don't let things out, and when we stew things over in our minds, we tend to dwell on them and we overreact and things start to go downhill. Maybe not for you, but that's definitely what happens for me. That's one of the many reasons why we should act on not keeping all of our feelings inside us and let some of them out from time to time. Now, some feelings are appropriate to share with people you trust, and obviously, other's aren't. We can all judge how much we want to tell. So, my challenge for you guys today, is to think of something that you have going on inside of you. Maybe you failed a test. You had a huge fight with a friend, I don't know. And, it's killing you to not tell. Chances are, if you have something that you're not saying, you're probably thinking about it right now. SO. Think about it. AND this about talking about it. I know I've said many times that talking about things is good, and I will say it again.

Maybe you won't talk about it right away, just like I did. It took me almost a year to tell my mom and my brother! So, I'm definitely not the judge of how long is too long. Just think about it. And think about talking about it. Maybe to your guidance counsellor, or a best friend. I find that talking to friends about things first and then talking to my parents works well, but sometimes it's the other way around. Whichever way you feel it best. :) You may even tell it to your diary! I know that my poetry books are FILLED with poems about what I went through. I hope you guys get something out of this. I know it's not necessarily the deepest thing in the whole entire world, but I think it's important.

Remember too guys! God is always willing to listen. No matter what you have to say, no matter how tired you may get of talking, no matter how much crying you do, He'll listen to it all. It may feel like no one has time for you, but God ALWAYS does.

Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a long time, but it ain't goin' away.
- Elvis Presley

Have an awesome weekend guys.

The Pain of Divorce

Hey guys!

So, I've been thinking about this topic alot lately. One of my friends recently found out that her parents are getting divorced, and even though she's putting on a happy face, I can tell that it's not easy for her. First of all, I want to say that if your parents are divorced, or if you know of people that are divorced,I'm here for you. My prayers are with you. I personally don't know why it's like, because my parents are still together which I am ABOVE and BEYOND thankful for, but instead of showing you empathy I can show you sympathy. If you would like to message me, send me a comment first and then email me at my email at the top of the screen. I don't check that email often, so comment me first so I know you're emailing.

SO. On to the dicussion. Divorce. It's an ugly word, isn't it? It sounds so harsh and cold and just there. You may be thinking, my parents are still together, why do I have to read this? I'm telling you now, you don't have to. It's not a topic that's aimed at everyone. BUT. Everyone can learn about it so you won't make the same mistakes if you choose to get married, or you can help out a friend who's watching their parents going through a divorce. I've got a shocking statistic for you guys. About 48% of marriages in Canada end in divorce. That means that about 1 out of every 2 couples will get divorced. For me, that brings tears to my eyes. Everyone invisions their wedding as the happiest day of their life. It's a beginning to the new journey you're starting with your significant other. But, for 1 out of 2 of those couples, the happiest day of their life will eventually end in sadness, anger of betrayal.

For me, I'm finding that divorces are becoming more and more common with my friends parents. Like I said earlier, I'm so thankful that my parents are still together. I've got some advice and some stuff to think about for everyone here. Whether your parents are going through a divorce, they've already gone through one, or you're helping someone else cope, I hope this helps.

1. It was their decision. They are the adults in this equation, and even though their idea may seem stupid, crazy and totally unacceptable, they're doing what they believe is best for them and for YOU. I don't think any parents would intentionally want to hurt their kids.
2. There are SO MANY other teens going through the same thing. It may feel like you're the only one, but there are tons of others going through the same thing.
3. Talking about it does help. Going to a pyschologist was one of the best things I've ever decided to do. I think alot of the time, we get pyschologists and pyschiatrists mixed up with people that want to butt into our lives and take over, but that's not the case. They're there to listen to every word that comes out of your mouth. They're there to give you advice, to watch you grow and to help you. Your guidance counsellor can do the exact same thing for you.
Everything is totally confidential EXCEPT if you tell them something threatening to your life i.e contemplating suicide. Then they're permitted by law to tell someone who can help.
4. Never be afraid to cry or be emotional. It's okay! I promise. Letting it out can be one of the best things.
5. The people that ask questions may get annoying and you may come to the point where you want to rip their heads off, but nine times out of ten, I believe that people are either curious, want to help or want to offer you advice.
6. God is THERE. He's right there with you, every step of the way. If all you can do is cry and you can't even speak, that's fine. Lift that up to God. He can take all of that and more.

NOW. Alot of this advice goes for other things too. I think everything other than number one can be related to frequent problems in our lives, like break ups or fights with friends. I hope that those of you that can relate to these things and get something out of it. I'm not a professional. I'm going off my feelings, advice from others and what I believe in my heart.

I feel for all of you out there that are hurting, confused or sad. I'm here. I may not be much help, but I'll listen. This website it as AWESOME website for divorce stats. http://www.divorcerate.org/divorce-rates-in-canada.html

Happy Wednesday guys.