Spiritual Sunday

I have a bad habit of worrying about the future.  Presuming the future.  This bad habit of mine gets worst around my birthday.  Another year.  Somehow freaks me out.   

So, the message today at church about facing the future, and the three common mistakes we make in facing the future, was really poignant.  Here's a summary of the message based on James 4:13-17: 

Three Common Mistakes We Make In Facing the Future

(1) Planning without God.  It is wise to plan.  The Bible tells us to plan.  But the issue or problem is self-sufficiency - when we forget God in our daily lives.  Planning without God is "presumptuous atheism."  As Christians, and children of God, our business is God's business, so we must include God in our plans.

(2) Presuming about tomorrow.  Life is unpredictable.  We don't know what's going to happen.  And we don't have any assurances.  But, that shouldn't scare us.  Instead, let it move us to trust God more.  Life is short.  It goes by really fast.  We cannot presume that tomorrow is going to be the same as today.  The solution: do not be anxious for tomorrow.  Plan for the future, but we must live for today.  For right now.  Today is going to be the good old days we're going to talk about someday.  Make the most of it. 

(3) Putting off doing what is good.  This is about procrastination.  When we procrastinate, we presume that there will be a tomorrow.  There are three things we can do with our lives: waste it, spend it, or invest it.  Remember that there is another kind of sin in the Bible, which is the sin of omission.  Doing nothing with our lives is a sin.  The solution: Do it now.  If you can do it now, do it now.  Good intentions are not enough.  Whatever you intend to do for God, do it now.  And make your life count.     

The pastor asked this question at the end: If you only have one week left to live, how would you spend it?

Writing. And life.

Replica of how I look most nights and mornings these last couple of weeks.
Minus the fancy wardrobe and decor, of course.  And the beautiful curls.
 

Last night was the last day of my writing class series.  And before we all parted, we read this quote by Anne Lamott:

"E.L. Doctorow once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night.  You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.'  You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way.  You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you.  This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have heard." (Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life)

This morning, as I carried my multiple book bags (one filled with client files and the other with notebooks filled with drafts of my story), down the stairs of my apartment, this feeling came over me - I have no idea what tomorrow or the next day or the next week or the next year will bring.  I can fall flat on my face.  Completely fail.  Have people hate my work.  Never get anything published.  I can try and fail.  And feel horrible.  And rejected.  Or I can not try at all so that I never have to feel that sense of rejection and failure.  But, I want to keep trying.  I want to keep writing.  I want to keep doing this.  Right now, I'm just loving this process.  Of writing again.  Of being immersed in this world of writers.  And right now, I'm just going to embrace that as much as I can. 

I'm leaving it up to God to take care of tomorrow. 

photo via Everything Lovely

(disclaimer: Not a picture of me.  But I wished I looked that lovely while I'm in the midst of work.)

wishes come true

Had quite a weekend!  I'm finally home, with my feet up, and ready to go to bed.  Had been running around all day on two-hour sleep.  Yesterday was my niece's baby shower, so was on my feet all day long: setting up, taking pictures, organizing games, and trying to fit in meaningful-conversations in between.  Then, for some insane reason, I decided I wasn't tired enough so, after the baby shower (after more running around cleaning up), I met up with friends for dinner, and had an all-night chat fest.  My friends and I finally went to bed at 4:15 a.m., but I was up 2 hours later, so I can go to church, and then, spend the rest of the afternoon helping my niece prepare her room for the baby.

I'm tired, but happy.  I realized that nothing makes me happier than spending time with my favorite people: my family, especially my niece and nephew.  We laugh together.  After a long, rough couple of weeks, nothing is better than hearing my nephew tell stories, my brothers and I reminiscing, my niece and I talking, and all of us together - laughing.

So, I had a great weekend!  My only regret: I didn't taste the desserts at the shower.  And they looked delish!


the cake

strawberry cupcake

chocolate cupcake

cake pops

the ensemble

 
Check out the adorable diaper cake from my mom:

 wish list

I know this is wish list Sunday, but today, I'm not posting any photos of things that I wish for.  Today is about wishes coming true.  You see, watching my family gathered together this weekend, talking and laughing together, has made me believe that we grow, we change, and with a lot of love and a lot of faith, wishes come true. 

wish list + things that made me smile

I had a rough week.  But, in some ways, it was good.  Forced me to stop, listen, and think.  Re-evaluate things.  And I learned a lot about myself.  My ability to bounce back.  My ability to smile despite the things I've been through and the things I've seen.  My ability to hold on to hope.  And faith.  No matter what.

And because of everything I've been through, I'm a firm believer that every new day is an opportunity to change our lives.  Sometimes, it just takes awhile.  But every step we take is one step closer to where we want to be.  And even if where we want to be changes, that's okay.  Life is about change.  Every day is a different day. 

Anyhow, thought I'd start this new series on my blog called the "wish list."  Every Sunday, I'd post something new.  For inspiration.  I need visual inspiration.  So, here's my first set of the wish list:

wish list: 

the outfit

via prepfection

the ring

via ijeOma

travels

via pretty rosetta

vacation home

via nantucketyouth

+ the things that made me smile:

Background: I have young parents.  Well, they got married young.  Had kids young.  Got divorced young.  So, it was hard.  I feel as if we all had to grow up together.  For a long time, I felt as if I didn't have parents.  At least, the parents I imagined parents to be.  But this week, my parents became mom and dad: the two people I could count on to be there for me and to love me no matter what. 

My dad sent me this text last night: I don't want you to move away from me because that would break my heart. 

And today, my mom whispered to me: Don't worry.  It'll be okay. 

Those were enough to make me smile.  Those were enough to re-assure me that things will be okay.

you know best.

drown out the noise of the past storms,

and the voices of the well-intentioned.

you know your heart.

you know what it felt.

what it saw.

what it heard.

you know your heart.

when it touched his.

photo: Grace Kathryn

five words.

When your heart is breaking and it hurts to breathe,

remember these five words:

everything happens for a reason.

*photo by soup & sunday 

See, things are always meant to be ...

Things are as they should be.

Be patient.

With life.

Have faith.

Believe.

"... God long ago drew a circle in the sand

exactly around the spot where you are standing

right now. I was never not coming here.

This was never not going to happen."

(from EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert)

*photo by istar

"He's speakin' to you, babe ..." (the message, pt. 2)

Have you ever sensed the feeling that someone is really trying to send you a message?

I told my cousin the other night that I think I'm like Jack (for you LOST fans, you'll know what I mean), and that I need to see things for myself. No matter how clear the writing is on the wall, some people (Jack and I) just need to figure it out for ourselves, in our time, before we do what we were meant to do in the first place.* Some people - you can tell them what to do and they'll do it. And some people - "you need to allow them to look out at the ocean for awhile." (Jacob)

Anyhow, I saw this today ...

The Messenger Was Dead When I Got Here
by iwrotethisforyou
You should tell them the truth. Tell them that if they hold on too tightly, love might cut them. Tell them to hold on tightly anyway. Tell them everything is worth it and that the richness of life is only ever enhanced by its inevitable, brief flashes of sadness and loss.


*This is not to say that the messenger is not important because the messenger is, perhaps, the most important person. Without the messenger, the Jacks and I's of the world may never get it.

Credit to iwrotethisforyou - you've done it once again. Beautiful!

A Message

*image via laura marie

Have a little faith

*photo by dranidis

... and let go.

"Letting go is the action part of faith. It is a behavior that gives God and the Universe permission to send to us what we're meant to have. Letting go means we acknowledge that hanging on so tightly isn't helping to solve the problem, change the person, or get the outcome we desire. It isn't helping us. In fact, we learn that hanging on often blocks us from getting what we want and need."
- The Language of Letting Go

Jump

Sometimes, we have to take a leap of faith ...

... and that sometimes ... can be right now.