Towards Bliss

Let's face it. People might hurt you. They might use you, ridicule you, try to change you, kick you when you're down.

But God will love you, and in the end, that's all that matters. That's all you really need. :)

Sunday Lessons: We don't always have to win.

"What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"

                                    - Mark 8:36

People are so obsessed about winning. Society tells us that we have to win to be great, to matter. But at some point, we have to realize that sometimes helping others to win is more important and more fulfilling than claiming that victory for ourselves.

"I had to give up a lot, but I gained everything."

                                - Dr. Benjamin LaBrot, CNN Hero

Dr. LaBrot didn't win the CNN Hero of the Year award, but I believe he has won something much, much greater--the hearts of millions of people who have been touched by the selflessness and compassion of this man.

We don't always have to be in the limelight. We don't always have to take the lead role. We can work backstage and still contribute largely to the success of the play. We can make a difference, regardless of our circumstances. Because God sees. God hears. God blesses.

"And the high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule."

                                        - Albert Einstein

Enchanted

There, by the cobbled walks, they waited for the sunset that never came.

And so began the day that would never end. The wind was cool and the sunshine created tiny diamonds on the pavement. They read about paper towns and dreamt of fairy tales. With flowers in their hair and misty grass beneath their toes, they danced their lives away.

For Kimipapelly ♥

Sunday Lessons: We are all under construction.

We are all under construction. God is constantly at work in our lives.

If we're friends on Facebook, you probably saw this link I posted last night:

Who are we to judge? What makes us think we are entitled to criticize a person's looks, actions, choices, especially if these things do not concern us? Even the Lord said (John 12:47), "I did not come to judge the world, but to save it."

I am a work-in-progress. You are, too. We all are. I will make mistakes, and I will learn from them. I think people should take more doses of empathy and positivity, and less of hatred and insecurity. This world is so full of beauty--beautiful places, beautiful people, beautiful culture, and we can discover this beauty only if we choose to see beyond the flaws, the pain, the bitterness.

There is so much world,

see it and see it with me;

let it change us now.

                        - Tyler Knott Gregson

On love and life.

I'm waiting. I'm waiting for God's yes to my unanswered prayers.

But recent events and conversations made me realize that maybe, all this time, I didn't really know what I was asking for.

A few years ago, there was this man who seemed to come straight from my wishful illusions, right into my monotonous life. And at that moment it felt so much to me like the stars have aligned. He was everything I prayed for. 

For quite a while, I made myself believe that he was the right person; it just wasn't the right time. It wasn't until lately--well, this afternoon, to be honest--that I understood why God didn't make it happen. Yes, he might have been everything I wanted, but he isn't what I need. He isn't the one God has set apart just for me.

So patiently, I'll keep waiting for that yes. I won't settle for anything less. :)

Always is a beautiful word.

I don't think I'll ever get used to beauty.

Beauty will always take my breath away. 

Always.

Pretty personalized notepad by Kimipapelly ♥

Sunday Lessons: Faith takes God without any ifs.

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

                                       - Proverbs 19:21

We've all had unanswered prayers. Maybe we're still waiting for answers. I know I am. Sometimes, we tend to get impatient, or even frustrated, when we think we've been waiting for too long.

"God answers prayers in three ways: 

yes, not yet, or I have something better in mind."

Faith is knowing that God's way is always, always the right way, and His time is always the right time. No ifs, no whens.

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

    - Daniel 3:17-18

So I'll accept His yeses, not yets, and I have something better in mind with willingness and gratitude. I'll wait for Him, because I know whatever He has for me is worth waiting for.

Be happy.

Getting there. :)

Source: Facebook

Photographs and Suitcases

For a short, frightening while, I was worried that it was a phase and I had to move on. But after this trip, I realized that I don't just want to travel; I need to travel, because traveling inspires me, and a part of me shuts down when I stay somewhere for too long without breathing new air, or stepping on estranged grounds, or seeing new breathtaking sunsets.

I can't help but fly away, once in a while.

Sunday Lessons: There's no place where God is not.

"Many, Lord my God, are the wonders You have done."

                                - Psalm 40:5

Beaches, rivers, mountains, plains--I seek all of them. If you know me at all, then you know that I love travelling. I love taking photographs of beautiful places. I love being in beautiful places. Do you know why?

"Paradise is a place where God walks with man."

It's not just so I can take nice photographs. It's not because I want to boast to everyone that I've been there. It's definitely not because I'm running away. Ultimately, it's because I want to see His many breathtaking, jawdropping masterpieces. I want to be a witness of His irrefutable majesty.

It is during these "moments of beauty" that I feel Him most, and sometimes I can't wrap my head around the idea of being so blessed to be able to see these masterpieces with my own eyes. Show me a thousand more sunrises, a million more sunsets, take me to hundreds of paradises, and each time, each single time, I will still be awed by His majesty.

Everything she does is beautiful.

One day, I'll dance to this song. And in that moment, I'll be the happiest girl. ♥