The World Seen Through Thousands of Filters

They say we're crazy.

They think we're out of our minds.

They laugh at the weirdness, the eccentricity.

But you see, I think that's what makes us different: 

we choose to see the world differently.

Collect moments, not things.

"While you are alive, collect moments, not things.

Earn respect, not money.

Enjoy love, not luxuries." 

                      - Aarti Khurana

Sunday Lessons: It's not how long but how well you lived that matters.

"The most tragic life is spent pursuing things 

that don't matter at all in the end."

We all have our fair share of regrets. Some are life-altering, while others are easier to get over, like eating that extra slice of pizza or buying that overpriced pair of shoes.

I've always been afraid that one day I'll look back and regret not having taken the chance to do something, to be something. I'm afraid of arriving at the finish line only to realize I was running the wrong race all along.

Jesus has shown us that in one short lifetime, so much could be done. So much could be changed. So many lives could be touched. We don't need immortality. We don't even need a century. If we make the most out of what we're given, if we make the right choices, the number of years wouldn't even matter.

"The days are long but the years are short."

                            - Gretchen Rubin

We're here today and gone tomorrow. So live. Laugh. See the world. Touch lives. Focus on what you have instead of what you don't have. Tell the people you love that you love them. Be happy. Be grateful.

"Stop counting the hours. Live out in the world."

                              - Lifehouse

A Kaleidoscope of Bliss

Sunday Lessons: There has to be an encounter before God becomes real to us.

"Unless we experience that encounter with God, our relationship with Him will always be hypocritical."

I picked this among today's lessons because I can testify to it with utmost certainty.

We can force ourselves to get up every Sunday morning for church. We can guilt ourselves to open the Bible and finally start reading. We can do this everyday for years, for decades, and never really feel and experience the realness of God and His love.

Maybe you're expecting an Aha! moment, or a proverbial light bulb moment, but to be honest, I don't remember when. I don't remember how. I don't remember exactly what happened, what I had done or what God has done, but suddenly He was in everything I see. I found Him--or I guess He found me--and the rest, as they say, is history.

Until our hearts are ready to see Him, meet Him, know Him, our relationship with God will always be fragile. I guess my heart was finally, finally ready to be filled by Him that summer of 2012. And when you're ready, trust me, all things become beautiful. He makes all things beautiful.

“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

                                      - Hebrews 3:15

Fragments of Paradise

"The thing about paradise, though, is we don't always recognize it immediately. Its paradiseness takes time to sink in."

                                            - Eric Weiner, The Geography of Bliss

23

“Maybe happiness is this: not feeling like you should be elsewhere, doing something else, being someone else." 
                                                     - Eric Weiner

I can't do everything. I can't have everything.
But for what I can do and what I do have, I am grateful.

I'm thankful for being given a life so full of happiness, of beauty, of wonder.

And it keeps getting more wonderful every day, every month, every year.

Thank You Lord for the 23 years of being loved by You.

Sunday Lessons: Today is the answer to yesterday's prayers.

Thank You for every sunlit day.

Too often, it's easy to overlook the little miracles of everyday: waking up in the morning, the birds flying freely past our windows, the blooming of the flowers, the rising and setting of the sun...

Too often, it's too easy to be bitter about unanswered prayers. Or to stop asking because we think we've been waiting for too long.

Too often, it's too easy to forget to be grateful. To put more value on things that we don't have, and less on things we do have.

Today, I am alive, I am loved, I am happy. I am grateful.

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. "

                                                     - Psalm 118:24

Sunday Lessons: Because you are a recipient of grace, know how to extend that grace.

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."

                                                                          - 1 Peter 4:3-7

Sometimes, it is so much easier to ask what people can do for us, instead of asking what we can do for them. We always question, "What's in it for me?"

For so long, I've operated by mutualism. Give and take. I found it hard to understand how someone could do something for me without expecting anything in return.

But God has shown me that you have to give, not to receive something in return, but because you've been given. Because God has given you His grace.

"The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Be good anyway." 

                                                     - Mother Teresa

Will it be painful? Yes. Will it be difficult? Yes. Will people take advantage of you? Probably. There will probably be times when people would want to be with you not because of who you are, but because of what you can do and what you can give. Do anyway. Give anyway. Share your talent, share your knowledge, give your time, give your wealth for the good of others. Give your love for the good of others.

"When you can't get a miracle, you can still be a miracle to someone else." 

                                                      - Nick Vujicic

Dear August, I have a feeling you'll be so amazing. ♥

Woke up with a smile today. Hello, August! :)