Why is being single seen as such a sucky thing in society?
Why do we put so much time and effort harping on a the glory of marriage when we have something great now? Please, don’t get me wrong, marriage is gonna rock. However, today and this season of single-ness that you are in is just as good in its own way if you allow it to be so.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone else ever thinks the way I do. If they are ever in the middle of a moment and then think, “This is life. This is life? Woah. This is life!” And even though it’s no moment in particular, the fact that it’s happening reminds you that you are alive and living. It’s then that you start processing everything: what have you been doing? What are you doing? What will you do?! Are you happy? Have you made others the same?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cboH_vVyvE?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
Guest Blogger: March
I used to work in a shoe store; you would know that if you saw my wardrobe. They say that if you own 2 pairs of shoes then you are in the top 10% of the wealthiest in the world, well given my collection I could possibly be the 1%!
I worked there for 2 years whilst studying and made some great friends. Generally my work mates were all girls, they ranged from 18-23 years old, I love them all, they are generous, funny, caring and beautiful but the one thing they all have in common is that they are obsessed with cosmetic surgery! A lot of the conversations they had with each other were about what they were getting done, what they’ve had done and what they are hoping to get done. Which for me, coming from the Church bubble really really surprised me.
What I realised is that we are all broken people, and we’re all searching for something. What I’ve noticed, not just about them but myself is that we are looking for approval and acceptance, and I saw this in my friends from work. Maybe it was approval from themselves, maybe from each other, maybe from boyfriends, other friends or maybe from society as a whole.
I tend to have this same cry as well, that I “need” to be liked by everyone, that if I’m not, then there is something wrong with me, and it needs to be fixed. But what I believe as a Christian is that Jesus fulfills every single one of our needs, whether it’s comfort, security, approval, acceptance or anything else we can come up with. The reason why Christians are, and should be, so counter-cultural is that we are simply fulfilled by Jesus, that we don’t need the things of this world.
So what I decided to do was put my thoughts to paper, on this idea that it’s quite obvious we’re not all “perfect”, there are things about ourselves that we don’t like or that we wish we could change, and it’s not just physical things but also our personalities and fixing our broken relationship with God. I want these girls to understand about the God that created them, what he thinks about them and that through Jesus they have ALL the approval they could ever need and ALL the acceptance they could ever want.
This is a revolutionary idea, and it’s a challenge, when the whole world is going one direction, it’s not the easiest thing to take a step of faith and decide to go the opposite direction. There isn’t always an instant pay off, sometimes we may not see the fruit of our choices but it is a game changer when we can get to a place as Paul did in Philippians 3:8 when we can say “I consider all things as loss…that I may gain Christ”.
What a life we have been called to live!
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For the month of February I’d like you all to meet Josh Hawkins. Not only does he inspire but he’s just an all-around chill and funny guy with a great story to tell. Don’t believe me, just click on the word funny and you’ll see what I mean. After you have been thoroughly convinced head on over to his blog, Hi Josh for some more cool stuff.
The start of the new year is always filled with such interesting, exciting, and fresh things - why should a blog be any different? Instead of the regular guest blogs I post each month, this one varies a little from the norm. Looking for a new desktop background, I stumbled upon this girl’s tumblr page full of beautifully designed words. Interested in what she had done I contacted her and she was happy enough to share her story and reasons behind her words.
I’m Sara, an aspiring graphic designer from Budapest, Hungary. I started this journey 4 years ago, when I left my hotel management studies and started to pursue this dream that I believe God has put in my heart. Long story short, today I’m working as a freelance graphic designer.
I love to create, design and use it as a tool to show the grace, love and the life that’s full of adventures and joy. A joy that’s not necessarily about being unrealistically happy all the time but a joy that comes from within, no matter the circumstances.
Being a creative person doesn’t mean you always find the right solution or always know how to create something that works design wise. You have to spend many many hours to make it work. But if you’re a 100% sure that you’re on the right path you’ll also get the strength and patience to finish and finish well.
I always loved typography. Somehow the way letters are formed and how they connect to each other always had my interest. Lettering - hand-drawn words and letterforms -is something that I always enjoy doing. It simply makes me happy. So this past December I wanted to challenge myself to do a series. I decided to make one each day until Christmas day. About that time I was struggling with being content and believing that God is with me through everything. The reason this could’ve happened is because I kind of forgot His word. The promises that he said. So that gave me this idea of starting to collect the promises that he has made. This is how #theprmsprjct (The Promise Project) started.
‘To encourage and remind in this advent season.” - That how I described this project on my website. I knew that this could help others as well as it would help me to remember.
Sometimes life gets complicated. We forget, we can’t see clearly. We need to be reminded of what God said about us, and what he has promised for our lives. We face hundreds of lies each day. You’re not valuable. You’re not worth it. You don’t have a future. You’re a failure. You’re not enough.
But that’s not what the Creator of the universe says about you. If we don’t spend time in the Word of God we can easily be deceived. We need to hear the truth, and remind ourselves of it.
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”
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I am all for creating, using your hands, taking full advantage of your mind, and then sharing that gift (through collaboration or exhibition) with others. That’s why this month I am more than excited to share Sara’s story and her work with you.
"I wanna live until I die. Don’t let the devil bury me alive." - Ben Rector.
I have come to realize that there is more to life and living than just being awake. There is much more than just hoping to have a great story to tell at the end. There is work to be done and it never stops. However daunting that last sentence may sound, it is nothing to be discouraged by. The work planned for our futures can be good and prosperous if we allow it to be. I should know, the last six months have been a process of learning just that.
I started the beginning of my year at the end of chapter in which I needed to so desperately to close: acceptance for the normal. Looking retrospectively I wouldn’t call it acceptance for the norm but more like a fear for the possible. Although I claimed to be a hard worker and convinced those around me that I was, I never fully tried my hand at anything. Fear had me believing that failure was always eminent so I just thought what was the point in trying?
I’ve said it in previous posts before, fear will have you feeling all these emotions God never intended for you to have.
These last few months, God has been breaking down my former ways to build up something of value and substance. He has been creating a new thing in me and to speak frankly, it is one of the most confusingly difficult, heart-wrenching, mind-draining, and strangest journeys I have ever embarked on. When He wants something done, there is no going back and forth or no such thing as test-driving (James 1: 2-8) - it’s all in or all out. In everything I involved myself with, I found Him speaking to me and pushing me to do more than I expected of myself. There were -and still are- days where it became such a hassle to 2nd-guess all of my actions. Things like: Is this the best way to use your time? ; Are you sure that there is no better way to complete this task?; Why don’t you do this later so you can put something else first?; Why are you going that route instead of this one?; Have you tried asking for help? At times it feels like God had cast such a large burden on my shoulders that I began making excuses to stop all the lessons He had been trying to instill in me. But then He found ways to show me through life encounters and experiences that He was doing those things out of love for me.
To best try and explain, I guess I would have to say it’s the “little” things. A few weeks ago I was in class waiting to talk to my Studio Lighting teacher about one of the bulbs not working. I later found her talking to another student. Their conversation did take quite a while but instead of reverting to my old ways by giving up and attempting to figure out the problem myself, I waited. Maybe many of you don’t know the feeling but if you tend to be an impatient person, 5-10 minutes can feel like a full-on hour. Fortunately, by sticking around the teacher noticed me and also included me in the last bit of the conversation she was having. If it had not been for God laying it upon my heart to wait I never would have learned the tips I did that got me higher marks on my next assessment.
So you see, it is not as though this whole process has been forced upon me, it’s more like He’s showing me that there is nothing to be anxious for and through that I have gained enough courage to do more.(Micah 6:8). Then, after that more is done, move onto the next and make it a habit of constantly improving your life. Yes, you too will probably also feel like staying at your current comfortable level, (why fix something if it’s not broken?) but that’s not the point of life. We must make the most out of it and continually do the things He asks of us. They are not to tire you out or annoy you but to improve you and give you a life full of actual… well, life.