The Butterfly Moment

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I often hear people complaining that God doesn’t answer their prayers, or that they don’t feel God’s presence in their lives… I think the problem isn’t that God isn’t there, actively involved and answering, but we either don’t like what he is saying and block it out, or we just forget to actively listen.

As you might know, the decision for me between staying in RSA or moving to Finland to study back in 2014 was a tough choice, there were pros and cons on both sides, comfort zones and new adventures…

(If you didn’t know about this, you can read the two previous posts, since I haven’t posted anything since then. Crazy how time do dat.)

What I didn’t share back then, was that one day while wrestling with this decision, I was sitting at the pool praying about it. I was tired of trying to rationalize the decision myself so I said to God

“If it is your will that I move to Finland, give me a sign.”

I thought for a moment what could be a good sign, and then decided I hadn’t seen any butterflies for a while. On a whim, I continued

“Ok Lord, if it’s your will that I go to Finland, let a butterfly fly past, like now.”

I kid you not, I’d barely finished this sentence when a big white butterfly fluttered right past me and off into the bush. Did I jump up and shout hallelujah? Did I thank God for answering immediately and clearly?

No

Met this guy at the pool when I visited last Christmas

No I did not.

I said “Uuuhm, I don’t know if that counted God, cuz it came so fast. So, if a butterfly comes past me now then I’ll know it is your will.”

I was a modern-day Gideon (Judges 6) setting out my fleece and testing God’s powers.

 But God humoured me, another butterfly flew past.

I packed up, and went back home feeling only a little more sure of my decision. My thoughts were probably along the lines of “Thank you God for your input, I will take this into consideration in my plans.”

I should have been freaking sure, right!? I think I might have been just too surprised at having such a clear answer. That’s human nature, always doubting, always rationalizing. “It could have been a coincidence.”

And it is true, we should definitely test the spirits (1 John 4:1) and not just believe every ‘sign’ we see. I would have got some odd looks if I told people in Finland I came because the butterflies told me to. But now three years later, looking back and seeing all the good and the growth that came out of me moving to Finland, that moment of God answering my childish request is a lovely reminder that he does care, he is involved, and his answers sometimes come in the clearest (yet unexpected) ways.

In the letter to Ephesians, Paul speaks of God being “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (3:20) I think this is beautiful in the way that us asking is a part of God doing. When we ask him for something, he can do it immeasurably bigger than we could’ve imagined. But how will we know how much bigger he’s working, if we didn’t have a request in the first place?

 I want to encourage you to pray, to ask God to show himself, and to keep your eyes open to when he does.

Here's to many more butterfly moments ♡

I do still miss the pool though...

Finding the Sea

Hey :) I'm in Finland! The last months have been filled with emotions, answers to prayer, confusion and rejoicing from one end of the spectrum to the other... I will post an entry about insights from general life soon, but here is something I wrote the other day (17.09 to be exact) when I found out that I can go on a ferry to Suomenlinna using my travel card (which is for all public transport within Helsinki.) It was a much needed moment to finally sit down in silence and really acknowledge the fact that here I am. And it was basically a free ferry ride. Awesome.  

Oh, and I will take this moment to thank you for reading my blog! Feedback is always appreciated, Leave a comment, on here or on facebook ;]

Aaand, last thing: I had so many pictures I wanted to use for this entry that they didn't really all fit, so keep an eye out for the embedded links, you'll find more cool and relevant pictures ^_^

  

  

 





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 I love the ocean.

I love the inconsistent consistency of it. It is always there, yet it is never the same. It is different every time but cannot be mistaken.

One of the rare times I wrote a song it was about the ocean,  and the highlight of my high school career was probably the view of Camps Bay beach from every classroom window (very beneficial during finals…) And the beach at night in Natures Valley when the luminescent plankton lit up the waves… <3  

Watching the sea water serenely slosh on the rocks and spread out to the horizon, with boats happily sailing along and bobbing out of sight under the angle of the earth’s curve, flooded me with peace.  Here I am on the other side of the world, and here is the ocean with me, like always; and how much more so is God with me.

Initially I was going to comment on how funny it is that you can find a deeper spiritual message in just about anything in the world, or be reminded about an aspect of God in everyday things.  But, the more I thought about it, the more serious the thought became. He made this world. Everything in it is proclaiming his awesomeness! I shouldn't be surprised that anything reminds me of the Creator. Often we are just too busy living in our little bubbles to look deeper and notice God in the everyday things, and that is why when we do take a moment to stop and pay attention, it seems so profound.

And there on the rocks of Suomenlinna’s shore, toes in the Baltic Sea, I had that sudden insight; 

 God is like the ocean! Obviously it is an imperfect resemblance, since God is perfect and omni-lots of stuff, but it was cool drawing parallels.

• God, and the ocean to an extent; can be trusted to always be there. 
• 
  
• God, and the ocean to an extent, is constant through change, but there still will be something new to discover daily if you look for it.
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• God, and the ocean to an extent, is powerful. What can mere man do against the forces of nature, riptides, and much less, God? When he wants to do something, it will be done. 
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• God is beautiful, and the ocean reflects this!

And the awesomest part? God’s love for you is even deeper than deepest part of the ocean and wider than the fattest distance you could measure across it! (11km deep (Mariana Trench) and 14 000 km (pacific ocean) respectively)  And nothing can separate you from it.

Four months. I’d been here exactly four months before I finally stuck my toes back into the ocean. I moved to Helsinki, which is on the shore of the Baltic sea, a month ago and the docks are barely a kilometre away from where I am studying. How did I manage?  The busy newness of life kept me from venturing down to the seashore. I didn’t even realise how much I missed the ocean until I saw it.

 And I think that can often be the case with your personal relationship with God. The high buildings of life you have surrounded yourself with stop you from seeing how near he really is. How big he really is. How much he wants to be a part of your life! And you don’t realise how much you are missing out on until you make the effort, take the unexpected turn (in my case, a ferry ride to an island) and end up watching the sun setting into a sparkling never-the-same-colour ocean.  

You should try it out. It’s the best. ^^

P.S

Can you tell which pictures are from South Africa and which from Finland? 

Comparing the seashore here to the beaches in Cape Town is like comparing the Atlantic to God, 

imperfect comparison of course ;)

P.P.S

Aahh I have to link this; because it was so funny, and here it is so true. No waves. 

If you fancy a laugh watch the whole thing. If you just want to know what I'm talking about skip to 1:42.

Thoughts on Leaving Africa

I just did a quick photoshoot of myself packing.

I should be packing. I really should be packing. Or doing something equally beneficial. But I just end up sitting on the floor amidst piles of clothing and other potential necessities staring into space. (Besides, it's almost traditional in this household to leave packing to the last minute.)

I don't really even think about anything, sitting here. It's a daze, like waiting to die, except that I'm not dying. I'm just leaving. Leaving. There must be a small death in that.

 Leaving is a weird feeling. When you finally make the decision, book the flights, you are ecstatic. It is so exciting! But the closer you get to the actual time of departure, the more unsure you become. The conversation topics become narrowed down to questions and statements like "How are you feeling?" "It must be so sad/cool/interesting/bizarre to be leaving" "We're gonna miss you so much!" "Oh, we're just gonna move on with our lives like you never existed." (I hope you were joking, dear person.)

Oh right, for those of you who don't know, after nearly ten years in South Africa, and 17 years living 'overseas', I am moving back to Finland to study.

I went and had a power nap to give you a moment to get through your flummoxed "Nooo" and "whaaat?" and "oh my goodness!" exclamations.
     
So, I want you to know it was not a spur of the moment decision, even though you may not have heard about it personally. At the moment it looks like I'll be doing the entrance exams for English and Social Psychology for the University of Helsinki, I also applied and have yet to hear back from a movie screenwriting course at Aalto University. Exciting stuff ^_^  For interest (and an attempt to bat further repetitive questions) I present;

The Support Going To Finland List! 

1. Once you get in, it's free.
2. If you're a student, you also get other nice discounts on stuff like public transport and housing.
3. The University of Helsinki is in the top 150 universities of the world, and Helsinki has won the Most Livable City award (hehe, that's not actually a serious pro, just thought it was interesting.)
4. It's in Europe! Travel for days ^_^ 
5. I haven't lived in Finland since I was seven, and my language skills as well as general Finland knowledge  will probably die off permanently if I don't go 'back to my roots' soon. Considering pro's 1-4, this sounds like the opportune moment to go over there. 

And then for interest sake,
The Against Going To Finland List (and the reasonings these reasonings are not as good as the previous ones.)

1. South Africa is Awesome! (Though then again my parents are staying here in Cape Town so coming back to visit will be that bit easier (as soon as they miss me they'll pay for a flight ticket muah hah haa.))
2. I'm going to miss everyone :'( consider point 1. I'll be back.)
3. UCT is very legitimate too. (And super expensive. UH and UCT are part of the same university exchange program, so technically, if I get in to UH, I can come to UCT on exchange, paying the Finnish fees... Which if you remember the previous list, is pretty much nothing at all.) 
4. Fomo.

 Thankfully I've grown out of my hectic FOMO stage, and I know I'm going to be starting a lot of exciting new adventures over there, but I can't help feel a bit sad for what I am leaving behind. Especially at this in between moment of retrospective procrastination I'm realizing how life will carry on without me, how my roles here may be taken over by other people. Once I get to Finland I know I'll be happy and have new roles to take on and life to be a part of, but leaving here, or anywhere for that matter, is always sad.

I don't know what else I want to say about this.

Except that I bought a book of Bible promises and it's reassuring when I feel kind of lost. This verse I read earlier today is from 2 Corinthians 4,18 (NLT)

"We don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."

So yeah, deciding and moving by myself to a country I only visit for summer holidays is kind of exhilaratingly jittery. Writing entrance exams in the first weeks after arrival and only hearing about the potential third one once I do arrive is kind of mildly unnerving. Having two days left in South Africa and Life As I Know It is kind of freaking scary.

But I have peace. I know God will never leave me, and crazily enough in the greater scheme of things, it doesn't matter which course I get into or even what continent I am on. And when I say "doesn't matter" I mean it in the sense that I don't have to worry about them, because God is the one who guides me through it all. My new motto is; "I will do my best and let God take care of the rest." (I know, it even rhymes. Yes I came up with it myself.)

Also when I focus on the "unseen things" which never fade away it puts life into perspective. Am I living for God, bringing Him glory in what I do? Am I loving people, serving them like Jesus would? Is my heart right with God, am I walking with him daily? Can others see that in my life? Those are the important life making questions we all need to look at and make decisions on every day. That's what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 6,  when he tells them not to worry. "Seek first my kingdom and all these things will be added to you as well." When we are focusing on him instead of earthly things, we are in the right mindset to take on anything that comes our way.

That is what I find the most amazing thing about having a relationship with God.He doesn't promise life will be easy, but He does say that He is always with me and He is leading me on a good path. Even if it doesn't look like it to me all the time, He works all things out for the good of those who trust in Him. I can stand with confidence, knowing He always has my back and I don't have to be afraid. There is even a verse in the Bible that says we can look ahead and laugh at the days to come!
The Bible is full of promises God makes us. Here's a final really cool one;

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.   (Joshua 1.9)

Being in a relationship with God makes me excited to do scary things, because it means that I have to rely on him even more, and can see his power working in bigger, crazier things. Knowing God is with me makes me excited to go ahead on this new journey in life towards Finland. :)

Whether it is God's plan that I get into screenwriting, or social psychology, or end up doing something totally different once I get there, I will follow Him because I am certain He loves me and I will use whichever opportunity arises to show that I love Him too.

What are your eyes fixed on?

I'm SO Over Christmas. And Presents.

PRESENTS. That's what we all look forward to on Christmas. It's the one chance to go overboard and make a wishlist of all the material things you have ever dreamed of possessing and which you didn't get for your birthday. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the fact that 2013 was a bit of an awkward year (since so many thought that the world would end after 2012) but many people I have spoken to this holiday season have expressed a curious exasperation with Christmas. The phrase "I'm so over it," in conversation hasn't been uncommon.

I heard someone jokingly say " I would much rather just buy myself gifts because then I get exactly what I want."

While another guy asked me "What is the point? You buy gifts, you give them, you open them, next day it's like nothing happened."

I was just having a conversation with a friend of mine musing whether there is any point in wrapping presents, doesn't it just waste time, energy and money? In my family especially, as my parents sincerely dislike shopping, we try spend as little time doing it as possible. On Sunday we went to Canal Walk and did the gift shopping before lunch and the grocery shopping afterwards, altogether amounting to about five hours. Today was used to wrap all those hastily bought presents, and tomorrow evening we open them. They stay in their wrapping less than 24 hours and except for Ester, we aren't the 'keep it pretty and recycle after use' category of unwrappers (Imagine paper shreds eeeverywhere.)

It is scary how quickly we forget how special Christmas really is. All the busyness around presents, decorations, family meals and Christmas carols takes the focus away from where it should be.  No wonder buying presents starts seeming dull, all the season’s festivity seems meaningless and the words of the Christmas carols sound empty.  

Sometimes it takes a fictional story to open our eyes to the amazingness of that true factual one. I found one on December 24^th last year in a Finnish storybook that had been taken out of the Christmas storage box.

In the story young Sarah finds a letter for Santa from a girl in the poorer part of town, that Santa obviously had missed, and it's the day before Christmas! So she sets out to his workshop to deliver it personally, to make sure he gets it and the girl can have a happy Christmas. She arrives at the big mountain and explains the situation to the stereotypically happy and vibrant Mr. Claus in his brightly lit workshop brimming with toys. However, when she hands him the letter his expression changes to a little less trademark Christmas Cheer as he tells her this girl's letter is not meant for him but his brother. They go around to the mountain's other side and find a very different looking Santa. He is scrawny and sad looking with only cobwebs, dust and a few measly efforts covering the shelves in the cold, poorly lit workshop. 

They explain that there is a different Santa Claus for the wealthy children and the poor children. And while the one Santa can easily make presents for the wealthy children, the other Santa has nothing to give from. Sarah asks why the happy Santa can't help his brother out, and he replies "I can't, each gift in my workshop is already meant for someone. The only way I could give them to him is if the children themselves choose to give their gifts to someone else."

The sad Santa takes the letter and looks around at his workshop helplessly, "another year filled with disappointment," he shakes his head, defeated.

Sarah returns home, and on her way she is thinking. She receives a lot of presents from Santa; she saw some of them in the workshop. She knows a lot of her friends do too. Maybe she could give some of them to the kids in the poor area. Maybe if she explained the situation to her friends they would do it too.

And so Sarah goes around to her friends, telling them what she saw, and something amazing happens. All through the night letters pour in to wealthy Santa Claus from the children, letters like Sarah's who asks him to please give her porcelain doll (the one she had been waiting for excitedly for almost the whole year,) to the girl who's letter she brought to him earlier that evening. Poor Santa Claus has more presents than he has ever had before and the kids in the poor district have a Christmas to remember, all because of Sarah and her idea to give of what she had. At the end of the story Sarah marvels at the idea that by next year they'll have told even more people about the two different Santas, so just imagine, the workshop of poor Santa Claus might be even fuller than his brother's!

This story really struck a chord with me. For many of those children who gave up their presents this would probably be their first year ever that they don’t get everything they wanted for Christmas. And that was OK. They willingly sacrificed their own pleasure for others. And these are only children, probably under twelve years of age! Sarah knew what it was like to get good presents and she wanted everyone to be able to experience it. And through making her Christmas a little less comfortable, she probably had the best Christmas ever.

In the real world, how many people do you know who would sacrifice their own comfort, especially on a day like Christmas, for others? If only more of us would have the same revelation Sarah had, what a difference we could make in people’s lives!

Sarah knew what it was like to get good presents and she wanted everyone to be able to experience it. We know what it is like to get a good present. That is the reason we celebrate Christmas. God came down to earth in a human form, so we could never again say that he doesn’t understand what we are going through. He came to make a way for us to be with Him. He died for our sins, the evil in us which separates us from him, and gave us the gift of Eternal Life.

Have you ever had that when you come up with a brilliant idea of what to get someone as a gift, but when you give it to them they (after profuse thanking especially if they’re South African) start apologizing for not getting you anything. Even though you try explain that it’s “sooo chilled” and your reason for buying it wasn’t so they’d get you something back, the next time you see them they've gone and bought something for you. Leaves you with mixed feelings doesn’t it? Often it makes me feel like the gift I gave loses value because they’ve tried to repay it.

Well, with the gift of Eternal Life, you can never repay it. It is HUGE. And God doesn’t expect us to. He just wants you to accept it. Imagine buying (or making if you’re that talented) someone an expensive and meaningful gift, and they say “Oh no, I don’t want to take that.” Awkward situation, right! “Umm, I got it for you, there’s nothing much I can do with it, it’s especially just for you.” It’s like that with God too. He went through all of that, being human, dying on a cross, so that you could be with Him. That is the greatest gift ever given.

When you give and receive gifts this Christmas, don’t look at them just as material things. Look deeper! It’s not an obligation to give. It’s a choice. You get to bless others, you get to remind each other of the greatest gift of all that started on this special day over 2000 years ago, the gift of Eternal Life, the end of death! Sarah had received good gifts and she wanted to pass that experience on. We have received Eternal Life as a gift and the best thing we can do with that is accept it and share it, it’s meant for everyone!

John 3.16

For God so loved the world that he sent his only son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

If you haven’t accepted the gift of Eternal Life yet, it is so easy!

Paul says in Romans 10.9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your Heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
You can pray something along these lines,
“Dear God,I believe in you. Thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to Earth to die for my sins. Thank you that I can live eternally with you. I want to follow you. I want to accept this gift of forgiveness and life! ”

And I encourage you to go read the book of John!

Merry Christmas ^_^

What Are You Doing With Your Life?

The Potential (Increase)




Potential. There is so much of it in people, in LIFE.  

To original

On Friday when I left the house I noticed that my phone was in a pocket which I felt it had a high likelihood of falling out of. So, (while cycling, clever me.) I tried to take it out of that pocket and put it into a safer one. Obviously, and very ironically, I dropped it in the midst of the swap. The car behind me hooted as I slowed down and stumbled off my bike. (It was early in the morning and I was half asleep, hence my smoothness.) What I had thought was a "Hey get out of the way you crazy girl, I'm driving" sort of hooting turned out to be a very friendly "You dropped your phone! Let me help you" kind of one instead. The guy pulled over, came out, and while chatting away about "What a shame" and "Luckily it's a Nokia" he collected the scattered parts of the phone, dusted them off and reassembled them for me - all this before I had even properly got off my bike. 


"He must have had coffee that morning," I reasoned (with my unscathed Nokia in my safe pocket) as he drove away. "Or maybe he's just a morning person... A hectic one, with a love for noticing things early in the morning." This guy's actions replicated Christ, whether he intended to or not. He saw a need, and he jumped out his car, his comfort zone on a cold morning, to help. We are called by God to be alert and aware in our daily life. 

1 Thessalonians 5.5 says "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self controlled."  

There is so much potential in each moment of each situation of each day to be doing something for God. Are we? 

As I cycled on the word came into my head. Potential. It is there in the small moments of life. The fleeting conversations that occur with the people also waiting to cross the road. That short connection/smile with the drivers who let me cross the road (and a slightly different connection/stare down with the drivers who nearly drive me over because they have their indicator on, but still drive straight through the intersection...) The breeze is so fresh, especially now with winter coming, and bikers give each other a curt nod as they pass, like an acknowledgment that we're part of the same people. 

to original

But how about taking it one step further? Stopping for a moment longer to talk with the security guard, or giving a sandwich to the boy selling crafts on the corner. How about making an effort with the people we interact with on a daily basis on our commutes to work, school, home? My dad just told me about a co-worker of his who has taken the same 1,5 hour train ride to work every day for the last 20 years. They have formed a solid sort of club, every morning and evening the same men sit in that same carriage and play cards. What a way to impact people! If there is even one christian in that group, what potential to reach people!

Do you see what I am saying? Life moves so quickly, we are easily caught up in our ruts, easily left to auto-pilot, and we miss all the potential for dramatic outbursts from our ordinary life! Whether it would be helping someone across a road, or just a friendly smile in passing, we really should be looking for ways to increase our impact on our communities.Everyone wants to make a big impact, but you'll never know where even the smallest ones will lead.


I was in a tourist shop today at Cape Point, and they had these African symbol necklaces. The one with the symbol for life said 
  "May you live every day of your life."

Though it sounds weird at first, the more I thought about it the more insightful it became. 
May you live every day of your life. It's like that old song that goes "I don't want to live and just... breathe."

Make the most of every day!

Jesus says in John 9.4, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no-one can work."

original

I'm really feeling this sense of urgency for us as Christ-followers, because we really don't have a lot of time. Many of us don't see the opportunities because we are only expecting it to hit us in the face in the future, when we are older, or wiser, or have more time for that sort of stuff. I've been in and out of this thought pattern as well, and last Friday morning really snapped me out of it.

Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day! Don't wait for tomorrow. 
There is so much potential in each and every life. The question is will the lives use it?


P.S (Which shouldn't really be a P.S since this part is super important!)


We can't fulfill our potential by ourselves. We need God's help, and this comes in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we walk in step with him, spend time with him, our eyes and ears will start to pick up the things He picks up, we'll get onto his wavelength and you might start noticing things around you in everyday life you didn't notice before. It's incredible what a difference God can make in a life!

:)    

True Love after Valentine's Day =]

    A lot of people battle with Valentine's Day. It's easy to measure your self worth by the amount of roses, chocolates or fb pokes that you get. Or the lack of said tokens of affection. 

I remember in grade 10, I had just started at a new school when Valentine's came up. You could send all kinds of valentine's to each other with little heart shaped notes attached and on the morning of Feb 14th they were delivered to each class. I was sitting there as they were reading notes and handing out heart shaped chocolates and pink teddy bears and I knew for a fact that at least some people in my grade knew I existed. But did anyone care enough to send me something? 


The last rose was handed out. It wasn't for me.  
One of the girls turned around and looked at the empty desk space in front of me and said;
"Shame; The new girl didn't get anything!" 
She said it loud enough to make the whole of purple house grade 10 tutor stop admiring their gifts for a moment and shift their focus on the new girl without a Valentine. Me. 

Although I did end up getting a rose from a friend later on in the day, I never forgot that horrible feeling from that moment in the morning. "No one cares about me." No one even cares enough to send me a card; let alone a chocolate or a rose.

I'm not sure when exactly I figured this out, but at some point it suddenly hit me:

Love isn't measured by the amount of roses you get from high school crushes.

This kind of love is fickle. Basing your identity in this leaves you empty because it doesn't last. We hope it does. We do all we can and live in a pretense that it is real. But we are human, we fail and let each other down. And we get our hearts crushed because we try to base our self image into these things. "If I just get this many roses then I'll be loved. Then I will be worth something." But the girl or guy who gave you that sweet poem and chocolates on the 14th and made you finally feel alive and fulfilled stops replying to your chats before the week is out. Human love fails.

But God's Love doesn't.
In fact, his love is so perfect and all-encompassing that if you took all the love in the world and concentrated it onto one person, even that would just be a mere fraction of God's love for  every. single. person. 
Crazy right?

Imagine someone you really love. So much you 'could die for them'. Would you? Maybe. But imagine that person hated you and didn't want to be anywhere near you, ever. Would you still take a bullet for that person? 

In the Bible, Romans 5.8 says that while we were still sinners, so while we were still going against God, hating him and wanting nothing to do with him, he loved us so much that he sent Jesus, God in human form, to die instead of us. For our sins. 

God's love never fails. 
I am convinced that neither death nor life, angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.  (Romans 8.38-39)

When I started understanding God's deep love for me, the need for human recognition started to fade. I could base my identity in God, because He wont change. I can look to God's love for me and find my self worth in Him. He loves ME! And there's nothing I can do about it, nothing to make Him love me any more or any less!

And God is so much greater than anyone could be on Valentine's Day

A girl can organize you a candle lit dinner; but God gave you the stars

A guy can buy you a rose; but God crafted the flowers for you

A girl can sing a pretty song for you; but God has the birds chirp for you, the wind whistle for you, and the oceans roar out His greatness.

A guy can paint you a painting; but God gives you the unique sunset every day.


And God doesn't only stick around for Valentine's Day. He loves you more than you can imagine for all of eternity.
:)

It's pretty crazy isn't it?

I Got Glasses! Again :P

I got new glasses! B) 

I've had glasses on and off since I was 6. My first ones were round purple ones rimmed with spectacle wearing stars/starfish?.  I got my second pair of glasses (plain blue ones) when I was 10 and a few years later upgraded to the suave half rimmed glasses which were 'so expensive that you have to keep them until you are 18'. Ooh. Death Sentence. I always put them on in exams to feel smart ;D But the years went by and now I got these new ones ^_^ (Still 79 days till I turn 18, not that I'm counting!) 

I've gone through fazes of not wanting to wear my glasses. Especially since only one of my eyes has astigmatism so I don't really notice a major difference whether I'm wearing the glasses or not. My left eye takes over for the other one not seeing properly. Now when I went for the eye check up the optometrist told me that, I should be wearing my glasses as much as possible, especially if I am using 'visual concentration'. I just sat there the me part of me thinking, 'Ooh visual concentration. Sounds cool! :P' and then the rebellious teenager part of me thinking ' Seriously? They don't really make a difference.' Anyways, I got a prescription for new glasses, and went to fetch them today. And they do make a difference! But you only notice once you actually put the glasses on. 

Like my friend Saphie who also just got new glasses said; 'Everything's like HD!' and I agree with her; not only HD, also like 3D! Its really cool! And you appreciate the beauty of stuff a lot more when you can see it clearly...  

You have to wear the right glasses though, if you wear the wrong ones they will probably make your eyesight even worse. It reminded me of Sunday School in Finland ( I wasn't even wearing glasses yet so it must've been aaages ago) they brought like 20 different pairs of glasses and we got to try them all on. Some had big fat lenses that made everything, well, big and fat and out of proportion. Others had cracked lenses which distorted everything etc. All the lenses give a different view, right? But then they sent around the 'God's Love Glasses'. They had no lens.  Everything looks just how it is. God sees us just how we are but he still loves us all the same. 

 It's quite a relief once you realize that you don't have to be something you're not 'just for show'. When you are a child of God that means he has adopted you into his family. He sees every flaw and failure in you but he still loves you enough to send himself down in human form and die for you sins. When we understand the magnitude of his love despite ourselves, other people's views become kind of irrelevant don't they? I mean, who cares what the rude person on the other hockey team shouts at you when you know what the Ultimate King thinks of you? 

Are you having trouble seeing the beauty around you clearly? Or in other people and yourself? These lenses might help; Get to know God and his love for you through reading the bible and talking to Him in prayer. These help you base your identity in God rather than on man. 'For man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart'. When we wear His 'glasses of love' we get to see true beauty :) Try it out!

xx


ps. here are my glasses! Yes, they're purple and orange.. ^_^ (i'm impressed by my phone's camera!)

Ahahaha and here are my old ones ^^,