ForeverLOVEd

We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19  I was not one of those girls who married her high school sweetheart! I did not fall in love in a biology lab in college or on the first day on the job. It seemed like my early twenties were rushing by and yet I still had no soulmate. Time was ticking. Time still ticks but the truth is, I cannot tell you where I met my husband because to date, I do not have one. I think in my mind, when I pictured my future I pictured that I would be married, or on my way to marriage, by now! But, I am not.  In fact, I have never even had a romantic relationship. This is something I am embarrassed to admit. And this weekend, I started to wonder why. Why was I embarrassed? Why did it bother me so much?  Our culture tells us that in order to be a woman, we need a man. It says it everywhere. Television, novels, and magazines seem to promise us happiness once we finally find love. Have you ever watched a Disney princess movie? Can you name a prin...

For I am  confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 I have some really good advice! Whenever anyone asks for advice on anything, I feel like my answer is the same. It applies to advice about friends and when to make the next big career move. It answers the question of what dress to wear and it is singlehandedly my favorite piece of advice about the big four letter word...LOVE! The truth is, "when you know, you KNOW."  My advice means exactly that, something in your heart will let you know, when you need to know. You cannot force an answer, or an experience, or a relationship. You cannot, on your own,  will  these things into existence. And I feel like in the same aspect, these things will not pass you by without some sort of inclination to embrace them.  Take for example love, one of the more clear examples of this advice. I feel, and insist on telling my friends, that when y...

“Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice out there calling me to be something I am not. It comes from a voice in here calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.”  ―  Thomas Merton "God made you. And God does not make junk." Have you ever thought that who you are in this very second is exactly the person God had in mind when He created you? Do you realize that the person you will be by the end of your life He also already knew? Do you know that every single part of you was created by God for a reason and a purpose? Do you know that no part of you is junk?  What if you did know? What if you fully comprehended that the answers to all these questions are a resounding YES?  The stars had been shining in the skies above us for hours. The room was pitch black. And as we each ...

"At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me." Matthew 18:1-5  Awkward. It is a word that clouds my vocabulary these days. So often I find myself describing an event, or circumstance, or conversation as just this, awkward. What does this mean for something to be awkward? It is anything that is uncomfortable or abnormal or just plain different from anything that has happened before. I do no know when or where awkward became such a popular adjective but, at least for me, it is spoken and felt often.  As I was living an awkward moment t...

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.  1 Corinthians 13:1-3   The woman's restroom is a funny place. You go in there to, well like it says, use the restroom but among the porcelain toilets and rows of sinks, some of the truest female interactions take place. Like they always say, a woman never goes to the restroom alone. And why not? Well, a restroom is the place where girls can be themselves the most. There is no pressure to impress the boys, no need to worry about how tacky it looks picking your teeth in the mirror, and it is often a safe place to express how you really feel. Girls, spend a lot of time in the bathroom. And it just so h...