Take Your Like and Raise You Love

Colors, once bright, now fade to grey
Light doesn't matter at the end of the day
Fear steals in when you start to say I love you.

This is wrong, this has to be wrong.
You can't put feelings inside of a song.
Heartbeat short, and silence so long
All because you said I love you.

Don't say it.
Please don't say it.
Hold it inside, save it for the hail.
Save it for the rocky times
When meaning, above all else, is a verb.

modesty and discernment

Modesty is a large issue in our generation's culture. Questions are constantly being raised about what is right or wrong to wear, Judgments are always being made about contextual clothing, and people are constantly getting hurt.
The only thing that sticks out to me in that previous sentence is the fact that people are constantly getting hurt. There is no longer a fine line between chiding and rebuking, and it causes confusion among the masses that make up the young women of America.
One question that specifically comes to mind is the issue of wearing two piece bathing suits, or bikinis at the beach or another swim setting. Christian churches across America remind their teenagers to not cause teenage men to stumble by parading around in arousing clothing, but are we not also causing those same women to feel uneasy about their own bodies and temples that the Holy Spirit resides in? We have been stuffed full of images and media that portrays women a certain way and that if you are unable to achieve the "norm" you do not deserve to wear a two piece. The message that the church is sending is agreeing with that stimulus, albeit subconsciously. They are failing to recognize that women are beautiful creatures and that we are shaped differently than men; why then are we called to a standard that requires us to hide our beauty talked about and revered in Psalm 139? Now- by embracing our bodies and womanhood I do not mean that we should consciously allow ourselves to use a contextual piece of clothing to attract sexual attention. I simply do not understand why the church blames women for the bodies that God has given us, no matter what it looks like.
In this issue, I call upon the reason and discernment that God himself has given us. We should be allowed the choice to love ourselves first- before conforming to a standard that those who cannot control themselves have thrown us in.

Sunshine

I told somebody something personal.
I’m working on it. I’m surviving. Somehow, I’m getting better. I’m healing. I’ve bitten the dust and gotten back up. I am alive.
I have no regrets; only a past spattered with shotgun shells. Light shines holes in my heart like stained glass. Slowly my lungs fill with air; I can breathe tonight.
Don’t ask me about tomorrow.

21

21 things I love about living:

21. That feeling you get when you win.
20. Pugs.
19. Knowing that no matter how many times you mess up, you get another chance at life itself.
18. Song choruses.
17. Sitting in my car and feeling like the world is ending, then getting out of my car feeling okay.
16. I love lights.
15. A hug that changes my world, if only for two minutes.
14. Getting a random text from someone I care about.
13. Poetry.
12. Singing a worship song, and having it be your prayer.
11. The ability to love, no matter how afraid I am of it.
10. The smell of roses.
9. Closing my eyes and simply imagining.
8. Playing my piano.
7. Seeing a freshly dragged softball field.
6. Learning something that changes my whole outlook on life.
5. Listening to someone who needs help.
4. Standing in the middle of a hailstorm.
3. Looking at old pictures of friends.
2. Being told I'm important.
1. Finding purpose.

I am saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved.

"However, if the men of Corinth are looking to follow the path of Christ, and are looking for ways to set their hearts right and become human, then their immature humanity has a hope that can be found through Christ. The path of Christ follows the thought process “I am saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved.” This path maintains that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has saved us in the past by dying on the cross, He saves us from the sin we commit every day, and He will continue to save us from now until eternity. One might think that Paul wrote them, saying they were mere men in the hope that even though he considered them as human, they would grow and mature over time, thereby becoming human, in the same way that Jesus Christ has become our Savior."

Hail

When I look outside, I see that the world is finally in tune to my heart. The pounding of ice hitting a undeserved asphalt floor, the cold and unfeeling wind biting those who face it, the rain struggling to regain its upper hand in the fight for precipitation makes me feel at peace. Finally the sky understands the angry denial and storm that reaches down to my very bones.
Why would I choose hail?
It represents me.
The hailstorm of anger and arrogance parades in my soul.
My mind is that pounding ice, telling me that I'm not good enough.
My heart is that stinging wind, howling at those who have hurt me.
But my soul is that rain, fighting to regain ground. My soul softly comes around after the outbreak of the ice and wind. My soul reminds me that I am enough for the world around me.
And just as the sun breaks as the rain softly falls and the hail abates, so does the love that I cannot see. It permeates my center, spreading until all is silent except His words: I love you, my child. Come home.

Rainy Day

Rainy Day Playlist:

1. Crack the Shutters- Snow Patrol

you know that feeling when you first wake up, and all you want to do is snuggle? This is by far the BEST song for that.

2. Kiss Quick- Matt Nathanson

It's a "driving and contemplating" song, to be sure. The words sound like breezy clouds.

3. Wondering Where You Are -Tyrone Wells

It's just one of those songs that you can take a nap to.

4. Out of Breath -Jared Lee

This is a thunderstorm song. It makes me so angry, and yet it's so beautiful.

5. Closing Time -Alex Goot (he's not the original, but the COVER is on the playlist.)

One word for his voice - soothing.

6. Paradise -Coldplay

Every rainy day is paradise.

7. Baby Blue Eyes -A Rocket to the Moon

I don't know, it just sounds like rain.

Sometimes songs speak feelings that the mouth could never say. And sometimes life is just a thunderstorm away. <3