Vanilla Roses, Moonlit Skies.

Guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23 ⠀ ⠀

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Lately I’ve had to remind myself that what I let into my heart matters extremely when it comes to the way I live. I’ve had to learn not to let things of the world tell me what and who I need, or what and who I need to be.

Guarding your heart is not an easy thing to do in our culture, especially when the world tells us that everything we do is okay. Guarding your heart is not solely versed on relationships.

 We live our lives based on the state of our hearts. The things that we let into our minds can effect our hearts, just like any relationship can. I think that’s why we feel emotion for things the way that we do. That’s why we feel for the homeless, that’s why we feel for people in love, that’s why we feel for new born babies. The music that we listen to, the movies that we watch, the people that we hang out with all make us feel different types of emotion. It’s important to be conscious  about the things that you give access to your heart because the state of our hearts map out the way that we live our lives. 

Make sure the things that you let in are doing more good for your heart and soul than they are bad. Make sure that your heart is constantly being fed by Love. 

God Bless!

The more that you love someone, or even something, the more you are inspired by it, the more you want to spend time with it, the more you learn from it, the more it changes you, the things you say, the things you do, the way that you feel. The more you begin to reflect the things that you love. The point of it all is to love Jesus, then you will become like him. 

We were put on this earth for relationship. All the time we build relationships with nature, we build relationship with things, we build relationship with other people, and thats wonderful. Jesus wants to be the ‘bae’ in our lives. Before anything else. He wants us to FIRST have relationship with him, and for that relationship to be biggest influence on our lives. We have to be mindful not to let the things and people of this world to influence who we are more than Jesus does.

 It’s honestly so simple.. Love God, Love yourself, and love others as you love those two things, then watch love, light and positivity and all good things flow into your life. Let Jesus be the bridge to loving all things. 

When is the last time you prayed? When is the last time you just stepped away from all of the chaos in your every day life , all of the stress, all of the work, the good times and bad, and just gave it to God? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You know in relationships, when you know your friend is struggling, but they refuse to talk to anyone or ask for help? They don’t want to be a burden. Sure it’s frustrating for them but It’s also frustrating being on the other end of that. Seeing the people you love, hurting and struggling, wanting to help, wanting to give them a shoulder to lean on if only they’d reach out.   ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This is the thing, All God asks for us is that we reach out. He doesn’t look at us as a burden, or an inconvenience. He wants to step in and to take all the problems, and the pain and the hurt, and to give you the peace and the love that you need. All he wants is for us to trust him and to surrender all of the things that are weighing us down. He just wants to hear from you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If you haven’t prayed in a while, or if you don’t know where to start, take a minute and step away and just speak it out. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ‭‭1 John‬ ‭5:14-15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Here’s to the love that I never knew I had. the love that molded me into the woman that I am now. a love that knit me together in my mother’s womb. an unconditional love. a faithful love. a graceful love. a sufficient love. the love of a father. the love of a savior. the love of Jesus. ⠀⠀⠀⠀

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During the period of my life when this photo was taken I was lost. I was sad. I was depressed. I was broken. I was insecure. And I was focused on things that weren’t important. Validation, Tangible things, material things, temporal toxic relationships. Things that did more to destroy me than build me up. I thought I knew what I needed. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m obviously still growing and learning, but over the past two years I’ve realized that stepping back into my relationship with God was the best thing that I could have ever made the choice to do. Committing that relationship was even greater. It challenged me to understand that in order to live the life I was put here to live I had to realize that life isn’t about me. It taught me to love myself. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Love and relationships aren’t based on feelings. Every day we make a choice. We choose who and what we love and who and what we want to focus on. I want to encourage you to love intentionally. Put time and effort into your relationship with God and with people. Love is beautiful, make it worth your while. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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valentines day, 2018

The word healing has been on my heart. I woke up one morning feeling refreshed after going to bed the night before with a sore throat and a stuffy nose, fighting a cold. It occurred to me in that moment that healing can happen in the smallest ways or in ways that seem like a miracle. We exist in world full of broken people who need healing, and we try to carry the weight of the world on our own shoulders, instead of using our struggles to assist to someone else miracle. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s heartbreaking the things that we take for granted. Like the blessing of getting over a cold, because some people only get sicker. Like having the ability to ask for help when we need it, or to offer help to those who need it, because some people aren’t even able to speak. We have the ability to change the world, to bless people who struggle with pain and suffering on a daily basis. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My prayer for the world is that people are able to realize that in order for us to survive, we have to stop thinking that things are all about us. When you see someone struggling, help them. If you see someone hungry, feed them. If someone is in pain, physically, mentally, or emotionally, pray for them. If you feel it in your heart don’t ignore the fact that one simple act of kindness and humility may not be able to fix someone entirely but you are able to be involved in someone else healing, it will bless them, and in the process it might even bless you.

Tell me about the stars, look towards the sun and paint me a picture of the most beautiful sunset you’ve ever seen I’ve seen you build moments of clarity with your bare hands Ive seen you bring buckets of hope to the heartbroken with your wisdom You could lite the darkest room with light of your beautiful soul you are a mystery to me One that I may never know But I’m hopeful I want to lay back with you and count stars in your eyes because even the galaxy doesn’t compare to what God did when he created you When he paired your heart and your soul with those eyes of yours I’ll write constellations into love letters for you I’ll trace each word amongst your lips I’ll breath love over your shoulder when we say goodbye Until I see you Again 

I want someone who’s open to love. Someone that understands that without darkness there  isn’t light but is willing to stick by me regardless of hard times, someone who’s willing to listen and understand because love is selfless and unconditional. someone I can learn from who in return can learn from me. Someone who knows the difference between a body and a soul and what’s more important. Someone who’s passionate. An unconditional, unbothered graceful and God given type of love. Someone who can love me, but loves God so much more, and I couldn’t compete. Someone who’s patient. I want someone to be comfortable with me enough to talk to me about any and everything. Someone who’s soul radiates from them, in a way that people are just drawn to them. I want everything that I want to give away.

I never quite learned how to swim But still I find myself drawn to the ocean And the way it moves across the shoreline And I find myself clingIng on to you like a lifeboat Praying we can make it through all of the tough waves like pointless arguments about the toilet seats Like disagreements about the food we eat Like late night conversations and me giving you advice about the girl you chose to make a home out of before you realized that your body was a sanctuary I don’t think you ever quiet understood I saw things in you she could never see You we’re more than just a beautiful boy with eyes as blue as the Sea To me It was more to you than what they could see You You were the ocean in all of its glory You were the waves So angelic , so complexed and unphased You couldn’t only be a lifeboat Something so small in a concept so big And No matter how hard I tried I could never hold on To you I just had to let go because every time I would reach for you It was drowning me It was Draining me It was becoming apparent that there was no way you could keep me Safe Because you were the ocean You were The waves And as beautiful as you seem to be You had the power of crushing me The power Of drowning me Of spreading throughout my lungs And taking my breath away You were the ocean in all of its glory And I I never quite learned how to swim

my mother knit me together with love and strength and wisdom Just like her mother did for her And her mother did for her I come from generation after generation of strength Women with resilience in their fingertips Layers of Love draped around their shoulders I come from generation after generation of God fearing Honest to God way-makers. Women who plant seeds and grow gardens full of wisdom I am blessed beyond measure. Thank God for the women who raise us.

I know your heart is bigger than the entire sky And you try to fill it with love from people who know nothing about your soul. And it keeps draining you I know you grow tired of crying yourself to sleep And feeling like your being is flawed and defeated I know that there’s someone out there that will honor you and your flaws and cherish them like people cherish fallen rose petals Stuck between the pages of their favorite books Hidden amongst their favorite poems I know you’re use to battling heartbreak and resisting the arrest of your beating heart Because it’s been held captive before I know you don’t have to fight for the attention you deserve You don’t have to fight for Love I know that you’re worthy of all of the love you try to give to everyone else even if you feel like it’s not reciprocated I know that you are royalty that even the ocean would surrender to You don’t have to wait for anyone to appreciate you people like us support each other I appreciate you.

My love is not misplaced My love is held tightly within my fathers grasp My love pours from inside me like the blood brought up to wash away our wrongs Like the breath of God Like the Grace We’ve been gifted with My love is visible I’ve seen love in the reflection of your eyes Felt love radiating from your soul Touched love with my palm on your chest as your heart beats Heard love in the sound of your voice When you sing it’s like you’re opening doors to your heart and letting me in Gravity doesn’t exist here Not with you God gave me this love Do you believe in it? Is it real for you? God gave us this ability to love What should we do?