fill me up, God.

[a-joyfuljourney]

[07heart]

being vulnerable enough to tell people how much you care about them is infinitely more brave than pretending to be above love and using edginess as a method of self-preservation

[80s-keery]

[love]

Hands by Valentin Chenaille

[hermuis-blog]

if you see someone being interrupted in a conversation, acknowledge them, don’t let them be pushed to the side. if you see someone lagging behind, walk beside them. if someone is being ignored, take the step to include them. always remind people of their worth. it hurts when it feels like you’re being forgotten. that small gesture can mean a lot.

[semperreformanda]

It may be dark, confusing, scary, or uncertain. But if you are a child of God, you can rest on this–everything that is happening in your life is no coincidence. God’s hand is upon you. You are exactly where you need to be at this moment. It doesn’t make sense sometimes. It can hurt a lot and the pain can even feel pointless. Ask Him, “What is Your purpose for bringing me here? Who do You want me to reach out to? What are You preparing me for?” and allow Him to soften your heart and open up your eyes. Nothing is meaningless–not your pain, not your circumstance. He has a purpose for it all. He has been stitching these situations together to reveal His greater glory. No, it may not make any sense at all in the present moment, but He is good and He is in control and He knows what He’s doing. 

[huriyyah-deactivated20180801]

pray as much as you ache .

[sexxaesthetics]

you know what’s hot?

open and honest communication, genuine effort to understand someone else’s perspective, love and affection,

[thesovereignword]

[justforsmiles]

Life becomes brighter when I expect nothing and view life as a gift filled with opportunities. Gratitude changes everything.

[thesovereignword]

Shepherd // Amanda Cook

[lovelysuggestions]

dont underestimate the power of kindness. strength is not being cold hearted and aloof, it’s being amicable in the face of bitterness or gentle with those who need to be loved. so please, if nothing else, be kind.

[andallshallbewell]

[this-abounding-grace-deactivate]

Just a reminder, in case you have a heart amnesia like I do: you are loved. You were crafted by the Creator of the earth until He saw that you are beautiful. You are treasured and so precious.

[heartbeatofatwentysomething]

Dating is hard.

People who say dating is easy, I’m not sure they’re doing it right. Couples who say they never fight…you’re probably in denial. If you’re not doing it with the right person, I’d say you’re going to figure it out real fast.

It’s so hard to find room for someone’s life inside of yours. It’s hard to balance crazy work schedules, friends, and responsibility on top of the growth and change that a relationship has to bring. If you aren’t growing and changing, or even feeling resistance along the way, you can’t ever move forward or become the people you know you can be.

Dating is messy. I’ve seen how selfish I can be, how unloving I can be and how grace and forgiveness are not an easy card we can pull when hearts are hurting. I’ve seen how I respond when I’m tired. I’ve seen how cycles of unhealthy behavior can become habit quickly if you let them. Dating is a direct mirror of yourself- the really good parts, but also the really ugly parts.

Preparation for marriage is no joke; it’s not for the faint of heart. What you face now won’t get easier by tying the knot. The man or woman you’re with isn’t going to magically fight nicer, be healthier in communication or be a servant to those around them with a ring on their finger. I’m passionate about it because I’ve done it before with the wrong person and now I’m seeing what the mess looks like with the right person.

I was just talking about this with someone in my ministry team last night- if you aren’t seeing more and more of Jesus in them, and you, it might be time to part ways. If you’re having fears about the sin they allow in their life now, that needs to be checked; nothing about that part of dating is easy or not messy, but it’s real and we have to walk in it. Marriage isn’t a solution, but marriage can be a beautiful reward in seeing a more complete image of the Father. I love the road of dating, even if it’s hard, because it makes me more like Jesus and I won’t come out the same.

[tblaberge]

I think it’s important too with a long distance relationship to really be patient with one another just as you would be when you’re together. Allie and I have hectic schedules and it’s hard to find time to talk, and sometimes we feel unloved along the way. But when we let Christ be our focus allowing him to speak to the broken parts of our lives, we find that our struggles are a beautiful reminder of the work Christ is doing in us. We love each other, and we have our moments of miscommunication (which is hard considering we are both nonconfrontational people.) and we address them. Honesty with grace opens our hearts to vulnerability. If you are wanting a relationship, make sure it’s with someone who will go to war with you and is brave enough to see it till the end. Too many casualties happen when we step into relationships with no intent to finish the race together.

[thecreativechristianap]

^ Amen babe. 

Dating is a choice. Love is a choice, and it is a good choice, but please make sure you are choosing Christ first and always, going to Him in every situation and joy, individually and together. Be honest and vulnerable with one another, but first before Christ. Jesus is who guides you, gives you your worth, gives you your purpose, and He is the solid Hope you must have as your foundation, and hold onto in every season. So many problems arise, individually and in your relationship, when we are not giving all to Christ and following Him. Out of His unconditional, gracious, patient, never-ending love, love for one another pours, and grows.

[freshairandspearmint]

that one sin.

you know that sin?

You know. That one sin.

The one that you never tell anybody. The one that you’re afraid to tell people, afraid of their judgement, because obviously if they knew they would condemn you. The one that you’ve unwillingly hoarded to yourself, played close to your chest, not letting anyone have so much as a peek. That sin, the one that not even your parents or your best friends or anybody else knows about.

That. One. Sin.

I don’t know when it started. Maybe you were younger, or maybe you were older. Maybe you didn’t know it was wrong, at first, or maybe you knew it was wrong but you did it anyways. Maybe you were pressured into it, felt like you didn’t have a choice. Maybe you were indulging yourself with something that you’d always wanted to try but never had the opportunity to.

And now you look back, and you feel sick. You wish it had never happened in the first place. You wish that you hadn’t been so stupid. You wish that you had listened to whoever had warned you away from it. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, eat this much of you up—it wasn’t supposed to go any further than that first try.

It hurts. You feel dirty. You wonder how God could ever love someone as horrible as you. As dirty as you. As broken as you.

Let me tell you something:

That’s a lie.

Because, secret sin or not, if you have Jesus then you are God’s child.

You have been made clean, whole.

Jesus’ blood is bigger than your sin.

Jesus paid it all.

God loves to forgive.

God loves to heal.

God loves to love.

Don’t hide from him. Run to him. Let him welcome you back.

[quiet-spirittt-deactivated20221]

God meets us in our mess. no need to hide ourselves, cover ourselves up, pretend…He knows our every need and the things we do not say. He sees us in our brokenness. let Him in.