Life As We Know It

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." - Maya Angelou

[thelovejournals]

I like you to be exactly the way that you are, because in all my experience, I have never known anyone like you.

Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (via thelovejournals)

[copingnurse-deactivated20240217]

Me, when a patient wants to ask me for something, but starts it with “I know you’re busy” or “If you have time...”

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

Today will never come again. Be a blessing. Be a friend. Encourage someone. Take time to care. Let your words heal, not wound.

Unknown (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

[lovelustquotes]

[twloha]

“It is not overreacting to ask for what you need.”

[stephaniedear]

If you love anything at all in this world more than God, you will crush that object under the weight of your expectations, and it will eventually break your heart.

Tim Keller (via both-seeker-and-sought)

[tblaberge]

One day, you will be walking along with only the memories of days past on your mind and the scars of yesterday etched across your weary heart. Then suddenly, you find that you are no longer alone, you don’t remember where this person came from, but there they are; and now the memories don’t seem so big because you have someone to remind you that new memories can be made. One day, your path won’t seem so bad anymore because at last you have someone walking along with you; how sweet that day is when it arrives, how sweet and wonderful it is. One day, you will have a story to tell that doesn’t end in sorrow and tears because not all stories should be a tragedy; sometimes our story can be rewritten into something beautiful.

T.B. LaBerge // One Day (via tblaberge)

[tblaberge]

I am learning each day that it’s good to show yourself, to tear down the walls that we build when we have been hurt. We must let the sunshine of honesty and love flow into our souls, just as we must let light fall upon all living things. To open up is to breathe in, to let our hearts be vulnerable is the first step that leads us to run towards something good. I am not extending my hand to an unknown when I allow myself to feel deeply, instead, I am reaching with the hope that my future will not be the same as my past. Because when we are vulnerable with those we love, we grow stronger and more whole in who we are, and ultimately we find ourselves becoming who we were created to be.

T.B. LaBerge // Go Now (via tblaberge)

[tblaberge]

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you could taste it? Yet, in the end, you lost it? Maybe you never even had it? Sometimes in life, we don’t get what we want and it hurts, but we must continue to persevere through it. We will have victories and we will have losses, but we must hold onto the simple truths that are in front of us. The reality that we are loved, we are seen as valued and cared for. We are not defined by the things we do not get, for we have been given something so precious that nothing in this life could ever rob us of true joy. We have been given life, we have been given the grace of God, and all that flows with it. There is a beauty when we have survived the storm when we have clung to the only safe place we know which is Jesus, for when the storm has passed, we will see the beauty of the sunrise and the smell of flowers in the air. We will know that we have become something altogether different and wonderful when we go through the loss of our desires we will see that we have taken up the desires of Christ, to love and show love. To be a place of grace to all those we meet because we have tasted defeat, and we know there is joy in following the path that has been laid before us after the storm. When this life is over, and we look back and see the hand of God guiding us through the sorrows of life, we will know that what we lost was nothing compared to what we gained in Jesus. Yet, we will see unconditionally that Christ was with us in every pain we endured, for He comforts the weary in spirit and longs to make them whole once more because Jesus knows pain unlike anyone else, and He is the only one in all of creation making all things new.

T.B. LaBerge // Go Now (via tblaberge)

[wnq-writers]

The thought of loving someone who loves you back unconditionally, impulsively and always; now that’s a hope I’ll hold on to.

whatisitgoodforabsolutelynothing (via wordsnquotes)

[wendysramblings]

Too freaking cute!❤️😂

[tblaberge]

A tender heart can create beautiful things, and when we have something as precious as a big heart we open a door that many people long to find. Be willing to allow your heart to reach borders that are closed because when we let Christ speak through the door that has been unlocked, we can welcome weary travelers home.

T.B. LaBerge // Go Now (via tblaberge)

[imdead123467890-deactivated2016]

I hurt him, I hurt him - I stuck the knife in his heart. Yet that is the closest I have ever felt to him, and with my hand still on the handle of the knife - He whispers to me, “I still love you” What could I do? I took the knife out and stuck it in my own heart. His blood mixed with mine, sinner with Saint; His hurt the catalyst to my own repentance.

[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.

[worshipgifs]

But this is what Jesus does. He takes the most ragged, rowdy, unlikely wanderer and puts us on the frontlines to flex His glory, to wield His love, to heal people just like us. He’s always doing things like that, His heart so patient and pursuing.

Grace Be With You // J.S. Park (via worshipgifs)

[jeanqrey]

[vintageborn]

Me.

[tblaberge]

@thecreativechristianap dis me and you.

[unsensitised]

after the storm // mumford and sons

[tblaberge]

Break me open, Lord. Break me open and find the things that I have not surrendered. Break me open and take away that which I have secretly held onto, that which has kept my lips from saying “Thy will be done”. Take away those things that have kept me from carrying my cross with humbleness. Bring me back to the place where I first fell in love with you, to the place that my heart was set aflame for you. Let me never forget your faithfulness and goodness. Let these hands produce life and joy, not death and destruction. Lord, let my life be one of eternal obedience. A life that is written with your pen, and read aloud by your voice. Only when the pages of my life are written by your hand, will I know that my story is worth reading. Make my story matter, bring glory through my tears. Thy will be done, oh Lord. For it is the only will that will stand the test of time, the only will that will produce a living soul such as mine that will learn to run in seasons of weakness. Take my life, make it yours.

T.B. LaBerge // Thy Will Be Done (via tblaberge)