3. Sun

My favorite time of the year to see sunlight is the almost end of winter to beginning of spring.
I'm serious. I love snow and all but only for a few months. After weeks of cloudy and depressing skies and gross, slush-like snoww...and bitter cold temperatures, it can makes one kind of downright grouchy. I love it...  when you're almost at your wits end about all the snow... when God suddenly bring the sun out of the blue... you feel the warmth of the sun touch your skin like an old friend that you love. Your skin has barely remembered what sunlight felt like..until sun touches it again...then a chill goes through your spine and your heart goes alive knowing that SPRING is near! :) Soon, all God's creation is going to wake up from its deep, frozen slumber and blossom in beauty and color. :) Thank you, God for the sun!

 

2. Rain

I'm thankful for Rain.

I love the smell of moisture in the morning after a long night of rain. I love the water droplets on flowers and leaves. Rain is a constant reminder that God's in control. He's taking care of His creation by sending rain so that they can grow and flourish! So if God's keeping the creation alive and growing, keeping the sun to keep us warm, controlling the weather, etc..then surely He can take care of me! It's a waste of time worrying!

100 things I'm thankful for...

I decided that I should open my eyes to the blessings that God has given me so I'm going to try to do post 100 things I'm thankful for...one at a time or a few at a time.

Books
It wasn't until Memorial Day weekend when I had forgotten the joys of reading a good ol' book that wasn't a textbook, required reading, or the Bible (don't get me wrong. I love the Bible!). I forgot how exciting it is to read a good fiction novel. It's a movie in your head. You can imagine what the characters, setting, and circumstances looked like. Only within those pages can you put yourself in someone else's shoes anywhere and anytime in the world. Movies are nice but can only go so far. Books still win over movies in the fact that the authors can help you understand the thought process of each character. Every word, every eye glance, every movement, every location, every time of the day has meaning to it. In movies...it's really hard to catch those things if you're not paying careful attention.

Photography Final

Well..this was my photography final. The professor told us to take pictures and do anything we want to them as long as we used the theme "out of the shadows." She said it was open to intrepretation. So I took a bunch of pictures, photoshopped it, and this is the final product. I tried to the photo reflect the inner struggle we all have as human beings. We have our shortcomings...we deal with so much trials that sends us on a roller coaster ride with emotions: happy, sad, fear, disgusted, despair, angry, confused, and the list goes on. So in this picture...I wanted the background to represent her past or her inner turmoil. She's dealing with it all like it's a heavy burden. But...there's hope. She's looking out the window and up to the heavens. Her freedom from her past and burdens is not yet attainable but it's in sight. When the window finally open, she can fully enjoy her sweet freedom from things that were dragging her down. But until then, she'll rise out of the shadows with her eyes fixated on the Hope that shines before her. :)  

Last week of classes

Well...I'm halfway through the last week of classes of my junior year. It's hard to believe that time flies that fast... a year from now, I'll be taking my last undergraduate exams ever. Then I'll graduate.

Yikes.

Where has time gone?

Thoughts?

"Before I go: Letters to Our Children about What Really Matters" by Peter Kreeft. Kreeft wrote this book for his children. It's basically a little journal entry that gives advice, wisdom, etc.. that his kids will read when they are old enough. 


Dave had this book. I kinda scan through the book to see what it was about. There was this one entry that kinda struck me. I was just wondering what your thoughts were on this topic: 


"One-Word Advice for Marriage"


"The most frequent complaint troubled couple bring to marriage counselors is: 'We don't love each other anymore.' The answer to it is a single word: 'Do.' 
Love doesn't happen, like rain. You do it. 
But isn't love a feeling? No. That's like saying a flower is a smell."


I guess I kinda agree with this statement. A lot of people say that they know that they are in love by the fluttering feeling they get when they see their significant other. But if love is based on the feeling then does that mean when you're angry at the person, that you don't love them?


So I decided to look at the big-daddy verse of the bible about love...


" ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -1 Cor 13: 4-7


It doesn't say anything about feelings. Love is an action. It's a commitment. A lot of people love this verse. I love it too, but it's also a hard verse for me to read. I mean...there is NO exception on who we love. We are called to love everyone even those that get on our nerves, those that are unkind to us, those that hurt us, those that seems impossible to love. This calling is just so out of the ordinary. I mean, the world tells us if someone has wronged us...hurt them back! Make them pay! But God calls us to be the opposite. Show grace. God has shown us grace even when we don't deserve it. 


So...loving your significant is a commitment. Being patent and kind even when you both don't feel like it. Being selfless and humbled even when your human nature wants to do the opposite. Love is build on the foundation of trust. Love is hard work. 


I think having the "Lovey-Dopey" feeling can occur. It can be a blessing but be careful! Sometimes it's a curse. Sometimes being in this stage can make you 'photoshop' the person (as in clean out the blemishes and make it look better than what she/he really is) or blind to the 'red-flags' in the relationship and cause you heartache later on. Be careful not to make your feelings take control of the relationship. 


Hmm I'm curious to hear what you guys think... Do you think Love is a feeling or a commitment?

I heard this poem in the "Sense and Sensibility" movie.

Sonnet VII - Hartley Coleridge

Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No.
It is immortal as immaculate Truth,
'Tis not a blossom shed as soon as youth,
Drops from the stem of life--for it will grow,
In barren regions, where no waters flow,
Nor rays of promise cheats the pensive gloom.
A darkling fire, faint hovering o'er a tomb,
That but itself and darkness nought doth show,
It is my love's being yet it cannot die,
Nor will it change, though all be changed beside;
Though fairest beauty be no longer fair,
Though vows be false, and faith itself deny,
Though sharp enjoyment be a suicide,
And hope a spectre in a ruin bare.

I thought it was well written but I'm not sure how I feel about the poem. Hmm.. Whadda think?