We Are Made Of Love

Thought via Path

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:02:29 -0500

Anyone in Des Moines tonight, come to the Civic Center and her Drake’s Choirs sing Carmina Burana w the Des Moines Symphony! – Read on Path.

My favorite author/pastor Rob Bell on why he supports gay...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:17:07 -0500

My favorite author/pastor Rob Bell on why he supports gay marriage. YES.

My favorite slow jam: Vince Gill and Kelly Clarkson...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:48:53 -0500

My favorite slow jam: Vince Gill and Kelly Clarkson “Don’t Rush.” Live at the VMAs.

The always-inspirational Ze Frank talks about happiness, and the...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 23:37:41 -0500

The always-inspirational Ze Frank talks about happiness, and the “happy list.” I love this SO much

While it might snow on my “spring break,” I wish I...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:11:51 -0500

While it might snow on my “spring break,” I wish I was here!

Describing You

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:36:40 -0500

It might just be a college thing, but I tend to not like myself very much. Recently, I noticed that, although I’ve been pretty happy with various areas of my life, I’ve been discouraged when it comes to thinking about myself. Such thoughts are dangerous, because they can sink negativity into other parts of life as well. Why does this happen?

I’ve found that what exactly we think of when we think of ourselves is incredibly important. Too often, we think of what we are NOT, rather than what we ARE. This gets us down on ourselves, and leads us to be weaker, lesser versions of ourselves.

While it’s a great, humble thing to acknowledge that we are not perfect, we DO have to acknowledge that we are ALWAYS perfect enough to move forward in life. We are created to be loving, whole versions of ourselves. We are not the “nots” in our lives: the “not good enough”s, the “not thin enough”s, or the “not smart enough”s. The list can go on and on. We can always work to improve ourselves, but it must always be to improve upon all the great things that we ALREADY ARE.

Live the Love that you’ve been given by God, and be free in who He created you to be. We are all uniquely, beautifully different: Who are you?

Justin Townes Earle “Automobile Blues” live...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:09:35 -0600

Justin Townes Earle “Automobile Blues” live acoustic. This is my day. Plus, the singing and guitar work are incredible

So many times in the day I wished I was here

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:06:47 -0600

So many times in the day I wished I was here

Life Affirmation

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:06:01 -0600

I am thankful. I am in gratitude for this very moment. Today, I am blessed with life! Not only that, but this life was given to me by the God that created everything. Even more mind-blowing is the fact that he made ME.

I am created to be happy, to be grateful, and to live this life, in this moment, to the very fullest. Because of this, I am always exactly where I need to be. And wherever I am, this God is with me as well. Because this God is Love, I also have Love with me wherever I go.

I will not succumb to the temptation that I am LESS: less smart, less talented, less ready than I need to be to take on the challenge of the everyday. I will instead accept the scary truth that I am everything I need to be, and if I feel limited or inadequate, then it is my own fault. I accept the fact that I cannot blame anyone else.

I will go through life spreading the Love that is always with me, and living in kindness and positivity, simply because that is who I am. There is never any reason to not be this way: I will always be this way because that is who I am and I am never anyone else. I never will be.

I will live this life with excitement and passion, because that is exactly who I am. Everything is of consequence, everything matters, because Love gave me this everything, and it is mine. And I am thankful.

Small Opportunities

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:54:27 -0600

I have an amazing opportunity. Every time I go to work (which is about five days out of the week), I get a chance to interact with a completely new set of people. I work as a part-time host at a restaurant, and these are people that I might have never met before, and might never see again.

The thing that I often forget is that I have the opportunity to be a bright spot in someone’s day. These guests in the restaurant don’t know me, and it’s a possibility that they don’t care to. However, I can still offer them a friendly conversation, a positive attitude, and at the very least, a genuine smile.

The place I work is a rather fancy establishment, and while there are a few regular customers, my favorites are the people that come for special occasions. The anniversary couples or birthday folks who want something “special” for their evening, or the teenager who has worked a month bagging groceries just so he can take this cute girl from his math class to a nice dinner. I have the opportunity to make sure that these people know that they are loved, simply through showing genuine kindness and positivity.

Sure, there are days when you don’t feel like it. Past problems, nagging to-do lists, grouchy co-workers, and impatient guests can harsh the mellow of who we are truly meant to be for each other. But if someone rejects your genuine kindness, that isn’t a reflection on you! If people have built a wall against such things, kindness is something that chips away at the cold stone. Keep swinging, and it will eventually fall.

We all have these opportunities bazillions of times throughout our day, we just often miss them because we all tend to live with our heads down. Well, no longer, I say. I will live with a head held high, embracing these little things that I and we so often miss, including these opportunities to show kindness to one another. And if I can, so can YOU.

Because, in the end, it’s worth it. They are worth it. YOU are worth it. =]

My favorite songwriter, Ryan Adams, and his whole acoustic set...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:05:34 -0600

My favorite songwriter, Ryan Adams, and his whole acoustic set in the Netherlands.

The Flow and Swimming Upstream

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:56:00 -0600

I consider myself a very “go-with-the-flow” type of person. I think I am pretty flexible when it comes to things not going according to plan, and if working with elementary school, junior high, and high school kids has taught me anything, it’s that things rarely go as expected. I still do, however, get frustrated when things go “wrong,” as we all have our own limits to our patience. Sometimes the “flow” becomes a little too strong to deal with at times.

We don’t get to determine our “flow.” The “flow” that we are trying to “go with” is everything that happens to, around, for, and (often) against us and our expectations for life. We often have a seemingly-upstream journey against a life of opposing forces. Because it challenges us, we often view these opposing forces as a negative.

A muscle is only strengthened after it atrophies and is then rebuilt from the work it has done pushing against a weight. This is just one example of forces opposing us in our natural world. When we jump for joy, we leave the ground because the ground is pushing us after we push it (thanks Newton)!

Our lives and loves are the muscles that are strengthened from the weight of the world. We try to live and love the best we can at all times, but when we are forced to fight upstream against a world that seems against us, we just need remember that our effort is just preparing us to be pushed into the sky in a giant, great leap of Love =]

Photo

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:02:19 -0600

11am service =] at Lutheran Church Of Hope – View on Path.

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 11:21:59 -0600

11am service =] at Lutheran Church Of Hope – View on Path.

Listening to Dreamgirl by Dave Matthews Band

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 09:19:20 -0600

– Preview it on Path.

Ten Relationship Words That Aren't Translatable Into English

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 11:20:07 -0600

Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego): The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start.
Yuanfen (Chinese): A relationship by fate or destiny. This is a complex concept. It draws on principles of predetermination in Chinese culture, which dictate relationships, encounters and affinities, mostly among lovers and friends.
Cafuné (Brazilian Portuguese): The act of tenderly running your fingers through someone's hair.
Retrouvailles (French): The happiness of meeting again after a long time.
Ilunga (Bantu): A person who is willing to forgive abuse the first time; tolerate it the second time, but never a third time.
La Douleur Exquise (French): The heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can’t have.
Koi No Yokan (Japanese): The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love.
Ya’aburnee (Arabic): “You bury me.” It’s a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person, because of how difficult it would be to live without them.
Forelsket: (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you’re first falling in love.
Saudade (Portuguese): The feeling of longing for someone that you love and is lost. Another linguist describes it as a "vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist."

this is everything.

This is such a cool picture

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:21:14 -0600

This is such a cool picture

New Star Trek poster released! No shame, I’m excited.

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:17:08 -0600

New Star Trek poster released! No shame, I’m excited.

Foggy day at Drake University

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 13:02:46 -0600

Foggy day at Drake University

It’s a candy wonderland!

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:01:49 -0600

It’s a candy wonderland!