Sumbit to

Submit to
pressure
from peers
and you move
down to their
level.

Speak up
for your own
beliefs
and you invite
them up to your
level.

If you move
with the crowd,
you'll get
no further than
the crowd.

When 40 million
people believe in
a dumb idea,
It's still a
dumb idea.

Simply swimming
with the tide
leaves you
no where.

So if you
believe in
something
that's good,
honest and bright,
Stand up for it.

Maybe your peers
will get smart
and drift.

-unknown

encouragement

the traps that our imperfect human hearts, and minds get caught in, are often soo perfectly debilitating, so perfectly crafted to hit our every available weakness or insecurity, that the only person who knows us well enough to set it, is in fact, ourselves.

so what do you do when you are your own worst enemy. what do you do when your back is against the wall, and your heart is in someone else's hands. what do you do when you've cried out again and again for relief, for freedom of pain, for a break, for God's sake, and all you are confronted with is pain. you wake up, and there pain is, sitting in your chair, fumbling with some unnamed artifact from your jewelry box, and its at breakfast, in your mother's eyes, in your brother's slump, and you go to school, and there pain is, sharing your seat, breathing down your neck reminding you that you'll never be good enough, and there it is again, at night, bringing memories to the forefront that press into your heart that yes, you are all alone in this bed.

maybe the greatest tragedy, is that most of those walking, colliding, dreaming, and breathing with us on every street, every corner, every bus stop, and tarmac, are as chained to sadness as we are. in our attempts to free ourselves, we only get tangled with the other prisoner. in the process, we are chained down doubly, more helpless and broken than we were to begin with... maybe this time, i will be set free. maybe this time...

just hold tight. this is life, and it may not always feel good, but you have to get out there and do it. you can't hide behind your fears, or what your parents did, or what you've gone through.

if you knew what He had for you,
would you fight for it?

remember, no one ever said this road would be easy. they just said it would be worth it.

you are enough. you are more than enough. you are not your yesterday, you are your tomorrow. are you reading this right now? you are already blessed beyond belief. you have another chance. take it. turn it into something. make it important.

i look at everything, and i see God reflected back.

this is how i see you. even when you don't see it yourself.

...to touch the hem of His garment

everything that God allows to happen in my life is permitted for one great, eternal purpose to conform your character to the image of Christ. it is for your growth and God's glory, and it is a plan guaranteed to succeed. it will be completed when you get to heaven. the bible says "Jesus learned obedience through suffering." we grow the same way and Jesus is our model. we go through exactly what Christ goes through. if we go through the hard times with him, then were certainly going to go through the good times with him.

Dear God of all comfort,

help me to remember that there is a loving purpose behind every problem that you allow in my life. teach me to respond to the difficulties the way Jesus would. cultivate my character through the circumstances of life. so i ask, HELP ME TO TRUST YOUR PURPOSE IN MY PAIN.

God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him and follow His laws.

Dear 2008

dearest 2008,

i would like to inform you that you sucked major balls. you brought me financial instability, heartbreak, educational difficulties, and unmeasurable stress. 2008 i had high hopes for you but unfortunately you did nothing but let me down. you proved yourself to be merely a disappointment. i hate you because i became accustomed to falling asleep upon wet pillows. even with my great smile, genuine smiles were rare. my stomach constantly turned, nauseated at the unhappy thoughts which clouded my brain. 2008 yous'a bitch.

2008...as i've heard, the memory of first boyfriends last forever. but no they don't , atleast not like ones first heartbreak that lingers. you will think about them constantly at first...then on occasion. the slightest things will remind you of a particular day you went out to dinner or walked though the park. you think you've moved on until you see a picture on your facebook minifeed or someone mentions their name, and it causes your stomach to slightly turn, your eyes to slightly water, and your heart to slightly ache. that may never go away but I won't even blame you for all of that 08. I'll blame it on that Ho 07.

2008 i feared heartbreak and you let it crash into me recklessly. tears and pain. a harsh, haunting pain, which shreds your very being. a pain that makes you question if you will ever smile again.

i recovered. you taught me that in order to be in love you must become selfless but that only comes after you have learned to love yourself. and you also taught me that being selfless includes letting go of someone when you realize you cannot be what they need, no matter how hard it is, or how much it hurts. you taught me that you cannot hold on to someone for who you WANT them to be if it isn't who they really are. i am now awear of how to distunguish the prince from the foe and the Hawks [;-)] from the pigeons.

you let our economy plummet Mr.08. gas was up to $4.75 a gallon. financial aid wouldn't even give me any aid! WTH?!?! how could you allow this to occur? especially making me stop shopping completely! now that...that's was just rude...but at the end of the day my rent was paid-can't complain.

2008 you knocked me down fiercely. round after round you had no remorse in your eyes. i got up each time. people have always spoke of this ferocious strength which they say I exemplify. i never believed it and you finally made me aware it exist. i never saw it before your relentless attacks but after coming out of each one triumphantly, no other explanation seemed vaild.

2008 there were times i wanted to give up because things hurt so bad. you were a year of pain, and loss of friendship indeed, but you were also a year of perseverance. and i am so thankful for those of you who remain in my life.

i should hate you 2008 and don't get me wrong...i do but i also thank you. because of you i now recognize my own capabilities, because of my suffering i have gained compassion, and because of what i have LOST, i have learned to appreciate what i have.

i thank you because you brought me adventure in Mexica, Chicago, Wisconsion, New York and New Jearsy. there i gained life long friends while reconginzing that the says is true: "sometimes you have to get close enough to someone, inorder to realize you're truly strangers."

last but not least you gave us President BARACK OBAMA. and started me off on a new journey of companionship with thee most wonderful man i have ever met! therefore, as much as i hate your stinking guts, i take my hat off to you 2008.

Sincerely,
Sonia J ♥

you give me butterflies...

i once believed this feeling was unattainable. but i stand here today, believing. as the layers of my armor have been peel away-willingly. i have learned to let love, love me. i deserve it, we deserve it. he loves me like no one has and i let him. this makes me the happiest i've ever been.

"can't fool myself,
don't want nobody else to ever love me,
you are my shining star,
my guiding light, my love fantasy!
there's not a minute or a day or night
that I don't love you,
you're at the top of my list,
'cause I'm always thinking of you!
i still remember in the days
when I was scared to touch you,
how I spent my days dreaming,
planning of how to say I love you!
you must have known that I had feelings
deep enough to swim in,
that's when you opened up your heart
and you told me to come in!"