Love

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is such a huge topic, but I have wanted to do a post on it for a couple of days now. It seems like love has been in the air lately. My friends Brad and Rachel just got engaged on Monday, and it is so wonderful to see their love for each other. Have you ever seen a couple who you can just tell that they are going to make it? They are one of those. When they are together, you see how happy they are and it makes you happy. :) They have such a good relationship with each other, but it is clear that they both love God with all their hearts. That is really the key to their relationship.

Another example of love is brought up by Tia from one of my favorite blogs. She talks about how in a good relationship, it is the little things that mean so much. I have to agree that heartfelt gestures that are really nothing are really everything. Tia is married to a man who knows this, and as she says, "Little things. Big difference." Speaking of the little things, Mark got me roses for no reason at all this week. They are beautiful and remind me how lucky I am to have someone that loves me so much.

Love is something that is so hard to define. Even in 1 Corinthians, Paul doesn't tell us what love is, but tells us what it does. I think that by taking a closer look at what love does, we can discover what it is. Love is patient and kind...being patient has never been one of my strong suits, especially when it comes to other people. I tend to think that my way is the best way, and have little patience for people who don't want to do things the best way. Clearly this is a problem that can only be solved by love. I don't struggle too much with kindness. I try to be kind as often as possible, but sometimes I'm not. Usually, these times are surrounded with sarcasm and blatant, tactless honesty. I love being truthful, but my delivery needs work sometimes. And as for sarcasm, it is part of my sense of humor. I try hard not to use it in a mean way. All in all though, I usually have good intentions, and it really pains me when I do something to disguise that fact.

Love isn't envious, boastful or prideful. Come on, we are all a little of these things every now and then. I'm pretty sure that everyone has been envious of someone, and I know that boasts and pride are a part of life that we all deal with. No exceptions here.

It is not rude, self-seeking or easily angered. This area is one that I struggle with as well. Sometimes I get pretty angry with Mark, and this verse really helps me to put things into perspective. I love him, I think to myself, so I should not be so easily angered by him. When I think about this, I usually calm down fairly quickly. The part where love keeps no record of wrongs is not helpful in an argument. Basically, it gives you no past you can use in a battle when all you need are a few good examples to prove your point. Sometimes I bring things up just for this purpose, but I try had to keep from doing this. After all, it isn't loving.

Love rejoices in the truth. A pretty clear statement, I think. If you suspect that there is something wrong between you and your loved one, ask. Mark is really great about this. If he thinks there is something wrong between us, he finds out what it is. Sure this makes me being angry about little useless things and keeping to myself so that he won't think I'm crazy pretty difficult, but several issues have been resolved thanks to his application of this verse.

Love protects, hopes, trusts and perseveres. This part of the verse is so important. In a relationship, all these things are key. You need to be there to protect one another, you can't let go of hope and trust, or your relationship will be full of secrets. And perseverance is so important. When things are tough, don't just give up. Keep fighting through.

The last part of this section basically says that love, to quote Brad Paisley, "is never-ending." Even though all of man's achievements will fade away, love is perfect and will never do so. Why is this? Because God so loved the world. God is the driving force behind true love. Without him, there would be no love. Sure, there would be plenty of lust, plenty of relationships where people thought they were in love, but there would be no perfect love.

So what is love? Well, my best guess is that love is doing what you don't always feel like doing because it is the right thing to do. Love is putting yourself second so that you can put someone else first. Love is, as the saying goes, a commitment, not a feeling. We love others because they are important to us. We value them and treasure them above everything else that we have. In this same way God loves us. How cool is that?

A Kiley's-Eye View

For my fiftieth post, I would like to direct your attention to a different blog. This blog is written by the lovely Kiley Adams, the youngest sister of Mark Adams, the wonderful boyfriend of me. :)

Kiley has an amazing talent for putting into words some really deep emotions. She is truely gifted in a way that may make me a little jealous from time to time. She hasn't posted much, but what is there is real and honest and wonderful. I get the feeling that, like Kiley herself, her blog will always be interesting and fresh. I love Kiley because she is always honest. If you ask her a question, she'll be honest, like it or not. Maybe I like that so much because it is a personal trait of mine, but it works out great for her as well. ;)

Another thing about Kiley is her amazing photography. She is great at taking sweet pictures, so you should ask her to post a few. Especially her collection of Ralphie photos.

I highly recommend visiting her blog. It will be worth your time. Promise.

P.S. Kiley, I hope you don't mind the commercial. I just think everyone should know about you. :)

Fall

This one is for fun! :)

I. Put your iTunes/Ruckus/Napster/etc on shuffle.
II. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
III. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Viva la Vida-Coldplay

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Boundaries-Skillet

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
All You Really Need is Love-Brad Paisley

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
No One Like You-BarlowGirl

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Rescue Is Coming-David Crowder Band

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Medley-Third Day

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Move It On Over-George Thorogood

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Up!-Shania Twain

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Can You Feel The Love Tonight-Elton John (lol)

10. WHAT IS 2+2?
Break Thru-Bleach

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Coming Toward-David Crowder Band

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Only Song-Sherwood

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Streets of Laredo-Johnny Cash

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
I Need Words-David Crowder Band

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Entertainer-Billy Joel

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Dia al Dia-Salvador

17. WHAT WILL/DID YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Blackbird-The Beatles

18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Forsaken-Skillet

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Nancy Drew-Relient k

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Nice Work If You Can Get It-Frank Sinatra

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Oh, Pretty Woman-Roy Orbison

22. WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Poparazzi-Switchfoot

23. HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Knocked Out-Bleach (lol)

24. DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Ammuntion-Switchfoot

25. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
That's Love-Brad Paisley

26. WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
My Way-Frank Sinatra

I wish

If you are my friend and are interested in helping me build my wardrobe, see below. :)


Awesome Jacket

Cool Scarf!

Sweater Power

Whoa Blazer!

Turtleneck Time

Neat Tweed!

Perfect Shirt

Amazing Sweater!

If you feel like you should give me any of these things, let me know and I will tell you my size. :)

Inspiration

So lately everyone has been writing amazing notes on Facebook, posts on Blogger and anywhere else they can think of. I have to admit, when I see other people writing, it makes me want to write, too. I see songs and poems and short essays popping up all over the place, and I think, "hey, I should write again." However, there is a problem, and it makes me sort of mad.

I am not really a good creative writer. I so wish I was, but I'm just better at writing down real things in a real way, with a little opinion dashed in here and there. Don't get me wrong, I love writing a good editorial, and telling it like it is suits me. But there is a part of me that wants to be creative, to write novels that leave people changed, to be able to put my feeling down on paper (or a screen).

In light of this desire, I think I will try to do so. Please bear with me here...I am kind of afraid to put this out there, and it is a big step for me.

Here is a poem.

Old.
I forget the good times;
Were there any, after all?
I remember how it was before,
when we talked about everything
and there was never any pressure.
Those were good times.

Then our relationship changed.
Suddenly it was all pressure.
Was I good enough?
Were you happy?
I tried, but couldn't tell.

When the end came, my life
changed.
Hurt like that is something
I can't explain.

Slowly it got better,
I was happy just to say
hello
every now and then.
Peace.

Sometimes I wonder
the truth behind it all.
Not often, though.
I hope you are doing well.

Here is another one.

New.
Thinking of you
brings joy to me.
I've never before felt
this way.

We fight, sure.
It makes us stronger, though.
No pressure,
just expression.
Love always wins.

It's deep, this love.
A connection that makes us
a perfect team.

Honesty is the rule you follow.
I can see it in your eyes.
I treasure that.

I am content.
You bring calm to
all of my storms.


Okay, I think that I got that out of my system. :)

Hopefully I can now move on and write that report that I need to do. I hope my attempt at poetry wasn't too awful. I've never been a good judge of poems. :)

Honestly

Warning: This post will be an honest one, and may offend some people. If you would rather not feel offended because you can't handle it, feel free to tune in next time.

Okay, I've had it. I am sick and tired of all the Facebook statuses that now say something to the effect of "Obama is not my president," and "I hate Obama, he is a Socialist who will ruin America," and "Obama is the Antichrist."

As a student at DBU, it doesn't surprise me that people have, in the past week, begun praying intensely for God's will to be done with regard to the election and the direction in which our country is headed. I not only support this, I encourage it wholeheartedly. We should pray for our leaders and our nation every single day.

However, I vehemently disagree with those who have proudly proclaimed to be praying for the will of God in this election and who are now complaining at its outcome. To me, this is evidence of a very serious lack of faith in God's ability to correctly decide just who it is he would have lead us for the next four years.

How can you honestly claim to have desired God's will when, as you see the results of the election, you assume that his will hasn't been done? 1 John 5:14-15 states that "this is the confidence we have in approaching God:that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him." That is pretty clear to me. What Christian can honestly say that after all of the honest and fervent praying for God's will to be done through this election, God's will hasn't been done. He has heard us, and "we have what we have asked of him."

Therefore, let us continue to ask for God's will and guidance in the affairs of our nation. Let us pray for the man who was elected president tonight in accordance with our requests for God's will to be done in this election. Let us be a people of true faith who do not balk when we discover that God's will and our will are not always perfectly aligned.

As We Wind Down

Ok, so the election is upon us. After around 2 years of "My opponent believes..." and "I promise you...", we are down to the final stretch. Now is the time for last ditch efforts, get out the vote campaigns and long lines at your local polling place. "I Voted" stickers are everywhere, polls are being conducted every ten minutes and the pundits are going crazy.

Everyone has election fever. People are getting defensive about their positions, defensive to the point of forgetting who their friends are. Why is this? Why would you alienate the people you know in favor of some guy who will likely never know you exist? It is definitely important to have political views, and to be able to defend them well, but there needs to be a line somewhere. When intelligent debate turns into belligerent spewing of rhetoric, there is a problem. Not only does this make you appear to be uneducated, it also causes your friends to feel like a normal conversation with you is no longer possible. Passion is good, but only if it has a direction to it. Use your strong feelings for your candidate of choice in a good way, not one that turns people off.

Keep in mind how important it is to be fair to each candidate. Don't spread around things about either candidate, good or bad, without first checking the facts. Snopes.com and factcheck.org are great places to start. Don't believe every forward you read, or every voting guide you are handed. Don't believe everything people tell you, but instead do your own research.

And, no matter what happens tomorrow at the polls, remember this: no matter who wins, whether you agree with him or not, he deserves your respect as the leader of your nation. If you don't like it, feel free to say so, as long as you voted. You can join in with other people in voicing their dissatisfaction by campaiging for change in the next available election. Use your voice in a positive way rather than just complaining. If your man wins, celebrate, but not to the point of being obnoxious. We are all Americans, created equal, worthy of respect.