Falling in Love with Life

I spent my life waiting for it to begin.

Thinking I wasn't really living until I went traveling, 

or made great things, or had a life "worth" telling about.

The longer I waited, the more discontent I became; 

I compared my life, my activities, and art to those of other 

and in the process destroyed myself

and my happiness.

It took the removal of happiness and the barren wasteland of what appeared to be my life, 

before I cried out and clung to the last thing that stood tall: Jesus Christ

He taught me that being truly alive does not come through have a fascinating, 

complicated life worth telling about, it comes through the little things. 

It comes through:

serving others

tea

music

sunshine

making art

encouraging others

writing

waking up early 

reading His word 

learning

being human

smiling 

playing piano

working hard 

family

plants

Sundays

the earth 

reading books

making plans/goals

salvation from Him

the earth

silence 

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says: 

"Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting; 

to eat, to drink, and to enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which 

he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which 

God has given him; for this is his reward."

[5:18] 

I used to be slightly confused by this statement. 

I understood Solomon's claim that "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: 

fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to ever person", 

but when he says to basically "eat, drink and be merry" it seemed a little shallow. 

But as he goes over everything he's basically pointing out:

"hey, stop worrying about money, stop worrying about your life 

(who knows what will happen with your stuff/life after you die), and just

ENJOY IT.

And now, I understand that; I see his point. 

It was through real life experience and the process of the Holy Spirit 

working in my life that I learned that same truth.

How amazing it is that God's word is alive and active and how, as we live our lives, 

we see it's truths come to light in ways we never thought we would.  

So I beg you, dwell on these verses

[ecc. 5:18 + 12:13]

and realize that you do not need to rise to any standard society sets.

Your life is yours and God's, and that is it. 

<3 Eva

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I hope there are days when you fall in love with being alive
-unknown | via

YOU'RE NOT ALONE

| Be who you needed when you were younger |

| unkown |

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, 

then you may know that I struggled with depression, doubt, 

unanswered questions, and fear a lot during 2014-2015.

While people say you can tell them anything and reassure you that they're there for you,

there's something about depression (or whatever you prefer to call it)

that clamps your mouth shut.

That whispers no one cares, no one will understand,

that it would be better to keep it bottled up inside 

{where it can infect the mind}

I know that feeling,

That feeling of suffocation,

exasperation, 

and fear.

I've heard that sick, hot, whisper in your ear.

And I've listened to it.

But I'm here to ask you,

to beg you:

DO NOT 

LISTEN

DO NOT 

OBEY

It's a liar, its a cheat, 

it's a ghost inside your head,

and it should have no,

I repeat, 

NO,

control over you.

||

I started this post with a quote,

a quote that I have often gone back to in the 

past year. In those days, nights, months of dark thoughts I would have loved 

to have some one who just walked up and say 

"I know what you're going through and here's the solution."

But life doesn't work that way, no one can see past the masks you wear, 

and no one has the perfect solution.

{Except Christ. He always see's past your mask,

and friend,

He is the solution}

So maybe life real life doesn't work out so smoothly.

Maybe it's not so simple to walk up to someone and tell them you've 

waged wars in your head as well; that no, you're not alone. |-/

However, in the last 2 years, I have discovered how amazingly 

encouraging blogging can be.  

Its sometimes frightening to be vulnerable and write a post about the 

dark thoughts one struggles with, but then. 

Then.

You realize you're not alone.

People comment with "This is so relatable!"

"I know exactly what you mean"

or even better,

"Thank you for this blog post it was so encouraging"

"This made my day brighter"

"Thank you for reminding me I'm not alone."

These comments are why I blog. It's my purpose for all of this,

its the reason I continue to post such "strange" posts.

Because while they're strange to some people, 

there are other's who I KNOW need to hear it.

I'm not just speaking into the empty space, 

I'm spilling my fears to friends. 

The response to my last blog post blew me away. 

It was a small journal entry I had jotted down weeks earlier, 

and decided to share with the blogging community.

The comments just make me want to cry. 

The post was SO SHORT, 

but people loved it, and related to it, and it reminded them how important 

it is to watch what you're feeding your mind.

If you were one of those people who commented:

THANK YOU

bless you darlings. 

{after I finish this post I'm going to go reply to all the 

comments, so be sure to go back and read them}

||

Kate from The Goodness Revolt  has also seen the power of blogging, 

and for years has been writing blog posts that encourage so many young people.

Recently she has started to explore the concept of bringing bloggers together into one blog.

And she has succeed in bringing to life this blog; a blog that is everything 

you needed when you were younger.

Burning Youth 

It is the gentle voice telling you:

you're not alone

you are loved 

YOU ARE WORTH IT

_

It's amazing what happens when we come together,

what we can accomplish with Jesus as our Captain.

Be sure to visit Burning Youth and check out the amazing gals and their posts!

Stay Alive |-/

-Eva

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I hope there are days when you fall in love with being alive.
-unkown | via