I have begun studying the book of Job, with the worldwide church. According to Jewish scholars, there are some things that we can take away from the book of Job:
1. The fact that a person suffers does not mean that he or she has done anything to deserve the suffering. Thinking in these terms can cause one to misjudge the character of the person who is suffering or the character of God.
2. The reason for suffering, if there is any, is not something that can be understood by a human, finite mind.
3. The one who causes the what-seems-like baseless suffering is the devil, himself. He shows up and wreaks havoc. But the book is not about the havoc done by the devil. The devil comes and destroys. That is only the first two chapters. The book is about a God who is present throughout. A God working to turn everything around. A God determined to restore Job’s soul.
4. I believe it’s the book of Romans that declares God’s majesty in a powerful way, stating that God owes nothing to anyone; who has been His counselor? And yet the God who owed us nothing, who hung the stars, gave Himself for us, as a gift.
5. The apostle Paul reminds us that our suffering is nothing; a drop in eternity, compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. The gift of eternal life. Everything we were created for.
The book of Job presents an incredible humility that I think comes to us in our most broken state. Once we are past the anger, pain, hurt, questions of justice– once we are past all of that, we are left kneeling before the Creator of the universe. We realize that He who holds the universe can certainly hold us through our moment of difficulty. That the God who may not move the mountains we ask Him to move, may be moving something much greater– our hearts.
I think it was Charles Spurgeon who said he kisses and blesses the Rock of Ages, the only Rock against which he wants to be broken.
Job, in the midst of his pain and loss, acknowledged God’s sovereignty and power over everything in his life. He knew who God was. Chapter 1 of the book of Job tells us he offered sacrifices to God, not only for himself, but for his children. He knew that this sacrifice was a symbol of God’s mercy and unconditional love. A love that doesn’t need to be shown through material manifestation. It’s a love that transforms us, once we become aware of it. Love that involves the shedding of blood.
While we may not be made physically whole on earth; while things may not be made just, life isn’t about things or circumstances, it’s about our souls. And our souls are made whole at the cross, where the Lamb of God completed the sacrifice all symbols pointed to in Israel, over the ages. Redemption and healing came, and that, no matter the circumstances, makes us whole again. By His wounds we are healed, the prophet Isaiah said.
We are the creation of His hands; the love of His heart. “As long as there is breath in me, […] the spirit of God is in my nostrils.” Job 27:3
We walked from the West Side to the East. We walked through that Central Park tunnel; you held the umbrella and all the bags. You shielded me from the chilled showers.
A bus came, and we were almost bathed by the NYC puddle filth. When we saw the bus; the water; the headlights; we ran. When we ran and screamed, anticipating the puddle spray; when we bent over in laughter, I was so happy that the moment we had just lived was ours.
Your sincerity made my soul at ease, like a good Ingrid Michaelson song. Your eyes lit up the night. Our laughter and bond– it’s the reason why we need an afterlife. Throughout the ages, we will try to understand that which brings all of this joy.
It has been an honor to run, scream, and laugh with you. You make the dark night, light; and the cold rain, dry. May we run together for the ages, and laugh until we cry.
It was one of those lazy Sundays. It was raining since early morning, and it rained throughout the day. Everything was grey, up until the sunset. Then, the sky turned blue and yellow. I ate pumpkin pancakes and potatoes, and then crawled back into bed. I did all of my reading from under my cheetah blanket.
I know that a lot of us are preparing for different but important things, this week. Praying overtime. While anxiety assails, we know we trust in a loving God who never leaves us, whose love carries us through.
I was so inspired this morning as I thought about everything I am grateful for. My heart was overwhelmed. It still is. As I studied my Bible this morning, I was reassured that God is lovingly in control of my future and that everything will be fine.
“Faithful you have been; faithful you will be, God.”
As I opened scripture, God spoke to my heart through the words of King David: “The Lord has remembered us; He will bless us… He will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.” Psalm 115:12-13
As we start a new work/study week, may we be inspired by His love that surrounds us. May we see everything in the light of the fact that we are in the hands of a God who does not change. A God who is love. A God who is personal, who cares for you and for me.
Below are some inspiring words that brought peace to my heart. May they do the same for you.
“Ask God to prepare you for something new, something better. Remember God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask, or even imagine.”
Glen Fitzjerrell ( @unkaglen )
“I am saying that God is good, and even when things are not good, He works them for our good…God is Who He says He is. Even if we don’t know all the details along the way, we trust that He is good.”
Francis Frangipane (via kvtes)
“The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go.”
Anonymous (via snowy-autumnal-kisses)
“We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.” – C.S. Lewis
“What you pray for reveals what you believe about God.” Craig Groeschel
“It’s funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox, full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty, bent old tools – friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty – and said, Do the best you can with these, they will have to do. And mostly, against all odds they’re enough.”
Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies
“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.”
Elbert Hubbard
“There are people who are always in love with the sky, no matter the weather. One day you will find someone who’ll love you the same way.”
Anonymous
“God’s sort of love isn’t like that. It’s not like human love. It has no reason to exist except that it does. I love you because I love you. God’s love is eternally grounded in Himself and for you. It’s not a matter of maintenance, but awakening, that you’d simply believe His love to be there and true.”
J.S. Park
“People grow when they are loved well. If you want to help others heal, love them without an agenda.”
Mike McHargue
“I will stay gentle no matter what I endure, I am so much more.”
Tyler Knott Gregson
“I am afraid. Of what? Life without having lived, chiefly.”
Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals, 1950-1962
“Sometimes, it is the smallest thing that saves us: the weather growing cold, a child’s smile, and a cup of excellent coffee.”
Jonathan Carroll
“It is truly beautiful how pure and compassionate you realise some people are when they open up to you like a book begged to be read.
It is truly beautiful how they are so vulnerable to love when they stop holding it all back.”
Soumya Goswami
“Life is uncertain and yet, God is so certain.”
Charles Stanley
“There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing.”
Donald Miller
“The most common form of despair is not being who you are.”
Søren Kierkegaard
“People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses.”
Brene Brown
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19)
By: Christine Caine
“It’s amazing to me how many people can get stuck in a moment of their past.
Now, it could have been a good moment when you were the cheerleading champion of your school or the team MVP. Or it may have been a horrific moment when someone abused you. But whatever is in your past, know today that the best is yet to come.
If you spend all your time looking back, you’re going to miss what God has for you up ahead. So move forward in faith!”
[Per Dimenticare= Italian for: [In Order] to Forget You]
Image from Tumblr
By: Gabriela Yareliz
It has been a happy set of months, where I have been watching friends’ wedding videos, attending weddings and finding out about new life chapters beginning. It has filled me with so much happiness for those friends; those I love so much.
In the midst of all these new beginnings, I couldn’t help but think about how things were at one point. I was thinking of conversations I would have with these friends; things we went through.
Many of my friends married people we all didn’t know existed two to three years ago. Some moved to cities they never would have thought they’d move to. Life is like that. Magical. Unexpected.
Our first kisses, our first jobs, our first loves– none of those quite made it up to this point. I know mine didn’t. Life spins like the planet we are on. It changes. And then, it stops.
It stops for a split minute for us to gather our bearings and hold hands with whomever we want to move forward with. It stops, giving us enough time to open a map to trace the new direction in which we are headed. Then, a new chapter begins, with a new setting or with a new person at our side. And commitment makes it everything. We continue to evolve and grow, but there is a person or place we call home.
If we were to stay nostalgic for what life was or “could have been,” we’d all live heartbroken and in some weird false world of illusions. Many of us who are starting new chapters, we had our fair share of heartbreak. Someone who we loved smashed our heart to pieces. That person made us cry– you know the type of crying, the crouching-down-on-the-floor-in-a-corner, hand-over-the-mouth crying. We felt the sting of betrayal and rejection. Years. Plans. Invested emotions and more– all gone.
But then, we got up.
We dusted ourselves off from the corner where we cried for long enough, we glued our hearts back together, and we stepped out courageously.
And then, we met that person who made us believe in a love that was deeper than what we had felt before. We believed in a life that we didn’t know was possible. We believed, again. And some of us realized we had never believed at all, before now.
This is an open letter to the “exes” who broke our hearts, but then, now they spend years reading our blogs and looking us up on LinkedIn. We know, but you see, while you left the place where we came together, we left, too. The only difference was we didn’t turn around to look back.
We are happy.
We are falling in love.
We are enjoying life.
We are growing wiser.
We are becoming more beautiful.
We are moving.
We are succeeding.
We are getting married.
We are living the life God knew we wanted that we wouldn’t have had with someone who only thinks of himself.
May you find happiness, despite always remembering what you could have had but don’t have.
At one point, we feared we would never heal from the hurt you caused, but we did. And now, we choose not to forget you, to remind ourselves of how good God was to spare us.
And you can’t forget us.
Keep watching. There is more amazing stuff coming.
“…avevo bisogno di una lingua differente: una lingua che fosse un luogo di affetto e di riflessione.” —ANTONIO TABUCCHI
[Jhumpa Lahiri as featured in the Wall Street Journal]
By: Gabriela Yareliz
I finished Jhumpa Lahiri’s book, In Other Words. She brought many interesting things to mind. She filled me with the nostalgia of what it’s like to passionately want to communicate and love a life that embodies a language and cultural identity different than my own.
She discussed how, to her, being a writer was a way of concealing herself and hiding behind characters and imagination. She strongly implied that fiction carries a dishonesty with it.
This book was her own personal linguistic journey. I enjoyed it, and still, there were many sentiments I did not share. We both have a different love affair with words and languages– but it’s a love affair, nonetheless. For example, perhaps because I look racially ambiguous, I haven’t often shared her frustration of not looking like I speak a language. I write, not to conceal myself, but to share myself with the world. Writing is freedom, to me. There is no place I am more myself than when I put words down on white space. I understand her feelings as a first generation U.S. grown kid (how that plays into family and friendship dynamics), and the role language plays in our identity. My love of the English language is different from her own experience with and slight disdain of it.
“When you live in a country where your own language is considered foreign, you can feel a continuous sense of estrangement.” ― Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words
That is what is so fascinating about life. We can each have so many different experiences with the same things. And while Lahiri and I may differ in some (or many) experiences and thoughts, I am so grateful she wrote about her journey which brought me to think about my own.
“Imperfection inspires invention, imagination, creativity. It stimulates. The more I feel imperfect, the more I feel alive.” ― Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words
It made me reflect upon what each language I have ever flirted with and cemented myself in means to me. What each evokes. I am presently learning a new language (or at least trying). This is the 9th language I come into contact with at a deeper level of grammar and vocabulary. I feel like a child when I try to figure it out or when I realize I have been pronouncing a word incorrectly for three weeks. It comes with the territory. Strangely, these feelings make me feel like myself. When am I not trying to figure out a new language?
“Because in the end to learn a language, to feel connected to it, you have to have a dialogue, however childlike, however imperfect.” ― Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words
The meaning certain languages hold in our hearts sometimes change or it doesn’t. I still dream in Hindi and French, sometimes.
Regardless, each language is a piece of me. And I feel there are other pieces to be found and brought into the puzzle.
Languages are for those who dare to try to build a bridge and cross it at the same time. I am one of those people. This journey is far from over for me. In other words, stay tuned. Pun intended.
Sonam Kapoor has always been an inspiration to me. Before Chrissy Teigen was making provocative statements and making us laugh with her wit on Twitter, there was Sonam Kapoor on Koffee with Karan. She always says what is on her mind, and I love her for it.
Yesterday, I was talking to a friend about women in film, and today, when thinking back, I realized how much of that simple discussion and questions asked came from a male perspective. There is so much a woman juggles and struggles with. One is the concept of beauty. Women have a unique privilege of bringing and displaying a certain type of beauty to the world. And yet, beauty has come to be defined in the oddest ways.
“We’ve been taught that women need to be flawless even when our flawlessness is wildly implausible.” Sonam Kapoor, BuzzFeed
Sonam contributed her thoughts on women and beauty to BuzzFeed India, and the piece made me smile, tear up and get all weirdly emotional. In this piece, she shares some of her darkest moments.
As we get older, we go through so many phases with our skin, weight, body, body hair, hair, fitness, makeup routines– it’s a rollercoaster journey filled with taboos, (sometimes) sadness, courage and acceptance.
Kapoor said, “Real female bodies are so taboo that hair-removal-cream ads show hairless legs even before the cream is applied.”
We change, not only on the inside, but also on the outside. Our skin types change as we age (I have recently discovered this, first-hand); our hair length changes, and our weight may fluctuate in subtle ways that mark us. We should be constantly learning to love ourselves in new ways. We should be learning to see our beauty at every stage.
Sonam Kapoor is a queen. She is smart, stunning and so honest. She talks about her days of not eating, and how her friend, the talented makeup artist Namrata Soni, reminds her that her flaws make her beautiful.
“Aspire, instead, to giving your body as much sleep as it needs. Aspire to finding a form of exercise that’s actually fun for you to do. Aspire to knowing your body and how to live well in it.
Aspire to confidence. Aspire to feeling pretty and carefree and happy, without needing to look any specific way.”
What journey have you been on with yourself? What do you aspire to?
It’s like someone flipped a switch. Autumn began with the cutest Google animation of little rocks eating a leaf (did anyone else see the adorableness?), and then, BAM, sixty-degree weather that makes your nose run. I was almost stranded in Jersey City last night with a shut-down Path train station, and a breeze that reminded me that I needed to buy thicker leggings. ‘Tis the season! I always like to open up the season with the Ben Rector song, which I discovered around this time, several years ago. Autumn brings with it some relief from the heat and a temporary death, which we all know leads to new beginnings. And even in its longer, darker days, there is so much beauty.
In this post are some quotes that have inspired me, lately. Happy week! Autumn has arrived!! Let’s celebrate.
“Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things.” Unknown
“Because the best thing about being alive is to feel part of something.” Maya Hart, Girl Meets World
“You’ve been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try accepting yourself and see what happens.”
Louise Hay
“Never assume that God doesn’t want you to be open and honest about what’s weighing on your soul. This is a relationship. He hears you.”
God’s daily love (via god-loves-u-sweetheart)
“Love is a sacrificial choice we make daily. When the going gets tough, we have to keep going forward. We choose to live each day, we choose to eat and drink water, so we must choose to love one another. Nothing is more wonderful than knowing that someone doesn’t feel ‘stuck with you’ but rather that they have chosen to walk this journey with you and will fight for you when you are too weak to defend Yourself.”
T.B. LaBerge // Go Now
“I wondered if that was why God hated sin, because of the destruction it caused. For a moment I felt awe for a God who loved me enough to hate the things that hurt me without hating me for causing them.”
Susan E. Isaacs (via everfleeting)
“When our communication changes, our relationships change.” Dr. Tony Evans
“I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still.”
Sylvia Plath, Letters Home
“Why do Christians always ask how sinful something is, rather than ask how righteous it could be? Why do Christians ask God to change everything around them, before they think to say to God: ‘change me’? No matter how many times God has come through for us, we’re still overcome with fears, worries, and doubts. Lord, make us more aware of how immense and all powerful you are, of how near you are to us, and how, in the end, your purpose for our life is the only thing that matters.”
Unka Glen (unkaglen.tumblr.com)
“He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing.” Sherman Alexie, The Toughest Indian in the World (via quotethat)
“Grace is wild. Grace unsettles everything. Grace overflows the banks. Grace messes up your hair. Grace is not tame.”
Doug Wilson (via quiethollowribs)
“You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti
“My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.”
Oswald Chambers
“[…] Jesus: the essential tenderness of His heart, His way of looking at the world, His mode of relating to you and me. ‘If you really want to understand a man, don’t just listen to what he says, but watch what he does.'”
Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
“Whenever you decide to believe God is faithful and live according to that belief, even when life is challenging, your faith grows. You can rest well, knowing that He is always up to something good.”
Charles Stanley (via godlywoman)
“I applaud the man willing and brave enough to explore the depths of a girl who has sapphires in her sparking eyes, caverns of kindness deep within her heart, a laugh that creases her eyes with an endless beautiful timeline, and a mind filled with forever ideas. She’ll make you feel like gold, I swear.
Darling girl, you are the most prized treasure. even when no one sees you or when you feel forgotten or unloved or even when you’re too hard on yourself. You’re whole + enough, sweet daughter of the Living God.”
j.w. | gold depths (via myheartmadeknown)
“But what had lasting significance were not the miracles themselves but Jesus’ love. Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, and a few years later, Lazarus died again. Jesus healed the sick, but eventually caught some other disease. He fed the ten thousands, and the next day they were hungry again. But we remember his love. It wasn’t that Jesus healed a leper but that he touched a leper, because no one touched lepers.”
Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution
“When a human being is mistreated, objectified, or neglected, when they are treated as less than human, these actions are actions against God. Because how you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the Creator.”
Rob Bell, Sex God (via contrariansoul)
“Marriage isn’t just sex, it’s conversation and laughter
I mean some spouses barely even like each other, and the marriage seems like a dead end
You might share a checkbook and a house, but are you actually friends?
I mean, if marriage isn’t a commitment, then what’s the point of the vows we say?
‘Til death do us part’ really means ‘Until the feelings go away’
Like, I’ll stay with him, but only until it gets tough and my love shifts
But I say imagine if a parent took that perspective with their kids
Like can’t you see it? The minute the kid spills something on the floor
The mom’s saying, ‘Forget it, I don’t even love you anymore’
No, it’s just like marriage, to last you need the strength from above
Because it’s not love that sustains the promise, it’s the promise that sustains the love.”
Sex, Marriage, & Fairytales // Jefferson Bethke (via worshipgifs)
“But it was Jesus who taught me there was nothing I could really lose if I had Him.”
Bob Goff (via risinghopeandstrength)
“Sometimes I look at people who don’t see their worth in Christ, and I just think about how God actually breathed life into dust, making something wonderful out of something worthless. All of creation, God has been bringing value to the valueless, hope to the hopeless, and life into the lifeless. Don’t you dare look at yourself and deny what God sees you as, because to Him, you are the very air in His lungs giving Him life; He died and rose again, so that you may be with Him forever. Come now, sons and daughters, to the place that God has made for you; because He is not simply telling you to not sin, He is calling you home.”
T.B. LaBerge // Go Now (via tblaberge)
I saw a sign that said: “I run on caffeine, chaos and cuss words.” So cheesy. But, it made me wonder– what do I run on? We all run on something; especially on Mondays. What are your three things?
I guess mine sign would say: “I run on vegan/gluten free protein shakes, prayer and humor.”
Regardless of whatever it is that you run on, I hope you are inspired and filled with energy to tackle the new week. Yes. Tackle. I passed a sports bar yesterday, and I saw a bunch of white men wearing football jerseys drinking beer. ‘Tis the season! And New York Fashion Week…
Let’s make it a great week!
Some recent inspiration:
“Happiness is an inside job. Don’t assign anyone else that much power over your life.”
“Begin to live as if your prayers have already been answered.”
“The things that will get you fired when you’re young are the same things that will win you lifetime achievement awards when you are older.” Francis Ford Coppola
“As you grow up, your priorities change; nights out are swapped for nights in; your circle gets smaller; games, drama and partying every weekend just aren’t entertaining enough. You get to a point where it’s quality over quantity; like your career, relationships, home and family. You now seek quality; something that is yours, something that’s real, something you can grow, something you are proud of. As you grow up, you want a future, not just for now. As you grow up, things change, you change, and you start to like it that way.” @idillionaire
“Attract what you expect. Reflect what you desire. Become what you respect. And mirror what you admire.”
Those of you who have been reading for years may remember my journalism studies days. (An old comical blog post is linked for your enjoyment). I would wander around trying to find a quiet place to interview people.
One recent Sabbath afternoon, my friends and I were talking about what heaven would be like and what we would want to do in a place that was perfect, where we would be perfect, too. I decided I would want to be the Diane Sawyer of heaven, and I jokingly started saying some things I would ask different people from scripture. Here are some of my questions, below. The name in front of the question is who the question is addressed to.
What would you ask? I am sure you have some questions of your own…
Questions for People in the Bible in Heaven:
Moses: Do you stay away from rocks now?
Jacob: So explain to me this Leah situation…
Martha: Did you ever feel like leaving people dinnerless?
Lot: Did you ever see your wife as a salt pillar (assuming no one could look back)?
Isaac: What were your thoughts when you saw your father pull out the knife?
Eve: Did it ever occur to you that a talking snake was weird?
Joseph: What was it like when you saw your brothers again?
Noah: Do you get sea sick?
Follow-up to Noah: How did you handle the animal smell in the ark?
Paul: What was your favorite place you traveled to?
Follow-up: Favorite travel buddy? (Obviously not Mark)
Stephen: Are you surprised to see anyone here?
David: So… How many wives did you have exactly?
Solomon: Who did you write Song of Solomon about?
Lazarus: What was it like to be BFFs with Jesus?
Follow-up: How did you feel when you were dying a second time (post-resurrection)?
Nicodemus: What was your being “born again” experience like?
Mary (sister of Lazarus): Where did you find all the mourners for Lazarus’ funeral?
Peter: What did it feel like to walk on water?
Samuel: Why were you a bad parent like Eli, the priest who raised you?
Zipporah: What was it like to become the unofficial First Lady of a refugee nation?
Hannah: How many little tunics did you make for Samuel?
Aaron: A golden calf? What were you thinking and did you know that would end badly?
Benjamin: Why did your descendants end up being so evil? (See book of Judges)
Mary: So what is it like to give birth when you are a virgin?
Samson: Your biggest regret?
Daniel: Which empire did you enjoy more? (Babylon or Medo-Persia)
Follow-up: Did you name any of the lions in the lions den?
Ruth: How did you feel when Boaz told you he knew you were a wonderful woman?
Esther: What was your reasoning in inviting the king to multiple dinners with your worst enemy (Haman)?
Jeremiah: Please, do share something good that happened in your life. Anything. A happy memory?
Follow-up: Do you like doing pottery in your spare time?
Job: Did you stay friends with those jerks who would lecture you?
Follow-up: Are they here?
Elijah: What was the scariest thing about Jezebel?
Hosea: What are your thoughts on marriage?
Isaiah: What is your favorite messianic prophecy that was later fulfilled?
Timothy: What is it like to be circumcised as an adult to find acceptance?
John: Is heaven everything or more than what you saw in vision at Patmos?
John the Baptist: Did you ever brush your hair?
Sarah (Abraham’s wife): Did you ever use the expression “laugh out loud”?
Follow-up: Did you almost kill Abraham when you found out he almost sacrificed your son?
GABRIELA YARELIZ 