GABRIELA YARELIZ

Reflections Before Bedtime #72

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I was catching up on podcasts, and I *so* enjoyed listening to one of my favorites, BBC: World Have Your Say. I love hearing the diverse guests call in and comment on interesting international topics. I was listening to Egypt Protests Five Years On.

It took me back to five years ago: I was at The Hub, a lounge and food court type area at The University of Florida. I had rushed from a journalism class to go to the lounge and watch Al-Jazeera, live from Tahrir Square, when Mubarak stepped down. It was just me and like three international students from the Middle East watching the screen. Isn’t it crazy to think of how time flies? Do you remember something historic you lived through or observed? It’s interesting to remember…

According to a BuzzFeed quiz, I am an ancient soul. Sometimes, we take these ridiculous quizzes that tell us what we already know. I always cringe when I hear that, but I know it’s true. I feel old. I am not, but inside, I feel like I have lived 100 years. It irks me, but with every year that goes by, I accept it more and more.

My friend pointed out that I was listening to this podcast for fun in my spare time. Hmmm… Somethings don’t change over time, just like many countries didn’t change after the Arab Spring. The young journalism student who found inexplicable joy in getting to the library early to grab a new, glossy copy of The Economist, still listens to BBC for fun and scans the magazine rack for Foreign Policy. *Sigh* I am hopeless, at this point.

The truth is, I was young enough to watch the protests in Egypt while in college, but my soul was old enough to care.

Eyes on You

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today, I was studying the passage in 2 Chronicles 20, when Jehoshaphat receives news that there are armies coming to kill him and take the kingdom of Judah.

In verse 2 he was told, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom…” We often receive this kind of warning in our lives, whether it be in the physical or spiritual realm (or both). Bad news. Bad news comes, often. Verse 3 tells us Jehoshaphat was alarmed (naturally so). And verse 4 says he and the people of Judah came together and decided to seek the Lord. They knew exactly where to go.

Jehoshaphat then prayed a memorable prayer, and ended it with a beautiful line in verse 12: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You [God].” He looked to the one who could keep him in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3-4).

The Lord answered through Jahaziel saying: “This is what the Lord says to you, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the vast army. For the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow, march down against them…You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.'” (v. 15-17).

The Lord fought for them, and verse 30 says, “And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.”

I pray that this week, as we face: bad news, anxiety, pain, and all this sinful world offers, that we may know where to go; that we may say “we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You,” O Lord.

The absence of fear comes from trust in an Extraordinary Love.

The righteous will not be moved because they rest in His hands. Our battles will glorify our Father in heaven who gives us victory, and more importantly, the stories are memorialized in the books in heaven. Through Him, we overcome.

The enemy flees from the name of Him in whom we trust.

Our eyes, God, are on You.

Monday Inspiration: February 15, 2016

“To heal is to touch with love that which was previously touched by fear.” Stephen Levine

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Happy week to all of you, my fellow cold survivors. I had an amazing dinner on Saturday night. As we were walking outside, we checked the weather, and it was below zero temperatures. Craziness. It was so cold. It brought a whole new meaning to that stupid song that says, “I can’t feel my face when I’m with you.” #MillennialTakeOver #ColdHasUsNumb

They say, “Summer is a state of mind.” It’s summer right now, wherever you are. Make it summer. For my Australian readers, it’s actually summer… Anyway. Enough weather and hemisphere confusion. Greetings from NYC. The cold has our cheeks rosy, and we look related to the Michelin Man. That’s all you have to know.

This week, I was thinking about the mysteries of life. We often come to a point where we understand, perhaps, very little.

Life is like art. It’s not always meant to be understood, just experienced, and that experience changes you.

There is a verse that has kept coming up in my readings that says: “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings to search things out.” Proverbs 25:2.

While chapter 25 is an interesting chapter with many treasures and counsel, I like this thought of searching things out.

Oftentimes, the only person worthy of keeping or obtaining something is the one who sacrifices time and effort to search it out. Herein lies his glory and merit. Action. Risk. Determination. Recognition of worth.

Love is quite the theme this month. Continuing with that theme, this is a reminder, as we live out this week, that “perfect love drives out all fear.” Love unfolds for the persistent, the believer, the sincere, the one who is willing to go search it out.

xoxo.

And in other news…

Leyla Milani and her husband Manny Khoshbin announced her pregnancy with this photo!

Bun in the oven!! Too cute. Congrats to the Khoshbins!! I love seeing women who prioritize family and the people they love. Love is the most important thing of all. It never fails.

And now, some thoughts for every occasion and heart in this season:

“In your light, I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest like no one sees you-but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.” Rumi

“When God says no, it can be heartbreaking, suffocating and something that will cause you to examine your entire life. But it is also for a greater good, a good that has not been seen by our eyes, a good that has not been touched by our hands, a good that will ultimately bring glory to Christ and a good that will ultimately bring about restoration to ourselves. For now, it’s okay to mourn and cry out; Christ understands the pain of rejection more than anyone in all of existence.”
T.B. LaBerge // Jesus, His Grace and the Gospel (via tblaberge)

“To love is not to be fragile; it is to be unlocked and open. And when something is open, other things can come in.”
Susan Meissner, Secrets of a Charmed Life (via wordsnquotes)

“I wish with all my heart that things were different — someday soon they will be. And now I know what was meant by ‘to say goodbye is to die a little’ — because when I walked away from you that last time and saw you standing there so darling did I die a little in my heart.”
— Humphrey Bogart’s first letter to Lauren Bacall

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” 1 Corinthians 13:7-8

This week, lay fear aside, and choose to love.

[Image from @LeylaMilani]

Believe

“We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.” C.S. Lewis

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By: Gabriela Yareliz

I believe in God; innocence; being noble; the magic of providence; the small; the glow of nature; simplicity; the kiss of sunshine; honour; friendship; honesty; kindness; hope; friendly critters; joy; walking through rain; maps; spring; rooms full of books; smiles; flowers, lots of flowers; laughter; heat; sitting in trees; beauty; surprises; letters; miracles and love.

Believe and hold on to all of the good. Believe, always believe. See the beauty in what others call the ordinary. Be you. Never change that. “Have courage and be kind,” and shine.

“Would who she was, who she really was, be enough? There was no magic to help her this time. This is perhaps the greatest risk that any of us will take, to be seen as we truly are. Have courage and be kind.” Cinderella (2015)

“Hold fast to kindness, your light shines forever and ever.” ‘Strong,’ performed by Sonna Rele

Buon San Valentino

Reflections Before Bedtime #71

#Mood

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[Image from Tumblr]

Floridian Moments

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Because no matter where I go, Florida will always be home. There is no place like the Sunshine State.

In this post, I will be sharing with you some of my favorite shots from my time at home.

Family.

My gorgeous brothers.

Unexpected Florida rains.

The secret places that make my heart soar.

#ThatFloridaLife

Nature.

Spanish moss, forever and ever.

All Hail, The Clooneys!

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By: Gabriela Yareliz

[Images from The Daily Mail, sources are corner stamped]

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Can we take a moment to soak up the elegance and commanding presence of the Clooneys? Stunning.

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These two lit Berlin on fire.

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Altogether Beautiful

[Image by Dolce & Gabbana]

By: Gabriela Yareliz

San Valentino is upon us, as the Italians would say.

This brought to mind notes from the romantic story of Ruth. This brings us to start with Proverbs 31:29, “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Those would be words used to describe a woman like Ruth.

Ruth was a young foreign widow, who decided to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, in a land that was not her own.

She returned with Naomi to the land of the Hebrews and began to work. She began working on Boaz’s land. Boaz is described as a worthy man. (Ruth 2:1).

Scripture tells us that on one particular evening, through the counsel and wisdom of Naomi, Ruth approached Boaz for redemption.

“At midnight the man (Boaz) was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman (Ruth) lay at his feet! He said, ‘Who are you?’ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.’ And he said, ‘May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman… As the Lord lives, I will redeem you.'” Ruth 3:8-13.

Boaz, as the worthy man that he was, recognized Ruth’s worth. He told her not to fear because he would redeem her (how the law required redemption).

The words of Boaz can be compared to the words God tells us, His people, in Isaiah 54:4-5, 8:

“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called…’with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,’ says the Lord, your Redeemer.”

The Bible is filled with flawed individuals who through God’s grace become deliverers and instruments of God. So what is the role of this foreign woman’s story of redemption and her romantic, happy ending?

Ruth may not have been a “deliverer” in the way Moses was, but it was through her lineage, scripture tells us, that the ultimate Deliverer came.

People sometimes scoff at Ruth’s happy story, but the truth is that Ruth’s story is our story.

When we had nothing and we were destitute, when we sinned and made ourselves foreigners to God– He redeemed us. Ruth’s love story is an illustration of God’s love for us. He is our Redeemer.

God is constantly pursuing us, and He sees our worth. He gave us our worth. He says to us, “You are altogether beautiful, my love, there is no flaw in you.” Song of Solomon 4:7.

Reflections Before Bedtime #70

This is a special brain-dump edition of Reflections.

1) Did anyone see the Justin Bieber GQ cover?

See below. Look who’s all grown up!

We forgive you, Justin, we forgive you. (Insert an Uncle Jesse *Have mercy!* here).

2) The Spanish Mafia was at the Goyas 2016. And now, they are in NYC for NYFW. Yasss.

[Images from @MiguelCarrizo]

3) If it’s all back on the table, we are going to need a bigger table.

4) Vanessa Carlton is good for the soul, just ask Terry Crews.

5) Horchata. That’s all you need to know. Or better said, all you need to drink.

6) Because this happened… And it was good.

7) I fell under Chazz Palminteri’s spell. I just want him to be my godfather or something. Give me your wisdom, boss.

8) And to conclude, a message via Psalm 20:4:

“May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!”