Reflections Before Bedtime #38

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today was the first day of school for all public school kids in NYC. It was a day filled with tiny cuties wearing their backpacks. Some cried and begged their parents not to leave them, others seemed to confidently go in the direction of new friends. Do you remember, back in the day, how your first days of school went?

In life, we encounter new things and old things. Sometimes, our lives feel like a continuation of old plans and desires, other times, we are at crazy turning points where tough and wise decisions must be made. Sometimes, a strange insecurity creeps up on us, and we feel stress like a pile of bricks.

I just wanted to say today, that regardless of whether it’s your first day in something or a day like many others, if you feel bored, scared, hopeful, or insecure– don’t forget that the God who has brought you this far can carry you the whole way through. Sometimes, in our heads, we picture God helping us reach a certain point, and then we imagine He disappears or is later disinterested in our journey, but that is not the case.

“The Lord has done what He has purposed; He has carried out His word.” Lamentations 2:17

Reflections Before Bedtime #37

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Getting told to sit down; sitting in a stolen chair; going up and down many flights of stairs (my butt is looking great); eavesdropping; talking in a press conference– all in a day’s work, my friends.

The temperatures are playfully hinting at the days to come. The future is bright and surprising. It’s distant but so close. It’s everything but planned. And in the end, I hope it’s better than anything I could have dreamed up. So far, we are on track.

Monday Inspiration: September 7, 2015

By: Gabriela Yareliz

September glory days are here. I am sitting here in a cozy but loud coffee shop. A sweet guy tried to tell a zany writer not to get more shots of espresso because it was bad for her, and I am here drinking a green juice whose taste of celery is waaayyy too strong, amused by their banter over how many shots of espresso is too much. Celery much? Anyway… enough with the cold-pressed juice drama and the lady high on espresso.

It’s Monday, which is party day on this site. I know I have slacked a bit in my Monday partying. It’s back, my people. It’s back.

Let’s make this week a flawless one.

Let’s have this week be a calm, restful and joyful week. This week is going to bring a lot of new things and challenges for me, personally. But it’s exciting, what can I say. I like a good challenge. I hope you meet your week’s tasks with the same defiant, giddy excitement.

Shall we begin the week inspiration?

Let’s rock.

“Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.”
Alan Watts

“The sunrise, of course, doesn’t care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful, even if no one bothers to look at it.” Gene Amole

“The human heart beats approximately 4,000 times per hour and each pulse, each throb, each palpitation is a trophy engraved with the words ‘you are still alive.’ You are still alive. Act like it.” Rudy Francisco

“Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.”

Bob Goff

“At last I have found my calling! My calling is love!”
St. Therese of Lisieux

“There is nothing more beautiful than nature early in the morning.”
Vincent van Gogh

“Friendship is an opportunity to act on God’s behalf in the lives of the people that we’re close to, reminding each other who God is.” Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life

“God restores everything. When I submit the broken pieces of my life to Him, He restores me to a beauty far more than what I prayed for.” James Jason

“If you are silent, be silent out of love. If you speak, speak out of love.” St. Augustine

“We’re going to do things together, read things, go places, do things. We’re going to have a beautiful life.”
Joan Didion, from Run River

(Hilarious and honest Abuela Alba from Jane the Virgin.)

“Continue to share your heart with people even if it has been broken.” Amy Poehler, Harvard Speech

“In this grand world, with all of its secrets and wonders, we found each other. Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t that mysterious? We are so small and the world is so big, yet, we found each other.”

T.B. LaBerge // I love you and I miss you

 “You will either step forward into growth, or back into safety.”
Abraham Maslow
“We have to choose joy and keep choosing it.”
Henri J.M. Nouwen

“I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.”
Maya Angelou

“Love is like two steel rods being forged together, it’s important that we know who we are loving so that in the end we do not burn someone who wasn’t ready. Be careful, be wise, and be selfless, we never know what the power of our hearts will do to those around us. It can either build up and help us flourish, or it can destroy and leave scars on people who never wanted to be hurt.”

T.B. LaBerge // Things I’m still learning at 25

“Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul.”
-Peggy Toney Horton

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

XOXO.

[Images from Tumblr and Webstagram]

The Present

By: Gabriela Yareliz

History books are filled with what’s important to us.

Our victories, our battles, and everything in between.

In the book, bad and good make it in.

In it, we find things that hurt us; things that surprised us; things we couldn’t control; things we provoked.

History books hold our story;

half written by us, half written by a Providence that never ceases to leave us speechless. Our lives are our very own personal books.

We guard and filter what goes into our personal books. We choose how we live, and we choose who we allow into our stories.

Sometimes, someone sneaks past a filter. Sometimes, there are events that make up a major chapter, and we had no idea they would.

We bind our books tightly, maybe with lock and key. We rip out pages, knowing it doesn’t change a thing. We focus on reading and rereading passages– and then,

We look up.

Who knew looking up could be so dangerous? There are times when we look up from our books, and there, a chapter is added; without a single spoken word. Added, even if we immediately look down again.

Suddenly, we are writing a whole new chapter.

We know how history books end; always with the present, the continuous.

And as we write unexpected chapters, we ask ourselves if this will be the last– meaning it will become our present.

And just the fact that we are asking ourselves that, shows why it’s in the book in the first place.

It’s about figuring out whether this will be history, or whether it will be the documentation of how the significant present came to be.

The Certainty

By: Gabriela Yareliz

There are many things in life we are uncertain about. Many times, we just have to learn to cope. Hebrews chapter 6, however, tells us about the certainty of God’s promises.

It tells us that God made a promise to Abraham, “and thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” (v. 15).

Abraham is a man that we recognize for his faith and patience. He was by no means perfect, but still, his belief was counted unto him righteousness. (Galatians 3:6). He believed and obtained the promise.

Our hope is not in ourselves. Like Abraham, we are less than perfect. Our hope is in God, “in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have a strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” (v. 18).

Hold fast to God’s promises. He does not lie.

This Month’s Picks: August 2015

Compiled by: Gabriela Yareliz

Happy September! We survived August. August was personally filled with a lot of changes and constant movement for me. I am excited to know that autumn is just around the corner. I love fall. The other day, I was lounging on my mattress, and when I looked up at the window, it started pouring. City rain. The temperature dropped, and autumn seemed to be whispering it’s coming.

I saw so many interesting articles, trial news and music this month. I tried to gather some of my favorite things, which you may have seen in other posts, and I compiled them here to celebrate August.

Enjoy, and stay inspired!

1]

“People are always going to say stuff. How you react to what they say is what makes you who you are.” Girl Meets World

2]

3] Mohamed Fahmy trial–Straight from Cairo

4] Letter to Enrique Pena Nieto–President of Mexico

PEN America, Letter to Mexican President.

5]

6]

7]

8] From AutumnCozy.tumblr.com

“The summer air is now laced with autumn breezes. Time is passing.”
–tinkermelon 

9] This store I just discovered has amazing style for the fall season: & Other Stories

10] Salma Hayek’s Allure interview

11] Julianne Hough’s Engagement

Their engagement story, here.

12]

“To fall in love with someone’s thoughts – the most intimate, splendid romance.”

Sanober Khan

13]

“All true zeal for God is a zeal for love, mercy and goodness.”

– Robert Ellis Thompson

14]

15]
“We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”

– G.K. Chesterton

16] El Tiempo Entre Costuras/ The Time in Between

Now, my favorite book. Sira Quiroga is boss.

17] Song of the month: Eyes Wide Open, Sabrina Carpenter

This month, keep your eyes wide open.

[Images from Tumblr]

“Adulting”

By: Gabriela Yareliz

“Adulting,” that is what Feliz calls the act and state if being an adult. That awkward world where we pay our bills, we monitor our accounts and only get substantial vacations for maternity leave. It’s only awkward to us because it’s foreign to us. It’s weird when suddenly you aren’t living off of student loans and you are paying them back.

I wish anyone who just started the school year a successful year. Those of you in law school, I hope you picked the perfect seats for the seating chart and that you aren’t sitting next to a fool who will make you get cold called when he or she is unprepared to answer.

I can’t seem to get out of my apartment today. I have been up since the crack of dawn and nada. I need to get moving because I have plenty of adulting to do today.

Keep it one hunnid. 💯

Bar Trip

By: Gabriela Yareliz

It’s a tradition, I guess, that frustrated and relieved law graduates take a trip after graduation and after taking the bar exam. Many go; whether broke, well off, employed, unemployed– August is jet-set time.

I got lucky that I got a special gift from above (after all, the Bible says all good gifts come from our Father in heaven). The world came to me.

I had the pleasure and privilege of participating in this year’s Youth For Human Rights International Human Rights Summit at the United Nations. I met delegations from around the world and extraordinary people who are doing noble and honorable things for their fellow man in the face of threats, danger and lack of resources.

The experience was surreal. I saw incredible performances, met government leaders from abroad and passionate young professionals who are independent thinkers.

What a week! I will never forget this experience. It’s one that money can’t buy or even get you into. The people I met, the photos and stories I absorbed… It was extraordinary. A huge thank you to the United Nations for offering me such an epic experience.

This week confirmed what Paul says in Ephesians, and I encourage you to think on these words for whatever you are facing:

“Now unto Him (God) who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21.

He is able. And not only able, but He can do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.

That is truth.

I conclude with the lyrics of a song that was performed at the UN, “The Impossible Dream.” May these words inspire us all.

“To dream the impossible dream; to fight the unbeatable foe; to bear with unbearable sorrow; to run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong;
To love pure and chaste from afar;
To try when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest,
To follow that star;
No matter how hopeless–
No matter how far.

To fight for the right,
Without question or pause;
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause.

And I know if I’ll only be true,
To this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm,
When I’m laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable star.”

Go for that impossible dream, because with God, all things are possible.

Like the Leper

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I was reading the account of the ten lepers who called out to Jesus for healing in Luke 17:11-19. Instead of healing them, there, right on the spot (as we would expect), Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest (who was the person who deemed people clean or unclean when it came to diseases like leprosy). The Bible says that it was as they went to see the priest that they were healed, and one, a Samaritan, immediately turned around and went back to Jesus to express his gratitude.

This account reminded me about how life works. Sometimes, things don’t happen the way we envision them or think they should. We aren’t healed on the spot. Instead, things happen in unusual ways that we didn’t plan on. While we are on the way, we are healed.

It made me realize that it takes a lot of humility and faith to walk obedient to what God asks of us. Things are often not happening the way we think they should because our ways are not His ways. But that is where humility becomes key. The healing and miracle comes, except it comes in an unusual way, perhaps after our faith has been tested. We just need to turn our ideas of what should be into hope for what He is doing, and in humility, we should turn the disappointments in life into trust; trust that God knows best. Then, when God rewards our faith, we need to be as the Samaritan leper. Let’s be the one who immediately turns his focus to the blessing Giver, and let us praise in gratitude. The leper who came back to Jesus never made it to the priest because scripture says he immediately upon being healed on the path turned back around. Instead, he went to the true high priest; the One we all have equal access to; the One who holds all power in His hands; the One who withholds nothing good from us; the One who deserves all of our gratitude.

It’s never about the blessing in itself. It’s always about our souls and our relationship with the blessing Giver.