GABRIELA YARELIZ

Left My Heart in Cedar Key

Photos and commentary by: Gabriela Yareliz

We started 2015 with a little trip to Cedar Key. I love that place.

Sea shell heaven.

I am ever the nosy one. Between the pubs on C Street.

Nature’s many shades. Gray glitter.

Because in Florida, you don’t have to wear shoes.

XOXO from the fishing pier and beach front.

“I wish for the same thing I’ve hoped for since the beginning. I wish for a life so brave, so unpredictable, so full of unexpected joys and unforgettable love that no box could possibly contain all my memories.” Chelsey Philpot, Even in Paradise

I’ve learned that people in life will look at you strange if you don’t exactly go with the flow. I’ve gotten looks and snarky comments. I’ve been laughed at, and I’ve gotten an occasional sigh. Some don’t understand why I do or don’t do certain things, why I believe certain things, why I have a conscience about certain things… While listening to Dr. Tony Evans the other day, I was reminded of a simple answer:

Don’t people know my name? Gabriela means devoted to God and God is my strength; He is able. The truth is, when you say my name, you invoke a praise to God and recognize Him as able and supreme above all. When you say my name, you remind me of who has sustained me and never failed me. As I am reminded of this, I pray that my life can live up to my name. When you say my name, you say what I believe.

Wednesday Musings: January 21, 2015

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Back to reading and studying like a beast. Yep. We are back. Vacation is over, people. The law school is bustling like an ant pile that has been stepped on. The adrenaline is pumping, the soul is sufficiently sleep-deprived, and the arms are full of 50-pound books. It is a weird feeling, knowing that it’s the last hurrah. Praise the Lord. Being back in the city is a bit dark and weird–I can feel the difference after being away for so long. On this busy Wednesday, I thought I would post some inspiration to help us all remember it is all going to be ok. It’s nice to have perspective, always. Anyway, I hope 2015 is just FANTASTIC for you, and I hope it keeps getting better.

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you find some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you are wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art–write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” Neil Gaiman

“Most good things happen without a plan: friendships, falling in love, finding a job, and so on. If you want to make your new year count, you’ll need to be intentional–by making space in your life for what really matters.” Jeff Goins

“What emerged from our talk was nothing less, we believed, than the central ‘secret’ of enduring love: sharing.” A Severe Mercy, Sheldon Vanauken

“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”

Mark Twain

“The Lord says, ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.'”

Psalm 32:8

“Would your 8-year-old self be proud of you right now?”

“If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd.” Elisabeth Elliot

“Use every opportunity of humbling yourself before fellow-men as a help to abide humble before God.” Andrew Murray

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14

“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go…for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15

As always, when we are broken, stripped and hiding, God walks through the garden asking us, ‘Where are you?’ (Genesis 3:9)

[Images from Tumblr]

Alchemy

“Go for someone who is proud to have you.” Frank Ocean

Complex Math

“There is a sense in which two and two are four, the plane of ledgers and cashbooks – on which these propositions are approximately sound. But if you rise from that plane to a loftier one, you will find at once that they are untenable … it is obviously untrue that half-a-baby and half-a-baby make a baby. Let the sword do its deadly work… The two halves of a baby make no baby at all. On this higher plane of human sentiment and experience, the laws of mathematics collapse completely.

When a man distributes his wealth among his children, he gives to each a part. But when a woman distributes her love among her children, she gives it all to each … No man who has once fallen in love will ever be persuaded that one and one are only two. He looks at her, and feels that one plus one would be a million … No happy couple into the sweet shelter of whose home a little child has come will ever be convinced that two and one are only three. Life has been enriched a thousandfold by the addition of that one little life to theirs. And I am certain that no pair from whose clinging and protecting arms their treasure has been snatched will find comfort in the assurance that one from three leaves two. In the great crises of life, one’s faith in figures breaks down hopelessly.”

— F.W. Boreham, excerpt of “The Sword of Solomon”

As heard quoted by Ravi Zacharias in his message “Raised to Run.”

Ninety-day Challenge

“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.” Mahatma Gandhi

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I’ve talked to people, and I have realized it is becoming easier and easier to tell who has actually studied the Bible based on how the person talks about it. I have heard many commentaries that demonstrate a superficial knowledge (perhaps what was learned from a childhood Sunday School teacher or what they have been told); some have even read the book, but how many have studied it?

We often point to erroneous teachings man and the church have instituted and disseminated, and we cast blame on scripture and religion, when really, if scripture were studied, it would be made plain that institutions and man have often stood in error that is not backed by scripture.

No matter how many times one reads the Bible, one finds wisdom in it. One sees humanity in a raw form, and one sees God’s power to transform. It is the greatest love letter ever written (and Valentine’s Day is coming up!).

I have decided to take the 90-day challenge. I have never studied the entire Bible in such a short span of time (90 days is three months!), and I think it is going to be an interesting, transforming and fun challenge. I am letting you know, in case you want to join me. If you dare study, you will never be the same (of that, I am sure).

Monday Inspiration: January 19, 2015

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Hello Monday, and happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! As I am writing this, it is Sunday, and I am up in the sky flying back to the Big Apple. Freezing rain is pelting down the city that is waiting for me. Oh New York! A city God’s providence has taken me to, and He has challenged and walked with me every step of the way. As I am up here, I am overwhelmed thinking about how many blessings have come to my life, and how many prayers God has answered for me. As I am flying back, with an aching heart missing my family and friends, on my little television set on the back of the seat in front of me, Princess Diaries 2 is playing. One of my favorite movies. I will take this as a wink from God; a nice comforting touch.

Today, as we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., I hope we keep present in our minds how God can use one person to inspire people and effect change. I hope we remember that God has a purpose for our lives and that while it may take sacrifice and a letter from the Birmingham Jail, dreams can come true.

I am forever grateful for Dr. King’s faith, dream and sacrifice.

“But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a level of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you.'” Dr. King, pg. 179, Letter From a Birmingham Jail

“Earth is forgiveness school.”

Anne Lamott

[“I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me into the Rock of Ages.” Charles Spurgeon]

“The gift of darkness draws you to know God’s presence, beyond what thought, imagination, or sensory feeling can comprehend.” Richard Rohr, OFM

“Love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.”
C.S. Lewis

“I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me.”

Tracee Ellis Ross

“Just because it’s not happening right now doesn’t mean it never will.”

“Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn’t settle for it.”

Mandy Hale, The Single Woman

“I hope you find someone who is brave enough to enter your storm, and respects you enough to love the size of your waves. I hope you find someone who will relish the calm you can have, and who is eager to set sail on the expanse of your mind. I hope you find someone that can’t escape the love they have for you, because now they have you in their very blood, always reminding them that you are the only sea worth exploring.”

T.B. LaBerge // Unwritten Letters to You

“Courageous hearts are often covered in scars.”

T.B. LaBerge // Go Now

“What in the world would we do without our libraries?”

Katherine Hepburn

“You shouldn’t stop everything from happening. Sometimes you’re supposed to feel awkward. Sometimes you’re supposed to be vulnerable in front of people. Sometimes it’s necessary because it’s all part of you getting to the next part of yourself.”

Cecilia Ahern, The Book of Tomorrow

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these.”

“Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course…We would be ecstatic, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out each night, and we watch television.” Paul Hawkens

What are you doing tonight?

[Images from Tumblr]

The New Yorker

[Photograph found on Tumblr]

What We Celebrate

By: Gabriela Yareliz

When you have witnessed someone’s pain after they have experienced sex trafficking, and sexual abuse and assault, pornography and the culture’s obsession with sex doesn’t seem as innocent.

When you have witnessed a person’s struggle, someone who has fled domestic violence or abuse where alcoholism or drugs fueled the abuser, drinking doesn’t seem as glamorous.

When you have witnessed a child grow up without a father because of a teenage pregnancy or you meet a young woman who lived pregnant and alone in her car, partying and casual sex don’t seem so freeing.

When you witness a funeral, violence doesn’t seem as exciting.

When you have witnessed someone’s ruin and spiral out of control and you have seen someone’s emptiness, addictions don’t seem insignificant.

Why do we listen to and watch things that reflect a culture that is confused and broken? Don’t we know that when we become slaves to something, we are the ones who end up broken, and we break hearts around us? Don’t we know that we become changed by what we decide to behold?

If we saw the reality of things, if we saw the consequences of many things we celebrate, applaud and accept, if we saw the lives broken around us, if we cared… Things would be different.

As 2015 begins, remember to think about who you want to be, what you want to support, and choose accordingly.

It is said that the pure in heart will see God, and it is likely only the pure in heart want to see God. I pray that we can take the following words to heart: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

“What you applaud, you encourage, but beware what you celebrate…” Ravi Zacharias

Go Now by T.B. LaBerge

“God has a way of stripping everything that we think we need, and He leaves just Himself to us. It is never an easy thing to be in that situation; one day praising God for His goodness and the next crying out to Him to make Himself known in the storm.
When we have rooted ourselves to a safe place, God tends to rip us out of the ground and plant us somewhere new. We may hate it, revile Him for it, and even reject Him for a time. But when we look back, we will see that we needed to be uprooted, to be changed from that place that was slowly killing us.
God is the master gardener, He knows all His plants by name, He delicately removes the bad weeds and waters the good seeds. He does what needs to be done, so that one day we can look back and see the majesty that He was doing.
You are being made into a beautiful thing, something that God loves to watch grow. So the next time you are taken out of your comfort zone, know that Christ is slowly making you something great, because He is doing it; and He is the greatest thing.”
T.B. LaBerge // Go Now

[Image from Tumblr]