Last Registration

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today, we 3Ls registered for our last set of law school classes. (I am so excited!)

Graduation is gettin’ real, quick.

Many of us don’t know what lies ahead, and some things may seem like detours or things that weren’t in our plans…

“When God is getting ready to move you, in order to develop you, God will detour you, and I think most of us know most detours occur when construction is taking place. There’s a construction crew on the road creating a detour. The reason why God creates detours is because He’s got to do some construction in our lives first. He’s got to chip away at the parts that don’t fit where He’s taking us.” Dr. Tony Evans, The Purpose of Detours

 

Monday Inspiration: November 17, 2014

Hellooo beautiful week!

The skies are grey, the Holiday Market is being set up at Union Square (I can’t wait to take some amazing photos this year), and exams and interviews are coming soon. *giddy* This week’s Monday inspiration kind of reflects our NYC weather and vibe: soft light, twinkling details, old world & classic. That’s right, I used the ampersand.

The Secret Garden (1993)

Soundtrack:

Light breaks through darkness in the most beautiful ways.

“She slept with wolves without fear, for the wolves knew a lion was among them.” r.m. drake

“Throw kindness around like confetti.” Unknown

Notebooks, an addiction I see no end to.

“We lose ourselves in the things we love. We find ourselves there, too.” Kristin Martz

“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.” Unknown

[Can you smell the knowledge and inspiration in this room? *tingles* If you want to leave me stranded or ditch me, lose me in a bookstore–simple as that. I won’t even be mad at you.]

“You will not find the warrior, the poet, the philosopher or the Christian by staring into his eyes as if he were your mistress: better fight beside him, read with him, argue with him, pray with him.” C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

La Dolce Vita

“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

“And men said that the blood of the stars flowed in her veins.” C.S. Lewis

“A man who says, I was wrong, in effect says, I am a little wiser today than I was yesterday.” Charles Spurgeon

 

 

“Sometimes, the world presents you with opportunities to show who you really are. Will you have the courage to stand up to someone who tries to take your spirit away?” Cory Matthews

 

 

 
“We are all broken, that’s how the light gets in.” Ernest Hemingway
“If a writer falls in love with you, you can never die.” Mik Everett
 
“Psychology says, always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that’s the one that is going to help you grow.” -Unknown
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Persian Glam Couple: Leyla Milani and Manny Khoshbin
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Keep working hard!
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[Images from Tumblr and Webstagram]

That One Thing

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Many times, we try to give God a lot of things in our lives and different parts of us. We also hold some things back.

What is it that God wants from us?

“O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.” Proverbs 23:26

When He has our hearts, we will be people who obey Him out of love. We will be people who are empowered to do what is right. When He has our hearts, He transforms us, and we understand that He wants us to have full joy. When He has our hearts, He heals us.

My Mistake on: What Every “Godly” Girl Wants in a Man

By: Gabriela Yareliz

So, I reblogged a post yesterday that I read, and I honestly think I read it thinking it was saying what I wanted it to say (it’s like being a bad listener, except this is being a bad reader). But after rereading it and thinking about it and discussing it, I realized it was not something I agreed with. Therefore, that post is gone, but no worries, it is replicated here with an explanation, and the original post: Secret Revealed: What Every Godly Girl Wants in a Man is linked here, if you are curious.

Above the repost, my blurb said:

Thanks Fel for sharing. Ahhh, the great question: What kind of a man is a Godly woman looking for? I have to say I agree with the author. A Godly woman is looking for a man who strives to be like Jesus. A man who will push her and challenge her to grow closer to God and depend on God with her. A man who will pray with her, side by side. Not a man with a shallow label of religion, but a man who truly sees God’s hand in his life, every day. Both people should mirror who they have chosen to reflect. A woman needs to become what she is looking for.
“I want a man with a Bible is his hand, like this…”

[I love the high school quote I ended that blurb with, by the way. Always makes me smile.]

Anyway– here we go:

So, the original post says that “godly” women want Jesus (the term “godly” not meaning that these women are sanctified Mother Teresas but simply that they are striving to be a woman according to Proverbs 31). Okay, that is cool. I think one could safely say a Christian young woman loves Jesus, but that she should marry (a man who is like) Jesus? Whoa.

Someone much wiser than me was discussing this with me, and she wisely pointed out that no one would ever measure up to that. And I agree. It is pretty unfair to hold a human to the “Jesus” standard. When I reread the post, I thought, this isn’t talking about someone wanting to be like Jesus, but someone who is like Jesus. Then I thought: Am I like Jesus? And the answer is no. I am nowhere close to what Jesus was–I don’t even come close to what Mother Teresa or Amy Carmichael were (and they were HUMANS).

If I look at successful marriages and men and women that I admire, they are often older men and women who have had to go through difficult lessons, less than perfect lives and sacrifice. If someone would have taken the post’s requirements of being Jesus and measured these individuals before they got married, no one would have passed the test. NO ONE. Again, I wouldn’t pass the test.

It’s not fair to look for Jesus as a spouse because if a man were looking for a woman like Jesus, he would walk right past me and have every right to. Jesus is Jesus. We all need the actual Jesus, but we can’t pretend for another imperfect human to fill that void. Isn’t that one of the biggest flaws in our lives? We try to fill voids and feel complete with other human beings and things, but it doesn’t work that way.

I do think that two people planning to spend their lives together should mesh spiritually and have similar goals to grow together, and they should share beliefs, because beliefs are often at the core of our essence. You can’t fully understand a person and be fully intimate with them if you don’t understand and to some extent share their belief (if not you will probably think they are insane at some point). But, that said, we the people (wink) trying to grow and aspiring to reflect the character of God need to look for another human who wants to grow and seek like we do. There is a lot each gender seeks when seeking a partner as my wise mother told me. I mean, obviously people and doctors have written entire books on the topic. Women seek stability, security, love, etc. Men seek other things. It’s natural. Part of life. The key is to remember that no one is perfect (which should be obvious right?).

If you look for someone who has already “arrived”, you won’t find him/her. We have never “arrived.” If you are looking for a Jesus-to-marry on Tinder or at church, don’t be surprised  if you don’t find him…

I stand by my comment: I do want a man who strives to be like Jesus, just like I want to–but that doesn’t mean he is like Jesus. I want someone who pushes me to grow and who will pray for me, just like I want to help another person grow and pray for him; a man who truly sees God’s hand in his life, every day. I can’t speak for masses, but I can speak for myself. I don’t know the formulas and I don’t do lists, but I want a human, a man who is flawed just as I am flawed. A man I won’t expect perfection from, just as I hope he doesn’t expect perfection from me. A man who isn’t afraid of challenge and growth.

I don’t have it all figured out. None of us do, right? It’s like my favorite novel, David Copperfield, where Davy can only see clearly in hindsight, with his gained maturity and after all of his mistakes. The end always makes me cry. As always, Dickens is on to something: His novel is like life. We learn and grow as we go, and the beauty of this is we get to find, not someone perfect, but someone to grow with us, imperfectly, along the way.

This little Davy has a lot to figure out, so I won’t pretend to be at the end of my book. 😉

 

 

Friday Glee: November 14, 2014

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Baby, it’s cold outside! Full-blown winter out here.  And for some reason, the light rain and four-degree wind chill (I exaggerate…) with the twinkling lights makes us feel that life is like a Christmas jewelry commercial (with background music and all). New York City just has that vibe. It doesn’t always have that vibe. Only hours earlier, a dog walker was trying to convince fear out of a Jack Russell who was refusing to cross an intersection with a man standing in the middle of it dry shaving with an battery powered shaver. Things get weird around here. It’s not always a Tiffany’s Commercial on Fifth Ave.

It was a week of deep talk, BuzzFeed quizzes as breaks from work (that ‘Are You Type A?’ one is rigged), and sleepless nights.

It’s Friday, and for some of us, some adventures are just beginning.

Here are some thoughts for the journey:

“You have no business trying to find out where God is leading–the only thing God will explain to you is himself.” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

“Not everyone you love is going to leave you.” Brian to Tibby, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

“Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving.” Madeleine L’Engle

“Maybe you are searching among the branches, for what only appears in the roots.” Rumi

“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.” C. Joybell C.

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” C.S. Lewis

“No one has been brave enough to love you, and that shouldn’t make you sad; because you’ll find someone who fears you but is still brave enough to be with you, and that is worth a little heartbreak for now. Love will come, and it will need a courageous soul to stand and fight with it.” T.B. LaBerge, Unwritten Letters to You

“Start small with what’s in front of you and let God build it.” Joel Malm

 

This week, a popular theme in conversation was love. Here is to the hope that we will each find our match in intellect, spirituality, wit and ambition.

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You will love being single, you will love not having to talk to anyone or do anything for a day, that you can do whatever you want because you are the master of your own life. But one day, you will realize that you want to be unselfish for someone, that you would rather have a lifetime with another soul than without; and that desire of being “free” that you so long held dear, will become a prison. Loving someone will start to be a freedom for you, and you will break all the chains of solitude that you once loved, just so you can experience the breathing process of loving another; this is when you know, that something within you has changed, and that you will never be the same.—T.B. LaBerge // Things I’m still learning at 25

“But it is good for me to draw near to God. I have to put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.” Psalm 73:28

 

Monica Perfetta

Come si sente da single?

<<Molto bene: sono straordinariamente connessa con me stessa. E mi piace anche dare questo messaggio alle mie figlie, per il loro futuro: non è obbligatorio avere un marito o un compagno. La solitudine non deve farci paura.>>

 

Veterans Day

By: Gabriela Yareliz

There are few things we understand in life. We can pretend to understand them or try to give them some kind of formula with what we do know; but the fact is there are things we can’t really define, but we can feel them, and they move us. I think love and sacrifice are among those things. We can’t exactly put these concepts into words that fully express the concept, and we can’t fathom them completely, either. They are simply things we do and feel. Things we never forget.

I remember when I was younger living on an air force base, watching soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. I remember how deserted the base was without most of the men and women in uniform. I remember seeing wives, mothers, and children alone; they were strong pillars. I remember in high school, when a friend of mine made her senior project a shoebox operation to send toiletries to the soldiers, her boyfriend among those men. I remember when he came back, and with injuries and all, a changed man, he stood in his uniform at the First Baptist Church of Ocala and married my friend, fulfilling his dream and making all of hers come true.

War. Love. Sacrifice. These are all things that make us afraid, fill us with courage, and make us feel. They are the things that remind us why life is worth every minute.

We should always keep our veterans, soldiers and their families present in minds and in our prayers. We thank the men and women who go to far places to show love and sacrifice, for us. We are their country.

Let us not only think of and thank those who served, but also those who are still serving–for every minute away from home, comfort and family; for every minute of anguish, pain and uncertainty.

 

One of the most moving renditions of our national anthem–the one and only Whitney Houston:

Monday Inspiration: November 10, 2014

Soundtrack:

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today my professor lifted the seating chart and pointed at a blue ink blot and said, “That is where I wept.” Didn’t we all (because of his class). Ha. Happy Monday! The people asking for petition signatures were out; the ones that ask “Do you want to know what’s in your tap water?” and I am like, “I have a feeling I don’t,” and the ones who desperately want you to get a haircut “deal” from them. I am growing out my hair dude, chill.

This week, instead of soothing, we are going for a more fierce-gratitude approach— a more Latin approach, if you will. Something I love about (my) Latin culture is its resilience and ability to find joy and passion even in the hardest of times. You can go into the most humble, impoverished town and still find smiles and people singing. We give validity to the statement: lack of passion is fatal.  And so, BECAUSE it’s Monday, we are gonna live it up with some Celia Cruz, Becky G and Mr. Worldwide. We are going to (my) culture for some inspiration.

Special shout-out to my good friend Srinivas; it’s his birthday today.

The Monday celebration starts now:

There’s no need to cry, because life is a carnival,
It’s more beautiful to live singing.
There’s no need to cry,
For life is a carnival
And your pains go away by singing–Celia Cruz

 

“Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.” Henry David Thoreau

 

 

“However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poorhouse. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the almshouse as brightly as from the rich man’s abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden

 

 

“You are deserving of the most pure, whole, and authentic love. I hope you know that.” Unknown

 

 

“Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.” Henry David Thoreau

 

 

“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.” Henry David Thoreau

 

 

“It’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It’s our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.” Unknown

 

 

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad.
Proverbs‬ ‭12‬:‭25‬

 

[HAHAHA. This is SO me. I am afraid to fall asleep, even with 20 alarms because God knows when I will actually wake up.]

 

“A good goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot.” Chris Soriano

 

 

“It was November – the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines.” L.M. Montgomery

 

 

Have an amazing Monday. Pain is passing, and life is beautiful in its own mysterious way.

Fuego is Spanish for fire. Keep it burning inside of you. Let nothing blow it out.

[Images from Riawna Capri Instagram, Tumblr]

#SundayBoss: November 9, 2014

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Is it really too early for Christmas music? Ha. There is quite the debate out there (Buzzfeed). Soon, we’ll be hearing John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas” (War is Over), the Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Canon Rock, and that Christmas Shoes song that I listen to insensitively all season, and then finally, there is one time that I listen to it where I cry (it always happens; but just once a season).

On another note: So technically, aren’t we supposed to get about 50 hours of sleep collectively throughout the week (I hope that math is right–cringe)? These past two weeks, I got an average of 28/wk, but this weekend was amazing. This weekend, I got amazing sleep. It was beautiful. The person who said: the nights you sleep are not the ones you remember didn’t know what he or she was talking about.  

I was walking past a restaurant that was blasting a song that Feisty Feliz and I used to bop to in high school. So, here it is as the soundtrack to today’s hard labor in preparation for this upcoming week. Shout-out to Feliz for the inspiring chat we had yesterday. (Insert heart emoji here).

This week: “May our breakdowns become our breakthroughs.”

Shall we hit the work week with some Calabria?

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[Feisty Feliz & Scandalous Gabby–our last reunion in May]

Get inspired, relieve some stress and jam:

1] Friendship

2] We need to enjoy the wonders, and keep them in our pockets for a rainy day.

“Life is filled with many wonders, like the blue sky, the sunshine, the eyes of a baby.” Thich Nhat Hanh

 

3] Follow purity, joy, peace, humility and all good things.

4] This made me think about how we see God. The more we understand God, the more we love Him because we see how much He loves and cares for us.

“Understanding and love are not two things, but just one.” Thich Nhat Hanh

5] I loved this. I miss you Bunny.

6] #YASSS. Everything around us wants us to feel a need for more and a constant feeling of inadequacy, but what would happen if we realized we are fine?

“The secret to having it all is knowing you already do.” -Unknown

7] This reminded me of a classic musical that changed our lives forever (LOL). Ok. It changed my life.

8]

9]

“Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” Bill Nye

10]

11]

“There’s a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.”-Rumi

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13]

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15]

 

[Images from Webstagram]

Friday Glee: November 7, 2014

Have an amazing Friday! I am feeling very Princess Jasmine today dressed in teal. My survival week after week is truly part of my religious experience. 🙂 It’s time to celebrate the weekend and all of God’s blessings. We made it through.

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“Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.”
― C.S. Lewis

 

 

“Be proud of every scar on your heart, each one holds a lifetime’s worth of lessons.” Wallace Stegner

 

“I am not rejecting money and power, I just consider them insufficient by themselves; it’s an incredibly shrunken view. […] About two centuries ago, philosophers stopped asking the big questions like ‘What is a good life?‘ A lot of people running the world became disconnected from a spiritual foundation. Because they rejected organized religion, they rejected a larger perspective on life. For me, that explains why [this] collective delusion around overworking prevailed. We were left alone and defined success as money and power. Money and power are two legs of the stool, but there’s a problem when you try to also make them the third leg.” Arianna Huffington, Vogue India, October 2014, pg. 462

 

“So come to the pond,

or to the river of your imagination,

or the harbor of your longing,

and put your lips to the world.

And live

your life.”

Mary Oliver, Red Bird

 

“Besides being complicated, reality, in my experience, is usually odd. It is not neat, not obvious, not what you expect.” C.S. Lewis
 “We are always falling in love or quarreling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.” C.S. Lewis, The Weight of The Glory

“You can be comfortable or courageous, but you cannot be both.” -Unknown

 

 

“God sends no one away empty, except those who are filled with themselves.” D.L. Moody

 

 

“No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.” Eleanor Roosevelt

 

“Jobs fill your pocket. Adventures fill your soul.” Jaime Lyn Beatty

 

“To think you can love God without being changed by Him, is to think you can jump into the ocean and not get wet. To really love Him, you must understand that your life is going to get wrecked by Him, and built again into something beautiful, something lasting.” T.B. LaBerge// Jesus, His Grace and the Gospel