This Month’s Picks: January

babynameslog.tumblr.com

1]
“You had to take risks, follow some paths and abandon others. No one can make a choice without feeling afraid.” Paulo Coelho, Brida

2] Priyanka Chopra for Guess. I am a fan.

http://jugnistyle.com

3]
“But some things, no matter how unlikely, are just supposed to happen. You know what I mean. Some things just smack of the future and feel part of an overarching rightness.”
― Marisa de los Santos, Belong to Me

4] Favorite Psalm of the month: Psalm 73
New King James Version (BibleGateway)

23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.

5]

6] We are back in schooooooool. Reading, less sleep, pages, pages, pages… but we are here because we love it.

lawschoolproblems.tumblr.com

7] Francois Hollande: Scandal. Oh, politics.

http://www.librered.net

Stephen Colbert had too much fun with this, but it was clever.

8] Gori Tere Pyaar Mein- a fabulous love story about a social activist [Kareena Kapoor] and a self-absorbed young man [Imran Khan]. As he accepts an arranged marriage to a young woman who is in love with someone else, before the wedding, she forces him to remember the love of his life. He then realizes, it’s never too late to be with who you love and to grow as a person by caring about someone other than himself.

http://www.stargold.in

9] My most anticipated film of 2014, so far.

Highway: In bondage, she found freedom.

10]

http://www.get-the-look.fr/article/leila-bekhti-cover-girl-pour-be_a1928/1

I am loving the Leila Bekhti Be cover, from 2012.

11] All of Me by John Legend (as shared by Feisty Feliz)

12]

http://www.nytimes.com

Most attention-grabbing piece: If Trayvon were Pakistani by Micah Zenko (Foreign Policy Editor’s Pick)

“For a president invested in showing leadership by setting the tone for discussions of race at home, he should answer that question directly. He should then announce an end to signature strikes, since nobody should ever be killed based on how they look or for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Micah Zenko, If Trayvon were Pakistani

13]

“Love is a gamble. Bet on someone or get out of the race.” Harry, Marry Me (Lifetime movie)

14] Cali y El Dandee: Te Necesito

Oh, that feeling.

/Porque como la luna y el mar

Te necesito como el aire para respirar/

15] El Barco-Antena3 Espana.

Me encanta:

As the fog lifts

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By: Gabriela Yareliz

Each person hits walls of frustration and sadness. We all have our rough patches. Today, I found my devotional, Limitless, by Nick Vujicic, so inspiring.

“Just know better days are ahead, and this too shall pass. Your comeback, like mine, may come in small steps day by day, over a period of weeks or months. I hope yours comes quickly, but there are benefits to gradual revival. As the fog of despair lifts, be grateful for every ray of light that comes through.” Limitless, Nick Vujicic, pg. 111 (Water Brook)

/Prefiero caer luchando siendo valiente
ya supe que aunque se gane no es suficiente
no se puede ser feliz cuando a tu lado lloran
a veces toca sufrir
lo entiendo a mi persona
prefiero bailar con ganas aunque no sepa
los filos del corazón mueven mi marioneta
no puedo ni quiero ser aquello que no soy
prefiero seguir presente
allá por donde voy/-Manuel Carrasco, Prefiero Seguir Presente

“My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

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

See the beauty and life in every day. In the boxing ring of life, it’s not about never falling, but about being the last one standing.

Today, be bold, fight brave, find joy and be all there, in the present.

Rest assured–God is in control.

I will write now–

By: Gabriela Yareliz
By: Gabriela Yareliz

“Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” pg. 22, Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

By: Gabriela Yareliz

It’s finally warmer than 60 degrees in my little living space. It’s warm out; warm meaning 20 degrees. Yesterday, the weather warmed up when it started to snow. The snow looked so beautiful. It always falls in blinding swirls, but beautiful blinding swirls. The city is bustling with snow. It is in no way dormant or quiet. Delivery guys ride their bikes on the sidewalk, always making for an exciting near-death experience when you suddenly realize that there is a bike coming at you for a head-on collision, but you had failed to notice because you were blinded by snow.

The city isn’t the only thing that seems to be bursting with energy and life, despite the world being frozen over. Some people are sick, but they press on (who has time to be sick?). Recently, there have been a lot of broken hearts. The thing about these hearts is they are hearts that were once frozen in fear and indecision, and suddenly, now that they are free, they are alive again.

Others are thawing the icy philosophies that envelope their hearts. Some are building snow forts around their souls. Some are stubborn and ignoring mistakes, beginning the slide, chest-first, on the icy lane of destruction.

The world is frozen; it reminds me of how we can be so frozen with fear, arrogance, selfishness, indecision, sadness and stubbornness.

Lately, the questions swirling in the air is: Is “this” something you are willing to live with? “This” can be a person, a habit, a decision, a lifestyle, a circumstance–

No matter what happens, it was brought to my attention that we must always dare to dream.

No matter what weather comes our way (sometimes it’s out of our control), we must not lay dormant and blanketed by the snow, but decide to bustle and live in the swirling madness and beauty.

Maybe thawing isn’t possible right now, so instead dance in the magical inconvenience. It can still be beautiful.

The power of what you say

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Words have power. What we say can cause serious damage.

“With it [tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” (verse 9)

We got to watch it.

James 3:4-16

English Standard Version (ESV)

4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Wisdom from Above

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Scars

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Khalil Gibran

weheartit.com

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Have you ever had a dream where everything you fear may never come true becomes reality?

When we sit back and look at the things we are afraid of, or the things we harden ourselves against, and sometimes even the things we want, we realize our reactions and expectations are a result of our life experience.

It feels like sometimes we are sinking, we are panicking, and we take our eyes off of God. It reminds me of the scene when Peter was on the water walking toward Jesus. (Matthew 14: 22-33). We are sinking– when suddenly, Jesus stretches forth His hand, and He asks us “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).

There is so much out in the world; hurts, pain and suffering that can kill our spirits, but God promises life.

“I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believes in me, though he be dead shall live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believest you this?” John 11: 25-26

“Jesus said unto her, Said I not to you, that, if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” John 11:40

There are things that cut you deep in life, and they do leave scars.

However, as Jonny Diaz sings in his song Scars:
/Praise God we don’t have to hide scars
They just strengthen our wounds, and they soften our hearts.
They remind us of where we have been, but not who we are
So praise God, praise God we don’t have to hide scars/

Just as there is so much hurt in life, there is so much beauty. Last year, I met people who I noticed were afraid of a lot of things. I actively battled against my own fears (that is still necessary at times). But this year, this year we should not be a people ruled by fear.

Two of the most beautiful things in the world are strength and scars; Strength shows wisdom and scars show healing.

His will in you

“Had Abraham stayed in his safe and secure surroundings with Sarah (at that time known as Sarai) and the rest of his family, he would never have reached his destiny, which was to be conduit of God’s blessings to all families of the earth. Likewise, had Abraham decided to wait until God gave him the detailed, step-by-step road map to reach his vision, he would never have discovered and lived out his destiny. God gave Abraham a vision. Because Abraham believed and acted on that vision as God had instructed him to, he received his blessing in full and reached his ordained destination.” Dr. Tony Evans, Destiny, pg. 88

20 de enero

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Hoy es el día perfecto para compartir esta canción.

Pensé que era un buen momento,
por fin se hacía realidad,
tanto oír hablar de tu silencio,
dicen que te arrastra como el mar.
Llené de libros mi maleta,
también de fotos tuyas de antes,
dibujé tu sonrisa junto a la mía,
me dormí con tu abrigo en el sofá

Quiero estar a tu lado,
quiero mirarte y sentir,
quiero perderme esperando,
yo quiero quererte o morir…

Y en el momento que vi tu mirada buscando mi cara,
la madrugada del 20 de enero saliendo del tren,
me pregunté que sería sin ti el resto de mi vida,
y desde entonces te quiero, te adoro y te vuelvo a querer

Cogí un tren que no dormía,
y vi tu cara en un cristal,
Era un reflejo del sol de mediodía,
era un poema de amor, para viajar

Quiero estar a tu lado
quiero mirarte y sentir,
quiero perderme esperando,
yo quiero quererte o morir…

Te perdí
y no te perdere
nuuuuunca más te dejare
Teeeeeee busque, muy lejos de aqui(de aqui)
te encontré pensando en mí

En el momento que vi tu mirada buscando mi cara,
la madrugada del 20 de enero saliendo del tren,
me pregunté que sería sin ti el resto de mi vida,
y desde entonces te quiero, te adoro y te vuelvo a querer

20 de enero–Oreja de Van Gogh