Just A Little Reminder That We're All Human

{via}

There's just a couple of things that I want to address after being on tumblr today.

1.  Just because someone's opinion is different from yours doesn't mean that they are "trash."
2.  If you want to call someone out for a comment you disagree with, telling them that they are "trash that needs to die" is not the best way to do so.
3.  If you want to be passionate about a social issue, be passionate about that social issue. Don't just be passionate about bashing people who are on the other side of that issue.
4. People who are in the spotlight (celebrities, families of celebrities, etc) are people too. They are people with opinions and thoughts and, most importantly, feelings. Don't hold them up to a standard that you aren't going to hold the people you actually know up to. They aren't perfect. Let them live their lives.
5. Remember––I'm begging you––that you are also a human. You are not perfect, just as I'm not perfect and the person you're bashing isn't perfect. Being human is okay. Remember that. Please. 
6. And just to reenforce this: opinions are opinions. They aren't right or wrong. No two people are going to view the world the same way; no two people are going to look at an issue the same way. That absolutely does not make one better than the other. Nobody is "trash."

Basically what happened in France is breaking my heart. Remember that what is most important right now is to send out love and understanding to all those that were affected by this tragedy, no matter what caused it. Terrorism is real. The world needs love. It needs Jesus.

I love you all and I hope that you are safe and blessed.
Shi.

8 Things I Want My Future Husband To Know About Me

{via}

The older I get the more my heart longs to be in love. It's something that I've wanted since I was a little girl, but now it's becoming more prominent within me than ever. There is a fire in my soul that longs to love and to be loved. It's a matter of waiting for the right man to come along at this point, the one that God has so carefully prepared just for me. Hopefully one day he'll see this post. Here are 8 things I want my future husband to know about me:

1. I'm a little bit disorganized. I'm trying to get better at it, I swear. Just please be patient if things are a little messy sometimes.
2. I've struggled with depression for many years and more than likely will continue to struggle with it for many more. You don't have to try to fix me; I'll be okay. When things get too hard, just hold me and tell me that you love me and that it's okay for me to feel the way I do. That's all I need.
3. I quite like puns. Seriously, if you want to make me laugh, just tell me puns. 
4. I want Jesus to be the center of our relationship. It's very important for me to have a Christ-centered relationship. If he's not in the middle of it all, it won't work. 
5. I like to sing at the top of my lungs a lot. You can sing with me in the car, in the kitchen, wherever really. 
6. I collect books. I'll likely want a library in our house. I'm sorry.
7. I'm really shy at first. I don't like meeting people for the first time; it freaks me out. So please, just have patience with me. I'll eventually talk your ear off.
8. I'm waiting for you. With every ounce of my heart, I'm waiting. In every way that you can think of, I'm waiting. I'm saving all of myself for you. I love you. I can't wait to meet you. Please get here soon. 

Blessings.

All I Ever Needed Was Your Love

So, I just watched Grace Unplugged on Netflix and it tore me apart.

I've been wanting to see this movie since it came out, but never got the opportunity. So when I saw it on Netflix this morning (it's fall break--holla!) I knew I had to watch it. And I'm so glad that I did. I cried more times than I'd like to admit, and I don't think I can just mark it down to PMS. So.

The song that I posted above was the part where I really lost it. Just. Just. I don't know how to explain how it made me feel. Hopeful, maybe.

I know that I have been focusing a lot on things that don't really matter at all lately. I need to turn my focus back to God. He's all I need and sometimes I forget that. It's easy to forget that when you're surrounded by the world and people who want to fit into the world so bad, and I guess I sort of fell victim to that.

This movie was sort of a wake up call, I guess. All I need is Jesus. His love that never fails and never gives up, even when I screw up all the time. I'm thankful for that.

Lord, I'm sorry that I've been chasing after things the world has to offer; I know that I don't need that. I need you and your love and that is enough. Please forgive me for all of that. I'm sorry that I didn't realize it sooner. Thank you for wake up calls, and hope and forgiveness. You're all I need. Because Your love is better than life. Thank you for giving second, and third, and fourth, and infinite chances. I love you. Amen.

ABEAUTIFULPATH LAUNCH!

WE LAUNCH TOMORROW!

For around the last year or so, my sister and I have been planning and working on our YouTube channel. We've posted a couple videos, but our true launch is tomorrow. It's been a long time coming and I couldn't be more thrilled to start sharing my life with you all. 

||

:: ABeautifulPath ::

Life is about learning to smile more.

We are two sisters who are learning to love life.

Our goal is to share our passions for inner beauty, adventures, and life. We want to create our own space on the internet to be a safe place for people to come and see that no matter who you are, or where you come from, you can still make life adventurous and beautiful.

We believe that life is meant to be celebrated, even in the tiny moments.

||

Let us know what you think, and tell your friends!

We will be following back tons on our twitter!

@a_beautifulpath

We love you all! 

xx

Beautiful Flaws

Throughout my life I've always been a people pleaser.

I will literally do anything and everything I can to keep people happy, even if it doesn't directly impact me. I just want to see people happy. And I want everyone to like me. 

But that's not possible. 

I'm human.

I make mistakes.

I can't make everyone happy.

I'm not perfect.

There's this quote I found on tumblr or something and it says "to be human is to be beautifully flawed" and it just really inspires me. 

We don't have to be perfect. We're just people. Other people shouldn't dictate our thoughts or feeling or anything else about ourselves. 

If we are truly living for Christ, the only one we should be trying to please is him. And the best part about that is that he is a forgiving and merciful God. We can mess up. He knows we will mess up, but he loves us anyway. 

He loves our flawed hearts and he forgives us when we screw things up. 

He forgives us when we're not perfect. (Because, let's face it, we're never perfect and we're never going to be perfect).

Galatians 1:10 says: 

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please me, I would not be a servant of Christ. 

We need to stop trying to win over other people. They're just people...as imperfect and flawed as we are. They don't have power over us.

Try to truly live for Christ. Live to please him; live to serve him; live to win his approval. He knows your heart and your motives and your mistakes. He loves you anyways. 

I think that's pretty amazing. As much as I mess up and as much as I sin against him, he still loves me. He still wants me. He still forgives me. 

And that's amazing grace. 

 

 

Dare to Believe | CRAVE

So, I'm not quite sure how I want to start this or where this is going to go, so I'm just going to write. It'll probably be very ramble-y and unclear, but that's okay. It's just how this goes sometimes.

The other day on facebook someone I'm friends with made a post. it said:

So these "Christian genocides" taking place are tragic, don't let me give you the wrong impression. BUT that being said its almost as if religion is still causing more problems than its worth. Just a thought.

I didn't say anything at first. I still haven't commented on it, but it has been bothering me a little bit since I first saw it. As you all know, I've been a Christian since birth. Born and raised to believe in the Lord. But The reason that I'm a Christian now isn't just because of my parents. Sure, I was raised with the the ideas of Christianity, but I've realized throughout my life how important a relationship with Christ is.

To be honest, if it wasn't for my faith in Jesus Christ I might not be sitting here writing this today. He has brought me through so much; times of doubt and self-destruction. He's my rock, my best friend, and the only one who will ever truly love me unconditionally.

Right after I read the post, I was listening to one of Colton Dixon's new songs called Dare to Believe. The chorus of the song says:

I will dare to believe You are the savior, living in me. And I know you always will be the God of the impossible, the God of every miracle. Before the world to see I will dare to believe. 

And this was what I wanted to comment on it. I'm going to dare to believe, because for me it's worth everything. He gave up his life so that I would be free from my sins. So that I could live and love fully. He's the God of everything, and I believe in it with my whole heart.

The thing is is that the world we live in is broken. Sin came in and took over; it's running ramp-id right now. There are bad things because of sin.

If You were just some carpenter from nowhere, an ordinary man with ordinary news, than we would not be here, still claiming You all these years. We believe the stories because their true. Some might call me crazy but I'm no fool. 

And I think that pretty much sums it up for me. It's more than stories, more than myths. It's truth. He's lived and died for me and he's still living. He will defeat the bad. The sin won't win. The terrible things that are going on in the world will not prevail. And because of that I have hope. Because I dare to believe.

I know that this wasn't the most thought out, orderly post, but it's been on my heart for a while so I needed to get it posted.

xoxo, Shi.

I Found My Purpose In Jesus

{via}

We all have had those times in life when we've felt absolutely worthless.
Scared, broken, alone, and tired.

I know that I have. Plenty of times. 

But I have found my purpose. In Jesus.

I lost my way earlier this year. It started around December, probably.
It was when I first realized how broken I truly was. There were scars from my past that kept coming back to haunt me and nothing that I was doing at the time felt good enough. Not for anyone; my parents, my friends, my teachers, not even God. It felt like I was slipping into this dark hole and that there was nobody who would be able to bring me out of it, because it just felt so hopeless.

I guess you could say that I stopped participating in life. I would go to school and hardly talk to anyone and come home and hardly talk to anyone. I was sad and breaking and I felt like no one saw that. I felt like no one could see the way my heart was shattering, or the way that I struggled to breathe sometimes. And that only made it hurt worse. It hurt that no one seemed to care enough to see through the walls that I'd built up. It hurt that no one just came up to me and said "hey, Shiloh. I know you're not okay. What's going on?" I just wanted someone to understand, to see how hard I was trying to make it through. But nobody was doing that.

I didn't start to feel better until this month, not really anyway. I'm good at pretending now, to be honest. But then Jesus got my heart again. He got my attention. I was at Winter Jam in Lexington, and Tenth Avenue North was doing their set; singing their song "The Struggle" and these were the words I was hearing:

there's a wreckage, there's a fire
there's a weakness in my love
there's a hunger i can't control
Lord, i falter and i fall down
and i hold on to the chains you broke 
when you came and saved my soul
...
hallelujah we are free to struggle
we're not struggling to be free
your blood bought and it makes us children
children drop your chains and sing
...
hallelujah death is overcome
and we are breathing
hallelujah our stone hearts become
flesh that's beating
hallelujah chains have been undone
and we are singing
hallelujah the fire has begun

And it was during that song that I just felt Jesus telling me that he's been there. He was there the entire time, even though I didn't realize it. He was there when I was in my room crying until three a.m. He was there when people made off-handed comments that stung more than they should have. He was there when I didn't want to wake up, and when I even thought about giving into the temptation to hurt myself. He was there through all of it; the good days and the bad ones and He continues to just be there.

He was the person I was looking for; the one who said: "Shiloh, I know your not okay. I know that you're hurting. I'm here for you and I love you." And I can't tell you how much that alone healed my heart. He's taking the broken pieces of my life and constructing them back together in a way that has started to change me. And I'm not so afraid anymore. His perfect love is casting out my fear. The fear that I had constantly had for the past few months.

I have a purpose. I'm not too far broken. I can be fixed and I am being fixed.
Because of Jesus.
I found myself there,
in the arms of a savior who wants nothing more than to love me.
In the arms of a savior who gave up his life for me.
To save me from myself.
I found my purpose in Jesus.
And I'm getting better and better every day.

xx, Shiloh.

Move

Just thought that I'd share a poem that I wrote recently.

I try to find my way through the labyrinth of thoughts.

It's hard for me to keep trying sometimes.

I want to be alive.

To live.

To love.

To breathe.

But sometimes the air just won't fill my lungs properly and I want to hide.

I want to collapse in on myself and find a way to just survive.

And sometimes love isn't in my heart and I just want to understand.

I want to see people for who they are; for their mindless doings.

And sometimes I just don't want to live in this broken world with my broken soul.

I want to move.

Move

Move

Move

But then I remember what was done for me on the cross,

And the blood that was shed to save me from myself.

My broken, hopeless, sinful self.

My tired, lonely, worthless self.

And it reminds me that even though I'm broken, God makes me whole.

Even though I'm hopeless, God gives me hope.

Even though I'm sinful, God's grace abounds.

Even though I'm tired, God gives me rest.

Even though I'm lonely, God is my friend.

And even when I feel worthless, God is there to remind me that I'm worth everything to him.

Because of what was done for me on that cross.

Because of love.

| In Oceans Deep

One thing that you all must know about me is that I love Jesus. So, therefore, I will post about him quite regularly. If you don't like posts about him then I suggest you just click the little 'x' right now. 

Today, I wanted to share this song with you all and kind of talk about what it means to me. It's called 'Oceans (Where My Feet May Wander)' and it's by a worship group called Hillsong. The line of the song that originally drew me in was the one that said "take me deeper than my feet could ever wander," but the more I listen to the song, the more I get from it. 

Tonight, I was really focusing on a line from the first verse of the song that says: "In oceans deep my faith will stand." And to be completely honest with you all: I'm still trying to figure out what it means to me. (That's probably what this post will turn into--me figuring it out). I know that we need to get out into the ocean; the unknown, if you will. That's where God uses us, that's where he teaches us. I know that once we're out there in the deep waters that's where we grow. We lose fear. We learn to love. 

I want to be out in the oceans. In the deep. I want to be taken to a place that is deeper than my feet could ever wander. I want to be some place where my faith can stand. Because, I'll be real with you all for a moment, I've been struggling lately. It's getting harder and harder for me to just make the time for the Lord that I need to. I know I need to change this, and believe me, I want to. I want to be so on fire that when I walk into a room everyone can see him through me. And maybe the deeper I get out into that ocean, the more my faith will stand. The more I'll be relying on the Lord instead of myself. 

I think that I'm just an eighteen year old girl who is trying to wrap her head around things. Like, I know that I believe in God. I know that with my whole heart, I just don't really understand the world yet. I want to love people with such an unconditional love, and show people how much Christ loves them, but it's so hard to do with judgement and temptation around everywhere. I need to work on myself. I need God to work on me. 

My prayer for tonight is that I will be taken out into the oceans deep. That I will be thrown in head first, so much so that I won't be able to rely on myself, and that I'll have to give it up to God. I want him to use me. I want my faith to stand strong, in the oceans deep. I need to be in that ocean. The ocean of God and his love and his mercy and his grace. I need Jesus. I need him to pull me close and teach me. Show me how to view the world. So my prayer is that I will be taken to oceans deep. 

To Everyone in High School and/or College:

I want to tell you all that you are beautiful and loved and that you will make it through the rest of this year. No matter how hopeless that feels, you will.

I wanted to remind everyone that high school may not be the best four years of your life like they say it will, but that those four years can be a beautiful time of learning and growing. You can share the Lord and you can build some amazing friendships, and even though you might eventually lose those friendships, it's still an amazing thing. You may have to learn about some things that you think you'll never use again, but in the process of that you'll learn more about life than you can ever imagine. High school, no matter how drama filled and pointless it may seem, is a beautiful adventure.

Being back at a public school for the first time since I was a freshman has been a crazy and incredible thing for me so far this year. I have learned so much more about life and have started to discover who I really am. I've seen Jesus in the halls of my school, in the people who I have walked by. He has been in the face of all of the nervous freshmen; in the classrooms with my teachers; he's been shining out of everything in that school and I'm so beyond grateful for that. It's given me hope.

I have hope that God knows what he's doing, and that He knows where I'm going. He's got me in his hands, just like He has you in his hands. He loves you and wants what's best for you. So chose to make this the best semester you possibly can. Choose to be brave and take chances and make some memories. Don't wait on the future, because the future is now.

First Tattoo

So as some of you may know, yesterday was my 18th birthday. It was a crazy awesome day and I'm so thankful that I got to spend it with my amazing family and friends..

Anyway, for my "big" gift to myself for my eighteenth was to get my first tattoo. I've been wanting to get it for a while, so I was super excited that I had enough money. I made my appointment right after school yesterday, and went in today to get it. It was a crazy experience, but I'm so glad that I was able to do it.

I got a cross to remind me of the love that Christ has for me.

So anyway, that was basically all I wanted to say for today. 

Much love xx

The Crave Movement: Fearless

I'm going to be straight up, completely honest with you for a minute. Okay? Okay.

I am not a perfect Christian.

I am impatient, and lazy, and selfish, and hypocritical, and judgmental, and broken.

But I can tell you something else, too.

My God is patient, and loving, and forgiving, and graceful, and a healer, and the perfecter of all things--including us; broken and sinful humans.

That's why I am thankful. He doesn't look at the past mistakes that we have made. He helps us learn and grow and he teaches us to be better people. He wants us to crave him and to share him and his love with the broken world that we live in.

And I am thankful for that.

I am thankful for the opportunity to go out there and to share Jesus with the world. It's an amazing chance. I love that I get to go and love people. I love that I am able to grow in this faith and to build a relationship with Christ that is unfailing. I love that this world hates me and that I get this chance.

It's okay to feel inferior and afraid; God gets to work on us more that way. He gets to help us learn to be fearless. 1 John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." This is one of my favorite verses of all time. I love that he wants us to be fearless. I love that his love makes us fearless. We don't have to be afraid to go out there and love the broken because Christ loves us, in all of our brokenness.

I just think that's pretty cool

The Crave Movement: We Can't Settle

It starts in middle school. The feelings of loneliness and vulnerability. It carries over into high school. You get your first everything; heartbreak, friends leaving, loss. I guess you could say that it sucks. Big time.

There's something that you might not know, though: It happens to everyone. Everyone feels broken, lonely, hurt, and frustrated. Our hormones are running ramped and the stress feels unbearable. We get pressured to be like everyone else and we often give in. We want to fit in, because we are afraid to stand out.

I have felt this too. We all have. Because the worst feeling in the world is sitting in a cafeteria full of people, and eating alone. Silent. Alone. Scared. The thing is, though--and this took me a long time to learn--is that we can't settle. We can't settle into the standards that this world has laid out for us to settle into. We can't go with the crowd because we aren't called to be apart of the crowd. The truth is that if this world hates you, you're doing something right. John 15:19 says "if you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

The best part about this is that we get to spend an eternity with someone who loves us enough to die for us. We aren't of this world, we are of the body of Christ. We get to have a best friend at all times. Jesus. When you're feeling lonely, or broken, or scared, or whatever it is is, he is there for you.

He died for us; for our sins and our insecurities and our doubts. He died for all of that simply because he loves us. He loves who we are because he made us that way. He made us and all of our quirks that the world loves to hate.

I want you to know that you're never alone. There are so many people who are going through the same things that you are. I want you to know that on the loneliest, most frustrating days, you can talk to someone--Jesus. He will always be there to be your friend. And that is why we can't settle. We can't settle for something that isn't the best, and you'll never find a truer love, or a truer friend, than in Jesus.

The CRAVE Movement

So, here I am with another series for this blog. 

Introducing: THE CRAVE MOVEMENT.  

Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering what is crave?

Crave stands for: chasing revelation and victory everyday. 

It's what I want my life to represent. I want to be on fire for the Lord. I want to crave him. So this little series is going to be some thoughts that I have on everything about this as I continue to grow and grow in my faith. It is very important for me to show my generation how important it is to crave a relationship with our heavenly father. I want people to know that they're never too far gone and that there is always room for redemption. 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--thin about such things. (Philippians 4:8)