wintersleep - resuscitate || music

Oh my goodness. It's been 2 years since their last album and I'm glad they took some time to work on this album. This song is so magical. You feel like you're getting lost in space. I think Canada produces some amazing music. Take a listen! You won't regret it. Hello Hum will be released on June 12th.

start over || my life

I just finished reading Sundi Jo's blog on why she quit blogging which then led me to discover this e-book called "Starting Over: A Manifesto on Being Yourself". I don't know why I decided to read it but I'm so grateful that I did. It's all written out by hand and really easy for us social-media addicts since he writes no more than 20 words on a page. It takes less than 10 minutes to read.

He talks about creativity and how it got lost in the midst of blogging because he followed blogging 'rules' and 'formulas'.
Here is a short excerpt from the book that made me laugh and also cringe at the same time because I see it in a lot of blogs and found myself thinking, "I have to follow the formula!" After reading this book I think I really need to take a break from this blogging world. I'm being so bombarded with all the other blogs and can't help but compare myself and feel inadequate. I need to recharge and be creative without the noise from every other blogger out there. Maybe not quit or take a break, but there's a need to start over and sometimes you have to do it more than a few times.

Here's the blogging formula I used- write a catch and or misleading title
- tell a weird personal story
- apply personal story to profound lesson
-make post short and scannable 
- ask question @ end
RINSE. REPEAT. and you have yourself a "successful" blog. (32, 33)

Go over here to download it! You won't regret the short read.
He ends the book really well.

"Because the world needs your unique and different voice. so dont' be afraid to give it to them. after all, it's the voice God has chosen for you and you alone"

what has authority over you? || faith

Last night I finished listening to a sermon that I had listened to way back in August. It was preached a week after I had come back from my mission trip to Bangladesh. I remember the sermon set me free in so many different ways but these kinds of sermons are also ones that you need to listen to every week. 

Pastor Erin ends the sermon with saying something that hit me like a bomb. What you allow your mind to believe is what you give authority to. More often than we like we give authority to our emotions, to our circumstances, to our body and everything else but the Word; the Word that is living and active, the Word that breathes live and the Word that sets us free. 

We tend to wait for our circumstances to get better, for our relationships to change, for our health to improve BEFORE we shift our minds to the Spirit. I entertain the thoughts of the flesh much more than the truth from above. 

I'm an escapist. If I don't like something I get away from it rather than stick it through. I'm known to giving up and being very nomadic. I can't stay in one place for more than 3 months so I'm already feeling antsy being here in Waterloo without anything fulfilling to do. 

Since things were getting boring and the excitement of being back home died off very quickly, reality hit me pretty hard. I wake up, babysit, eat, go home, sit on the computer, chat with a few friends and then sleep. Every so often I'll go for a walk, discover a new part of this city, chat with a friend over coffee, watch a movie or hangout at the park. I'm not saying my life is bad, but I guess all I could see was how uneventful it was. I was becoming really restless and wanted to run away and hide on some mountain.

After listening to this sermon and another one called All is Well I realized I had set my mind on the petty things. I could only see the bad in my life and felt pretty hopeless. My mind needed to shift to the things of heaven, to the joy set before me, to the love the is overflowing from my Father above and to the people God has blessed me with. 

What has authority over you? What is your mind set to? In order to experience the power of God in our lives we have to shift our minds first. 

Romans 8:5b

but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

here's to good weather || my life

It's May 2nd. The last few days of April were really crummy. The weather was rainy and really cold. The pictures above are my last pictures from April and it was a BEAUTIFUL day. I went for a walk in two different places in Waterloo. It was too hot to wear shoes so I went home to change into my Birks to sit at the dock and read along with some of my friends. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will only get better from here on out. I know rain is important, but I really need some sun. I hate wearing socks and I want to wear sandals everyday! These pictures are my way of hoping the weather will get warmer and sunnier!