“Here’s the grey rule: Embrace things that lead you closer to Jesus and reject things that lead you away from Jesus.”— Trip Lee
(via worshipmoment)
(via brittmerl)
Ashley Taylor
Avid Over-Thinker
I fell for the romanticized, destructive idea in both church culture and pop culture that we must constantly “love and forgive and give away,” a sort of martyr-hero syndrome that guilts us into perpetual generosity.
I spent too many years consumed by the “sacrificial radical love” model of Christianity, which required that I pour out more than I had—but it only scooped out my guts and left me bitter and resentful and exhausted.
To love must include truth, wisdom, and boundaries. Sometimes it means distance. It means knowing when to rest and recharge and to embrace our limits. It always means to have grace for yourself, too.
And to love is not enabling, pampering, coddling, or letting someone off the hook—or it wouldn’t really be love at all. There’s a way to help others that really hurts them because it only feeds into their harmful patterns.
For those who have been abused or traumatized: Forgiveness doesn’t mean friendship. No one should ever be rushed into forgiveness, not for the sake of “getting right with God.” Not for trying to look like the “bigger person” or “because it’s the right thing to do.” We need to recognize patterns of unrepentant abuse and gaslighting and manipulative language that will only guilt-trip back into a vicious cycle. We can never mindlessly open the door again on an abusive relationship. You have the right to say “no.” God does redeem the evil, yes, but God is for the victims, for the abused, for the survivors, too. God is for the exile, the foreigner, the despised, the despondent who crossed the Red Sea. God is for you.
I see men cry in the hospital all the time, but many of them have this deep shame about it. Some literally beat their chests trying to stop. It’s hard to watch. I weep with them and for them. I wish men, women, children, every one of us, could be safe and free to cry in our pain.
All our generation wants is a small apartment and a spouse that loves them back.
(via atkaels)
“I was born feet first, and I’ve been backwards ever since.” - Rudy Francisco
The Book of Names lists each person murdered at Auschwitz
#and you have to remember how many names are most likely missing#from rushed trains and burned lists#from rushed transports and people who died on the death marchs#what about the names from people who died after their liberation#and then…#this is only Auschwitz#this was the biggest camp yes#but just one of many#and then remember sobibor and belsec#and try not to feel sick
This is why we punch Nazis. This is why this vile ideology must be stamped out viciously every time it tries to come out of its hole.
Never. Again.
(via tyleroakley)
girl talk: stop being naive, girl.
this is gonna seem harsh but can y’all stop being naive. this is coming from a place of love btw. but when y’all ask me “what does it mean when a guy does xyz” i can’t help but to get a little frustrated, because….. it means exactly what you think it means. men are not good liars at all, and i feel like most of you know this and see that the men you’re stressing over really ain’t shit but yet continue to ignore that in order to protect your own feelings and i’m telling y’all. you need to stop. i’ve said it time again & again stop putting these dudes on pedestals, take off the rose colored glasses and call a spade a spade. y’all be like “well he lied to me about having 3 baby mommas and 10 kids but last week he said i’m the only one for him and he took me to applebees so he must be in love with me” like no. stop. lying. to. yourself. girl. stop taking the iota of good shit that he does and smearing it over the ton of bad shit in order to cover it up. you can put lipstick on a pig and it will still be a pig. you should always pay attention to people’s actions instead of their words, and i feel like you all know this, you just continue to manipulate and overthink everything he says and does until you hypnotize yourself into believing he’s the prince charming you want him to be. stop being so desperate. stop settling for bullshit. stop being so thirsty for a man & his validation that you’re willing to sacrifice your own dignity.
you wanna know how you can tell if a dude is a fuckboy? listen to that little voice in your head that is screaming at you over and over saying “uh-uh, this ain’t right!!! alert!!!! abort mission!!!” because 10 times out of 10, that voice is right. it’s literally THAT simple. like i said, men are not good liars, they aren’t complicated or hard to understand, they all show their ass eventually; you just continue to turn a blind eye. when you start making excuses for him and doing all that other bs it not only makes you look desperate, it makes you look weak, and there’s nothing fuckboys love more than the weak. sure, it hurts to cut off someone you thought would be different, but that pain is literally minuscule compared to the pain you’re gonna be feeling when he finally leaves you in the dust. realize your worth. sitting up at night lurking his instagram and stressing about what he meant when he said xyz should be beneath you. women have always been told that we should value a man over everything else- even ourselves. that’s a toxic way to think. a fuckboy is not better than no boy at all.
“When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time.”
― Maya Angelou-angel
(via generichauntedhouse)
ask yourself why you’re okay with settling and when are you finally going to stop being afraid of great things.
i get it. you’re worried that you’ll be “too” happy with this good thing in your life and it’ll be taken away from you. how long are you going to continue to let your past create this paralyzing fear within you? a fear so bad that you are willing to remain stagnant because of it.
until you let go you’re never going to get that career you want, that lifestyle, or that person. when you sit around sulking and beating yourself up because you got hurt or disappointed, you’re blocking your own blessings. you’re the only person standing in between you and your happiness. that happiness is inside of you but you’re too comfortable chilling in that black hole of hurt from your past.
let it go, stop being scared, stop letting people mistreat you. stop making the same mistakes. wake up tomorrow and start trying to be a new person for yourself. come on.
(via generichauntedhouse)
“so much of me was lost in trying to fit myself next to you. i don’t know if you’d recognize me without the fried hair, without my mania so blatant. maybe that’s a good thing. maybe growth just means i don’t cry to your favorite songs anymore. nothing big. just not shedding myself for the sake of you. so don’t mind me, these poems aren’t for you anymore. even if they still have your name in the margins. and i’m sorry the metaphors don’t make sense lately. i know you don’t do well in a room built on silence. i’m just trying to find my way home to myself. some days are easier than others. but it was like that before i memorized your face. i guess i always knew that.”— 05/11/18, Angelea Lowes (via angelealowes)
(via generichauntedhouse)