A Stranger in this World

Last night, Davy and I were hanging out with a good friend visiting from L.A and we were talking about some things that really made me think. We came to this conclusion:

This world sucks.
It's an awful place.

I can be so lonely, unkind, selfish, and scary. It makes you feel weary and broken-hearted. People can do such horrible things. Like the Aurora shooting. Or the terrorists who feel they are right to kill people if they don't believe the religion that they believe in.

It stinks.

We got on the subjects of 50 Shades of Gray, which, I must tell you, has been on my mind so much lately. I'm confused as to why so many people are reading it like it's no big deal. All I know is that it's this couple who is in love but they venture into a sexual world of BDSM, which is an acronym for Bondage, Dominance, Sadism, Masochism.

This blows my mind.

This is totally messed up. Sex is such a sacred thing in the Bible. When I'm married, I always pictured it as being really loving and gentle. I would never EVER want to be hurt, especially in precious moments like having sex with someone that loves me. And I can't imagine enjoying hurting the person I love. It's crazy how successful that book has been.

In today's world, we are desensitized. We are so exposed to sex. We see it on tv shows and movies all the time. Media has made sex out to be something you do after you go on a casual date with someone. Nakedness is a common occurrence and is treated like it's nothing because "it's just natural." It is natural, of course. But it should be treasured. It should be kept in secret, so that when you find someone who loves you, they can look forward to the day that they can commit to you in marriage and see the precious things you've kept from everyone else.

Song of Songs is an amazing book to read especially if you want to grasp the Biblical view of sex. The author is Solomon. This book is a wedding song honoring marriage and it's been criticized a lot for it's explicit (for the Bible) statements on sex. It bounces between the views of their friends, the girl (the "beloved"), and Solomon (the "lover"). Here's a piece of what Solomon says about his beloved in chapter 4:

How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from the hills of Gilead.
² Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.
³ Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.
⁴ Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with courses of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
⁵ Your breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.
⁶ Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of incense.
⁷ You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
there is no flaw in you.

 

⁸ Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of leopards.
⁹ You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰ How delightful is your love , my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume
more than any spice!
¹¹ Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
¹² You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.
¹³ Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with choice fruits,
with henna and nard,
¹⁴ nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh and aloes
and all the finest spices.
¹⁵ You are a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.

So he spends half of this chapter describing how perfect everything is about her, including her teeth.
Then he compares her purity to the finest garden he can think of. And he's gonna explore that garden ;)

He's over-the-moon for this woman. He's found the one whom his soul and heart loves. He absolutely adores her. Do you think he would ever fantasize about hurting her? Inflicting pain on her?

Ladies.
The male lead in 50 Shades.
You do not need a man like him. I've already heard that women want their own Christian Gray. I've never read the book, but all I know is that I do not want a man who wants to make me uncomfortable and dreams about doing strange, frightening things to me.
Ladies.
Get a man who dreams about you the way Solomon dreams about his beloved. A man that knows you are the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. Who thinks you're delicate and should be treated as such.

Believers in Christ.
This world sucks for us. We seriously have to combat everything. Then we grow weary and feel like our prayers are wearing thin. But do not worry. We are are strangers in this world. It's okay if you are sad and can't stop the tears for what you must face.
Some day you will touch the face of our God.
And the sorrows will disappear.
But until then, we are strangers in this world. And that makes me very happy.

I got that from Tenth Ave's new album. It's such a lovely listen. It gives me so much hope.

 

Hang in there. It's a sad place sometimes, but you have access to a God that will carry you through. Who will lift you up. Who loves you more than anything you could ever dream of. No matter what chains you down and what stains you think you have, God thinks you are a precious, lovely little thing. I'll type out my prayer for you:

 

Lord,

Be with the woman who is reading this blog. If she is sad, shower her with happiness and show her your powerful love. Let her find a man who is strong in his faith and will treat her better than she ever expected. Forgive her (and me) of being unfaithful to You and not believing in what You are. Help her to know that she is beautiful beyond description. Bring so much blessings on her, Lord.

 

Be with the man who is reading this blog. Help him rise up in his weakness and find faith in You. Cleanse his mind of filthy things that Satan has forced in. Do away with his unhappy thoughts. Lord, he deserves so much more than what he deals with in his life. Forgive him for his unfaithfulness and show him Your ocean of grace that he can fall into and be free in his struggle.

 

Amen.

Gettin' down with crafts.

So, I haven’t been blogging. Did you notice?

I have my excuses.

I’ve been busy.

I’m a working woman, you know.

I make da monay.

 But in all honesty, I’ve written up a few posts, but decided to scrap them. I’ve been trying to write, but my words haven’t been coming the way I want them to. But I am back!

 I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to.

Crafts. :)

Check it:

Rose earrings! I’ve seen these cabochon studs before and I love them. The problem is, I don’t have my ears pierced. It scares me, k?

Clips are way too obvious, but magnetic earrings.. those are pretty cool. To make these, I bought a pack of rose buttons, some glossy acrylic paint, and magnetic clasps for jewelry. I snipped off the plastic hooks on the buttons and the metal hooks on a claps and sanded off what was left. Then I glued one part of each clasp on to the button, and painted the button. Wah-la! My own magnetic earrings!

Lace shorts! Are you on Pinterest? Because I am. If you are, you’ve seen those cute jean shorts that were too short, so they have lace added at the bottom. I found these corduroy shorts at Rue 21, but they were a bit short. I loved the color though, so I bought them and took them to JoAnns to get some crocheted lace trim. My mom and I pinned the trim on and then sewed it right on! Easy! Cute!

Bracelets! I love bracelets. And I think a chunky bracelet looks great on a guy. It just adds a little somethin’. I was sort of inspired by a nautical theme for this particular bracelet. A thick rope with a big ole lobster claw came to mind one day. Follow your dreams, people.

Boots! They used to be blue and white with really juvenile flowers and hummingbirds. I took some Krylon outdoor paint and totally turned these boots around! They look great, right? Welp, they didn’t turn out as good as they look. As soon as I walk in them, bits of the old boot become visible. The paint starts to crack. It’s sad L I don’t want to give up on them, though. Perhaps there is some paint finisher out there that will save them!

Gift wrapping! I love wrapping gifts and if I can get creative with it, it's even more enjoyable. This was for a wedding between my friends Lindy and Phil. The paper bag is actually a take-out bag from Red Lobster. Yay free! ...except for paying for food. Whatev.

I love handwritten things. It's much more personal. And if you're good with typography, you can get really artistic with letters. I'm pretty new with typography but I find it really fascinating.

I put a little vintage-looking notebook in Phil's envelope. He's an awesome man of God so I thought it would be great for him to keep near his Bible for notes and whatnot.

In Lindy's envelope, I made her three bracelets. One with colorful bow charms, one with navy blue lace, a sterling silver key charm and a teardrop shape swarovski crystal, and another bracelet with lace, ribbon, and fabric rose flowers. She's a super cute girl! Follow her blog on God and her new married life when she returns from her honeymoon!

I put a set of cute cups in their bag, too. I hope I'm not spoiling my gift for them!

Lindy had a really pretty handmade wedding. Crafting is fun. :)