Smiles

SONG OF THE DAY: Danity Kane-Showstopper
Today's Scripture: "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matthew 4:10)

Random question, can people you don't know tell if your smile is fake? Because people that know you and are around you all the time know what your real smile looks like because they've seen you laugh and they know what makes you happy. But if someone doesn't know you, can they tell?

I think people that don't know you CAN tell the difference. I believe you radiate more when you're truly smiling. They may not think about it consciously, but it registers with their subconscious and if affects how they smile back at you. I know this seems dumb and very random, but I was working today and I was a people greeter at the front door of the store. I just noticed that if I was smiling and laughing about something and then that smile stayed on my face for the next few customers, I got a better reaction from them. Even if they weren't smiling, it seemed like my smile made them a little happier.

So be happy and SMILE at everyone you pass! And don't do it just for the sake of working your cheek muscles. Do it to do your part at making the world a better place!
*imastar*

Step it up

SONG OF THE DAY: John Mayer-Say
Today's Scripture: “So let’s not get tired of what doing good what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9).

I really need to write on here when I have thoughts because I had so many thoughts earlier today and now I can't think of them.

But today was a gorgeous day! Blue sky, warm, went to a beautiful beach and got some sun, dove off the end of pier into cold lake water. Amazing. I LOVE LIFE.
*imastar*

Don't Give Up Love Because It Stings

SONG OF THE DAY: Natasha Bedingfield-Say It Again (Album: Pocketful of Sunshine)

I was emailed this story today and I find it very inspiring. If more people acted the way the person acts in this story, I truly believe the world would be a better place. It's sad to say, but I've witnessed a lot of people just give up on something in their life and it's sad. I love my life and I can't imagine ever giving up on any part of it, no matter how tough it gets. Here's the story...

"There was this man who saw a scorpion floundering around in the water. He decided to save it by stretching out his finger, but the scorpion stung him. The man still tried to get the scorpion out of the water, But the scorpion stung him again. Another man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept stinging him. But the man said: "It is the nature of the scorpion to sting. It is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion is to sting?" LESSON: Don't give up loving. Don't give up your goodness... Even if the people around you sting. "The greatness comes not when things always go good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain."

Isn't that a great story? I'm glad this person emailed it to me and I want to pass it on. I hope someone else can find it just as beautiful and inspiring as I.

But besides the song of the day, I decided to do a quote of the day from the Bible. The quote really comes from an email I get daily from Joel Osteen. I really like him. He is one of those people that you can look in the eye and tell they are pure and sincere about what they are saying. And Joel preaches the Word of God and that is rare to find such purity and sincerity in people these days. You can't even find that in priests in Catholic churches these days and I find it so sad. I think that if they just let priests get married there wouldn't be so many child molestors. God intended for a man and a woman to have sex and be together and get married. Why shouldn't a priest be allowed to join in that celebration and joy? And I know Jesus never did anything with a woman or got married, but Jesus was on this earth for one reason and that was to save us. God did not put him on earth to be like all regular human beings. And priests are homosapiens, no different from me or you.

But anyway, to get back on topic, Joel Osteen is rare and I like to listen to him. Visit Joel's website or watch him on TV. You can go to the website and under "Broadcast" you can find listings of channels and times he is on. You can also sign up for his daily e-mails at the website. On the home page, in the bottom left corner, you type in your e-mail address, first name, and last name and you will start receiving them right away. Joel also has free podcasts that you can download and watch if you can't watch him on TV. He also has a book called "Become a Better You" that I haven't read personally, but I've heard from my dad and other family members and friends that it is an amazing book and isn't like any other self-help book out there. Back to my point again, here is today's scripture...

“Set your minds and keep them set on what is above, the higher things, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2)

But I have a soccer game tonight that I have to get ready for so I've got to get going.
*imastar*

Gotta get this in before midnight!

i am VERY hyper tonight and my thoughts are just bouncing around and I can't seem to think of anything of substance to write. But I am lonely and missing love. My boyfriend is 2 hours away and we're both poor and can't afford gas to drive and see each other. My family is 3 hours away and they are busy with work and they can't afford the gas to come see me much either. So I have been feeling lonely and sad lately.

MY BABY IS CALLING ME! yay <3

I did decide that I would start doing a song of the day though. The song for today is The Ataris-Unopenned Letter to the World. I will have a song of the day everyday. I may even incorporate a quote of the day, but that's a lot of quotes and I dunno if I can find that many. But we'll see because I love quotes. Good night!
*imastar*

The Six Loves

There is a lot of love in my life. I am a lucky girl and I have been blessed by God Himself. But have you ever looked up what love means? I did today while trying to come up with a unifying theme for my blog. I went to an online encyclopedia and I came across The Six Loves.

Eros
Philia
Agape
Storge
Thelema
Pragma

These are all beautiful words, but they are so much more than just words. They each describe a part of me and what and whom I love.

Eros ~ "passionate love, with sensual desire and longing; is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself; helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty, and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth"
- - -For me, this passionate love is the love of life itself. I have been blessed with a great life and while it is not all beauty and love, I would not want it any other way. God created the world and people in his likeness and how can that be taken for granted? God made something good and that is something that must be admired and adored.- - -

Philia ~ "a dispassionate virtuous love; includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity; used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity"
- - -This can only be used to describe how I feel for my close friends. I don't have many because I don't care to surround myself with a lot of people who don't share a mutual understanding of what a good friend is. My good friends are kind, caring, good listeners, will be there for me whenever I need it, would do anything to make me happier, and share in some of my favorite memories. This is my exact definition of "virture, equality, and familiarity." So thank you to my close friends for everything. You are my worldly angels and I love you for that.- - -

Agape ~ "appears in the New Testament describing, amongst other things, the relationship between Jesus and the beloved disciple (1 John 4:8, "God is love.")"
- - -I don't have as intimate relationship with the Lord as I'd like. However, I keep Him close and love and praise him with all my heart. He has given me this life and power to do whatever I want and I cannot thank Him more for that. The closer I am to Him, the happier I find myself.- -

Storge ~ "means "affection" in modern Greek; it is natural affection; rarely used in ancient works, and then almost exclusively as a descriptor of relationships within the family."
- - -I love my family more than anything on this earth. They are my rock and comfort and have helped me to become who I am today. I can truly say with 100% honesty that I would not be me without them. I would be lost and I don't even want to fathom what I would be doing right now without their love and support.- - -

Thelema ~ "means "desire" in modern Greek; it is the desire to do something, to be occupied, to be in prominence"
- - -This type of love refers to my schooling and extracirricular, soccer. I absolutely love the major I am delving into right now, public relations. I never really knew what it truly was until just before my freshman year of college. All I knew was that I love to write and read and be social and be creative and design things. I never imagined a major that could put all of these things into one. I absolutely love my classes and can't wait to hopefully get an internship somewhere soon! As for soccer, I play at the division one collegiate level and it is one of the hardest things I have to do in life. First, it takes up a lot of my time because I have to train everyday and focus a lot of energy on running to get fit and to get better technically with the ball. However, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I've made lifelong friendships, learned about hard work, discipline, teamwork, and time management that I don't know where I would have learned otherwise. All the blood, sweat, and tears that go into these two aspects of my life are some of the most important and critical times for growth.- - -

Pragma ~ "pragmatic love; rational, realistic expectations about love; want to find value and will work toward a common goal"
- - -While this is not the best word there is to describe my boyfriend and I, it is still true. I believe all the words above describe the kind of love I have for my boyfriend. However, I am young and have a lot of life ahead of me. I HAVE to be realistic about love. I cannot know at this age who I am meant to be with. I want to accomplish many things before I get married. But besides this, I am head over heels for him and have never felt this way about a man before. He means soooo much to me and I don't know what I'd do without him. Our relationship has been tested in many ways and we have managed to get through them. But, I know that there will be many more trials and I cannot predict what will happen.- - -

This is just the beginning of my brand new blog. I will be touching on 'the six loves' everyday and I hope you enjoy and come back for more. :)
*imastar*