Hey there everybody! Today is my BIRTHDAY!!:) I've gotten so much love from all of my friends and family all day long. So thank you to everyone who has made my day so special!! :) I had a funny encounter today during school, actually. My cousin, Whitney, is a sophmore and we have biology lab together, and today she flicked really really cold water and I then replied with, "It's my BIRTHDAY," and she was like, "Ohmygosh. SO sorry, happy day beautiful! Oh, and it's my cat's birthday!" I was like, really? Really? You remember it's your cat's birthday, but not mine. :) I just rolled my eyes and accepted all of her apologies. I laughed though. So that was my funny thought for the day:).
Today is also TOMS's day without shoes. Council member Megan C. and I had thought of going all day without wearing shoes, but ended up not. I think this is a good testament to my journey though. Not only am I doing this for my own benefit to cut excess out of my life, but think about all of the other people in the world who have even less than 7 items of clothing to wear. Most kids in under developed countries don't have shoes to wear on their feet, that's why TOMS is such an amazing thing. We (those of us living in very wealthy countries) can afford to buy the shoes at a more expensive price so that another kid somewhere in the world can also have a pair of shoes. I wish that we didn't have to get something out of it just to do it; that we would want to give a pair of shoes to a kid somewhere else no matter what we were getting in return, but sadly this is not how it works in our overprivileged heads. :( Today, when I am celebrating my birthday with gifts and a family dinner, somewhere else a kid might not even survive the day. This is a sobering idea that I wish I knew how to fix.
Dear God, I know that you have a plan for everyone's life, but sometimes I don't always understand the path and where it's headed. But I know that you have it under control, and I need to learn how to let go of control and just let you have it. I pray for those children who don't have enough food to eat, while I eat 4 meals a day. I pray that no matter our story, that we can be bright lights for YOU. We can't ever know why things happen, but everything happens for a reason, and You are our Creator who has thought through our entire life plan before we are even born. I pray for the kids who starve today and those that eat until their stomachs hurt. I pray for those who have one pair of clothes and for those that have closets full. I pray for every atheist, Christian, Catholic, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and everyone else in between. Everyone needs You, Jesus, and without you I would have no purpose. Help me to understand more and more your great and all encompassing love, for me to follow you with my entire heart and to go along blindly with what you have in store for me and to not question what Your plans are for me.
On another note, we are getting really into our TED talks in english (I mentioned TED talks in my last entry, see Clothing Day 4 if confused). I'm going to be using this blog to jot down some things that are going through my head about my TED talk. I am one of the biggest One Direction fans you have ever met. In fact, council member Megan C. hates them (because she loves Big Time Rush) and I have to consciously not talk about them when she is around. My phone, and 2 computer backgrounds (one at home and one at school) are of LIAM (SO SO SO SO SO SO SO CUTE!!!) and One Direction. In fact, I am even listening to them right now. For my birthday council member Emma asked me what I wanted and I said I want anything One Direction. I am totally OBSESSED!! But my point is, as I am listening to their music, it really ties in to the idea that us girls don't understand that we are made perfectly by our Creator and we don't need to change who we are just to be liked/have lots of friends. In their US hit, "What Makes You Beautiful", which is not my favorite song, they sing about how this girl that they like doesn't even know that she is beautiful. How true is that in today's society? Girls constantly compare themselves to others and feel that they are never quite pretty enough or outgoing enough or have enough friends. It's so stupid, yet it is crammed into our brains. If we look at magazines, we see these beautiful women who are clearly airbrushed, and we think to ourselves that if we only looked like them, we would have that 'perfect' guy or that everyone would like us. But it's not true. We are created perfectly by our Creator and nothing we can do will ever make us more perfect. He made us who we are on purpose and we will always be seen as beautiful in His eyes, and those are the ones that matter. I will probably be using this example in my TED talk, because it is so true. This is a repeating thing as it is not only in that one particular song by them but it is also in their other songs as well as by other artists (Bruno Mars' Just the Way You Are, etc). It is upsetting and true, and yet it is apart of our everyday life. This is one of the many subjects that I plan on bringing up in my TED talk. (Hopefully I'll be able to post a link or something so that you all can see it when I perform it which won't be until the end of May).
I also want to thank so many of you for sending me lots of love today. You have made me feel really special and I am so thankful to have all of you in my life. Just know that without you supporting me and keeping me headed in the right direction, I don't know where I would be. You will never know how much you truly mean to me. I have prayed for so long that God would give me people like you that I can share my life with and know that you will stick by me no matter what. I have prayed for all of you and I hope that you know that God is going to be doing amazing things in your life, whether or not you even realize it. I have waited so long to have you in my life, and I am truly blessed to have you. Love you and can't wait to see what God is going to do in your life.
love always,
m
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