Sunshine State

So I've been meaning to post about this sooner but I've been extremely busy and haven't gotten around to it. I went on vacation a couple weeks ago to Florida... It had been way too long since I've been to the beach and I did not want to leave.

This guy, he is so incredibly sweet to me and it was so awesome spending the week with him. He keeps me positive and never fails to make me laugh with his goofiness. I love him. (Sorry Brenden, I had to be mushy for a second).

I can say without a doubt this was the best trip I've ever been on and I am so blessed to have gotten to spend it with such amazing people. 

Good Thoughts.

We only get one life to live. One. In this life we have a billion things to do. Lately I feel like my life moves at lightning speed and I just have to remind myself to slow down. I have to remind myself that its okay to relax for awhile. 

I realized something about myself that kind of frustrates me. I often say I'm going to do something and never do it. Why is that? 

I want to start doing things, not just saying things or hoping for things to happen, I need to make things happen. 

I'm tired of staying in one place. I want to go out of my comfort zone more and explore my calling. I know what you're probably thinking, I have my whole life to do things things. Well, I don't want to waste time. I'm definitely in a season of change right now. If you know me, you probably know I have a hard time with change, like big time. I always tend to think it is going to be a negative thing. I'm learning to embrace it and realize that God is working in every situation. After all, when has God ever not worked things out for me? So, I want to do more things that I am passionate about and more things that I am good at. Not because I'm selfish, I just think of all the possibilities out there if I stop being so shy or nervous and just do. I think not only would I personally be more happy, but I would be able to contribute to the happiness of others. 

So, some things I'd like to do more of:

1. Photography. This is definitely something that makes me happy and I want to get better at. 

2. Take chances. I need to relax and not overthink things. I'm always so hesitant to take chances because I'm scared of the outcome. I need to take chances on people and opportunities and see where God takes me. 

3. Spend time away from technology and enjoy the people I love and embrace the moments that I would otherwise miss out on because of my phone.

So, here's to a spontaneous, unorganized sunday night post. 

Know your worth

So, I've been thinking about this post for awhile and finally decided to just sit down and pour out my thoughts. I'm currently listening to Bethel Live and I can't help but just feel so overwhelmed with love. I know that sounds really cheesy. I'm such a worrier and I tend to be really really hard on myself so its hard sometimes accepting just how much God really loves me. Something has been on my heart for quite awhile. I was watching a video of the "world's ugliest girl" speaking and, wow. That's all I can really say. I mean, she is so inspiring. Her positive attitude towards how rudely people talked about her completely shocked me. I think there's something to be said for her positive attitude. As girls, well as people in general, I think we are so quick to put ourselves down. I mean, really think about it. We are more mean to ourselves than anyone else. One word, one reminder, one mistake completely breaks us. I think the problem is that we rely on others to make us happy and we find out worth in what others say about us. The problem is that we rely on others to make us happy and we find out worth in what others say about us. I struggle with this all the time, believe me. I read that 7 out of 10 young girls believe that they simply aren't good enough. Wow. That's really sad to me. I know that God definitely doesn't want us to feel that way. God gives us worth. He shows us that we really are worthy despite what we think. The verse 139:14 says "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." I see this verse all the time and I hope that more girls can read this verse and realize what it really means. We are made by God and we find our worth in Him. So, we shouldn't feel insecure, defeated, unworthy, or ashamed. We should feel loved and joyful knowing that we have infinite worth. We don't find our worth in what others think of us. We find our worth in who God says we are. I think God has been slowly revealing this to me. And I know that I've needed to hear it. I've been relying way too much on the opinions of others to find happiness and worth. And I know now that what I really need is to embrace who God says I am. 

So my prayer tonight is just that anyone who may read this realizes one simple thing: You are of infinite worth.

And remember:

2014!

So, 2013 is almost over! How crazy is that? I'm actually pretty excited for 2014. With it, comes a lot of milestones for me. And I'm very excited. Okay, so aside from the exciting things coming up, I also am setting a few goals for myself.

1. I want to gain more self confidence. This is a major one for me. I've been working on my confidence lately so this is a huge goal for me for the next year. I also want to stop comparing myself to others and start seeing my beauty. After all, isn't my blog called "simply beautiful"?

2. I want to go out of my comfort zone. Now, when I say this you're probably thinking, "woah! she wants to go like skydiving or something cool!" that's not necessarily what I mean. I want to do something that I would normally maybe be too shy or scared to do. Maybe that means helping someone or going somewhere new. I'm really not totally sure yet what I will do. I believe God wants us to be uncomfortable sometimes. I think that's a big part of being a Christ follower. We must go out of our comfort zone to accomplish big things. 

3. I want to develop a broader perspective of life. Now, this one doesn't really have to happen in 2014. I think this one is just a main goal for me in life. Sometimes I feel like I'm just going through the motions. I really don't want that. I want to fully engage myself in things. I want to engage myself in conversations and friendships unlike I ever truly have. 

4. I want to change someone else's perspective of life. I want to help someone be closer to God and find the true joy that comes when we accept God.

5. Lastly, I just want to find true happiness. I want to have more happy moments. I want to smile more and focus less on the dark moments. This is something I greatly struggle with. Sometimes I'm far too focused on the bad times that I forget that there are so many amazing times coming.

I believe this next year will bring me lots of happiness. Although, there will still be dark times I am ready and excited for what's to come. 

This is what I really want to strive to become. This kind of girl. So, I promise to update you on how well these goals are going. And I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

These are a few of my favorite things...

I've seen quite a few of these posts lately and felt compelled to do one myself:

1. First off, I have to say I LOVE scarves. I pretty much wear one everyday during the fall/winter. It's an obsession.

2. Go ahead and call me cheesy for this one but I love sunrises/sunsets. I know, so cliche but I just can't help it. This morning when I woke up I noticed that the sky looked pink so I ran outside in my Pjs to take a picture. Go ahead and laugh, I understand.

3. Books! I LOVE to read. If I really like a book I'm reading, I will spend hours at a time lost in my book. Some of my all times favorites would have to be To Kill a Mockingbird and Love Does. Two completely different books, I know Haha!

4. Candles! I currently have been lighting an eggnog candle all the time and it really puts me in the Christmas spirit. I love almost every kind of candle. 

5. Lastly, I had a hard time choosing one thing to put for this because my list could go on forever. So, on a more serious note, I love my time that I have of just listening to worship music and spending time with God. It's so renewing and uplifting. Hillsong United Zion... It doesn't get any better than that. 

So, if anyone would like to comment I have to ask: what is one of your all time favorite things?

Thanksgiving!

Today has been wonderful. I love thanksgiving for many reasons. I love spending time with family I never see. I love all the food (doesn't everyone). And I love all of the happiness it brings. A couple of quotes I recently found popped into my mind today and I thought I should share them with you. 

Max Lucado is one of my favorite Christian authors. And ever since I read this quote from him the other day, it has stuck in my mind. I waste a lot of time not doing these things. And it really hit me after reading this that I need to start now. First off, you should know I have a problem sometimes with simply letting go of things. Sometimes you have to realize that maybe something didn't work out, maybe you are disappointed in yourself, maybe someone disappointed you, but you need to just let it go. I need to remind myself more not to waste time dwelling on things when they don't go according to plan. I mean, after all, you never know what God is trying to do in your life. Something might not go how you planned it, but what about God's plan? We may not see it until years from now but God has a plan for you in everything you encounter. When I look back on things that have happened in my life, I realize what God was trying to do. And I'm thankful today that because of His goodness, I can be happy in the moment and not have to worry about what's going to happen next. God has things under control. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Late Night Thoughts

My mind has been a jumbled mess lately. I have had so many things on my mind that it has been driving me crazy! I realize this isn't good at all. One of the biggest things that has been on my mind lately is that I recently discovered that I have a huge lack of confidence! I'm sure many of you know what this feels like. Some days I feel great and I am just in a positive mood and other days I just feel kind of...down I guess. I have struggled with acne since I was in 5th or 6th grade and it has definitely taken a huge toll on my confidence levels. As bad as it sounds I sometimes avoid looking in the mirror in certain lighting because I know that its just going to make me feel bad about my skin. As silly as this sounds, I realized recently that I let my skin get in the way of living my life the way I want to. So, tonight I was just thinking about this and I was like "Leah, really? Are you listening to yourself?" I mean, I let something as small as a breakout ruin my positive mood! And I reminded myself that my blog is called "Simply Beautiful" so, shouldn't I feel beautiful? God doesn't want me to see myself in a negative light. As cliche as it may sound, God tells every one of us that we are beautiful. So, my challenge to myself and anyone reading this is to remind yourself that you are beautiful. God sees you beyond your flaws. And as it turns out, the major "flaws" we find in ourselves end up being small flaws that really mean nothing. And you never know who might find your flaws beautiful. We all have something we don't like about ourselves. But the truth is that God wants us to be confident and know that we are beautiful. I found this verse today and it fits perfectly into this post and it really stuck with me:

"You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way."

- Song of Solomon 4:7 

So, next time you are looking in the mirror at yourself picking out all of your flaws, remember this verse.