Fragrance

If there’s one thing I tend to have too much of, it’s probably fragrances. I almost never leave Bath and Body Works without making a purchase... or two. You see, I love things that smell good and I love smelling good. I haven’t been to BBW in a few months though, which is probably a good thing, but that hasn’t stopped me from buying delightfully smelly things. This summer I’ve discovered the wonders of the Harajuku Lovers fragrances. 

Each bottle of perfume comes with a “doll” topper, there are five different characters in the set and each one has a unique scent. Because they are a perfume line and not a body spray line, they can make a dent in the wallet... Lucky for me there’s a such thing as Amazon and eBay where you can get cheap deals. Sooooo what did I do?

I bought two different kinds!

Both are the character, Lil' Angel, the one on the left is Wicked Style
and the one on the right is a mini original

They smell SOOOO good! 

Anyway, enough of my shopping-girly talk. I'll make this brief, and yes, again this is something in my life that gets me thinking about something related to God's awesomeness. Lez look at duh WURD:

"and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

                            Ephesians 5:2 (NIV)

God calls us to be a fragrant offering before Him and others just like He was when He sacrificed Himself to save us. When we reflect God's love we become fragrant and spiritually pleasing to others. This morning I woke up early and read John chapter 12 verse 1 through 8. The story was called "The Anointing at Bethany", which already stuck out to me because me name is Bethany. Anyway, here is the full story:

        " Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

         But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

         “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.  You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” "

I pictured myself in a modern setting of the story with me playing the role of Mary. I was pouring my new bottle of Harajuku Lovers over Jesus' feet then wiping them with my hair. But then I thought, "hmmm, Harajuku Lovers isn't that expensive for a perfume and nard was pretty freakin' expensive stuff back then. But I don't have any nard and I don't have any perfumes more expensive than this..." Immediately after that it hit me just what the whole point of the story was. 

Mary gave up a valuable earthly possession before Jesus' feet, and not just some of it, but all of it. Then she gave up herself in service for the Lord by wiping his feet with her own hair. Her act of submissiveness, selflessness, and sacrifice was fragrant, and spread throughout the whole house. People who don't have the eyes of the Lord will not understand the beauty nor the purpose of something as powerful as giving away everything we have to our Father. They will most likely try to stop us and even persecute us. In return the Father will defend our case. 

I know I have the hardest time giving up little things for God sometimes, in fact, that's usually the case all the time. It's a struggle we all have. But reflect a bit on the love story I shared from the Bible. Before we give ourselves up fully, we have to give up what hold onto to first. If Jesus were physically right here in front of me, I'm sure He'd appreciate my laptop, iPod, manga collection, Sonic the Hedgehog stuff, and, yes, my bottles of Harajuku Lovers fragrances. But what He would love even more is what I choose to do after that; give up myself. There's some food for thought. Or perfume for thought. 

Up In Da Club With an Unintentional Worship Song

Hey there my Converse shoes!


Have you ever heard a secular song on the radio and thought it sounded like it was talking about God? I recently heard a song by David Guetta and Usher that sounds SO much like a surrender to God's love! The song is called, "Without You" and it's had huge hype and radio play, ya know, it being one of those generic pop/club songs, but the lyrics are definitely somethin' else.

Of course, neither Usher nor David Guetta are necessarily considered good "role models", and of course the song was written to whine about how Usher misses his girl desperately and needs her back. But let's set that aside and say that they have officially created a worship song (unintentionally). Here's what I mean:

The song opens up with Usher admitting his faults: 

"I can't win, I can't reign
I will never win this game
Without you, without you.
I am lost, I am vain,
I will never be the same
Without you, without you."

The Bible teaches that without God, we are nothing. In the "game" that life is, we "can't win" on our own. We may have talents and God-given gifts, but without God (who is also love) we are "lost" and we "will never be the same". We may also have power to rule over a nation, but compared to God, our "reign" is nothing. The heart of a follower will always be more powerful than the heart of a king.

-Jesus replied, "What is impossible for man is possible with God". Luke 18:27 NIV

- If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2 NIV

Usher also admits that he is "vain", which is true of everyone, we all deal with vanity one way or another. God is perfect, and He is the only thing worth lifting up. Without God we fail to recognize our own roles as humans and we tend to put ourselves higher than we should be. It's just as Ecclesiastes constantly repeats: "vanity of vanities, everything is vanity".

And as a fun little note, the lines "I am lost...without you" is almost like a wink at the chorus to the worship song, "Breathe" by Kathryn Scott ("And I, I'm desperate for you... And I, I'm lost without you").  

For such a simply worded verse there's a lot of meat in there. You can get a lot more out of that than I had written. But anyway, moving onward! Here are the most powerful lyrics of the song:

Pre chorus 1:

"I won't run, I won't fly
I will never make it by
Without you, without you.
I can't rest, I can't fight
All I need is you and I,

Without you, without you." 

Pre chorus 2:

"I won't soar, I won't climb
If you're not here, I'm paralyzed! 
Without you, without you.
I can't look, I'm so blind 
I lost my heart, I lost my mind! 
Without you, without you."

Here's what the B-I-B-L-E has got with the lyrics "I won't run, I won't fly.... I won't soar":

-"...but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31

-"You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself." Exodus 19:4

The Lord is a deliverer, and sends his help like a soaring eagle. Those who believe will also fly with those God-sent wings. Without God, you ain't got no wings to fly! 

With "I'm paralyzed":

-"Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”" Matthew 9:2

Without the forgiveness and love of God and the faith of those men, the paralyzed man would've stayed paralyzed for the rest of his life! 

With "I'm so blind... I lost my mind":

-The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. Deuteronomy 28:28

That wasn't very cheery, but we cannot forget that God is a God of both love and justice. He does indeed have the power to take anything away from people, including their sight and sanity. However, the Gospels have recorded the healing miracles Jesus made on people who were blind, demon possessed, insane, etc. Without God's healing, where would they be? Where would we be?

And finally, "I lost my heart":

-"Scorn has broken my heart  and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
    for comforters, but I found none....But as for me, afflicted and in pain—

    may your salvation, God, protect me." Psalm 69 verses 20 and 29

In this book, David writes of how his broken heart isn't something that he can fix on his own, the feelings of pain alone hold him down. He searched for comfort through others, but was unsuccessful. Later he begs for God to protect him through his time of need, and that was all it took for his heart to be found healed. God also asks of us our hearts, when we give that to him, we gain a heart out of it! When we refuse, we lose our hearts.  

I dunno about you, but that's pretty crazy how coincidental that is. Maybe God was being a little bit sneaky.... You how in my previous post about the Avengers I mentioned how in media sometimes you can find "golden nuggets" and signs of God's love? With this song, it didn't take me long to recognize that these signs were present, but when I went Bible surfing to find deeper meanings in the song, it's incredible what can come out it! Remember, there are reasons behind everything and symbols are everywhere, so always guard your heart. And when it comes to media and your everyday choices, remember:

"Chew the meat and spit out the bones"

                                      -John Boyle

And to send you off, here is David Guetta's official "Without You" song and lyrics video (complete with colorful artsy visuals!!!).

Do' da da go' hv i!!!!!! Keep on dancing! You know you want to!

Fangirls: The Cool, the Dumb, and the Ugly

Howdy partners! Good to be here with Y'ALL!

Being a fan of something can be SO cool. It's fun to really get into something and to choose your favorite characters and to gain inspiration out of it. It's even cooler when you have a friend or a bunch of friends who are into the same things as you, and exciting conversations can be made from that as you anxiously anticipate the next upcoming part of the series. Sometimes it's also really awesome to see the fun ideas and creativity that can be brought forth from fans!

Sometimes.


When you are a fan of something, say that really cute anime emo guy that never talks to anyone but is still frickin cute because he just is, you can basically take the way you view that character and "change" him around, or rather, re-design his characteristics to match your own personal preference.

For example, this emo boy just so happens to not be interested in dating any girls currently, and he probably feels that he just doesn't have time for them, being busy sulking around and thinking about how much life sucks and all. Sadly that's just the way the cartoonist created him. But the way his slanted, narrow eyes and shaggy black hair are drawn is just far too much for your brain to remove from its memory and your heart does a little jump every time he speaks in that deep, smooth voice (yeah you, fangirl, you know what I'm talking about). Even though he's fictional, you just somehow can't stop thinking about him. So what do you do???

You might decide to make your own OC (original character), draw her up and then pair her up with emo kid. In your imagination you are now somehow a part of the story and have full control over all the other character's emotions and decisions, especially the character you have a crush on. You two could have some sort of smoking romance and absolutely nothing could go wrong or get in the way of your "original" angst-y love story. Hey, it's a whole new world now! For you, anything goes. Until the next episode of that anime emo-kid is a part of comes on TV in English with a new character - a female who is destined to be his girlfriend. *facepalm*

Another typical thing that fans do that you could also do is save every single picture of him off Google and DeviantArt onto your computer. On YouTube you can make a million AMVs dedicated to that character and even make be the first to claim the username, emo_kidluver4ever. You can go to every underground nerd forum and post about your love for him and how IS (not how you wish he was) your husband and you will threaten anyone dare tries to disagree or argue back with a nasty type-tag-war (apparently you have such a convincing way with your words). After that no one will like you, but at least you've put all this effort into making claims to this character and now he's yours! Sorta. Happy now? Ppfft. Seriously, get a life.

You could also buy all the posters that have his face on it, buy all the t-shirts with him on them, buy all the tv show episodes, action figures, toys, video games, and costume items, etc. Basically you just need to stock up on as much of his merchandise as possible so that your can create your own custom museum or sanctuary in full dedication to him. You can brag to all your other emo kid-loving friends about how much of a bigger fan you are than them, and you can have them come over to your house so that they can marvel at the beauty of your emo-kid decorated dwelling. Soon enough you'll be flat-broke and you'll have to sell your prized emo-kid possessions. And possibly your house, too.

You might have been a victim of one or more of these fan situations until you met that creepy 45-year-old woman who can't stop obsessing over emo-kid (who's only 16 years old), and well, you back away from that situation.... very slowly..... and cautiously......

But thankfully there is good news for you. You can save yourself a lot of grief, time, money and disturbing mental images by just doing this: NOT. GOING. OVERBOARD.

There is fine line between a "you're an O.K. fan" and a "you-are-so-into-this-it's-really-creepy fan". I know some people who are crazy about Star Wars and collect their merchandise and watch their movies a hecka lot, but the difference between them and crazy fans is these guys at least have self-control. They can make friends with other Star Wars lovers and still go on living their normal lives without Star Wars being the only topic of conversation. Star Wars is a fun something  and they don't treat it like it's a someone. They know that nothing about Star Wars is more important than real-life experiences and people. They let Star Wars become a fun part of their lives without letting it be their lives. To put it all simply, what these people do is prevent an invasion from happening in their hearts.

Everyone has SOMETHING they can get all nerdy about! If you know me well enough, you'll know that right now I am crazy about the Avengers. Loki and Thor = awesome. And ever since I was little I've been a big fan of Sonic the Hedgehog. "You're too slow!" My absolute favorite TV show is Avatar: The Last Airbender, and lately I've been trying to keep up with their new spin-off series, The Legend of Korra! Look, there's not necessarily anything  wrong with getting into characters and whatnot, but you have to know when to prevent a mixture of falsehood being made out of your life. With as abundant as modern media is, it is WAY easy to get caught up big time in the mix. Your time is precious and it cannot and must not all be wasted on fiction. Know and understand what is real and let go of some of the things you cling to. They won't cling back. Remember that. You are in control of your own decisions, so be strong and don't let fiction become your new reality.

Bye bye, birdies! I'm going to bed. It's way too late. In fact, it's not even June 4th anymore. It's June 5th!!!! AHHHHHH!

Bipolar Weather

Hey there my cuddly puppies!

Today I got rained on waiting for the bus (this is the second time in a row this has happened) and I got my leather laptop bag all wet! Lucky for me the bag was thick enough to protect my new Mac, my iPod touch, some important school papers, and my beloved sketchbook. I mean, it wasn't down pouring or  anything, but it was still pretty wet out there. My makeup wasn't messed up, thanks to my waterproof mascara and eyeliner, and the rain actually felt kinda nice. OK, from this day on, I am going to take more opportunities to stand (or even sing!) in the rain.


***Hey there, God! I just wanna say thank you for the miracles of waterproof makeup and bags that are unintentionally made rain-proof! But mostly I wanna thank you for the rain!!! TEXAS NEEDED IT! :)***

Rain Girl by Diana Jamieson

One hour later, I get to work and - POOF! - the clouds are completely gone and it's HOT. After I eat lunch -POOF! - it's cloudy. Hopefully the sky will make up its mind and rain again. Maybe if I insult the sky it will start crying!!! Well, when I was little I would imagine the sky was crying when it rained and that the sky was throwing a fit and getting angry. *nostalgic moment*

But back to reality (sorta), Texas weather is messed up. It's baking hot about 90% of the time, and when it's thinking about rain, it gets cloudy for a looooong time, decides that it doesn't wanna rain, then the clouds leave and it's hot again. :P

For those of you who live in Texas, sorry, you're reading about the weather when you already know what it's like. Youtuber Blimey Cow warned me of this...

I'll get back with you when I have something more interesting to blog about. Tschuss!

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

*sigh*


Today the last day of my high school.... days.


And today all I've pretty much been doing is sitting here on my bed with my laptop trying to figure out if I wanna spend some of my graduation money on an iPod dock. I could be finishing my drawing of Thor and Loki, or finishing my painting of Heaven and Hell, or making a collage out of some old teen magazines, or listening to some of my new music, or making a cake with buttercream frosting, or reading some comics, or riding my bike, or working on a slideshow, or playing Boggle, or studying for the SAT or SOMETHING.


Naw.


Imma sit here and waste all of my free time on the internet.


Isn't that just sad? First of all this is my first day of the rest of my life (kinda) and I am doing absolutely nothing to make it special!! Secondly, all throughout my senior year I've been thinking "oh I wish I were doing *insert one of the above activities her* instead of wasting my time studying!" but then when all that free time comes I don't know how to use it.


Free time is a gift from God. So is busy-ness. Busy-ness can teach us how to function and manage our time wisely, to give time to others, and to train ourselves for whatever jobs we are currently doing/beginning. It also teaches flexibility, and to cherish what's important. YOu can't learn everything just sitting there... There is work to be done! And God wants you involved! Free time can be used to give yourself rest or do something meaningful with the people you love or to use your God-given talents or to glorify GOD!!! Too bad electronics are so convenient. OK, I am SICK OF THIS ALREADY!!!! I am going to be doing something useful now.... Think I'll go make a cake.... With buttercream frosting.... Yeah, that's what I'll do.