june 1st

my good buddy kelsey told me about this site called "what is dallas" ( http://whatisdallas.com/ ), and now i have a little bubble in it, too! :) (yip!) i was looking at the creator's own site/blog and he's an illustrator and designer-but what really interested me was that he has sections of his blog where he talks about his faith -in relation to his work or just about faith in general. i really identified with his post the week of may 22nd:

"On Faith

My heart is so full of thanks. Not just for all that I have but for all the people around me. I love the relationships God has given me to invest in and be invested in by. It really opened up room in my heart when I realized I don’t have to be friends with everyone, but instead could choose to invest my time to those closest to me.

I’ve been learning a lot about boundaries this year. Where and how to draw them is sometimes difficult. I’ve had my feelings hurt by other peoples boundaries simply because I didn’t understand the importance of them at the time. But seeing the value of protecting your heart and who you choose to share it has been really rewarding to me. To put it simply, I’ve given up trying to please everybody and instead just focused on being myself and being open with those closest to me."

this is what i think my mom has always told me about when she tells me about "the freedom of Christ"-that you don't have to try to take on too much or try to juggle everything and everyone and their everything-because you cant (and i can't);  i admit its a huge struggle for me. but we-or, hello, i- need to give it up and admit God's the only one that can carry me. from that then we can actually start to pour into the people He's planned for our lives- and in a way that has substance and sincerity. - i think when i try to take on too much and please everyone, really, it's more for me and trying to stay in people's good graces, ( and be a people pleaser) and keep up a good image of myself for them- basically, it ends up being all for me- and it absolutely cheapens those relationships. i like where the site designer said above that he wants to focus on being himself and being open w those closest to him. -it's such a liberating idea. why are we living if we're just in this dreamland of "all we accomplish, all on our own strength and 'look at how effortless i make it look' " when that's not reality at all