Let God do the work.

I've been reading Philippians, and it has been pretty revealing.  You know when you are reading a verse you've read before, but it seems like you're reading it for the first time?  Or how sometimes a verse takes a different meaning in your life, depending on the season you are in?  Well, that's been happening in Philippians...  The following 2 verses especially...

"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:6
and...

"For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Phil. 2:13

I typically apply those verses to me, as I should.  But this time around, God is reminding me that HE does the work in others too (duh!).  So not only am I called to let go and let God work on me, but I am also to realize it is God who works in others. I am not the changing agent. I am not the Holy Spirit.  I am certainly not the judge.  It is easy to find faults in others and point them out, hoping they'll agree, get with the program and change.  Let me tell you what's more efficient than that: letting go and praying.

In a nut shell, I'm learning (trying to learn) to give people a break, just like God gives me "breaks"...  That's called grace.  It's given to me daily, and I am entitled to give it to others, too.

So I'm letting go.  I'm not gonna strive to change me, I'm not gonna nag to change others either.  Nope.  I'll let God work in me and others.  He's best at it.  And while He's doing His thing, I'll hold on tight to Him!

The secret of healing hearts...

 

C.S. Lewis once said,  "To love at all is to be vulnerable.  Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.  Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.  But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change.  It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

Who can proclaim, "I have never suffered from a broken heart!"?  No one!  It is part of the human experience.  I can say with confidence that all the people in my life at least once found their heart in pieces.  The question is not "will my heart get broken?” but rather "when and why will my heart get broken?”  I hate that.  The certainty of the fragility of the heart.  Ah, to make it stronger, resistant, insensitive!  What?  Insensitive?  Yes!  That would be ideal.  If only my heart could feel nothing, if no emotion could ever touch or penetrate it, if I could simply stop it from wanting and dreaming and needing, then it would never be broken.  But to train a heart to be so disconnected from human emotions is simply not possible (unless one is willing to lose its humanness in the process). 
Here's another solution... It's just a thought, but I think it's worth something.  Stop expecting.  Most of the broken hearts I have met out there, including my own, have been broken as the result of unmet expectations.  Sometimes those expectations are realistic, sometimes they are not, but in all cases, still, unmet expectations caused the heart to brake.  So, stop expecting.
Are you expecting in someone today, putting your hope in them and what they can give you?  Don't. Are you expecting a job or a new challenge in life to fulfill you?  Stop.  Are you expecting in others and waiting for them to change?  They probably won't (and if they do, you had nothing to do with it!).  Are you expecting, hoping, and wishing in anything else other than God alone?  A broken heart awaits you!
So maybe I titled my blog incorrectly.  It's not so much the secret of healing hearts, but more correctly the secret of content hearts.  A heart that is content will not likely or easily be broken.  How does a heart attain contentment?  By letting it aspire to be close to God alone, letting it rest in the immutability of God:  He does not change, He does not let down, He does not disappoint.  He is always there, He always loves, and He never lets go.  Your heart cannot be broken, or at least, not as devastatingly (and with a lot more hope for restoration!) if it hopes in God. 
And rest assured:  It will never be broken by the One who molded it, made, it and is holding it.  It cannot.

"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him."  Psalm 62:5

Lash rescue!

So first, an introductory type of blog entry, then one about issues of the heart, and now, time for a little beauty talk. :)
 

Let me say this... "Rejuvelash, I love you!"

This thing is the best invention ever!  Although it looks like a mascara, it's not, it's a "declumper".  Let's say you go to bed without taking your makeup off...  Not that I would ever do that, but if one day it does happen to you, maybe... ;)  You know what will happen the next morning...  You will wake up with the major "clump fest" on your precious lashes, and to make things worse, if you're like me, there will be no time to take it off and redo the whole thing.  Then what?  Use this little product just like you would a mascara, and instantly you old mascara is emulsified and comes back to life, refreshing your eye makeup without reapplying!  Also useful at the end of the day when you're going out and you just want to refresh your mascara without applying a new coat (which isn't good anyway since it can brake you lashes!).  I'm telling you, this has saved my life (I'm barely exaggerating here!) and my 2-day old eye makeup more than once.  

It's by Tarte and it sells for $16 on the Tarte website (http://tartecosmetics.com/tarte-item-rejuvelash).  Sephora and some other online stores also carry it.  Careful though...  If you buy it, you will most likely be hooked!

A must! 

To blog or not to blog...?

A couple years ago I started to blog...  Not so much because I wanted to, but because by doing so, and by posting a few links to this one site, I would receive freebies I really wanted.  So I posted random thoughts, along with a few links as many times as permitted (to get as many freebies as possible!) and never touched the blog again.
Recently, I've been thinking about blogging, but on a more regular basis, and not to get freebies this time.  But I'm not sure.

I'm not sure how this whole blogging thing will work for me.  I know I've got stuff to say about God and His Word, life and its ups and downs, relationships and their struggles and blessings, even some little beauty tricks and products I've found and want to share with you.  

See, I don't know who you are, I don't know who is going to read these random thoughts of mine.  Maybe friends, old and new or future ones, family, strangers?  Maybe you just found this silly little blog by mistake. Maybe you'll never visit again. That's ok.
I'm giving blogging a go!
One important disclaimer before I go any further...  My first language is French, not English.  My husband is convinced that it shows in the way I write.  I'm taking his word for it since his first language is English, and I am warning you:  If you are an amazing English-Novel-Writer-Poet type of person, don't go nuts reading my grammatically incorrect entries...  Read with grace and the thought that hey, at least I can still make some kind of sense, right? :)

Voila!  First post in the books!

zaza

P.S. Feel free to leave comments,  if you want.  That would be nice.