(Source: universalvibrations)
Posted 4 hours ago
Research
What is your phenomenon of interest?
Cognitive function and it’s impact on Quality of life in older adults living with HIV/AIDS.
Today I slept 3 hrs. Drank 1.5 cups of coffee. Gave 2 presentations. One regarding psychometric properties of 2 tools that assessed cognitive function. The other on the literature review paper I wrote last quarter regarding this phenomenon of interest.
There is such a deep need for believers to not be naive and close minded. For believers to be aware of things in this world. To lend a helping hand to those in need. To advocate for those who can’t or don’t know how to advocate for themselves. Education. Higher education? Such privilege and power. I feel unworthy to be here. Blessed to have these opportunities. Yet passionate for what is to come.
Salvation? Today I have come to see… Yes it is about Jesus and God’s love for us. He died for us came back to life and we believe by faith and grace. Faith? Today I have come to see it as patience. Waiting.
Did you know that in Spanish “patience” and “to hope” have the same root? Esperanza. Esperar.
Patience. To hope. Wait.
Posted 1 day ago
The following are 8 Simple Principles for a Jesus loving girl, when it comes to men, dating, relationships and marriage.
1. REPEAT AFTER ME: “YOU ARE LOVED.”
I am not kidding. Repeat. After. Me. Out loud, often, with conviction. These are such simple words to say, but they have the most deep and resounding impact on our souls if we would just believe.
God says to his daughters in Jeremiah: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Until you have tasted God’s eternal, steadfast, redeeming love, hold off on looking for a man. You may just end up settling for a quick love that cannot fill your core heart’s longing. Even if you are not currently being pursued by a man, you are constantly being pursued by Jesus.
2. YOU ARE LESS BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU THINK AND MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU BELIEVE.
Our sin makes us ugly. No amount of makeup, clothing, or confident, flirtatious façade can change that fact. It takes a humble, redeemed woman changed by God to admit the ugliness of her sin and rest in her beauty in Christ. We must repent of our pride, our shame, our obsession with our looks. We must believe and embrace who God made us to be: beautiful in his image. True beauty emanates from a woman who boldly and unabashedly knows who she is in Christ.
3. CONSIDER WHAT CONTROLS YOU.
Is it fear, loneliness, demand for a man, seeking approval, career, money?
Let the love of Christ control you. Pay attention to what is controlling your heart as you wait for a date, are in a dating relationship, or even into marriage. We settle for lesser gods than the one who died for us and love us unconditionally.
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who might live no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” 2 Corinthians 5:14–15
4. ADDRESS YOUR FATHER ISSUES.
Most of us have them—wounds on our hearts from our earthly fathers and their shortcomings. Whether yours was absent and uninvolved or abusive and abandoning, don’t let him define who you believe your heavenly Father to be. Even if you have a godly and protective father, he is not God.
You are not looking for a dad-duplicate or a dad-replacement in a man. You have a perfect heavenly Father. Let Scripture reveal to you who God is as Father and what kind of care he gives his daughters.
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:13
5. CHARM AND BEAUTY ARE NOT A GOOD DATING PLAN.
“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30
Often, our grand scheme for how to snag a date goes only skin-deep. We put massive pressure on ourselves to pour on the charm and look cute wherever we go, not realizing that a godly man will also be concerned about inner beauty. God certainly is.
“But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” 1 Peter 3:4
A woman who fears the Lord is one who, despite her desire for a date, fears being far away from God more than she does missing out on a man who is easily fooled by her exterior.
6. REALISE YOU ARE ALREADY SUBMITTING—OR ARE YOU?
Submission is not only for wives. God asks for a submitted heart now, one that trusts in his provision and plan for your life, including dating. Ultimately, dating, and all of life, is about submission—waiting and trusting God and saying as Jesus does, “Not my will but yours be done.”
This does not, however, leave you helpless, hopeless, and hamstrung in the relationship department. A godly woman can express friendly interest in a brother in Christ.
- It is OK to mingle—but don’t manipulate.
- Peruse—but don’t pursue. Let him initiate.
- Take notice of the Godly men serving Jesus around you—but never stalk. It’s creepy.
- Cross paths with a man who interests you—but don’t tackle him.
7. DRESS TO KILL …
… To kill both your evil desires and his. We all know what it’s like to be noticed for what we wear. Your desire to draw attention to yourself is vanity. Do not falsely advertise what is not available to anyone but your future husband. Don’t open the door for men to make assumptions about you by what you wear. Help your brothers in Christ by dressing modestly and appropriately (and by all means, neatly, cleanly, and fashionably!) Check your heart for your motives when you dress.
8. GUARD YOUR HEART.
Guarding one’s heart is still an issue even if no one is overtly vying for it. Watch out for the “might be” snare, as in, “He ‘might be’ flirting with me and so I’m going to get carried away thinking about every possible place that could lead.”
It is entirely possible to honor God, yourself, and a brother in Christ on a date. Don’t elevate him or the relationship to the place that God alone should hold in your heart. Enjoy, don’t idolize … and for goodness sake, relax! A cup of coffee does not necessarily mean a diamond ring is soon to follow. As a single woman, give your heart fully, wholly, unabashedly, and devotedly to Christ alone.
Be active, vigilant, and careful about how much of your heart you give to a man. Be able to walk away from a dating relationship with your whole heart intact so that your future husband is not robbed of part of it down the road. Prayerfully consider what, when, how much to give away.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. ” - Proverbs 4:23
Bless,
Jacinta. — http://www.hope-movement.tumblr.comREF: G.D Resurgence.
Posted 1 day ago
Pain and Suffering inspired by R.K.
For as long as I can remember, I had been known to be a very happy person, full of sunshine and joy. The struggles I went through were: keeping my grades up so I could go to a good college, balancing my schedule with school work and activities so I could have a good resume, drama with girl friends (and particularly the other Korean girls on the island), breaking up with my boyfriend, getting into college, getting into my master’s nursing program. All the while, complaining here and there though there came realizations throughout undergraduate school: “Someone always had it worse than I had so I shouldn’t complain.” All the while, I lived with and among my Christian friends in a Christian community and stayed plugged into the Christian network. All the while, enjoying life and the pressing on through the struggles that sometimes, I myself put me through.
My undergraduate education at UCLA was the same thing. Actually the first 3 years of it. Joy, laughter, carefree, naive. I had again chosen to remain naive to the world and naive to all around me. I found satisfaction and contentment in the Christian community again and the Christian bubble. I liked the security and comfort of all that Christian-ness that I didn’t dare or desire to venture out into the world. But I did claim to say, “I struggle, I have pain, I go through hardships… I live in the world but I’m not of the world.” Don’t get me wrong. I did have pain. I did struggle. I did go through hardships. And I don’t discredit anything I went through. Also, it is one’s choice to stay in Christian circles… there is nothing wrong with it. It is one’s preference. Who am I to say what is right or better?
I’m not saying that the aforementioned hardships and struggles were insignificant. Nor do I say that those are nothing compared to what I have gone thru in my latter years of life.
Maybe I still don’t understand the extent of severe pain and sadness, depression, sorrow, anguish, suffering. But I do know that those feelings are real. The events are real. The pain and tears are real. And the only place to feel them truly is when you are raw to all of it and you let it surround you in its full measure. You can’t taste pain unless you allow yourself to go through it. Fully. To be honest with how you feel, to be honest with how you think. To be honest with yourself.
I now know that real pain and suffering… is a process. are things that we learn over and over again. Through different circumstances and people. Relationships and situations. This is Life. Life isn’t only about the joy, happiness, pleasures, and rays of sunshine. But it is the storm, the thunder, rain, darkness, deserts, and typhoons that draw out the inner, true self. The most inner being comes alive.
I don’t think I accurately captured my innermost thoughts and I don’t think words can capture my innermost being to its fullest capacity. If you were near me, you’d understand. Cuz I would think everything about me (minus the physical or outwardly) would let you know that pain is real. suffering exists. tears are present.
Hitting rock bottom the end of 4th year in college to the end of my master’s program in nursing (catalyst of a bad break-up) has showed me what it feels like to be real. broken. apathetic. dark. lonely. desolate. isolated. raw.
Looking back on those 3 years of life, I can truly say I am thankful to God. Yes, God is good. During those 3 years of my life, I chose to ignore… I actually felt somewhat isolated and distant from the One. Even now, there are times when I don’t feel like it. Don’t feel like seeking Him or praying to Him. And now, I can be honest to my feelings. I don’t want to discourage you. Be real. Be honest. Be raw. But don’t let depression or sorrow or sadness be the end all, be all. I don’t think the suffering, pain, sorrow, trials, tribulations were meant for us to stay there forever. Instead, these are certain events or milestones we reach to become more of who we were created to be. No matter how I feel (even when I don’t feel this way…) God has called us His Beloved. Sometimes I have to pray, ” God, help me to love you. I dont feel like it.” or “God, make me want to seek You cuz honestly, I don’t want to seek You right now.” It’s all a process. Life is a journey… no need to sprint… pace yourself. Don’t hate yourself for the process you are going through.
Posted 1 week ago
Why?
I realize I get bored easily and take things for granted many times… When will I mature, Lord?
Posted 1 week ago
Acrobat
This life… Or I should say my life… Is about juggling many many roles and responsibilities and learning to be good at it. #balance
Live. Love. Laugh.
