Jonathan

meli & oli & real love

Love is a word that is taken very lightly. We throw it around like if it's any word, forgetting what it means. We say how we love those shoes or how we loved that dress and in reality we don't LOVE those things. I hear little kids dating and changing their boyfriends/girlfriends every month and by the second date they say they LOVE each other.. Oh please! I know everyone has their own description of what love means to them but this is my favorite...

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

A while back God brought me to this scripture and He asked me to compare my love to this love that it was describing... I was taken back by what I had discovered. You see in a marriage this is the kind of LOVE we should have for one another. The kind of love that God has shown us.

Love is a verb. An action. We go about thinking that if we feel love today we should show it but if we don't then we don't LOVE that person any more... Well that's where we go wrong, with love, REAL love, no matter what the other person does to you or says to you or how the other person treats you, we should always show them love. You see, love isn't an emotion it's something you show regardless of the other persons actions. When people are "in love" it's so easy to let go forgive and keep on going, but it's when you leave the honeymoon stage when you have an opportunity to show real LOVE. When you no longer feel it... It's those obstacles that God allows a marriage to go through so they both can overcome and grow stronger in love.

When I was younger and I thought I was invincible... Love was my favorite subject. I was in love with love. I was your typical girl who loved romantic movies and liked to be all lovey dovey. I had the wrong idea of what love was. It wasn't until I realized I needed God's grace and mercy that I came to know what real LOVE was. God showed me what He had done for me on that cross, He showed me He sent his ONLY SON to die for me because He LOVED me so much. How many of you would let your son or daughter die for someone else? The part that really got me was the fact that MY SIN had hurt him, my sin was the one that caused him so much pain, yet me being so undeserving, He still gave His son for my life... For all our lives. I was like wow!... That's real love. Even when it hurts that person. Even when we don't DESERVE it, to still show us love.

Then I met my husband, my best friend, and I got to see God's love in action. I don't think I've ever met anyone who has loved anyone the way my husband loves me. Wow! he is an awesome man! He is the perfect example of how we can love for real. He has shown me the kind of love that we see in 1 Corinthians. It's real, it lasts, it's forever.

With all that said, here are some pictures I took of my cousin Melissa and her husband Oliver. Enjoy.

my best friend

I believe that every girl deserves to have good friend. The kind where you can be yourself 100% of the time. The kind that will bring out the best in you and will never judge or criticize you. The kind where there exist no form of jealousy between the two of you. The kind that laughs with you, cries with you, and is never afraid to tell it to you the way it is.

I believe I have the best friend any girl could ever ask for.

Melissa isn't just a friend, but she also happens to be my cousin. We grew up together and have shared the best and worst of times together. I love this girl like you can't even imagine. I don't think anyone understands the kind of friendship that we have. She's more like a sister to me. She's beautiful inside and out. She is so dedicated and smart. She is such an amazing person and I'm so blessed to have a friend like her. 

 

I tried...

Now that my husband is back at work, I'm all alone with the kids and I decided to take their Christmas pictures {together} today and it was quiet an experience. David has reached the age where he just does NOT like to take pictures, so his Thanksgiving and Christmas pictures are definitely one of a kind. Before I even began I was sweating up a storm... "David look, no David, stay, look look, Jonathan!, Jonathan!, David leave him alone, David its Jonathan's turn"... It was very much worth the caos.


                           

Growing Up

 Now that I live in southern California, I don't see my nephews as often as I would like. I was recently in their home town and I got a chance to spend some time with them and take some pictures of them. I have watched them grow and I see them as my own kids. I love them like crazy. Every time I see them, they look so much older than the last time. They are such good kids, so well behaved. Here are some of my favorite.

my mommy & daddy