Everyone Deserves to Sparkle

To be your best, most inspiring and most authentic self, you have the responsibility to do what you love every day and share it with the world.

[Photos Reblogged from Tumblr]

Someone Like You

Adele is gorgeous and brilliantly talented. You should check out this song if you’re not familiar with her music.

Nothing compares,
No worries or cares,
Regrets and mistakes, they’re memories made,
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

Fight Like A Girl

I needed some inspiration, so I bought a pair of hot pink boxing gloves, wrote words of encouragement in sharpie, and hung them by my bed.

When I see my pink gloves every morning, I remember where my strength comes from. It gives me courage to face the day.

“Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don’t, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life’s a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”

I Carry Your Heart With Me

I’m not convinced that relationships ever really end. Even when one person says “it’s over” and both people move on. We reach this point and our environment pressures us to pretend like the people of our past never existed. We’re encouraged to write our ex’s off as crazy and “just forget about them.” At the very least, we’re expected to stop loving them.

I see things differently.

I sometimes love people more after a break-up. Not in a way that keeps me chained to the past, but in a way that increases the capacity of my heart. Sometimes you love more by sincerely letting go– by releasing another person to go wherever they need to– than you could have loved if you stayed in a relationship. If this is true, then the separation of two people is not the end. It’s just a new chapter. You may not speak or see each other in this new chapter… But, when you really need it and least expect it, they may be the voice in your head that tells you to keep going. The voice that says love makes everything worth it.

I don’t like thinking of someone as an “ex.” What does that even mean? To many people, it means regarding someone they used to love deeply as something less. Especially when new people get involved– then we really start to get jealous, control, and justify. I’ve been there. I’ve felt threatened by ex-girlfriends and jealous of girls who replaced me. I’ve picked others apart so I felt better in comparison. In these moments of raw jealousy, I forget that these women are not my enemies… In Christ, they are my sisters. The men of my past are not crazy and they’re not jerks… In Christ, they are my brothers.

It’s hard to know why someone comes into your life. All relationships require flexibility and change. How do we know when we’re supposed to fight to make it work or when we’re supposed to let it go? I wish I had a good solution to this question, but I don’t. Perhaps I need to start listening to what I tell friends– you never know.  You never know what’s best for another person. Sometimes you don’t even know what’s best for you. You never know if God will bring someone from the past into your future. You never know… But God does. Just have faith.

We don’t expect the people who teach us the really beautiful things in life to be the same ones to teach us the really difficult things. I think that’s what hurts the most. If you’re hurting because you expected a happy ending and found yourself in a world of pain… Let those tears soften your heart. Keep loving and don’t worry about chapters that have closed. Your story is still being written and, I promise, there will be a happy ending.

Just Be You.

[Photos Reblogged from Tumblr]

Fear

Last night, I had dinner with someone who asked me, “Jaclyn, what do you fear the most?”

I couldn’t come up with an answer. Then, today, it hit me.

My biggest fear is that I’ll be standing at the gates of Heaven and God will say, “People have been suffering around you all your life. You didn’t notice. You were sitting at Starbucks.”

I wonder how many hurting people I pass everyday without taking time to really see them. How many homeless people do I walk by without looking them in the eye and asking how their day is going?

I’m scared to know the answer.

She Walked Away

It’s easy to spot the bad guy in Disney movies– he’s the one with an evil grin and a dark cloud hanging over his head. In life, it’s not so easy. The bad guy usually has perfect teeth, great shoes, and a wicked sense of humor.

My first boyfriend seemed like Prince Charming when we met. In short– I was very insecure and desperate for love, and he said all the right things. I think I would have latched on to anyone who said they loved me and called me beautiful. My fairytale quickly turned into a nightmare.

Nearly a year later, I found myself trapped in a destructive relationship. Bruises and tears were only the outward symbols of the twisted, controlling mess that my life had become. I was emotionally isolated from friends and family. I convinced myself that he cheated on me because I wasn’t good enough. He told me that no one else would love me. And I believed him. So I stayed.

Until the day I didn’t stay. With every ounce of courage I had left, I walked away. I slowly gave pieces of my heart back to God and, in His faithfulness, He put it back together.

You may wonder why I write about this. The answer: because I’m happy. I am so ridiculously, sunshine, high heels, and pink cupcakes happy. I don’t need someone to tell me how beautiful and special I am.  I don’t even need a Prince Charming to tell me that I’m loved. I am surrounded by love and grounded in faith. There is nothing more beautiful than that.

The girl I was 5 years ago would have never believed this kind of joy was possible. She didn’t realize her worth beyond her boyfriend’s opinions.  She didn’t know if she could stand alone. If you relate to my experience, please have hope and never stop fighting for the life you desire. If you think no one else will love you– you’re wrong. If you think you’re not worthy of respect– you’re wrong.

You are a daughter of the King of Kings and that makes you a princess. You were born to shine! And sometimes, sweet princess, happily ever after is just you, having the courage to stand alone. All the angels in Heaven will cheer you on as you walk away, in grace, toward something better.

Speak the Truth, Even if Your Voice Shakes

The Kindness of Strangers

I’ve never been one to get overly emotional in public. I’m not the girl who feels the need to hug her friends every time she sees them. I’m not the girl who cries over everything– good news, bad news, Hallmark commercials. I always have a smile to share with the world, I’m just not comfortable being the center of attention.

But, on an unusually cold evening in November, I found myself having a breakdown in the middle of Starbucks. Alone. And this was not the single-glistening-tear kind of crying, but the wish-I’d-worn-waterproof-mascara-today kind of tears. I can only imagine what onlookers thought of the girl sitting alone in a coffee shop, with a death-grip on a hot chocolate and black smudges all over her face.

My heart was broken. My confidence was shattered. My faith was shaken. I could no longer hide it from myself, or the rest of the world. This was truly a low point. I had forced myself to get out, in hopes that fresh faces would make me feel better. But, on this particular day, I felt more alone in a sea of strangers than I did in my empty studio apartment.

Then God sent me an angel in the form of a middle-aged woman with artificially blonde hair and a designer handbag. She took one look at me, walked over, wrapped me in a hug, and told me that I’m too beautiful and precious to cry. She encouraged me to let go of whatever was hurting. She said that she saw light in my eyes. That comment carried me through the following weeks.

I now make a conscious effort to affirm people who look lost. We try so hard to look polished and perfect, don’t we? We automatically say, “good, and you?” when someone asks how our day is going, regardless of the truth. But, then, we have days where we just can’t hold it together anymore and the unexpected kindness of a stranger gives us the courage to keep going.

I hope that God sends you an angel in a coffee shop if you ever need one. Or, better yet, I hope God allows you to be an angel for someone else. We underestimate the power we have to save each other. We all have an ability to share our light with another person, making the world a brighter place for everyone… We just have to take time to notice when other people’s lights have gone out.

“A woman’s heart should be so lost in God, that a man must seek Him to find her.”