söndag 28 februari 2016

What is love?

Rebeca and I went for lunch down Sunset. On the way we stopped by and took some pictures by this random wall. 
Jag och min vän Rebeca var på lunch och stannade vid denna väggen och tog några bilder. 
It got me thinking of how blessed I am, and how many people I have in my life that I truly do genuinely love.
I am pretty emphatic so I would say I do love quite easily, although it takes a lot for me to say the words I love you. Not necessarily because I don't love people, but because I just simply don't want to throw the word love around too much. I often feel like it is said way too much, and I just want to put more meaning and weight to the word.  

What is love?

Definition of Love;
1. A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

So.. Is love for you an action or a feeling?

I think a lot of the times the difference in that is to know the difference between In love and love. 
Let's say you absolutely love cake. 
Does that mean you should eat it as every meal every day? ~ I would hope not, very unhealthy. 
Does that mean you will still love it when it's two months old? ~ most probably not.  Aka that is not true & unconditional love. That is based on feelings, the feelings of getting some kind of pleasure in a moment. 

Unconditional & true love is love that means that you will love something or someone no matter what. 
Obviously I think boundaries are important & healthy; but I think love, wether it is something you love or someone, gets to the point where it's a choice to take action, and not just a feeling of love and passion. Because feelings fade in different seasons. 
'Love is sacrifice' ~ a saying I believe is true in a lot of areas. You have to fight for what you love, and not always put yourself first. 

Now; I am a Christian and I want to love like Jesus does & have grace just like He has. I could quote a hundred bible verses about different perspectives of what Love is from the bible, but one that really stuck out to me was this one! 

1 John 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Mic drop. 
Haha, but seriously such a powerful word. Wether or not you're a Christian I think that it's so true that we should love like that. Not just throw the word around but to genuinely mean it when you say them, and to show your love through action even in the simplest of things, even if it's something small like an encouraging note, a prayer, making an interest in your dads hobby, buying your brother some snacks, smiling at a stranger, have lunch with your grandma, or through doing your moms dishes ~ I think it is so very important to love in every area of your life. All the people in your life are in your life for a reason. 
Life is short; make the best of it. 

And on that note, speaking about love... here are some pictures from Valentines day that I never posted! My church had a valentine's day party for all them single ladies so a few friends and I took the opportunity to dress up & have a fun girls night. It was such a fun night! 

Det står "Stå här och tänk på någon du älskar". Och det påminde mig om hur många fantastiska människor jag har i mitt liv, och hur många jag älskar. För att förklara lite snabbt av vad jag skrivit i detta inlägg så fick det mig att tänka på Vad kärlek egentligen är, och att 1 Johannes 3:16-18 förklarar det väldigt bra för mig. Att det inte handlar om en känsla, men ett val att hela tiden försöka älska människorna omkring en. 
Och på tal om kärlek... Kyrkan hade alla hjärtans dag firande för alla tjejer så jag och några vänner tog tillfället i akt och klädde upp oss för att ha en kul tjejkväll. Det var en väldigt kul kväll!
 
( iPhone pics as usual... So sorry for the bad quality. ) 

fredag 26 februari 2016

Downtown adventures

Went exploring in Downtown LA with Rebeca the other week. I've never really been around there during the day so it was very fun! It was such a beautiful and hot day. Although it really does hurt me knowing that Skidrow, where there are thousands of people living on the street, is right there next to all these expensive & fancy buildings. I kinda miss going there as often as I went last year. Just continuesly wishing there was more I could do for the hurting in this city. 
Häromveckan så åkte jag och Rebeca till Downtown LA. Har inte varit däromkring vi gick på dagtid förut så det var väldigt kul att få se det i dagtid! Det gör ont att veta att Skidrow, där flera tusen hemlösa bor, är precis på gatorna bredvid alla dessa dyra och stora byggnader, saknar att åka dit så ofta som jag gjorde förra året. Önskar jag kunde göra mer skillnad i denna stad.
Making my way downtown... 🎶
Last few pics from the beloved the Last bookstore. Freaking love that place. 

fredag 12 februari 2016

California Science Center

On my smallgroup family-time this week we went to the USC California science center! It was beyond my expectations and I think I will be making another trip back there soon! It's free entrance so I would definitely recommend going there! I love learning new stuff about space & biology & animals & different Eco-systems and so on. I actually miss that about school a lot, wish I would'd appreciated it more when I was in class about it! 
På min "familje"-tid denna vecka så åkte vi till USC Kaliforniens Science center! Det var över mina förväntningar och jag tror jag kommer åka tillbaka dit snart! Gratis inträde så starkt rekommenderat! Jag älskar att lära mig nya grejer om rymden & biologi & djur & olika eko-system och så vidare. Jag saknar faktiskt skolan en del, önskar att jag hade uppskattat det mer när jag hade dessa lektioner så att jag faktiskt lärt mig mer.
This one was my favourite! All the different ones have different background music sounds. So freaking cool! / Detta var en stor favorit! Alla olika rör hade olika slags bakgrunds musik. Det var så coolt!!
Favourite part! When I was little I wanted to be a marinbiologist so love seeing and learning things about this!! / Min favoritdel! När jag var liten så ville jag bli marinbiolog så älskade att få se och få lära mig mer om detta! 
My lovely & amazing small group-kiddos! 
(Non-edited pics)

Corona del mar

On our day off this week my roommates and I went to the beach together! It was a hot and gorgeous day, and Corona del mar is one of my favourite beaches, it's literally magical. And the area around there has such a pretty town too! It was such a perfect day. 
På vår lediga dag så åkte jag och mina rumskompisar till stranden. Det var en varm och vacker dag, och Corona del mar är en av mina favoritstränder, helt magisk är den. Och området däromkring är en så fin liten stad också! Det var en perfekt dag.
Found a hidden beach! So pretty! / Hitta en fin & gömd liten strand!
The houses in the area were absolutely gorgeous!! We were walking around pretending & dreaming that we could move into one. Maybe one day.... Haha. / Vi gick runt och låtsades & drömde att vi kunde flytta in, haha
Found the perfekt spot tö sit and read! / Hittade perfekta stället att läsa! 
Roomie love!! Even in the black and white you can see how pale I am haha! / Till och med i svartvitt så ser man hur blek jag är haha!
Sharelle, Tyson, Liz & Tasha came as Wall and we had a bonfire at night! Here are Kristy and Sharelle pretending to be ballerinas, lol! / Sharelle, Tyson, Liz & Tasha kom också och vi grillade på kvällen! Här är Kristy & Sharelle när de låtsas att de kan dansa ballet... Haha! 
Roomie goals <3 // Så tacksam för mina rumskompisar!!