#life abundantly

[dwuerch-blog]

 May the 4th Sunday of Advent Be With You!

Today, I invite you to join me in celebrating this 4th Sunday of Advent. We’re almost to Jesus’ Birthday! The final lit Advent candle marks the beginning of the final week before Christmas. The white candle represents purity and peace brought to the world by Christ. We can take some lessons from Mary and Joseph. They proved peace can remain regardless of best or worst circumstances. They were…

[annabelle--cane]

I think I'm particularly pleased about the celia reveal because, as someone who was raised by a single mother, I don't think I often see single mothers in fiction who are reasonably well adjusted and actually care about their kids? I feel like I see happy couples, tortured but loving and soulful single dads, and unstable/abusive single mothers. which isn't to say I think any of those situations are invalid to represent or anything, but when single mothers are always shown as uniquely awful in comparison to married mothers and single dads, the message starts to feel very "women are irresponsible and need a strong man to balance them out."

[zylphiacrowley]

Get you someone who looks at you the way this loser idiot goober dumbass orange catte looks at the love of his life.

Just a couple extra shots from this set that I actually really liked in isolation (and since I opted instead to use the ones with Estinien in the foreground).

[wiirocku]

John 10:10 (NKJV) - The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

[lastoneout]

Like every time Luffy's on an island there's a 70% chance he's going to overthrow the local government before he leaves but yeah sure he'd totally love and support the police.

[lightfromthelighthouse]

Good Morning!☀

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

People everywhere are seaching for peace of mind and fulfillment. This is a universal desire that cuts across countries, cultures, and classes. Many have come and gone offering solutions of various kinds, often for a price, seeking more to divide you from your money than provide you with a lasting solution. Thus, you are now in a worse state, without the money you had and still without the peace and fulfillment you sought!

Jesus is the only lasting solution to the problem. Only he can give us lasting peace and fulfillment. Only he will add to what we have instead of stealing from us and leaving us worse off. Pills and potions steal from you. Psychiatrists and psychologists are good at taking you apart but are at a loss to know how to put you back together.  Unfortunately, too often, even preachers and teachers in the church point to themselves instead of pointing you to Christ.

Jesus is the good shepherd. A good shepherd knows his sheep, their nature and their needs, what it take for them to be protected and at peace. He came to free us from the limits of sin, and it's hold on our hearts and minds. He came to reconcile us to God because apart from him, we are dead and destitute, having much yet having little, restless sheep!

You can follow the thieves offering much but giving little, or you can follow Jesus, offering much and giving more. The choice is yours!

[the-woman-upstairs]

Honestly, even without Art’s attempts at manipulation and sabotage, I don’t think Patrick and Tashi’s relationship would’ve survived anyway. Before they started dating, Patrick was criticizing her career plans and Tashi was never interested in entertaining his massive ego at her expense. Passion and chemistry are important to relationships, but if that’s the only foundation, it’s gonna crumble quickly.

The only difference between Patrick/Tashi vs Art/Tashi is that the relationship would’ve ending with a bang instead of a whimper.

[malkaleh]

Just like, Not Doing Very Well. Which, I think I just need to accept it but also I cannot get any snacks (because broke until saturday) which is sad but meh, need to nap. But make lunch first. And then some more distraction content.

[juney-blues]

fist of the north star is super funny because it has a satisfying ending halfway through, but then it just kinda keeps going. and the actual ending it has kinda fucking sucks so every adaption ever just pretends it ended when it should've.

[bluegarners]

i feel like this is controversial, but i did actually enjoy teen titans go- if only for the reason it so clearly was not meant to be a canonical representation of their characters and was just done for shits and giggles

[shiningshenanigans]

Autumn, at its core, is about celebrating abundance. Historically, it was the time of year when the harvest came in, so that meant that there was plenty of food to share and enjoy, without any fear that it would run out soon. The hard work of the summer was over, the weather was beginning to cool in a comforting way, and the dangers of winter were still far off. Autumn in its truest form is a season of rest. A time to enjoy the "First Fruits", the best of what a year's work has brought us (which is an incredibly biblical thing to do, BTW; Israel was commanded to celebrate the harvest/first fruits with multiple feasts in the OT).

All the hype around fall in our culture makes perfect sense. Even in our modern, less-agrarian-than-it-used-to-be society, I think we still feel that Harvest Time Hype™ deep in our souls. Since humans are workers/gardeners by nature, it's only makes sense that we would find the season where we get to see all of our labors come to fruition utterly magical.

But there's also a darkness to fall, and this, I think, is the secret ingredient that makes its beauty so devastating at the end of the day. Fall is a season where things are constantly changing. The leaves on the trees are never the same color two days in a row. The days keep getting shorter. The air may be soft and sunny one day, and then the next it may be chilly and brisk. There's a looming, dreadful sense that winter - hardship, darkness, death - is coming, and the longing to celebrate the abundance we have now is made even stronger by the knowledge of what's to come. It's the seven years of plenty before the next seven years of famine.

That's honestly one of my favorite things about Halloween - it heralds in fall, the season of abundance, by making us face our greatest fears. "If you want to get through to the Thanksgiving Feasts on the other side of this season, you must first pass through death. You must walk bravely through a night haunted by evil spirits that want to steal your joy. You are right to fear them, but you must not let your fear keep you in your house, away from all the harvest blessings that your neighbors want to share with you. You must face them. You must disguise yourself and go out into the night to gather those blessings. In the morning, the evil will be gone, but you will have your abundance."

Spring and summer might be seasons of great hope, but the joy they bring is decidedly comfortable, since it’s not going anywhere any time soon. Because the ground hasn’t yielded yet, there’s nothing to lose, and no reason to fear we might loose it. Autumn is different. It’s the exact opposite, in fact. During autumn, we have everything to loose, and reminders lurking around every corner that we will loose it, sooner or later. Autumn is a fleeting, restless kind of joy, a desperate kind. It's when we start saying, "No, Lord, please... don't let the darkness come back just yet. Don't make me go through that season of death again. Let me just enjoy the harvest a little longer."

It's going to take more than my earthly lifetime to decode why I find this time of year so enchanting, but I do think that scratches the surface a little bit.

[crownedwithstars]

hot take: when the Valar ask Fëanor if he will give up the Silmarils in order to heal the Trees, this is not actually a choice about property.

it's a choice about Fëanor's own soul.

because if you look at the scene and the timeline, it becomes clear that by the time this question is asked, Morgoth has already done away with the Silmarils. even if the Valar went after Morgoth immediately, it seems doubtful they could find him, bring him down and reclaim the Silmarils before the roots of the Trees decayed.

so the Silmarils are already gone, although none apparently know that. but this doesn't mean that Fëanor's choice is less important, because now it's about what course he will take. Does he agree to give up the Silmarils, and free himself from their frankly unwholesome grip over his life, or reassert his property rights in this hour of need?

Tolkien even says that it may seem that Fëanor agreeing or disagreeing wouldn't have made a difference, but still his agreeing would have directed his later actions in some other way.

Fëanor could have saved himself but would not, and that is just as tragic as the death of the Trees.

[magnusmodig]

ovo whispers menacingly abt his grandstanding .

[justana0kguy]

2024 APRIL 22 Monday

"Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came (before me) are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

~ John 10:7-10

[witchcraftingboop]

Tonight I'm thinking fondly about that time I wrote my 4-page final in my humanities course and for the references page, I wrote: "The day you ask me a non-opinion based question is the day you'll get citations out of me, but until then all I have is:" and then my only source listed was my last and first name with that day's date, knowing damn well the rubric said two sources were required

[littlebirdygirlywriting]

I have officially reached the age where individuals ask me where my boyfriend/husband is for Christmas.

Why I don’t have a boyfriend.

Why I haven’t “lured in a nice farm boy” yet.

Like, I don’t even have a job right now. I cannot afford dental care. I am living at home with my parents. I am trying (and failing) to complete online courses.

Now is not the time to point out that another aspect of my life is in the gutter. Leave me alone with my fictional men and emotional-support chocolate. Thank you very much.