Tag: life

It’s Not About Gun Control

Before you come for my head, let’s have an honest conversation. It is extremely easy to jump on social media platforms and belittle those who disagree with you, so why not open a conversation and even if you continue to disagree you at least do so amicably, something to consider don’t you think?

Now, to continue with my title, I don’t believe the current issue we face in America has to do with gun control, it has to do with a deeper situation. We have laws against murder yet people still go out and murder others, regardless of the tools or lack thereof used to commit such terrible crimes, these laws won’t stop the evil in people’s hearts. So then what’s the solution? In my honest opinion, it’s letting God’s love come back into our lives.

Wait, don’t leave yet, I know some of you will say, “Great, here’s another Christian sending her thoughts and prayers but doing absolutely nothing.” Honestly, I want to change the world, I want to see children respecting their parents and parents raising their kids to respect others. I want to see people of different backgrounds admire and care for one another as well as understand that we will disagree but don’t need to fight over disagreements. I really want to see us as a nation come together with all our differences and be able to live loving one another.

The way these mass shootings or shootings, stabbings and crime in general are going to stop is if we learn to love others. I may not be able to make an impact to a single individual in another state, but I can continue to love my family, my friends and even those that don’t really like me. I can listen to others who disagree with me and respect their opinion without bashing them. I can look at those who follow me and live out the example that God has called me to live, to live holy because He is holy (cf. 1 Peter 1:16).

Some of you might say that loving others is not enough, but I challenge you to live it out and see what impact you will make even in one person’s life by loving them. I personally look to the Bible for encouragement and direction, some of your might not believe in God or think that religion is just a bunch of crazy people, but if you only knew how it has transformed my life by simply learning how to love. “But God is a God of wrath!” Ahh yes, the wrath and judgement portions of the Bible, well, if you must know, God takes sin very seriously and only wants the best for us.

Listen, check it out for yourself, even if you’ve never opened up a Bible or don’t have one, we have the amazing opportunity to go online and look up the Bible. So I really challenge you with this, if you’ve even made it this far, to go to biblegateway.com, search John 1 in the New Living Translation (not King James, I don’t want you getting frustrated with me more than you might be) and start there. Look at the life of Jesus, look at His example, look at His teachings and I can promise you that if we even made the attempt to live a life of love, we would see less crime, less killings, less arguments and more understanding of one another.

If you disagree with me, let’s talk, I honestly would love to hear from you. Hit the contact tab and reach out, or simply send me an email at vazquez9013@gmail.com

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Not Your Responsibility

There’s a common misconception, especially amongst Christians, that it is our responsibility to make sure our family and loved ones change for the better. That is not your responsibility; the two most important things for us to do as humans is to love God and love people. Obviously, if you’re not a Christian you will automatically think that this doesn’t apply to you, but bear with me.

Unless you are living under a rock we are all aware of what’s going on both in our country and around the world. We might not know all the details of every situation happening, but we can see chaos left and right. Have you noticed what’s missing? Love.

The love for people has gone down the trash and some might say, “well I can’t love this person or that person because they are horrible individuals,” and I agree that some people lack respect, lack love, and don’t seem worthy of our genuine friendship, but have you ever seen someone’s character change and realize that they truly are someone worth befriending?

We all want to see change, we all want to see things get better, but in order for that to happen is for us to stop trying to take responsibility in making other people change and start to change things internally. Let’s work on our character, let’s work on our respect, let’s work on our love and just watch how the people around you begin to react. It’s easier said than done, yes, I understand that, but if we want to leave a legacy for our children and our younger family members to live in a more caring and loving society, we have to fix ourselves first.

It is not your responsibility to change your neighbor, it is not your responsibility to change your family, but it is your responsibility to seek God and love people. Let’s have a conversation, even if you disagree with me or others, let’s work on understanding why instead of simply giving the cold shoulder.

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Community: A Necessity

As an introvert, I really enjoy my time alone and doing things by myself. At one point before God came into my life and shook it up, I had the mentality of: “I don’t need anyone, I got this on my own,” and while that mentality still crosses my mind from time to time, I’ve learned that it has a lot to do with the pride within me.

I have a difficult time asking for help even when people are offering it but as I get older I understand the need for community and that need to surround yourself with others. Aside from feeling like you belong somewhere when you have a community of people around you, that community begins to be a reason of why you push yourself to be a better version of you. The community you surround yourself with also brings perspective to your life; the type of perspective you were probably oblivious to because you only have your own way of looking at life.

Overall, surrounding yourself with a community will help in your growth process because you’ll see the areas you need work on as well as the type of people you need in your life. And don’t be afraid when your community changes! Some people who’ve been in your community for more than 10 years can unfortunately leave or fade away, so don’t feel threatened when other people start jumping in to your community.

Community is a necessity, it may not have to be large but we still need to surround ourselves with at least a handful of people we can do life with.

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“You’re Crazy!”

I hear this phrase all too often when people find out my daily schedule and I don’t find it offensive in any way, shape or form. It actually keeps me motivated with the goals I have set for myself. Some of those goals I will never share with anyone while other goals are well known by anyone who would allow me to share my goals.

You see, I currently work two jobs and I’m extremely active at my church. My sleep consists of naps for the most part and in an average day when I work both jobs I get around 4-5 hours of sleep (not all at once, it’s usually spread throughout the day). I will admit that the first two weeks of when I got my second job it was extremely difficult to adjust to but now it’s become a routine. I don’t need people and don’t want people to feel bad for me. I have met far more “crazier” people who are doing the same and have their own kids to raise as well.

I have made a lot of dumb decisions in the past when it comes to finances and I’m seeing the result of it now. By the grace and strength of God, I have managed to pay over 10K in debt in one year alone. The reason I share this post is because I want people to know that one of my biggest goals is to be debt free. I don’t have two jobs because I’m money hungry, I have two jobs because in the near future I want to be content and comfortable with only my main job and not have to worry about making ends meet.

I’m doing this for my family and for myself but I also want to encourage those around me to do the same. Whether it be financially or any other goals they have in mind, it’s going to take time. Keep working and keep doing what you need to do to achieve your goals. Even on the days you have absolutely no motivation, go to the gym, go for that walk, talk to that person, show up for work, turn in that assignment, sign up for that class, do what you have to do to get to where you want to be. I will celebrate your win. You got this.

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Meaningful Life

I pray for a full life, not for a long life. A life where I’m not afraid to die.

A life where I can honor God for what he’s done, a life to be used to bless someone.

This meaningful life surrounded by those I love, a life where I can fix bridges that were broken once.

A living example of forgiveness, ‘cause none of us can say we’re sinless.

I pray for a meaningful life in me, knowing I’m completely free.

Trusting that God has His best for me, a life looking to eternity.

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