Simple Lesson: Trees and Love

Last weekend I took a 9 hour drive north with a few friends to my Grandparent's cabin in the Sierras. This trip filled my soul. I was about to start a blog about how much I love trees and the simple joy it brings me and then I remembered, "wait, I've already written something about how a simple thing like trees bring me a great feeling of love and safety". It's amazing how much a small thing can really move you. I wrote this passage for Live a Life of Love, a non-profit clothing line I was invited to co-found with some dear friends. I hope you enjoy my reflection on how much I simply love trees and how those tall green things remind me so much of the importance of love.
 ______________________________________________________________________________

If you were to close your eyes and image a place where you felt completely safe, where would it be? I would be lying on a mossy hill surrounded by 800 year old redwood trees. The cool, crisp air would surround me, but warmth would find my body by way of sunlight breaking through the glowing tree tops. Smells of earth and far-off fireplaces would fill the air as I would close my eyes and listen to the crackling of branches swaying in the wind. Yes, I imagine that this is where I would feel safe. This is a place where I would feel God’s armor of love tightly wrapped around me.


My place of peace and love may be different than yours, but we all have one. What if we didn’t have to close our eyes to imagine a place where we felt completely and wholly loved? What if that place was your neighborhood, your school, your workplace…our world? While we may never be able to escape the brokenness that’s plagued the earth, I believe we can make huge strides to change this world into a place marked by love. In order to do that, we must take a stand, an oath, to adopt a life of love. Fortunately, we’re all unique, so adopting a life of love looks different for everyone. Here’s a small glimpse of what adopting a life of love means to me.


I’ll be honest; giving love has never been that difficult for me. I grew-up watching my parents out-serve one another with actions and gifts. They sacrificed much of their own lives for the sake of my sister and me. My sister is about as loving as they come. She’s never told a lie. She’s never deceived anyone. I’ve found that self-sacrifice brings me more joy than focusing on my own life. I’ll lift you up with words of affirmation. I’ll drive you anywhere you need to go, at any hour. I’ll sit with you in times of sadness or throw you a party in times of celebration. I love to share love. But…there’s always a “but”. Rarely do I leave much love for myself. I’m in the process of learning, understanding, and accepting that adopting a life of love means loving others AND loving myself. If you don’t allow yourself to receive love from others or spend some time showering yourself with love, eventually you’ll find your cup empty and the love you once so freely doled out to others will be no more. I’m starting to get it. My cup had been running on empty for a while and I was too stubborn and too independent to allow anyone to fill it up for me. I thought if I just waited it out long enough, eventually I’d be able to fill it up myself. Little by little, my hard exterior broke down until I was nothing more than shattered pieces crying hysterically into my mascara-drenched pillow.


After some advice from a good friend, I realized I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed to let people in. So I’ve begun to open my arms and accept the help and love of others. I’m realizing that the love I allow myself to receive from others isn’t just from this friend or that friend…it’s from a much greater place. God is using the people in my life to show me His love. All this time I hadn’t just been pushing people away, I had been pushing God away. So to me, adopting a life of love is as much about giving God’s love as it is receiving it.


Since stumbling on this little epiphany, I haven’t felt as strong of a need to get in my car and drive north until finding a little rock to rest on in a redwood forest. Sure, my heart still needs a little alone time in the mountains from time to time, but my place of safety and love has started to morph into my present life. It’s my morning coffee. It’s receiving words of affirmation even when I don’t believe them. It’s giving time to others when I’m feeling selfish. It’s receiving help. It’s sharing a love for thrift stores and color-coded calendars with a friend. It’s letting someone in. It’s trying, everyday, to live life as Jesus Christ did when he walked this earth. It’s inevitable that we will fail at living out His love perfectly, because we are broken and human and flawed. But we should never give up trying to live a life of love.


I have this verse written on my bedroom wall. I admit, sometimes I’m immune to the powerful description of what love is, as it’s described in this verse. But when I do take the time to absorb these words, I start to get a sliver of understanding of how great God’s love truly is. “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.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 ______________________________________________________________________________

After re-reading this blog I wrote over eight months ago, I realized I had forgotten this little commitment to myself. I had forgotten how to find love in the little places. But thanks to this refreshing trip to the mountains and to my trees, I got a strong dose of love and a reminder that I don't need to drive 9 hours to find it (although I really didn't mind the drive, because seeing those beautiful trees was so worth it). So while I appreciated and needed this trip, I'm making a re-commitment to myself to not forget how to find love for myself and for others in life's daily gifts. And...because I love trees so much, here are a few photos of my favorite spots we visited while on our weekend vacation.

Simply Home: Musical Muse

I decided to post installments of the many "face lifts" I've given my apartment. This decorating adventure was inspired by the desire for our living room to be a place of musical creativity. My living room already looks different {that's for another blog}, but for now I hope this craft project inspires some creativity of your own.

Musical Muse

I ordered old sheet music from ebay and picked up 

some scrap fabric from the fabric store. 

Then I cut the sheet music into circles.

I glued the scrap fabric onto the sheet music circles. 

I {carefully} staple them to this blank wall. 

 

The finished product!

 

Simple Things I've Learned From Others

Over the course of my life I've had the chance to live with quite a few people (parents, sister, college roommates, post-college roommates). When you live with someone, you learn a LOT about them. Some good, some...uh...interesting. Along the way I've picked up some great tips and tricks that have made my life easier. I'd like to share.

From my mom:
My mom is a working woman, mother of two, and wife. Growing up I was always known as the friend whose mom threw the awesome birthday parties, Easter parties, Valentine's Day parties...you name it, my mom probably threw a party for it. Every party was complete with decorations, a theme, tons of fun, and a lot of attention to detail. If Pinterest existed back then, her parties would have been all over everyone's boards! How did she do it? Sorry mom, I'm about to give away your secrets. While everyone thought the cake was homemade, the decorations were hand cut...they weren't. But she sure made it look like it was. So here I am with tip #1: a nice set of dishware can make any food (and therefore, party) look good. Head to Ross, buy a cute tiered dessert display, purchase some packaged food from Trader Joe's, sprinkle with powdered sugar (if dessert) or drizzle with olive oil and basil (if savory) and voila! You have a simple, homemade looking display for your next dinner party.

Theirs.

Photo Credit

Mine.

 

(Ok...so I actually made these cookies, which goes against my whole "simple theme". 

BUT, they weren't from scratch. And if I had really wanted to be simple, 

I could have bought a few cookies to throw in 

the mix and none of my friends would have known the difference.)

Oh, and don't forget the cute signs. Trust me. Martha Stewart will be asking YOU for advice. 

Tip #2 for making things look extra "cutesy": cookies cutters are your BEST FRIEND. Make heart shaped pancakes, flower shaped cookies, round french toast, butterfly sandwiches, etc. Once I made PB&J sandwiches for my MBA class and everyone was so amazed that I had so much time to put into this meal because I cut the sandwiches into heart shapes. He he he. I tricked you. Simple. Easy. 

Theirs.

P

Photo Credit

Mine.

From my dad:
Do it right the first time. I don't have any Instagram photos to back-up this lesson, but it's a good one to remember. It takes twice as long to do something over again than it does to invest the time to do it right the first time. I don't always put this simple lesson into motion, but sometimes when I really don't want to do something, I remember this and just put forth the effort needed. It makes life a lot easier in the long run!

From Sydney:
Sydney and I were college roommates. She is a very clean person. Me...not so much. I mean, I like things neat and orderly, but if you were to walk into my apartment right now, you'd see that I actually live in more of a mess than you think I would. Anywho, she taught me to "just clean". Sometimes it sucks and I don't want to put away my clothes after changing into my PJs, but like my dad taught me to do things right the first time, Sydney taught me to just put things away as I go. It saves a lot of time later, because you'll have less big cleaning days. So next time you want to throw your shirt on the floor or leave your bowl in the sink, take the extra 20 seconds to just put it away.

From Dana:
Dana taught me efficiency. She is also a clean person (do you notice a pattern here)? But she taught me a little trick to making me move faster while doing what I don't want to do. Count! Next time you unload and load the dishwasher, count how many breaths it takes to get the job done. Then the next time, try to beat it. I can now clean my entire kitchen, dishes included, in under 15 breaths. Now that's making life simple!

From Brooke:
Brooke and I have been friends since kindergarten. We share a love for random thoughts and crafty things. She got me into scrapbooking. Ok, so maybe scrapbooking is kinda lame, but the concept of keeping memories and reflections all in one place is wonderful. I never realized the impact it had on my life until I started showing some of my new San Diego friends all my old scrapbooks from high school and college. I'm beyond thankful I made them. While I don't have the time I had to spend hours and hours cutting out little paper corners and gluing them down next to stickers that read "good times", I do have 15 minutes a day to snap a photo a day on my iPhone and add a little caption to help me remember what was so special about today. I started doing this before the whole #photoaday thing took off, but now I'm glad it's popular because I like the prompts each day to help jog creativity. If you don't already do this, I highly recommend it. Use it as your time to meditate, pray, or whatever it is you do to remain balanced and thankful.

 Then take it one step further.  Spend just a little time out of your day or week to reflect on important or special moments, don't be afraid to take too many pictures, and store everything in a safe place. Then one day, get all those "photo a day" photos and captions printed in a Shutterfly or Costco photo book. It's a simple thing that takes a fraction of the time as actually scrapbooking and will provide you with memories and memories of all the best moments of your life. Well worth it!

My photo book from Europe. Priceless.

From Jenn and Bri:
These two lovely ladies are the best note writers ever. About 4-5 times a year I get a hand written card from one of them. They take 5 minutes out of their day to say "hi, thanks for being my friend". That 5 minutes and a $.42 stamps buys a bucket full of happiness. So try it. Write someone a simple Thank You card, a REAL birthday card, a Just Because card and drop it in the mail. The art of handwritten letters shall not be lost! Please oh please don't let it be lost. : )

From Jeremy:
I love coffee. I mean, I really really love coffee. I used to spend $4 a day on Starbucks coffee until Jeremy introduced me to Guatemalan Antigua coffee from Starbucks. This, paired with hazelnut Coffeemate coffee creamer is my winner combination. Save yourself some time and money and find your happiness in a cup then stick with it...no matter the stuff people tell you about being a coffee snob or how you "shouldn't drink that creamer stuff". It's one of the very few things I consume that isn't natural/organic/healthy and I'm ok with it. Leave me be with my simple morning joy.

Coffee lesson #2 from Jeremy: This is a neat little trick. Save yourself some dish washing and keep one coffee stirring spoon out all the time (just rinse it after each use so it doesn't get gross). My roommate is a boy, so our spoon holder isn't "Pinterest Approved", but it's effective, simple, and makes my morning coffee making process a little faster.

These are just a handful of the little lessons I've learned from others.There will be a "Simple Things I Learned From Others - Part 2"  someday, so keep on a look out for more tips. Your name might appear next to one of them. : )