Thursday, May 31, 2012

Keep your Eyes on the Prize

Before I get into what I is on my heart to share let me just say this: I want to be the girl in the picture. Seriously, isn't she just so classy and cool and feminine at the same time? I definitely want to rock this kind of outfit soon!

Anyways, yesterday we had our church's praise and worship night. And there was one thing I so stronly felt on my heart: "Keep your eyes on the prize".
"No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." (Phil. 3.13-14)

This is one of the verses which has stuck with me for many many years and I was yet again reminded of it yesterday.
Sometimes we get so tangled up in all the things going on, disappoinments, broken dreams, relationships, and changes that we forget the core of it all which is to follow Jesus. With all that we are. We do not focus on what is going on in our lives, but what lies ahead. The things He has called us to be and and to accomplish but not for our own glory but to be His Hands and His Feet on this planet.

And maybe you don't know where you're going yet or what His "Calling" is for your life - I don't know all of it either - but the main thing is to stay close to Him and His Heart. That is when you embark on great adventures with Him. He will take you places you've never been before and see things you've never seen before and fulfill your dreams in such a way you did not even dare to dream or imagine. He is the One who makes the impossible, possible!

So, fix your eyes on Jesus, the beginning and the end and He will lead you through this amazing adventure called Life.

xoxo

Ramona


picture via

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Progress and Change and things which stay the same

I have talked a lot about change over the last months and there is still a lot of change happening. In myself, with others and I am only now starting to fully come to terms with all the change happening. Sometimes you don't even have to understand or be able to answer all the questions but rather be thankful for the things which are still in place, be graceful with yourself and keep going in life with the dreams and plans God has put on your life.

And yet there are some things that will never change. Like friends gathering around a table. Friends who are so different from each other as can be and yet share a life, share memories. Friends who have learned to accept their differences and have learned to love the otherness of each other. I believe there is something profound and beautiful when gathering around a table to eat. It is more than community, more than food. I cannot pinpoint it but it's there and I always want to be able to share the table with my best friends.

Last weekend we not only celebrated my friend's wedding but we also got together to celebrate a friend's birthday. We had breakfast and laughed and dreamed about the future. We went for a walk in our beautiful region and bought fresh strawberries from street sellers.
Those are the things that will not change: The friendships, the memories, the connection and the growing together.

xoxo

Ramona


 

Friday, May 25, 2012

The Fog has lifted

 7am. Fog still lies over the city but soon the sun will warm up this place and light will shine through.

xoxo

Ramona

Friday, May 11, 2012

Follow your Heart

As I have said yesterday, today I want to talk a little about following your heart. At least as far as I can talk about it.
Have you ever been in a situation and people just told you, "just follow your heart and you'll be fine". And if you're anything like me you might have at some point stopped and asked yourself what that actually means.
It seems like last year has been all about following my heart and learning to dream again and now this Spring it is coming back to me. My heart that is. Telling me to listen. To not get hardened.

I have actually always been very much in tune with my heart often throwing reason and overthinking out the window and trust that what my heart told me was the right thing to do.
At the same time I believe the closer you are with God the more you will know His voice and your heart will give a co-witness with His spirit.
I believe following your heart mostly has to do with trust. Trust. And isn't that often the key or the issue?
Maybe we have been disappointed so many times when we trusted people that even unconsciously we have built up walls around our heart. Walls of self-protection that we will not hurt or be disappointed by this.

So I guess in order to really truly follow your heart and trust you have to let go of all these walls. You have to break them down, carry your heart barren before the Lord and TRUST Him that He will protect you. Not yourself. But His protection. That even though you put yourself out there, let go and carry your heart vulnerable in the palm of your hand you know that it will always be protected in God's hands.

That is what following your heart means to me.

xoxo

Ramona


picture via

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Thursday Tunes

Alrighty, today's Thursday tunes are little bit of pop music because I think we all need that every once in a while. I've known the song for a while now and since this week seems to be about the heart that song couldn't be more fitting. It is called Follow your Heart by Nathan Angelo.
Find the lyrics below and check back tomorrow as I'm going to share some thoughts on following your heart.

 
You say, "I'm done
I'm giving in
My bags have all been packed
I've lost my will to win
Should I move on
Or should I stay right here
Cause it's hard to find your way
When nothin's ever clear"
When you look at your life and where you've been
And you're wonderin' why you did what you did
You won't think twice if you just live by what's inside
Follow your heart
It'll never lead the wrong way
When you're fallin' apart
You'll know you're in the right place
When the goin' gets tough
And you're thinkin' it's enough to turn and walk away
Follow your heart
You won't ever be the same
You say, "I've tried
I've been down that road
It always takes me to a place so far away from home
And you don't know how much it hurts to fall
I'd rather save a little love
Than take a risk and loose it all"
Follow your heart
It'll never lead the wrong way
When you're fallin' apart
You'll know you're in the right place
When the goin' gets tough
And you're thinkin' it's enough to turn and walk away
Follow your heart
You won't ever be the same

xoxo

Ramona

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

3 Things


"In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit." - Anne Frank

xoxo
Ramona

Thursday, May 3, 2012

To be continued...

Last Fall I talked about great changes. I told you that I felt something was on the verge of happening. Something grand. Something I had been waiting for for a very long time. And indeed everything changed last Fall. But not like I expected. I expected an immediate change. I imagined it to just happen to be solved and there in the palm of my hand to be grasped and seen and touched. But that was not God's plan. I was right about the change but so wrong about its undertaking.
In the darkness of this Winter in the attempt of writing new chapters in life and finding new adventures I might have lost sight of that very thing that I knew of last Fall. Change. The start of something big. The beginning of something grand.

At the Colour Conference on the very last night I was reminded of it again. I needed to be reminded. And where better could it come from than God's word. It speaks life and truth and it spoke right into my heart.
I am going to share those verses from 2 Corinthians 8:10-20 out of The Message translation:
"So here's what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart's been in the right place all along. You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands. This isn't so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you're shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even."

So, here's to the change that is still happening. Here's to finishing what has begun. And lastly here's to continuing to follow my heart for I know it has been in the right place.

xoxo

Ramona

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