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Accepting Imperfection

Abi Leah1 Comment

In a world ruled by an Instagram-perfect life, we as a society have been conditioned to hide our imperfections, not only in our beauty and outward appearance, but also in our everyday lives. We take the brokenness of life and hide behind the stories we filter for others to like. We push down our brokenness, forgetting that our mistakes and imperfections are what make us human and are oftentimes great ways through which we can share the Gospel.

God does not call us to be perfect. But He does call us to trust Him and follow Him in every point of life. We may be broken but our brokenness emphasizes God’s perfection and the fact that He is the only way to true life.

We need to always be working to live a life that is better and more Christ-like. The point is that we should not be discouraged when we make mistakes or don’t live the perfect lives. We are not perfect beings. We are going to fail. That is just a fact of life.

But the hope is that God uses our weaknesses and makes us strong. Through our brokenness, God’s strength and power and love are emphasized. Our imperfect stories are the ones that are most relatable. When we let our facades fall, we open the door to acceptance and reality and give God a chance to use us – the real us.

So we don’t need to live every day perfectly. We don’t need to hide behind our Instagram-perfect images. It’s okay to be real. It’s okay to open up about what you’re struggling with. This gives us the freedom to show God’s glory and strength through our weaknesses. This points to the trust that we have in His power.

What is it that you feel you should be perfect in? How is that need for perfection preventing the Gospel from getting through? Find those spots, give them up to God in prayer and trust, and learn to accept the imperfections.

101 in 1001: A Six-Month Update

Abi Leah3 Comments

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It’s been six months since I started my 101 in 1001 challenge and it’s been quite the ride. I started off really well, crossing off quite a bit in the first couple of months! Now that school has started, I haven’t been able to work on as many goals as I’d like, but progress is progress and all that matters is that I’m moving forward.

Goals I’ve crossed off:

8. Go through my clothes and donate what I don’t wear (August 2018)

This goal was easy to cross off, especially during the week of packing for college. I went through every article of clothing I had and made sure to donate the ones I didn’t wear but were still in good condition.

11. Spend 15 minutes outside everyday for a month (August/Sep. 2018)

Spending time outside everyday made things relaxing and calm. I normally eat my meals outside on the patio of the cafeteria unless it’s too cold to be outside.

12. Bike somewhere (July 2018)

During our summer vacation, my family and I took a spontaneous trip to the beach for Independence Day. We biked through a small town and over many hills to the sandy beach. It was so much fun and I loved it! My favorite part was, of course, being with my family, but I also loved the wind in my hair and the smell of the salty air.

13. Go skating again (September 2018)

This goal I was a little afraid about because I didn’t want to fall and get hurt. However, falling is something that we just have to face. I went roller skating with my friends for a birthday celebration and it was a lot of fun! I hadn’t been roller skating before that, but I had been ice skating and it was pretty similar. I did fall at one point, but it wasn’t too bad!

31. Sing around a fire pit with some friends (June 2018)

This summer I visited my aunt with my family and spent the weekend with her and some of her friends. One night was all sat around a fire pit and sang songs as my sister played her ukulele. It was so nice and calming.

34. Have an early morning Bible study outside (July 2018)

There is something special about reading the Bible outside in the morning. It’s calming and quiet and makes it easier to hear what God is trying to say through His word, I think.

41. Reconnect with an old friend (August 2018)

This August I was able to connect with a friend from middle school over Instagram. She was one of my closest friends and when I left the school to be homeschooled, we lost touch. It was good to hear from her again and to know that she is doing well!

42. Start a birthday tradition (June 2018)

I have always loved the idea of birthday traditions. They always seem so much fun and a great way to have something to look forward to! My sister, her friend, and I started a birthday tradition for my sister’s birthday.

45. Take a road trip (May 2018)

My friends and I for our senior trip took a road trip to the beach. It was a great way to get away from school and the stress of preparing for graduation while also being able to hang out and talk with each other.

46. Visit a city I’ve never been to before (May 2018)

This summer my family and I went to Philadelphia to celebrate a family member’s wedding. I had never been to Philly before but I loved the city, the food, and the history behind it all! It was a nice trip and I loved seeing family.

50. Play an instrument on the beach (May 2018)

During my senior trip, my friends and I took a late night walk one night with ukuleles. There’s something calming about the beach at night and music makes it even more fun.

51. Have a picnic (June 2018)

My family invited a couple of our close friends and their families to go to the mountains with us for a couple of days. We spent one of the days hiking to waterfalls and enjoying the outdoors. This was the perfect opportunity to take a picnic with a beautiful view.

56. Go on a spontaneous trip (August 2018)

I love the beach and so does my mom, so when she had the idea to have a spontaneous trip to the beach for the day, of course I said yes. The drive was long but the hours on the beach was so worth it!

69. Have a photoshoot (September 2018)

Sometimes you just need to grab a camera and take some pictures with a group of friends. I am blessed to go to a school that has a beautiful green space which is commonly used to photo shoots by photographers around town. We followed suit and had our own photoshoot!

75. Paint on a canvas (June 2018)

Painting is something that I haven’t had many opportunities to do but I love doing. I was able to get together with two of my friends and we painted on canvas to create three individual paintings that go together. It was a great way to relax and hang out with each other.

83. Have a spa day (June 2018)

Sometimes you just need to take care of yourself and spend a day relaxing. Bath bombs, a bubble bath, face mask, and a good book make for a great day.

91. Journal every day for a month (June/July 2018)

I love journaling but it can be hard to fit it in everyday especially when days are busy. This goal was tougher than the rest in that I really needed to be intentional about the time and how I was using it. I like to journal at night before bed but that means going upstairs earlier and not falling asleep first. I am glad that I finished this goal before school because it’s a lot harder to find time to journal now that I am in college.

I’ve completed 17 of my 101 goals! How have you all been coming along in your 101 in 1001 journey? You can view the complete list of goals here for inspiration for your own list.

Travel Journal//Peru – March 2018

Abi Leah7 Comments

Hello everyone! As I mentioned earlier, I had the chance to go to Peru for 8 days with my school. I got back a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing! I loved the country, loved the people, loved the culture.

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Headed to Lima

Traveling to Lima wasn’t as stressful as I thought it was going to be. And of course, it helped to have friends coming along to have conversations with as we waited in the airport. The flight itself wasn’t too bad either. I had a chance to have a long conversation with a Pastor who was going as a missionary to Peru! It was really encouraging to meet another believer who was so passionate about his faith.

City on the Beach

Our first full day in Peru was spent in Lima.We spent the day walking on the beach and seeing the views from the city above the hills.

Mountains and Culture

Seeing the culture in Peru was really interesting. The markets were crazy busy with people calling out their products as you walk by. With so much going on, sometimes it got overwhelming. But, the people were so nice and just beautiful, especially patient with my broken Spanish. The nature in Peru was probably my favorite part. The flowers bloomed everywhere and the clouds drew attention to the greatness of the mountains.

Machu Picchu and the Sun Gate

Machu Picchu was absolutely breath-taking. The hike up to the Sun Gate was pretty tough but the view was worth the hike. We also got to see some llamas so that was fun!

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca was also really beautiful. I loved seeing how life worked on the floating islands. The weather was perfect and, of course, the boat ride out to the islands was beautiful as well.

Other Pictures

I’m so glad that I took the opportunity to go to Peru with my school. I loved getting to see the beauty in Peru and getting to know the people better.

signi

 

Photography: Snow

Abi Leah11 Comments

Hello everyone! How are you? Did you get any snow this week? I did! It snowed on Wednesday so the schools were canceled. Life in the south :)

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The two days off from school were much needed. To celebrate, my family and I went down to the park to go sledding. It was so much fun! It was also so beautiful seeing all of the trees covered with snow.

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In the park, there is a bridge over the little stream. The sound of running water was calming. With the snow, it was even more beautiful.

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There’s something about fresh snow that makes time seem to stop. It’s peaceful and perfect for hot chocolate and reading. :)

Did you get any snow this week? If so, how did you spend your snow day?

signi

May Memories

Abi Leah10 Comments

Hello, everyone! Let’s talk about May. The last month of school. Crazy and utterly exhausting but SO full of happy memories! In a way, I miss it but at the same time, I’m so glad it’s over!

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The first week of May was full of happy friend memories. One of my best friends made me a beautiful pillow in between her study times. How she did it, I have no idea, but it’s beautiful and I love it so much! AP exams weren’t fun but it came with excused absenses and trips to Aldi’s to get ice cream. My 6 friends and I shared a whole tub of ice cream and it was amazing! A couple of days later, I started my new bullet journal!

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For Mother’s Day, my family and I took a trip to the mountains for the weekend. It was beautiful and a great way to spend the day celebrating my mom. We were even able to see a couple of geese in the river!

Next came a couple of pool parties with some amazing friends! My sister celebrated a birthday with some of her friends. Then I hosted a couple of last minute parties with my friends before school ended. I loved hanging out with everyone and can’t wait to make more memories with them this summer! Then came May 25. The day my exams started. I had my French exam first and did pretty well! After that, I had 3 more exams, British Literature, Chemistry, and Spanish. My last exam was yesterday! So glad to be done! :)

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Other Things I Loved

  • Smores Frappuccino from Starbucks (all time fav!)
  • All of the blooming flowers!
  • Celebration donuts at the end of exams!
  • Getting our piano tuned
  • And then having a mini concert :)

How was your May? What are you looking forward to in June? I’d love to hear from you! :)

signi

February Memories

Abi Leah4 Comments

Hey, guys! Happy March! The weather outside is beautiful and I’m so ready for Spring Break! February was full of fun adventures and memories. I can’t believe it all went by so quickly!

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February started off great with my birthday! I hosted a vision board party, hosting two things off of my goals list for this year. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends and family. Shout-out to my wonderful mother who created a huge meal of tiny sandwiches for my birthday lunch!

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A couple days later, I went to watch the play from my high school! It was a lot of fun and I saw a bunch of people that I know (shout-out to M, A, M, L, and H).

On the 11th, I headed over to the park with my sister to walk around and take pictures. It was so beautiful outside and it seemed that everyone was out enjoying the weather! The light reflecting off the water took my breath away. Plus, there were so many dogs – an extra bonus! ;)

Valentines Day came and went without a mishap. My sisters and I made breakfast in bed for my mom and we each got a little bouquet of flowers from our dad. On the 16th, I spent the day writing letters and making cards for my friends and family. And the next day, I went to my first college visit – very exciting.

Then came the big mountain trip! We spent three days in the cool weather with rivers and plenty of trees to sit by. (I even made a video about it. Watch it here.) I ended up spending a lot of time writing which was really fun for me. It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to let my dreams take shape in writing form. ;) Our short trip in the mountains was a fun one and I can’t wait to go back.

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February closed with lots of flowers; flowers in my friends’ hair, flowers in vases, flowers outside, flowers everywhere! I love how such little things like flowers can brighten up the world. :)

I also tried to continue the Photo A Day Challenge this month but then I missed a day. Still, I was able to take some really pretty pictures. Here are some of my favorites. :)

Other Things I Loved

Beautiful right? How was your February? Is the weather getting warmer where you are?

signi

Travel Journal//Mountain Trip – Feb. 2017

Abi Leah2 Comments

Hey, everyone! This past weekend, I was able to go to the mountains with my family. I had a lot of fun sitting in the hammock, reading, and watching the millions of stars. So I wanted to share bits of my trip with you in the form of a travel journal post! Without further ado, here was my travel journal for the trip. :)

Be sure to check out the Travel Journal video here!

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Day 1

The ride up the mountain was beautiful. Clouds filled the sky, making for a great contrast against the trees. After unpacking, I went out to the backyard with the hammock and a book. After almost an hour of relaxing, my sister convinced me to go inside to watch tv. But instead, I worked on blogging and planning for future things.

Soon, it was dinner-time (my family always has cheeseburgers on the first day at the mountains) and then more work before going to bed. I wasn’t able to see many stars that night due to the clouds but there were some and they were beautiful! :)

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Day 2

My sister was sick so we didn’t go to church but I did have devotions with my sister which was really fun. Afterward, I worked on blog posts, my travel journal video, and listened to Marcus Warner’s Oceans album (highly recommend by the way). Outside, the clouds were settling on top of the mountain across the river, which made for a really pretty picture (above).

After my parents got back from the little country church, we had lunch and then headed outside for a hike. It was beautiful! I loved all of the plants and watching our dog, Winston, jump through the forest.

That was basically the big part of the day. I spent the rest of the time working on my editorial calendar and writing. Before I knew it, the sun was going down. As the night slowly made its way across the sky, I watched the stars peer out from behind the blanket of night. So many stars and oh, so beautiful! A perfect way to end the night.

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Day 3

The travel home day. I slept in Monday morning and woke up to a good warm breakfast. While my parents went on their morning hike, I took a shower and put on my “packing clothes” (aka. sweatpants and a t-shirt). My sister really wanted to go to my grandmother’s garden so I went with her to take pictures and more videos.

The garden was beautiful as always. It’s different being in the mountains during the winter because you can see through the trees. But it’s nice! There is a little bridge in my grandmother’s garden that I really like so my sister and I walked down there.

After our adventure outside, I came back to the cabin and packed up to head home. I really enjoyed my time in the mountains and being away from the school and stress that cities can bring. I can’t wait to come back again. :)

The trip was way too short but all good things must come to an end. :) How was your weekend? What do you love about the mountains? Have a great day!

signi

Motivation Monday//Future

Abi Leah2 Comments

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February 20, 2017

Today’s Theme: Future

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“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.” – Unknown –

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“Many are the plans in a man’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” – Proverbs 19:21

As graduation crawls closer, people are always asking me what my plans are for the future. And the truth is, I don’t know and I don’t want to think about it. The future is a very scary thing for me, filled with uncertainty and unknowns. But as a Christian, I have to remind myself that I’m not in control; God is. So really, the future shouldn’t be that scary because God is already there. And that is a very calming thought.

signi

21 Day Self Portrait Project Days 16-21

Abi Leah2 Comments

Good morning! I hope you’re having a wonderful day so far. Here are the last 6 days from the 21-day self-portrait project. I liked these couple of pictures because they had really great stories behind them. Enjoy! :)

Day 16

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My Oma has taught me the importance of prayer. My grandmother is a prayer warrior. When life is crazy, she prays. When life is great, she prays. And when life is hard, she prays.

My Oma loves listening to my stories about my life and when I share a story about stress or disappointment, she reminds me to pray. It’s really encouraging to be reminded about the importance of turning to God in every situation.

Day 17

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Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to learn to play as many instruments as I could. When I first moved into my new home, my dad taught me how to play a song on the piano. I then was able to teach myself to play other songs. My parents realized piano lessons would be a really good opportunity for me so I started taking lessons at a nearby University.

My piano teacher was really nice and patient with me as I learned and practiced difficult pieces. I remember once I was having a really hard day. When I showed up for piano lessons, I was on the verge of tears. When my teacher asked me how I was, I burst into tears and for the entire lesson, she played piano for me to make me feel better.

My piano teacher taught me to express my feelings through music. I also learned to pick up different sounds in music, voices, and notes. She also taught me the importance of using music instead of anger. Without her, I wouldn’t be as far along as I am in music.

Day 18

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I took online classes for three years but it was lonely and difficult trying to study at home where my bed is like two feet away and way more comfortable than my desk where I studied. I played around with the thought of going back to school for a while, mainly because I wanted to have experience being around people before I went to college.

I was at a sleepover with my friend when she asked me, “What if we were in the same classes together?!” I laughed half-heartedly and said, “That would be cool.” I didn’t actually think I would go back to school part time nor did I have any intention of doing so. But I went along with it.

The next day, I told my mom about it and she said, “Well, do you want to check the school out?” and I was like, “I guess.” The next thing I know, my mom is calling the school (keep in mind that this is in late July) and I am sent to take an entry exam. By then I realized, “This is actually happening” and I started to get excited about being back at school full time.

Three weeks before the first day of school, I was accepted. Even now, I’m not really sure how this happened but I’m glad it did. I go to an amazing school and the people are all so nice and friendly. All of my classmates have gone out of their way to get to know me. I love the school so much!

Day 19

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Social media has a huge impact on the teens and children of this age. The social standards can totally destroy a person’s self-esteem. I know, because it did that to me.

For the longest time, I didn’t feel pretty enough, I didn’t feel any self-worth, compared to the girls online. I thought that in order to be “popular”, in order to feel loved, I needed to do whatever society said I needed to.

But my mom helped me to see the truth; I am beautiful the way I am. My mom taught me to look to the Bible for hope and encouraging. She encouraged me to memorize Bible verses so that I could remember them whenever I feel bad. And I’m so glad she did.

Through the Bible, I was able to remember my self-worth, to know that I am beautiful because God made me.

Life is hard. People are mean. And words hurt. But God still loves me. He still cares about me. He still wants me.

Day 20

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One thing I love about Christmas is how beautiful the world gets. As a child, my Christmases weren’t beautiful or full of gifts. Christmas just another day to me. But now that I am a Christian, I see the beauty in Christmas day and now that I have a family, I have the opportunity to celebrate this wonderful celebration of Christ’s birth.

Day 21

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“Look for the good in everyday life and share that spark with other people. You never know when someone else will need a little bit of happiness.”

– Abi –

There you go! I had so much fun with this project. If any of you are thinking about participating in the 21-day self-portrait project, you totally should! It’s worth your time. :) Have a great day!

signi

21 Day Self Portrait Project Days 11-15

Abi Leah3 Comments

Hello, everyone! I’m back with the next five days of my 21 Day Self Portrait Project. I really appreciate all of your wonderful comments and encouragement! Thank you all so much! :) Enjoy the results from days 11-15.

Day 11

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My mom is one of the sweetest, kindest, most hard-working people that I know. She has always been there for me when I needed it and takes time out of her day to do things for me. One thing that I learned from her is that tea makes everything better.

“The best thing for a purple day is a nice cup of tea.”      – Mom-

Day 12

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I have always liked photography but I found that my pictures weren’t that great. So I decided to take a photography class. My teacher challenged our class to participate in the 21-day self-portrait photography project. Through this project, I challenged myself to take better photos. I have seen myself grow as a photographer so I thank my wonderful teacher for helping me grow.

Day 13

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I get excited when fall starts rolling around; it’s my favorite season! But it’s also a stressful season with school and exams and performances. Life gets crazy and I get stressed. But I have hope because I have a God who will stand with me and help me to keep going.

“He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

– 1 Corinthians 1:8 –

Day 14

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When I was in elementary school, I was introduced to different clubs on club day. The one club that really stood out to me was the art club. The teacher for that was really fun and had crazy hair and an even crazier nickname. And I really wanted to be in the club but my family didn’t have a car so I didn’t have a way home from school after the Art Club.

My teachers were awesome and all wanted my sisters and me to get the chance to be in the club so they took it upon themselves to take us home from clubs every day. Sometimes they would even take us out to dinner at their own expense.

Without these teachers making sacrifices for us, I wouldn’t have been able to grow my love for art. I am forever grateful to them for being so kind and generous.Since elementary school, I have grown a lot in my art abilities. This year, I was inducted into the National Art Honor Society!

Day 15

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Some of my favorite books are the Gallagher Girl series. These series have encouraged me to write and keep writing. It was through this series that I really started to get excited about writing.  Ally Carter is my role model and dream author.

I hope you liked the pictures from these five days! Have a great day! Merry (almost) Christmas! :)

signi