Tag Archives: thoughts

No Longer Slaves

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You unravel me, with a melody
You surround me with a song
Of deliverance, from my enemies
Till all my fears are gone

My sister emailed my family this song a few weeks ago, but I didn’t get around to listening to it until now while (finally!) reading emails. Turns out, it’s the perfect message for this mid-semester morning.

It can be so easy to dart our eyes around quickly and stumble into listening to the world’s message on every front in life, especially during stressful times. The common lies that we choose to hear and believe are sometimes shocking. Concerning school: “You should be scared. That exam is going to be so difficult. And you definitely didn’t study correctly for it. Plus, you’re not even smart enough to be doing this.” Concerning relationships: “You never do anything “fun.” Fun friends do this. Why can’t you just shut up and join the crowd for once?” Concerning identity: “You’re not unique in any way. You are not special. You’re just like everyone else.” Concerning ability: “You don’t have any talent whatsoever. People are probably laughing at you behind your back.” Concerning practically everything else: “You should be worried. You should be hesitant. You should be filled with fear. Good luck getting through this.” That’s why the constant refrain of this song couldn’t be any more powerful or true:

I’m no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God. Continue reading →

Golden Golden

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IT’S MY GOLDEN BIRTHDAY!

I can barely control the all-Caps right now. I’ve looked forward to my 22nd birthday for years.

YEARS.

Since I was a child.

And it turned out to be everything I could have hoped for, and more. I don’t know why I’ve been blessed with such wonderful and thoughtful friends both near and far, but everyone just went above and beyond to make my birthday so special. So thank you all – to my lovely family, to my family of friends from home, to my family of friends from Pécs, to my family of friends from everywhere! I’m truly overwhelmed by the immense outpouring of love I’ve received today. Twenty-two is going to be such an amazing year!

Goodbye, 21

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I love birthdays.

And that’s an understatement when it comes to my own – I adore my birthday. I get so excited for it when each new year begins, and then when February itself actually rolls around… caution: birthday on my mind! This year, since it’s my golden birthday (eek!), I thought I’d do a fun thing and share some random (seriously, random) things I’ve learned over these past years. And with that, the first nugget:

Trust God.

I remember writing a “song” when I was younger that consisted of this one line (I’m definitely not a songwriter!): “When in trouble, trust God, ’cause He’s the only one that can help you!” Even though that was many years ago, I still remember the tune I came up with for the song! No matter how old I get, I feel like each year, I get the opportunity to trust God in a deeper way based on whatever I’m going through at that time. It’s a great yearly lesson for me to hone in on. I was quite young at the time, but if I were to add to the song now, I’d add something about trusting God at all times, not just in troubling ones. The results are pretty sweet and adventurous when we can trust God in the good and the bad.

Parents and sisters are the BEST.

It’s always such a riot talking with my parents and sisters on Facetime or over text. My family is awesome and I miss them like crazy! They never fail to build me up or make me laugh, and they understand my quirks like no one else can.

Cooking & baking from scratch is a good test in patience.

I like popping pre-made food into the oven, waiting the required 20 or so minutes, and then eating to my heart’s delight. But cooking from scratch requires…shudder… preparation. And lots of patience from a loudly-grumbling belly.

Choose your guns and stick to them.

It’s not easy to be swayed by acquaintances (let’s be honest, a “no” to a relative stranger is easy to pass out), but it’s much easier to be swayed by friends or people we know really well. Sometimes, I’ve found it’s a good thing, especially when it concerns food. But in other times, I’ve learned that if I have a set plan in my head beforehand on busy days where I need to be productive, going along with the crowd is no bueno, even if I’m the only one going my own way. I always find that I’m much, much more content accomplishing the things in my plan rather than trying to please friends by saying yes.

And yet, spontaneity is an adventure waiting to happen!

Then there are times when plans that have wiggle room can be amended, leading to memorable adventures. With fun pictures! Continue reading →

Merry Christmas Eve!

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It looks like the next couple of days will be very musical over here on the blog! I meant to post this about two weeks ago, but this post became a casualty of final exam preparation… oops. Seems like pre-scheduling my posts as much as possible in the future to keep them consistent will be my best bet going forward! But moving on…

A couple weeks ago, I woke up to the song Lord I Need You playing in my head, and I couldn’t resist singing it over and over in both my quiet time and in my head throughout the day (isn’t it awesome when the Lord puts a song in your heart? Since He knows my love for music, it’s almost daily for me!). Later that day, I was browsing on Instagram for a study break and happened to visit Sadie Robertson’s profile (she’s the daughter of one of the main people on Duck Dynasty and actually recently published a book, Live Original). Lo and behold, she had just posted a video of the Daraja Children’s Choir singing Lord I Need You at her church that past weekend! Seeing as that was the weekend right before my final exam period began, the song was such a wonderful reminder for me to recognize just how much I need the Lord in my life, in all facets.

Continue reading →

My Thanksgiving

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I had an unconventional Thanksgiving this year (my second one, actually – for the first unconventional one, I was studying abroad in Paris in 2011). I spent the actual holiday in classes, later attending an art show by an American guy who had lived in Dallas for almost 30 years working for the US Department of Defense. The show is always held on Thanksgiving, as it’s his favorite holiday, and to celebrate, there was apple cider and pumpkin pie (and festive Thanksgiving napkins, too!). Thankfully, to cap the night, I got to FaceTime with my whole family back home and enjoy being a part of Thanksgiving there, too. So fun!

Black Friday is when the real dinner was held. My amazing Hungarian teacher, Aniko, offered to host Thanksgiving at her home, and her and her family went above and beyond to make it as homey as possible. They decorated their place with posters that said, “Happy Thanksgiving, Layo!” and baked traditional apple and pumpkin pies for dessert. The rest of my medical group brought traditional foods from their cultures for all of us to share. It was a beautiful night, full of food, laughter, thankfulness, music, great conversation, and lots of hugs. It’s definitely a Thanksgiving for the books – one I’ll never forget. I’m so thankful to be blessed with family and friends such as this, both here and at home. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

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