Expectation vs. Reality

 Picture this: You wake up in the morning feeling refreshed from your night of beauty sleep, you hop out of bed and glance in the mirror; you smile at what you see. You grab an outfit, throw it on, workout, and eat a healthy, filling breakfast before heading out to start your perfect day.

 Sounds nice doesn't it? But you know as well as I do that the "perfect day" doesn't exist. We wake up to our alarm and want to go back to sleep, we have to drag ourselves out of bed and try on a million different outfits before finally deciding on one (ok maybe not everyone tries on a million... ;) ). Workout?? What's that?? Healthy breakfast? You mean the bowl of cereal or granola bar I grabbed on my way out the door?

 Weather it's spilling your coffee, lost keys, a dead car, traffic, annoying co-workers or boss, a fight with a friend or sibling, etc. we all have bad days. We all have struggles. None of us have a "perfect day". Yes, we have good days, we might even have really good days, but we all have bad days. We can try to act like our life is totally put together and perfect but we all know it's not. So you know what the best thing to do is?

Embrace it.

 That's right. Let the real you show. The imperfect, messy, sad, angry, clothes-stained YOU. Let the imperfections show as well as the good. The happy, laughing, pretty, kind, successful, YOU.

 God gave us the good days as well as the bad! And we need to embrace them. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but it will be worth it in the end. I promise you!

 If we never had bad days we wouldn't know how to appreciate the good! If all we had were good days, we'd be used to it and not know any different. We wouldn't appreciate having a good day. We wouldn't be thankful for the good!

 God uses the bad days to teach us things. We might not realize it, but He does! It might just be to remind us to appreciate the good days, or it might be something different! He is using you. And in order to get from point A to point B, we have to have some bad days. It's a part of life.

 We've got to learn to push through, trusting in God as we do so. His plan is the best, even though we may not be able to see it at the moment, one day we'll look back and say, "That's why!"

 We have hope for a better tommorrow, as long as Jesus is a part of it! We can cling to this hope every. single. day. Because Jesus will never leave us. He's with us on the good days and He's with us on the bad days. Always. Never forget that.

 Maybe you're having a bad day, maybe you're having a good day, maybe you're having an "eh" kind of day. Whatever it is, make sure you thank God that you're alive, that He's given you this day to use for His glory, that He is with you, and that He's always been with you and always will.

 Don't forget to remember the little things like just being alive in this moment. It sounds like such a small thing but God has given you LIFE RIGHT NOW!! You're breathing BECAUSE OF HIM!! Every day, thank Him for that! Even if you're having a bad day, remember that better days are coming, that there's a reason for your struggle and, with God's help, you CAN overcome it!

 Jesus loves YOU!!

"Never regret a day in your life: good days give happiness, bad days give experience, worst days give lessons, and best days give memories." -Unknown

"But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." Psalm 59:16

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3-4

Unplanned: Movie Review

Hello friends! I'm back and feeling refreshed! I hope your week is going great!

First of all I want to say that this movie is a MUST SEE! I know it's hard to watch and I know it's rated R... BUT I truly believe it is something people NEED to see!
I read about Unplanned on Plugged In and you can too here: https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/unplanned-2019 .


After reading the review I was a little nervous to watch the movie. The review was definitely thorough. I learned a few things I didn't even know about abortion just by reading the review and let me tell you I was sickened and sad. How can people be so blind to the fact that they're killing babies? Which brings me to the next thing.

Yes, it's rated R. And I know that's a problem for a lot people. BUT! There is a reason. This movie is about abortion. It's about killing babies. That is something for a mature audience. I tend to think that if a movie is rated PG 13, some parents think it's perfectly fine for their little children to watch. If you look at some movies that are rated PG 13, for example, the Marvel movies, I think someone younger than thirteen could watch some of them. I mean there's violence but it's all fake; it's made up. However, I do think caution should be used but I won't get into that now.

The difference is that Unplanned is a REAL story. It's reality! It's the awful truth.

Unplanned is not your typical R rated movie to be sure. But I truly believe it deserved an R rating, even if it is to show people just how TERRIBLE abortion is.

For example, at one point in the movie we see the ultrasound screen during an abortion. We see a baby on that screen and watch as the abortion is performed and the baby is sucked out limb by limb. Awful. Gruesome. Sickening. Horrible. Heart wrenching. How many other words could I come up with? It made me want to jump out of my seat and scream at that doctor. To stop this dreadful act of murder. To end abortion forever. But I couldn't. It was only a movie... but you know what? It's NOT only a movie. It's REALITY! It's the terrible truth of the world we live in! This movie is based off the TRUE story of Abby Johnson. And that scene right there is the main reason I believe it deserved an R rating. We need to realize just how violent and awful abortion is! We need to realize it in a way that will make us get up and DO something about it! How would you like it if you had been aborted? How would you like it if someone ripped you apart limb by limb? Not a pretty picture is it? THAT'S why it's rated R.

This movie also shows us the different forms of protesting. The violent and mean protestors who shout terrible things at the women going into the clinic and then there's the others. The ones who stand quietly and pray, who kindly try to befriend the girls going into the clinic. And THAT is what helped Abby. THAT is what helped other girls and saved so many babies. Prayer. Kindness. Friendliness. If all people did was tell us what we're doing wrong... how would we like it? I can tell you for a fact we wouldn't. Kindness is how we make friends. And friendship is how we build a trust strong enough with someone to help them through a situation like abortion. To kindly tell them what God thinks about it and how they shouldn't go through with it. Prayer is so powerful and it is how we should deal with these things.

Now, I've always believed that abortion is wrong. But this movie made my belief even stronger. Now that I know more about it, now that I know details, it has inspired me so much to stand up against abortion and END IT forever!

All throughout history we can read about people who took a stand against injustices. One example that immediately comes to my mind is the Civil War. People stood up against slavery because they knew it was wrong! They disobeyed the law and became a part of the Underground Railroad, hiding slaves and helping them escape because they knew it was the right thing to do! Well guess what? WE are called to do the same thing TODAY! To stand up for what we believe in! To take a stand against the injustices of the world today! It is no different for us than it was for people in the past. They had to decide for themselves what side they were on and we have to decide too!

So would I recommend this movie? Absolutely! I think everyone needs to see it. Even if you think abortion is okay, please go watch this movie. What harm could it do to watch it?

And for the ones who are against abortion, will you take a stand? Will you raise the voice God has given you to help these babies who can't speak for themselves? The choice is yours.

"For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16

Jesus has a plan for each baby before they are even born! And each one that has been aborted didn't get the chance to live the life God had planned for them. Let's change that!

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." "'As soon as the sounds of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy." Luke 1:41 and 44

Need I say anything? The baby leaped in her womb! The baby was a... baby! Even before he was born!

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute." Proverbs 31:8

God is calling us to speak up for those babies!

"I, even I, am He who blots out transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." Isaiah 43:25

God will forgive you if you have had an abortion. He loves you so much and He wants you to repent and live your life for Him!

How are you going to help end abortion?

　

"I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born." Ronald Reagan