can't no preacher man save my soul

My good friend Courtney, whom I am so jealous of as she is studying Victorian literature in Aberdeen, Scotland, introduced me to the band The Civil Wars. I'm loving their album Barton Hollow.

Я знаю что такое любовь.

It's hard to believe that two years ago today I was in Kazan, Russia. I explored Russian Orthodox churches, visited the Qolşärif mosque, bought a kilo of dried apricots at an open market, secretly took pictures of metro art, and visited Tolstoy's alma mater.

February 14th, 2009, is one of my favorite memories. Several university students were celebrating St. Valentine's Day with balloons and candy, while encouraging passersby to sign their names to this poster in the square.

"Я знаю что такое любовь. да? нет?"

 

I know what love is. Yes? No?

да. Yes.

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins." - 1 John 4:10

"Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

when the period of warfare comes

"When the period of warfare comes, we are overwhelmed by thoughts and cares of all sorts. This is when we must turn to the Lord in our hearts and keep silence. If we cannot abandon the thought that is bothering us immediately then we must keep silence. We should not think about anything. It is not ours to think. The Lord knows what we can take and what we cannot. Then, when we are in silence and our mind is quiet, we should give it something to do so that it will not wander. We should pray. Let the mind pray from the heart. Thus, gradually we will become accustomed to prayer, and prayer will become a habit to us, just like any task that we learn to perform. Pray in this manner, without words, and when the Lord sees our endeavors, when He sees that we seek Him and wish to be with Him in all eternity, then He will give us strength, and the heart then will dwell in constant prayer. Then we will do our work while listening to the prayer in us."

- Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica from Our Thoughts Determine our Lives

than any terrible possible scenario

Thanks to my sis-in-law Tacy, who reminded me of how encouraging JJ Heller's music is. :)

"Save Me"

You tell me life will not be pain free
What will be will always be in Your control
Darkness is light to You
And all You ask me to do
Is trust what You say is true

You are stronger
Than any terrible possible scenario today
Come and save me
You're the only source of all the peace I need
Come and save me

good and kind thoughts

"Our thoughts can be very penetrating, and they have great power...We can help others only if we have good and kind thoughts. If we have thoughts about correcting the faults of others, that is like hitting them. No matter how close a person is to us, he will slip away from us because we have dealt him a blow with our thoughts. And we believe that thoughts are nothing!"

- Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica from Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives

the choice-driven life

This is the story of a Linda Couri. She used to work for Planned Parenthood, and in this talk, she shares the story of how she became pro-life. This is a beautiful story of hope and grace.

Click here to listen.