i'm not a photographer.

i'm just a girl in need of a trip to anthro

because CLEARLY i use my candle a bit too much :)

Matthew 6

Giving to the Needy

¹"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

²"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,⁴so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer

⁵"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹Give us today our daily bread.
¹²Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]}' ¹⁴For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Fasting

¹⁶"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Treasures in Heaven

¹⁹"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²²"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.²³But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Do Not Worry

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^{b]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[b]}?

²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

i need to start documenting more of my cooking journeys but i made a great quick vegetarian dish last week. it was a variation of my step-mother's dish and it tasted pretty good. i didn't really use any measuring cups for anything so use your own discretion. :)

1. MorningStar Original (not Prime *yuck*) Grillers
2. Red, green, and yellow bell peppers (sliced up)
3. Your choice of seasonings (black pepper, onion powder, paprika, etc.)
4. Soy sauce
5. Ketchup
6. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
7. you can always add more veggies like onions, carrots, zucchini, etc.)

cut the grillers in halves or fourths (whichever works for you). mix the EVOO, ketchup, water and soy sauce in a large pan. don't put too much water because you want the sauce to be somewhat thick. put it all the other ingredients in the large pan, cover and let it simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes.

simple, easy, and a hit at potlucks :)

there's this guy i know. i feel so bad for him because he's such a slacker and everyone knows it. why he refuses to change, i'm not sure. the fact that he refuses to change makes me feel like something is really mentally wrong. most people want to go out and make something of themselves. it's a great feeling to be able to provide for yourself. for those who don't care to work hard and make an honest living, i wonder. it's different for men than it is for women because i think that a lot of people look at women as the ones who need to be taken care of and it's somewhat socially acceptable for a woman to live at home till marriage (not feeling that for real but it is what it is). whereas if a man doesn't go out and find a job and his own place, he's not a man. my question is this: those people who watch life go by, don't work, don't strive for anything but mediocrity, live off parents when they're fully capable of taking care of themselves, make countless excuses for constantly mooching, make excuses period, are these people plagued by personality disorders? or are is it an extreme case of laziness?
now, i'm not talking about folk like myself who have been unemployed and forced to move back home due to the economic state. that's happening literally everywhere. i'm grateful it's just me and that i don't have a husband and kids to support like many many others out there. but even still, though there's a recession, there's always something to do. i was able to get freelance work and i'm also in school. even if you subtract the financial aspect, why not find a way to develop yourself? learn a new program, learn how to forecast, pick up an instrument, learn to cook, read the Bible.
at the end of the day, are there more people than we think with personality disorders that prevent them from being "successful" or better yet, self-sufficient? Or...are people just lazy?