When Your Past Doesn’t Define You. How God writes redemption into even the most broken beginnings… There are women who wear their past like a scarlet letter — visible, loud, hard to hide. Maybe not in how they dress or speak, but in how they carry shame. Regret. The feeling of being disqualified. The whispers…
Category: loving self
The Ugly Side of Boundaries
No one really talks about the awkward, uncomfortable, slightly soul-crushing part of setting boundaries — especially with the people you love. It’s supposed to be this healthy, empowering thing. And it is. But sometimes, it also feels like breaking your own heart a little. Because the moment you stop saying “yes” to everything, the people…
God-Given Identity
The Blessing of Our True God-Given Identity In a world that constantly tells us who we should be—louder, thinner, smarter, more successful—it’s no wonder so many of us wake up wondering who we truly are. We search for meaning in titles, approval in relationships, validation in likes and follows, and value in performance. And yet,…
Love Shouldn’t Cost You Yourself
There’s a hard truth many of us learn only after we’ve been bruised by love: You cannot change someone by loving them harder. Maybe you’ve been there—giving all you had, hoping your unconditional love would be enough to soften their words, change their actions, or finally make them see your worth. You stayed quiet to…
Dear Me,
Wow! Happy Birthday! Can you believe you’re fifty-five? Where do I start? Today marks a new beginning for you. Only time will tell how it’ll move forward, but it’s a step that you have to take. You deserve it. When you first moved here with no family around, you stepped courageously into the unknown. How…
What’s Your Love Language?
If you look up the meaning of love, it is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection. But what you do with that intense feeling of deep affection is what really shows love, at least in my humble opinion. Saying you love someone is easy. Showing that love is another story. My father’s love…
Our Kintsugi
Nowadays, we have all kinds of applications and filters to make everything look good, perfect, and unblemished. We have everything we can use to hide our flaws and everything else that we think of as imperfections. Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken pottery with gold, highlighting the cracks rather than hiding them. It symbolizes…
Drained
I find myself looking for “drained” quotes to somehow find answers to how I am feeling the past several weeks. As I scroll through some famous quotes, I realized that none can define how I am feeling right now. Which proves that our situations vary and our feelings are our own. Perhaps, I have been…
Seasons
When I look up the meaning of seasons, the words that stand out aside from the obvious are: Results of the earth’s CHANGING position. To SEASON to taste. To make wood SUITABLE for use. To season wood. As you can see, no matter what it refers to, changes need to happen. The same goes with…
Your Oubaitori
Have you heard of the word Oubaitori? Oubaitori is an ancient Japanese idiom that comes from the kanji for the four trees (cherry blossoms, plum, peach and apricot) that blooms in spring. Each flower blooms in its own time and the meaning behind the idiom is that we all grow and bloom at our own…
Charina.Writes 