Beautiful Song! By Lacey Sturm called “The Reason”

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Listen to the song here

“All my life I searched for something
To satisfy the longing in my heart
But everytime I come away emptier than before

And now I finally see the reason
Because I was made to be yours alone
I’m giving you my life, so take me
‘Cause I could never live without you now
I’m giving you my life so take me
‘Cause I could never live without you now

There were times I cried myself to sleep at night
Only to wake up wishing that I didn’t

And now I finally see the reason
Because I was made to be yours alone
I’m giving you my life, so take me
‘Cause I could never live without you now
I’m giving you my life so take me
‘Cause I could never live without you now

Thank you for never giving up on me!
When I looked to everything else but you
You bled and you died to be with me!
Why would you do something like that
For someone like me?

And now I finally see the reason
Because I was made to be yours alone
I’m giving you my life, so take me
‘Cause I could never live without you now
I’m giving you my life so take me
‘Cause I could never live without you now

Now I finally see the reason
Because I was made to be yours alone”

Roe v Wade – 41 years later

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I am pro-life and I don’t back down from my stance. Over the last few months I have been doing a lot of research on abortions and what they entail. I was absolutely horrified at how an abortion is actually executed. Normally includes dismembering body parts to get the baby out. Sometimes the baby is breathing when first extracted. We would never imagine such a horrific death on anyone, yet millions are executed every day because of the “inconvenience” that there existence would pose on the mother’s life.

As pro-life as I am, I am also rational. To eradicate abortions people need to step up to adopt. Adoption needs to become more accessible and the stigma of an unwanted pregnancy needs to be eradicated. And this change needs to start in the church.

A few weeks ago a lady enlightened me saying abortion will never be illegal until the church can accept a pregnant women asking for forgiveness in the same manner as a women who had an abortion asking for a forgiveness. The church needs to step up and embrace the women who need our help. There are many obstacles that women face (especially when in high school or college) that creates a feeling of despair and lack of options. T

The church needs to step up and be responsible, creating innovative ways to help that manifest in meaningful solutions. Rather than just saying “abortion is murder” making women feel horrible and alone. We should be embracing these women and creating options that not only save the baby, but also the mother and her future.

Land of the Living – Roo Panes

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Grace Hatton the Author's Blog

In short this song is beautiful. But more than that its aspiring and motivates me to actually live. From what I can tell Roo Panes is a relatively unknown British artist, but trust me once you’ve heard this song you won’t be able to stop listening to him. I dare say he might be the next Ed Sheeran.

 

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Everyone Should Volunteer….

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Once I graduated from College I realized I had a lot of time on my hands, and while I am taking a year off before going to graduate school I decided to volunteer. I honestly thought it would be difficult to volunteer, with a lot of hoops to jump through. But it was actually really simple. I found somewhere that I would like to know more about/potential career path and emailed them.

“26% of Americans volunteer at some point each year”

The place I volunteer is a crisis pregnancy center, they give free pregnancy tests, counseling, ultrasounds, and material services (clothes, diapers, formula, etc..) I wasn’t sure how I could be of use, but I found my own way of helping the center, I volunteer one day a week, in the morning i am kind of the receptionist helping clients when they come in, getting materials and giving information. In te afternoon I have begun to build a database for them. All there information is held on paper with no backups online. I absolutely love creating databases so I offered to build one. Volunteering is honestly giving me the same experience as if i was doing an internship, without all the hassle of filling out paperwork each week.

If you are interested in a certain field, you should volunteer. It is very rewarding, I wish I could volunteer in more sectors. It also looks amazing on your resume…

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Reasons to Study Abroad (Part 2)

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2. Boost your Self-Confidence and Independence

When I went on my first study abroad it was my first time really leaving my family, it was difficult at first not knowing where everything was and being in a country with such a language barrier. The first couple of weeks we were treated like tourists and shuffled around the city in herds so that we understood where most things were and definitely where the college was and how to get there.

After the first couple of weeks of “vacation” we were left on our own.

This is when we realized all the things we needed that we never thought about before, like a LAN router, cell phones, calling cards, where to buy groceries, subway cards and so on.

The next couple of weeks were based on becoming very independent, we relied on each other and the students around us to try and work out day-to day dealings. You didn’t have the ability to call home and ask Mum. This in itself grows independence and self-confidence because you accomplish little things every day and you’re proud of yourself.

When studying abroad you find that people everywhere want to talk to you, in China it was because I was a different ethnicity, they could tell without talking to me that I was from somewhere else and they wanted to get to know me. In Australia people wanted to talk to you because of your accents.

It was very different from the American culture where people do not really talk to each other.

It was very refreshing and boosted my self-confidence because it made me feel as people really wanted to know about me. And my introverted personality would never normally allow me to go up to someone and strike a conversation, so everyone coming up to me and striking up a conversation,  allowed me to break out of my shyness and enjoy talking to people.

To this day, although still introverted, I am no longer shy.

I will talk to anyone about anything. Studying abroad allowed me to break out of my shyness and create a self confidence that will be with me for the rest of my life

Top 10 Reasons to Study Abroad (Part 1)

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I saw this post today from “A student Guide to Study Abroad” and I wanted to put my two cents into the conversation. I’m going to do a blog post on each top 10 reasons throughout the week and how the reason relates to my study abroad experiences. I was actually lucky enough to go to China and Australia.

Learn about yourself and become more self-aware

During my two semesters abroad I had very different experiences on both. My first semester abroad to China it was the biggest culture shock of my life. Not because China was so very different from America but because China was so very different from my perception. I expected to get into China and see a country far behind the USA. But in actuality Shanghai was a thriving metropolis. I came to the realization that I judged before I had seen.

Something I regret the most about China was that I was in a relationship while on a study abroad. I feel like I robbed myself of a few experiences of finding out about the country and myself because In the back of my mind I was always thinking about time zones and when I could Skype my boyfriend next. Although my body was in China a lot of the time my mind was in America, which wasted a lot of precious time.

I would advise to try not be in a relationship while studying abroad. It sucks for both parties because you are not able to take advantage of all the amazing things around you, and your significant other could get resentful as they are doing the same day-to-day experiences while you are having the experiences of a lifetime.

In Australia it was a much more self-searching experience. My boyfriend and I actually broke up a few months after I came back from China. It was horrible break up and the 4 months away really gave me the time to meet new people and understand who I was without the relationship. Because no one tells you that once you break up with someone you also break up with a lot of people who were your friends due to being your boyfriend’s friend. Australia was a life-changing experience because I was able to really take advantage of all the opportunities around me. I was not thinking of people back home as much, because I knew my true friends would still be there when I got back. And the friends I made in Australia are my friends for a lifetime because I had more time to cultivate those relationships.

Study Abroad is one the greatest opportunities to discover the REAL you. You can be whomever you wish! It’s the most liberating feeling in the world to really know who you are. Study abroad helped me to become the happiest person I could imagine.