Good morning.

Published on May 26, 2023May 26, 2023 by VelvetLeave a comment

It’s been a little while 🙂

May 26, 2023. I like this day so far <3

In order to get the creative juices flowing, I’m going to post a series of spring photos:

And after posting that one, I realize half of these daisies are dead. Awesome

The above photo is a bit blurry but it does show off my cute wittle teapot and favorite tea cup

I used an AI generator to make this picture of Jesus and I am absolutely amazed at the power of AI to generate images. Wow.

Like, how else would I get this picture of two baby potatoes holding hands under the moonlight?!?!! HAHA! I’m in loooooooove

Dude this is beach sand. Also kinda blurry, sorry, but I was amazed at all of the different colors, shapes and sizes of pebbles that made up the sand at this particular beach. WOW

Need a hand?

The beach is not as far as I think sometimes lol, I should go more often! Actually, here we are at the end of May… June arriving next week…. that means SUMMER sooo yeah I’m going to try on my wetsuit and get rolling. I’m a little nervous to surf cuz it’s been a couple years, but I’m lighter than I was in 2020 and have been doing strength training so I think I’ll be better at surfing this year! #agingbackwards <3

The only thing is…

If I’m for real gonna try and go a few times I need a surf buddy. My previous surf buddy is in a really busy season and won’t be able to accompany me, so I will have to find someone else. And find, I will! LOL my ambition is high when I keep my prize in sight. I should make a vision board with pictures of surfing, and maybe that’ll keep me focused. But also, weighing what my priorities really are… so let’s do that:

Relationship with God
Relationship with my husband
Other relationships with family and friends 🙂
Work work work work
Health and fitness

I mean that’s basically it lol

So now I wanna make a few goals. Always good to have goals so ya not just living a stagnant life. A good way to do this IS to make a vision board – you know what, I’ma do this and put all sorts of inspirational things on it including surf boards, healthy recipes, a picture of someone running and swimming, nature scenes…. I want to go outside for walks more, and go to the beach more… I want to drink lemon water each morning lol, and do good things for my health. I actually had avoided getting sick for over a year (minus a stomach bug) but got a cold recently. DANG lol but ayy one time in a year isn’t too bad.

Long story short, health, wellness, vital relationships, making time for enjoying God’s beautiful creation, working hard but not letting it rule your life… are all things that allow someone to truly live, and not miss all of the life around them!

My husband made me a delicious omelette recently, and went as far to make me a paper rose that he placed on top. He set out coffee and cookies. What a sweetheart.

Guys, if you’re feeling stuck, look at a few pictures in your camera roll and remind yourself of life, good moments. You will feel inspired after doing that. Everything I just wrote and came up with sparked from seeing the picture of the beach waves. It’s too easy to get trapped in our own minds these days and have technology suck the life out of us. Don’t forget about creativity. Don’t forget about using your God-given brain and all of the things you can come up with; plans, goals, ways to bless others… Let’s get out there and LIVE!

Oh yeah, and surround yourself with like-minded individuals. That is SO important. If you spend your time with people who are going nowhere in life, it’ll be much harder to get to the places that you want to go.

Okay, that’s all.
Bye for now!

<3 <3 <3

xxx

Examples of Love

Published on April 21, 2022April 21, 2022 by Velvet2 Comments

If you’re wondering if you really love somebody or if somebody really loves you or ever loved you, here are a few examples that show what love does and Who love is.

Love inquires when a need is present. Do you need help? Do you need anything? How can I help you?

Love reminds. Remember how that makes you feel when you do that. Remember what happened last time.

Love insists and follows through. Can I help you? No, really. Let me help you. Come on. No, it’s okay. It’s no big deal!

Love cares and pursues. How are you doing? How are you really doing? I haven’t heard from you in a while. I miss you.

Love expresses. I love you! I miss you! You mean so much to me. I appreciate you. I value you. I’m proud of you. I’m thankful for you.

Love tells the truth. It hurts me to see you like this. It scares me that you’re involved in this. It’s not a good idea to keep doing that.

Love confesses, apologizes and asks for forgiveness. I’m sorry for what I said to you. I was angry and took it out on you. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?

Love respects time and space. I’m here for you when you’re ready to talk about that.

Love takes no offense. I forgive you.

Love sets boundaries. We can talk about this in a civilized manner. If you’re not willing to do that, we can talk another time.

Love is patient.

Love recognizes that by the grace of God, we are who we are. Love recognizes that anything can happen to anybody; addiction, homelessness, bankruptcy. Even when we work the hardest and do all the “right” things, circumstances out of our control can change all of that effort in a blink.

Love surrenders. Lord, I realize that I have very little control over most of the things in my life. I trust that you are good, and that you will always take care of me as I walk with you and obey your commands. Help me love like you love. Not based on condition, but because You loved me first. My life is in your hands.

Love you all! xoxox <3

Dementia

Published on June 21, 2021June 21, 2021 by VelvetLeave a comment

Good morning, midday or evening to whomever you are, wherever you are. I’m writing from a little cubicle-like 2-person booth at a Panera bread across from a well-educated world traveler. We’re both wearing glasses and have cups of hot coffee in front of us, and even went as far as to order the same breakfast. A bacon, scrambled egg, lettuce and tomato wrap. It’s Monday morning at 10:28am and we’re ready to carpe this diem!

What to do when I’m alongside this new friend of mine is always a mystery. A lottery of the will, really. Whatever she feels like doing in combination with what I feel like doing is what we do. To put that in simpler terms, if I think of something that I want to do, and happen to suggest it in just the right way to get her to agree to this plan, then we’ll do it. Presentation is everything. But if I present the activity in the wrong manner, she will have no interest or desire to join me.

For example. If I say “do you want to go to the movies?” she will promptly say “no”. However, if I say “Oh, wow!! There are actually quite a few decent movies playing right now!” Then her interest will be piqued and I can suggest a title or two and read the descriptions. At that point when her eyebrows are arching and her mouth turns into a slight frown as she contemplates the veracity of how cunning and appealing the descriptions really are, I lead with “I don’t know… do you wanna try it?”. Works every time.

When I want to go for a walk, I say “I’m going for a walk” and then proceed to start getting ready for said walk. She may automatically say “well I’m pissed and do not feel like going for a walk” or she may say nothing at all; but regardless of her response, after a moment or two, I invite her along for the walk with these words: “you’re welcome to come on the walk if you’d like! I’m just going around the block”. At which point she’ll say “oh, sure, I could use the exercise” and proceed to get ready for the walk herself.

Sometimes she just wants to be heard. Sometimes she just wants to go through all of the different thoughts in her head and then say “okay, so what’s the plan?” at which point I’ll respond differently, but usually in ways like this:

“To be honest, I have no plan! I’m just going to find some food at some point! And I have some things I can do. But if you want to do anything, just let me know! See, my friend here doesn’t want to feel like I’m taking care of her. She wants me to be a comrade. She probably would prefer if I were a coworker. She misses her company so much. She misses working so much. And business meetings. And lunch meetings. And setting up new contracts. And facilitating. She did it for 30+ years and had to stop two years go when the dementia set in.

She is stressed out. She’s in a new location and has a new occupation. She wants to be working but it was stripped away from her. The disease stripped her job away from her. Her purpose, as she understands it. Now she spends obscene amounts of time worrying about her company, her 3 different houses and condos, and she worries about why she isn’t in them. She becomes angry over her presence in her daughter’s house and refuses to accept it as her new reality.

All I can do is try to take care of her well. To do things that are good for her body, mind and soul. She loves walking, but won’t agree to it often. Yet when she’s out there doing it, she’s at peace. She loves observing people and engaging with them. She loves analyzing people and trying to understand them. She is very caring and compassionate and cares about justice.

We cannot begin to understand why some people get dementia, and we certainly can’t understand how to help people recover. The best way to treat a person with dementia is with patience and love. You can’t get mad at someone with dementia for asking the same question 100 times in an hour. Or for feeding their cat 4 times in 10 minutes. A sickness is a sickness. A disease is a disease.

So I do what I can. I treat her with respect and try to think of ways to take care of her as best as I can. So we go to Panera. And we do fun things that she enjoys. And we laugh. And I listen to her stories, over and over again. And I listen with interest. And respond with love. And we live one day at a time. One hour at a time. Just trying to savor the moments. Together. She is a person.

Treating people with dignity is the only way to go. No matter how different they are, how much older or younger. What color their skin is. Where they’ve been or where they’re trying to go. Whether they’re sick, disabled, homeless, an ex-gang member, a christian, an atheist, man, woman, child. We are to treat people with love. Dementia doesn’t change that.

The vehicle that dignity drives is love. Love and dignity and respect go together. These three things make life a much more vivid, colorful, warm experience.

xoxox

should christians date nonchristians?

Should christians date nonchristians?

The blue light blocking glasses I use: https://www.pixeleyewear.com/ Save with code “VelvetYoung5”

Download my free guide to 7 healthy habits you can implement today to start feeling better IMMEDIATELY: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5f56b5cd01a6b70026e851ab

Check out my website: www.velvetyoung.com and subscribe to stay updated!

My camera setup:

Camera: https://amzn.to/3h9O6iu

Ring Light: https://amzn.to/3h3Z2y9

Audio Interface: https://amzn.to/2EYe9wl

Condenser mic: https://amzn.to/33a3sif

Headphones: https://amzn.to/335EDUG

Cable: https://amzn.to/3bB7ZOj

Follow me!

https://www.youtube.com/user/skizaref…

https://twitter.com/velvetmeryoung

https://www.instagram.com/velvetmeryo…

https://www.velvetyoung.com

https://www.facebook.com/velvetmeryoung

Dating or Waiting?

Published on July 30, 2019July 25, 2019 by VelvetLeave a comment

Just found this draft from 3 years ago. Good stuff. Enjoy!

I used to think about dating like something that everybody did for fun. Dating for a couple months here and there to hang out with somebody, kiss and hug them, share your life with them. I had my first “boyfriend” in eighth grade. His name was Zach and he was two inches shorter than me. We sat together on the bus on the way to field trips and he took me to the eighth grade semi-formal dance. We met up at an ice-cream social one time and played freeze-tag with some people. His parents picked me up on July 3rd, 2006 to take me to see some fireworks in the next town over. On the way home I kissed him on the lips. I was thirteen. It was not a kiss to write home about. I broke up with him two weeks later because he hadn’t called and didn’t have a cell phone to text me on.

true-love

I dated my second boyfriend two years later. His name was Andrew and he played the guitar. I broke up with him after one month because I met someone else who I shook hands with and left me with an electric feeling.

It was my first “real” relationship, classified as such both by the length of time we were “together”, two and a half years, and the fact that we were in love <3 <3 <3

🙂

I broke up with him two weeks after we both started at the same college. I was seventeen turning eighteen several weeks later.

🙁

Y me pregunto, cual es el punto?! </3 And I ask myself, what’s the point?

As a kingdom-builder, I can no longer justify dating to myself. Dating, without the intention of marriage, is like having a monthly payment for an apartment. It’s sending your money up in smoke without investing in a long-term home that you can profit off of and build upon.

burningbuilding-jpeg

Dating is pouring time and energy into a relationship that doesn’t promise long-lasting results. “We’ll see how things go” is the attitude that most people have. Play it by ear. Take things one day at a time.

Modern dating can be defined as having a relationship with someone that resembles marriage but doesn’t require commitment. Boyfriends and girlfriends often share their families, bodies, money, time, friendships and other aspects of their lives with each other. But they do such things on absolutely no time-line, with no purposeful direction, and with no promised intent of marriage.

As a kingdom-builder, I’ma have to call out dating as NON-PROFITABLE.

God created sex, love and marriage for us, as His children, to enjoy. But it’s allllllll about the timing. There’s a time-line for each of our lives with perfect places for these beautiful creations…. Sex, love and marriage will serve us the best, and allow us to thrive within these roles if we engage in them at the right time.

There’s nothing worse than bad timing.

Did I need to have a boyfriend at age 13?

Age fifteen?

17?

This isn’t about making anyone feel bad who is dating without the intent of marriage. This is me, a 24 (almost 26 now!)(almost 27 now actually 😀 ) year old woman, sharing with y’all my life and the choices I would’ve made if I knew better.

If you are in a relationship, ask yourself and your s/o these questions:

Is our time and energy with each other going up in smoke or are we investing in building a life-long kingdom together
Are we ready to be in a relationship together or should we wait until a more appropriate time
Are we becoming better or worse versions of ourselves with this relationship
What about our relationship helps us grow emotionally and spiritually
What do we have to show for the kingdom of our relationship so far
What foundation are we building our kingdom on
Are we on the same page about where this relationship is going
Do we have a direction that the relationship is moving in
What determines how serious our relationship is; sex or commitment to be married

pinky-love

waiting

If you aren’t in a relationship, consider this:

When it comes to love and comes to dating

the true magic lies in the waiting

Why practice short term relationships?

when things in life that mean the most to us

are built o v e r t i m e

on solid foundations.

Set your standards high, beautiful people. You are worth the wait!

🙂

Dating or waiting?

xoV

why is it hard to say i miss you

Published on July 27, 2019July 25, 2019 by VelvetLeave a comment

It shouldn’t be so hard.

But I guess you don’t miss me.

Though your actions suggest that you do.

Your words (mostly) suggest that you do.

You notice that I was “miss”-ing.

Though you couldn’t say the words

I miss you

Haste makes waste. I’m always saying this stinkin’ phrase. But then I want everything to happen within a certain time frame.

I do it to myself. HURRY UP HURRY UP

Oh God, why is this way in me?

I guess I’m conditioned to think that if at first you don’t express yourself the way that makes me feel loved, I fear you never will. But love grows

love grows

and we learn to love people properly.

“I’m just not a loving person” someone says.

We learn to love.

Not everyone feels loved the same way, so we must learn to love them the way they need to be loved.

Just like I shouldn’t expect someone to tell me the words that I want to hear. I want to hear that I was missed. I want to hear that it was you that missed me. I want you to be bold enough to say it.

But maybe you aren’t ready. And I can’t force you to say it. I don’t WANT to force you to say it. I just can’t help comparing you to others in the past. The way they said exactly the right words. The way they loved and made me feel special. The way they knew how to love.

I am missing it. That’s why we aren’t supposed to awaken love until its’ proper time. But I thought those more recent times were the appropriate times to

I found this in my drafts. I read someone else’s blog post about a draft they found, so I thought I’d share this one. Cheers! <3 xoxo V

early to bed…

Published on July 18, 2019 by VelvetLeave a comment

early to rise!

Definitely a good cycle to be in! I much prefer it. Wednesday-Saturday night I can pretty much get to bed by 10 if I want to. 😀 Hmm actually tonight may be more like 11. Still not bad.

But I’m up now. I actually woke up for the first time around 4:45am. And then again at 615ish. I got up at 6:30ish. Had a nice time of adoration and prayer in candlelight. Made coffee and some breaffffffast. And now am talking to y’all.

To collect my current thoughts regarding a situation I am in:

Do not fear people. Do not live to please people.

Stick to your convictions and do not conform to other people’s morals just to get them to like you.

Do not run from confrontation. Stick it out through the fire and talk it out.

Get to the bottom of the issue, apologize if necessary, even if the reason for your apology is that the other person has to go through something and not necessarily because it’s your fault.

Ask how you can help or change or do better if necessary.

Look to God for His peace and ask Him for it. Ask and you shall receive O children of God! 🙂

Talk to God about what to do before talking to other people about what to do. Ask God for wisdom in what to say or not say.

After prayer and reading the bible, then talk to other people. I can always do better at this one.

*something happens.

*calls BFF #VENTSESHBEGINS

Not always the best idea.

Lastly, always look to God. Whatever situation you’re going through is a flicker in time. A blink. And it soon shall pass. And when the trial ends, you shall be more like gold. <3

Lord, I thank you for this hiccup. I thank you for this chance to forgive somebody who is acting unreasonable. Lord I pray that you would come them down. I pray that you would soften their heart. I pray that you would open their eyes to the heart of the issue: their feeling of not being in control, frustration for the way that cards have been dealt, and tendency to point the finger. Lord I pray that your Holy Spirit would infiltrate their heart in the name of Jesus. I pray that you would change them from the inside out, because you alone have the power to change hearts. Thank you for loving me abundantly and without condition. Thank you for always drawing me closer to Yourself and reminding me of your endless power. Amen.

xxx

hello writing world

Published on June 1, 2019 by VelvetLeave a comment

Again, I say hello.

I’m not sure what all I’m going to write about in this post.

Perhaps loneliness. It seems that as I dwell on the fact that I’m now single I get sad. But when then I remember the why part of my single state and then am quite humbled and the sadness quickly dissipates.

See, this guy and I were never meant to be more than buds. Buddies. Pals.

00buddyguy

Ha ha yoooo

I used to watch South Park back in high school when I was a stoner and smoked lots of pot. Those days are far behind me, praise God. BUT this episode always cracked me up.

Anyway.

I was just about to type something along the lines of: “when you meet your future husband/wife, it’ll be like magnetism. You just won’t be able to get enough of that person”. But no, that’s definitely not always true. A friend of a friend didn’t like the man she ended up marrying a year and a half (or something like that) years later.

Love is unpredictable.

I was hopeful with this one. I am hopeful with all of them. It’s a blessing and a curse. People advised me against this one, but I didn’t listen. I hoped and believed it would work. Things would get better.

And some things did get better… but other things remained the same, and still others rose to the surface.

But that’s life. And I know I am about half to blame. I chose things that weren’t good for me. I acted in ways that were selfish. I didn’t keep proper boundaries around resting enough. As a result I was extra emotional because of how tired I was.

However.

I didn’t feel like I could trust this dude fully. I know I wasn’t the only girl that he was talking to and that was a problem for me. Now guys, before you jump down my back and say “WOW DUH FOOL YA SHOULD DUMPED HIS BUTT FROM THE START *@&#$*&#” hear this: I had grace for him. He and I had different beliefs about guys and girls being able to be friends or not (I think not) and had never dated before. So it was a……………………. learning experience. For both of us. I learned that in my future relationship, I don’t want to date someone with no dating experience. But actually, that isn’t even a problem. The problem was really that he wasn’t ready to pursue a marriage. He wasn’t ready to commit to one woman for the rest of his life. He didn’t realize what that truly meant, and it was obvious.

One of my favorite quotes when it comes to godly dating is this:

“one day, when you’re chasing God with all your heart, you’re going to look over one day and see your future man running just as hard after God as you are”.

I can’t remember who said it for the life of me. And that also isn’t the exact quote. But the concept remains the same.

Chase God.

Seek God.

If you’re a christian, your future husband or wife has to seek and value God above you and your relationship.

God has to be number one.

The fellow whom I just got out of a relationship with was a believer, but wasn’t walking closely with the Lord. In other words, he wasn’t seeking the Lord with his whole heart or prioritizing his relationship with the Lord. And when a person is not right with God, other things in life don’t line up either.

Not saying even if he were right with the Lord we were right for each other. I can’t say that about before and I can’t say that now because only God knows. Part of me wants to sit around and mull it over in my mind a million different ways to comfort myself. Fact of the matter is, the cards played out the way that they did, and the Holy Spirit said “no”. The Holy Spirit said “it’s not right”. The Holy Spirit said “it’s time for y’all to end this thang.

And so I did. Reluctantly, but I still did.

And feel more at peace than I have in a long time.

I’m also thanking God because this fellow is seeking the Lord hard now. I praise God for this, and pray that he continues to seek the Lord hard for the rest of his days.

There is still a part of me that hopes it might work out. But God will be the judge of that. He is the one who brings people together, and it will be Him who brings my future husband and I together; whomever it may be.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. <3

So now I go. And sip chardonnay. And read books that are good for my soul. And maybe eat the neglected piece of bread that I forgot to eat with my dinner of fried eggs and sauteed mushrooms and onions.

8:00pm. Too early for bed. This night owl has to hoot and holler for at least 3 more hours before I’ll be tired enough for bed. I’ve definitely gotten into the routine. Tomorrow’s gonna be a late one too.

So I bid thee farewell. And urge you, dear reader, to talk about your feelings with your partner as you’re feeling them. Communicate what’s wrong, communicate what’s right. Talk about what you could do better, talk about the direction you both are going in together.

Whether you’re dating or married, the goal is oneness. Unity. Two becoming one.

I may have just gulped that last bit of chard. Ahh, there’s always more. Or maybe a break would be beneficial to my emotional state of mind. P’haps a nice walk.

I just ate the bread. Plain. With no butter or honey or jam.

This post is just going to get more and more boring if I continue on. I MUST end it immediately!

Thanks for reading.

Arrivederci

🙂

minutes tick by

Published on May 31, 2019 by VelvetLeave a comment

and I check to see if you have messaged me back.

Why should I?

Habit, I suppose. I’ve gotten used to hearing from you often. And now that I’m not hearing from you as much, I miss you.

I miss hearing your notification sound go off. I don’t think I ever told you, but you had your own sound. A special tone that told me who it was. It was you.

Though I don’t hear it often anymore. Yet I’ll admit, whenever I do, my heart does a little flip. I perk up a bit and get excited.

I read your messages and miss you more.

I’m holding onto hope, I realize. Could it work out between us in the future? Could there ever be a future for us? Romantically, of course. Dating-wise, of course. A high-functioning, partnering, Christ-like relationship.

I don’t know. All I know is that it isn’t now. Now was not right. The Holy Spirit was convicting me whenever we were apart, that that’s where we were to stay.

It was when we were together that I was confused. I liked what I saw and I liked what I felt, and I convinced myself that the Holy Spirit must have been lying. God must have been bending the truth.

I even believed that it wasn’t God at all who was speaking to me to end things. I convinced myself that it was hormones. It must’ve been my body that was all jacked up, and that is why I keep going back and forth about breaking up with you.

Lord Jesus… how come so much of your daily mercies go unnoticed, yet your mercy comes alive to me better when you allow me to go thru a trial such as this? I wish your sovereignty would have prevented me from ever dating this person. I wish your hand would’ve prevented me from getting close to him and starting to care about him. Though there’s no going back now. There’s only forward moving. Either forward moving, or staying in one place. I choose to go forward in faith.

What now?

I’ll tell you where I can’t live. That’s in a place of doubt. In a place where I keep wondering if I did the right thing

Pause

Can you believe that I just checked my messages in the middle of typing this post?

And even backed up and read old message exchanges too?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wwwwwwwwwwwwwwell.

Ha :/

10:11. Believe it or NAWHT I’m going to bed right now.

Goodnight everyone. Turn off your phone and unplug for a while. It does the mind & body good <3

xxx

the union of marriage

Published on May 27, 2019May 27, 2019 by VelvetLeave a comment

I am grieving the loss of a relationship. One that I really wanted to work out. And now I’m sad.

Sad that he didn’t make me feel like the only one.

Disappointed that I hoped so much that that would change.

Sad that I won’t be hearing from him regularly anymore.

Disappointed that I didn’t stop it before it got to this point.

Sad that my own disobedience is what got me here.

Sad that I’ve dated so many people in the past that I have expectations of what I’m looking for in a man and how I want to be treated. Ignorance is bliss, but I’m not ignorant to this.

But on the same hand, he isn’t ready. He never was ready to commit to one person. One woman. One wife. He wasn’t ready to become one with another person.

That’s what marriage is all about. Becoming one. The union of marriage is two people coming together and choosing one another over everyone else. Marrying one person is saying I will love you and serve you and choose you everyday for the rest of my life.

It’s not being enticed by other people. It’s recognizing that every person is made in the image of God and has ups and downs, pros and cons, flaws. Every person has a beautiful soul and mind given to them by God.

Choosing to love just one person means wanting to know them from the inside out. It’s getting to know their heart. It’s focusing on only them. It’s not putting your eggs in several different baskets in case it doesn’t work out. It’s putting your heart on the line and trusting and believing that the person you’re giving your heart to will love you back.

Lord Jesus, I am so sorry and sad that I disobeyed you and tried to make my own way with this individual. You didn’t want me to go that day because you knew he wasn’t right for me. I injected myself into his life and tried to change him and save him and make him fit for me and it didn’t work. And now I am so, so sad. Your Holy Spirit is a rescuer. You rescued me and challenged me to obey you this weekend. And so last night I did. I broke it off with him. It was time. Oh Lord. Thank you for rescuing me. For caring for me. For showing me the way in which I should go.

Lord I pray for clarity. I ask you to give me clarity in Jesus’ name. To help me see you in this situation. Reveal anything to me that I need to work on, confess for, repent of, and work towards. I am your vessel and recognize that I am not my own. Help me to serve you better and seek Your kingdom and Your righteousness first and foremost.

Amen.

xxx