Monday, March 2, 2015

3 things I secretly did for pleasure that interfered with my relationship with God (+ &100 J.Crew giveaway)


1. Drink wine.

Surviving a long week of school, work and all other necessary evils, can feel like quite the accomplishment. Every single Friday. The joy of finally getting home from your last real obligation on a Friday evening is like Top 5 Best Feelings. All time.



At one point, I had a Friday night ritual. Grab a glass of wine, usually cold…usually white, relax and watch a *show. (*can also be replaced by: any other activity that does not require brain power.)

I didn't see anything wrong with drinking wine and I had lots of reasons:

1. Before I got saved, I drank much worse. - Wine is nothing compared to hard liquor, am I right? And the way I used to have it up, I know I could never get drunk off wine. Pshhhh. Can wine even get you drunk?




2. I don't drink it every day.
3. It tastes good.
4. It has no effect on me.
5. I'm 21.
6. Chill out, even Jesus drank wine.
7. Don't judge me.




But eventually I had to ask myself? (Ok. Someone had to ask me. Whatever.) What is wine really adding to your life? Could having it in your kitchen cause others to stumble? What are you really, like truly trying to get out of an "innocent" glass of wine?

My answers to these questions shocked me. Wine was only adding headaches to my life. Alcoholism is real and I have a lot of guests over that I would never want to tempt. 

And- I was getting a buzz off wine.



Sure I was allowed to drink wine, but it wasn't bringing me any closer to God. 



It was actually separating me from God because I was turning to it as a way to relieve stress, or take the edge off an exhausting week when I should have turned to Him.

It took God's love, comfort & grace to break this habit, but ultimately God used it to allow me to draw nearer to Him and looking back…that's exactly what I asked for.


2. Listen to oldies but goodies and feel good music.

You know, those old "love" songs that you couldn't forget all the words to if you had the little memory eraser thingy from Men in Black.


Or the ones that mention God or have some other positive or at least "non-negative" message. Yeah those ones.

So, I learned that when I pray scripture, my prayers are like one thousand million times more effective than when I just pray randomness. The problem I had with praying scripture was that…I didn't know enough.

I know that God, who as a man on earth named Jesus, was tempted by ALL things. Therefore, His Word must make at least some reference to all things. So that should pretty much cover all my prayer points.



I realized that I need my mind to be focused on Christ and all things pertaining to Him and what better way to do so than to only listen to music that clearly and without question, glorifies Him alone.

Not to mention, old "love" songs could take me to a weird emotional place that had more of an effect on me than I wanted to admit. I am pretty sure if I still listened to those songs today, they would negatively impact my relationship with my fiancĂ© and would have made it more difficult for me to meet him and accept him. 

No man of God is looking for an emotionally wrecked wino.



3. Watch too many TV shows.

Scandal is not the only show planting seeds of destruction in our hearts. Scandal is just the only show that was generous enough to give us a heads up in the title. Come to think of it, thanks Scandal.


You gave discernment the day off.

For that reason, I've never watched Scandal, but I have watched some less obviously scandalous shows that lead me to some false realities. 

I started thinking it was perfectly fine to handle situations by freaking out at first, and saying whatever I wanted to say.



Similar to music, watching too many unedifying TV shows can really have an effect on the way you see things. What's on TV, especially on reality shows, is not real.

God showed me that there are actually edifying things to watch out here. Like Chase God TV aka What is Joe Doing? He is an extremely talented man of God with a serious grace to make videos for our Christian viewing pleasures.

So basically I was this confrontatonal, emotional wino.



----- END -----



I teamed up with some amazingly beautiful women of God to bring you a chance to win $100 to J.Crew. No big deal.

My honorable, awesome, stylish sister in Christ, Downtown Demure , made this whole thing possible. Her modest fashion blog has helped me tremendously in the style department.
So when you win, thank her :)


Here are the ladies and the links to their blogs.



And their respective links:

The Everyday Elegance -- Coffee with Summer -- Eyeliner & Erasers 
Downtown Demure -- Primarily Inspired -- She Lives Free



a Rafflecopter giveaway

May the odds be ever in you favor! Hehe. Happy entering people!

41 comments :

  1. This is a wonderful, wonderful post! Thank you so much for sharing! I'm definitely giving you a hearty "Amen!".

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  2. Israel Jawuan IbidapoMarch 2, 2015 at 8:56 AM

    Love this!

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  3. Holly!!!!! like this is so perfect! like im literally sitting here, eating an orange reading my memoir..lol i definitely agree on the TV..heck the WHOLE THING! lol..this is nothing but the truth, absolutely love this post!

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  4. As always i enjoyed my read!!! As far as the sweet gift card oppurtunity I would probably give it to someone as a gift.

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  5. ...prolly your best post thus far. #ThumbsUp

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  6. Yeah that's pretty exciting. Thanks :)

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  7. I enjoyed your post so much! I definitely have an issue with watching too much tv! Probably because I prefer to be at home. What do I do at home? Watch too much tv!

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  8. Haha Toyin! I'm only speaking from experience so I can definitely relate :)

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  9. I love this Holly! Thank you!

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  10. Ah!! I've been following Summer on Tumblr for over a year. What a small world! So glad to see you connected Holly!

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  11. Amen to this whole post, Holly! Thank you for keeping it real. Many of the "harmless" activities we do are more destructive than we care to recognize and not edifying in any way. You've reminded me to purge some music + TV I've been selfishly holding onto.


    Also, you are TOO kind, and I'm so glad you're a part of the giveaway. I REALLY want to enter myself, but...it's probably not ethical for the host to enter. *pouts*

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  12. Thank you so much Kris. Love ya girl!

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  13. Liz- awww conviction actually makes me feel special, like God is so concerned with me that He had to say something lol. & darn ethics.

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  14. I was just thinking about the love song point! My iTunes library is filled with instrumentals, "breakup", or nonsense songs, but lacking in the love song department. I kept thinking about how love songs do bring you to this place of "I NEED love and admiration from another human!", in the same way that romantic movies and tv shows can. I've started cleaning out the romantic love in my life, because that room belongs to God. Those few that remain need to leave!


    Very true points! You're so helpful with my walk! ^.^

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  15. Kiera :) You're always coming by with so much positivity, encouragement and transparency! I love your point about needing admiration from another human…so true! Thank you :) I appreciate ya!

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  16. Wow this post is the realest. So on point! Btw I would have it all the way up in J.Crew!

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  17. You reading me heart Holmes.

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  18. You mean "we" would have it all the way up! XD

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  19. I definitely respect you for taking the steps you felt you needed to take. The only thing I would add is: be careful. I love your heart, but just make sure your caution doesn't become legalism (it happens to the best of us). Many times, we write off things that God never wrote off. BUT, that being said, I recently stopped watch "Friends" for the same reason, so I understand completely. :) Thank you for sharing! <3


    Kristin // The Peculiar Treasure
    athisfeetdaily.blogspot.com

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  20. Also, I hope I didn't offend you. I only added that because it is something that I myself struggle with, and thought it may be beneficial.

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  21. Haha Kristin! Nope not at all :) So true, it's so important to hear God's voice.

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  22. I believe as long as you have control and are mindful of the moment in itself, there is no harm done. I feel God is within and that his will is done as long as I am completely in tune and mindful of all emotions, thoughts, and actions.

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  23. I don't trust myself enough! LOL I have to be in tune with the Holy Spirit, my thoughts, emotions and actions could have me doing some wild stuff haha…just saying.

    Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    And lean not on your own understanding;

    [Proverbs 3:5]

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  24. Hey Holly, I have been catching up today on the blogs because my ipad is broke, and I was wondering if you announced the winner of the first giveaway.

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  25. This aint' nothing but the truth lol =))

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  26. Hey Des! Yeah I did :( Sherrice & Tiffany Simms were two of the winners, the other was someone I didn't know lol I have another one going on now though!

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  27. Ok, I really want to enter into the next one.

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  28. Wow. Okay, 1. I love you. haha This is my first time ever coming across your blog and I so so appreciate the transparency, woman! Your blog is a beautiful thing - I love how you keep it funny (esp with that hilarious title) but you still keep it true to God.

    I'm not yet 21 and so I didn't do the alcohol to relieve stress thingy but I love what was revealed to you from doing so. It separated you from God when God is the ultimate stress reliever! I also feel ya with the feel good music. I often say I rather listen to that music then today's to almost justify it. And then the television point, oh girl! I felt like I was "good" too since I was aware of the "scale" of what's spiritually okay, semi-okay, and definitely not okay. I think I'm making sense lol but my point is...you're awesome! Keep up the good work. God bless!



    http://adornedinarmor.com

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  29. Hey Tarah! Thank you so much for all of the kind words. I really do hope my blog relays the gospel in all it's truth so God can be glorified! I totally agree with you about having a scale HAHA so true! Awww I love you too! I can't wait to keep up with your fashion blog. And I see you're in DC too :) Thanks again girl! So glad you found me.

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