Feb 5, 2013

i'll always be here, little one.

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I don't see you as often as I did a long time ago. I don't see your sweet seven-year old face brighten at the slightest whim with a sunny smile, or your eyes light up with your contagious laughter. I suppose, as time changes, people can hardly resist the itch of changing as well and with your growing up so fast, there isn't much room to make trips down the steep hill you call home. there's nothing but time. darling, there isn't really anybody I've loved like I love you, and although we aren't as close as I wish to be, I thank the Lord for what little bond He gave us - He gave me with you. I don't have a sister, and I think of you more like a little sister than my little niece. and my heart hurts accordingly. 

my heart hurts when I think of all the darkness there is in the world that is just waiting to snatch your innocence - of the hurt you already have felt that no one your age should have felt. I don't want to think of all the wounds and sadness your little heart will feel someday, when you are older and understand that growing up isn't all fun and games. my heart hurts that I can not be there to tell you all this. 

I wish I could make you understand that there are storms beyond anything imaginable that will brew in your life, that will tear apart the same life that you fought so hard to build. there will be doubts and fears and darkness that everybody is too afraid to tell you about, that the people who are closest to you will pretend away and hold empty answers to burdening questions. but even more so, I wish I could make you understand that there is a loving Savior above it all who will whisper in your ear, when I can't, "I'll always be here, little one." if only you will listen.

forever yours | auntie grace.  

Feb 1, 2013

>> giving all my secrets away <<

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"You're wrong, you know. You DO count. You've always counted, and I've always trusted you. You were right. I'm not okay..." -from the BBC series Sherlock
i scribbled down these jumble of words at midnight a few nights since past - the thought of sleeping never crossed my mind as my heart was so full and my throat stifling so many stubborn tears that blurred my vision despite my attempts of shoving them back, and the paper never before seemed so welcoming...

as a dear dear reader, you do not live in my world but only posses such a tiny window into it within such a minute rectangular box composed of jumbled words that it can hardly describe half of the every-day life I am living. having such a small insignificant glance into my world {even stopping by to read my worthless ramblings and extending your interest and love in the form of notes is most humbling}, I should hardly want in any way to make you believe my world is perfect. the world that so often times feels the need to be different; to be perfect. and simply put: it's not. 
I am a silly foolish human being. I struggle every. single. day. and more often times fall as much as having no wish to get back up again. at moments, I find it so cruel, time can trammel upon life casting no sympathy, all the while expecting me to follow and live. 
so. 
I have composed a little list of my faults - some of which comprised of my innermost thoughts. I have no wish to sound immature, snobbish, or self-centered in any way at all, as I list off these rather foolish yet-oh-so-affecting woes of life, nor should I want you to think my life is so utterly dismal, in which it is not. I want you to view me as a real-human being, not just a girl behind the screen, and to be completely and wholly honest with you, dear friend, I think it good to reveal the real raw me to the world. I only pray, to encourage any young lady reading this, whose heart can completely and utterly relate.

i. I struggle with false expectations of how my life, at this age, should be like with tons of friends and activities to occupy my time. now, I know that tons of shallow friendships could never replace the relationships with young ladies who I have come to call my close-knit sister, but over these past few months, I have come to realize {after analyzing my heart}, that I truly do love people. I love being surrounded in the company of people, learning their life stories, sharing a smile or challenging myself to make them smile. another name for that, is being a social butterfly, or so I've heard. but all my life, I feel as though I have touched little lives of people my age, and I have often questioned why the Lord has set me aside, apart from a desire that seems so pure and simple. I have attempted to become involved in plenty of activities {sports, speech, theatre, dance, swimming, music} - actually every activity under the sun {with the exception of attending public school} I have tried my hand out, but every time God closes the door. and I have struggled desperately to bow my head and accept.

ii. I struggle with loneliness. I am an only child, living in a small town, in a small homeschool group, in a small community, in a small church, in small social circles, in a small family - everything which surrounds me is small, except for the "great wide somewhere," which encompasses its outer walls. isolation is a word I detest with my whole being, but that's one of the words to which wholly describes my world at times.

iii. I struggle with liking my family. not my immediate family, mind you, although I do not always respect my wonderful parents as I should, but my aunts and uncles and more specifically the person I feel at times forced to call my sister. jealousy is familiar feeling as I look upon "normal families" who have two sets of grandparents {all mine have since past} and friends who have normal siblings who even if they are not always a "big happy family" they love each other. truly love each other. 

iv. I often struggle with wishing I lived *so-and-so's* life with her big family, loving siblings, and flourishing opportunities. although, I love this friend with a sister's heart alone, deep down I know I wish my life was like hers {perhaps, NOT her's but similar}. 

v. I often struggle with learning the purpose of my life. my friends seem so sure of themselves: one wants to be a writer, one a writer/film producer, another a counselor, whilst the other a secretary, and always there passions for life can be so clear and obvious...and then there's me. who posses one talent she holds so dear to her heart but feels like it cannot be applicable to life. to make things. as much as I enjoy swimming and writing and making music, these pastimes do not come close to my love for crafting. and it seems to me, at times, so unfair that everybody else has some desire to support themselves in life, whereas I hold onto just a mere hobby {more like an obsession of sorts} that in reality is just wishful thinking to go into as a supportive career.      

there's so many wars I've fought in my head. so many things, I know I'm not. but with God's grace and strength alone, I promise you that:: 

we'll keep marching on. 

x. | the girl in the garden.
postscript :: have you figured out that I'm a onerepublic fan yet? *smile*

Jan 29, 2013

on characters|eponine.


a trace of beauty still lingered in the sixteen year old face like pale sunlight fading beneath the massed clouds of a winter's dawn...




a little fall of rain, can hardly hurt me now. a breath away from where you are and I've come home from so far...



i love him, but everyday i'm learning all my life i've only been pretending. without me, his world will go on turning, a world that's full of happiness that i have never known. i love him. I love him. i love him, but only on. my. own...  



so. if you are a follower of my pinterest, you may have been able to discern from the sudden explosion of pins flooding your feed last month {currently it has been invaded by Sherlock, but that's a whole 'nother post entirely} that I am somewhat of a - em - recent Les Miserables fanatic. *cough 'understatement' cough* more specifically, I seem to have nurtured a fond admiration {*cough, 'other understatement' cough*} for the poor heroine eponine - to the point of which, I sing all the lyrics word perfect of "on my own" even half-mindedly; and it is a fact "a little fall of rain" shortly comes thereafter. oh, yes! I take great pride in that. if not singing in my horribly cracked voice, at least, humming {I may have driven my cat and mother into insanity because of my incessant humming, but the Brits have driven me into a horribly unstable emotional state of being first, with all these heart-wrenching dramas they have been producing!!! sorry, off topic}. but hey! I'm not a onedirection fan, so might as well sing something at the top of my lungs at my poor family's expense, right?! rather sad heroine to fall in love with, but there is something captivating of eponine's story {not to mention samantha bark's incredible voice}.

I have always gravitated towards the good female character that always receives her "happily-ever-after" and rides into the sunset with prince charming. still do. in fact a few months ago, knowing little about the story, cosette was my favorite character before I completely immersed myself into the world of Les Miserables. although when I "met" eponine for the first time, there was some genuine sadness that I could completely and utterly relate. though pity is always the first feeling when I see the poor creature in her tangled hair and rags, the loneliness and the love - the self-sacraficing love- she holds in her small heart for Marius always stirs my heart. and usually results in feeling a 'little fall of rain' slipping down my cheek, thinking about it. {*sniff, sniff* there I go again.} because, I can relate. 'suppose now it is time to admit, I have had fond admirations for certain gentlemen {more on my actually being a real human being blogger coming in next month's posts} in the past. of course nothing as extreme as eponine's affection for marius, but I know how it feels to be ignored. half agony. half hope. and 'tis truly one of the hardest feelings in the world to nurture within one's heart. but eponine receives her own happily ever after by "sleeping in your [Marius'] embrace at last." and despite the flood of tears gushing down my face in the movie theatre, I was so very happy. so very happy indeed.

now, 'tis time to ask you. who do you like most: cosette or eponine?
lovingly,
the girl in the garden.

*disclaimer, all images above were found via pinterest. I do not claim any of them nor endorse the content found on original sources.