The Importance of Honesty

"An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips." -Proverbs 24:26 NIV

I just want to start off by saying that this is one of my favorite verses. This is one of my favorite verses because of how truthful it is. In most circumstances, a kiss on the lips is an act of affection that most people in life consider to be a good (or pleasant) thing. If you're like me, then you strongly dislike when people lie to you or seem to hide the truth from you. Therefore, you find great pleasure when you find honest people that are not afraid to tell you the truth even if it hurts. To further emphasize the importance of honesty, I am going to show how it is important in different circumstances and situations.

In a Relationship: A relationship scenario is the first one that I thought of. (I bet you can easily see how I thought of a relationship first.) Honesty is a key part in maintaining a healthy, successful relationship. It is important to let your partner know how you feel, if you dislike a certain relationship dynamic, or if you simply find one of your partner's actions irritating. If you keep this information to yourself, how is your partner supposed to know how you are feeling? Not being honest with your partner can lead to more arguments in the relationship as well as a possible termination of the relationship.. Wouldn't you hate to miss out on a potentially awesome relationship because of a lack of honest communication?

In the Workplace: Here is another place that it is important to be honest. I know it may be oh-so-easy for some people to lie on their resumes to further enhance the possibility of getting the job. For others, it might be easier for them to schedule their work hours too closely to their school hours to try to get more hours. Either way, your actions end up being detrimental to yourself. What if you find yourself overwhelmed trying to complete a task that you are not qualified to do but your boss thinks that you are? What if you find yourself stressed speeding down the streets (or running across campus) to try to arrive on time to keep from losing your job? Being honest about your credentials and availability can keep you out of these predicaments as well as possibly make your boss very happy. (I don't know if that will guarantee you a kiss though. Haha, okay bad joke. Feel free to move onto the next point.)

With Yourself: If you cannot be honest with yourself, who can you be honest with? Ultimately, you know yourself pretty darn well. You know your strengths, weaknesses, and limitations. Do not take on more than you can handle. Do not be a "yes man" (or woman). At the end of the day, you have the right to tell people no if completing these tasks will make you feel overwhelmed. Overall, your mental health is something that is important as well. If you know your weaknesses, pray to God for Him to help you find a way to strengthen your weaknesses. And as for you strengths.. Use your strengths to help upbuild others. Where you are strong, another person might be weak. When you are honest with yourself, you can help yourself become a better person. And who does not want to be a better person?

I have just personally shared with you three ways in which honesty is important. Do not get this mistaken; honesty is important in way more than these three situations. However, these three situations were on my heart to share with you because I have personally been through these three. I have had a guy who I really liked (and lost) because he did not tell me something was bothering him, something that could have easily been changed if he had only told me sooner. However, he only told me after he had made his decision... I have scheduled work hours way too closely to my school hours and ended up struggling to make it on time. Finally, I have not been honest with myself at times. I have taken on way too much at certain times. I have tried to deny my weaknesses instead of trying to strengthen them. I have also withheld my strengths from someone who has been struggling because my strength is one of his/her weaknesses. No, I am not proud of it. However, we all make mistakes and life is a continual learning process.

Take Care, God Bless, & Be Honest.

Unfair Punishment?

There were many times as a child that I felt as if some punishments were unfair. There were many instances where I've seen a group of kids find a way to get themselves in trouble while only a few (or maybe even one) pay the consequences for everyone's actions. 

Looking at this from a young adult perspective, I know that there have been plenty of instances when I have personally seen people that do not necessarily seem to live a life that is pleasing to God. It also seemed to me that these people seemed to live lives that seemed almost too good to be true. Every single thing seems to be going for them in life... While they're enjoying life, here I am. As a Christian, I'm going through so many trials and tribulations that are beginning to really take a toll on me. From there, I begin to wonder a question that I've wanted to ask so many times: Why God? Why does this life seem so unfair? Here I am struggling to follow Your word, to live a life pleasing to You, to continuously look to You for guidance, to spread Your name, and to be the best person that I can be while other people who aren't doing this seem to be living better lives...

Ultimately, to me, it seemed unfair. Finally, I realized something. Everyone does not receive the same punishment for their actions. Different punishments work better for different people. Even though at the moment, it may not seem as if every person in that group (or even the world) is not receiving a punishment for their actions, it will happen as some point in their lives and it will happen in different ways.

You may remember the oh-so-famous story from Genesis about Adam, Eve, and the serpent? Well, in a nutshell, God instructed them not to eat of the tree of knowledge. A serpent came along and enticed Eve into eating of the forbidden fruit. After eating it, she brought some forbidden fruit to Adam and he ate of it as well. Not only did God punish the serpent, but he also punished the Eve and Adam as well.

Serpent: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" -Genesis 2:14
Eve: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring fort children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over them." -Genesis 3:16
Adam: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and eaten of the tree, which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field" -Genesis 3:17-18

Therefore, we all will get penalized for our actions. It doesn't matter if you are the one who entices or the one who is enticed. Ultimately, the serpent, Adam, and Eve are penalized. Keep this in mind as you continue to walk through your Christian journey. Even if it doesn't seem like or isn't as visible, everyone will be penalized for their actions.

Overcoming Criticism & Bullying From Others

Photo Credit: http://weareadifferentwoman.blogspot.com

This has to be one of my all-time favorite verses out of the Bible. Growing up (and still now), I would face a lot of criticism over my every little aspect about me (from my appearance to my life choices). People and society somehow think it is okay to tear people down when, in actuality, everything about a person is beautiful (flaws and all). I never understood this. I never understood how making someone else lose confidence makes another person smile. I probably will never understand that, but I swear I've heard every bad thing that could possibly be said about me...

-"Wow, you have a big head."

-"You look like you have an eating disorder. Are you malnourished?"

-"Wow, you've gained weight. Why are you so fat?"

-"Why do you wear makeup? Why can't you be comfortable without it?" (I actually am comfortable.)

-"Why didn't you wear makeup today? Why does your face look so weird? You should really go find some makeup."

-"You're only gonna get so far in life because you're pretty. Your brains will never get you anywhere." (That one is the one that hurts me the most...)

-"Why do you wanna go to pharmacy school? You're never gonna make it through that degree."

For years, I let people tear me down. I let people criticize me. I accepted it because I thought I deserved it.To this day, I literally get so surprised when someone actually gives me a compliment that doesn't feel backhanded. However, the point is now I'm standing up and accepting my worth. I'm not going to listen to every word people say if their main objective is to hurt me or steal my joy. I'm building back my confidence day by day. I'm not sharing this with you for you to feel bad for me or to feel sorry for me. I'm sharing this with you because I honestly felt someone somewhere needed to hear this story and know that you are NOT what someone else thinks you are. You are what GOD thinks you are. Stand up against the negativity and be the person that God wants you to be. If you get scared, keep the following verse in mind.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1:9 NIV

I want to leave this blog post with a challenge for you. I want you to compliment at least 5 people today. I want you to give someone a real, genuine compliment (not a backhanded one). Spread positivity among those who surround you. If you hear someone gaining up on one person or talking about someone behind his/her back, stop it. You can only make a difference in the world by standing up and being an example of doing the right thing.

Be the beautiful person I know that you are.

Adriauna Danielle

10 Reasons Why I'm #BLESSED

In the process of regaining my strong spiritual relationship, I've decided to sit here and compile a list of 10 reasons why I'm blessed. (These are in no particular order.)

• I have a healthy family.
• My college tuition is paid for by scholarships. 
• I got to spend Mother's Day (today) with my mom.
• I  got to see 19 beautiful, crazy years of life.
• I have a family that supports me and wants to see me succeed. 
• I was rear-ended in a car accident in September 2014 yet the impact wasn't enough to push me into the incoming traffic.
• I have a Lord that never gives up on me no matter how many times I've failed or messed up.
• When it seems that I have no to talk to or no one understands, I'm blessed to know that my God understands.
• I made it through this past semester of college. I swear it was the most stressful I've ever been to, and I doubted I would make it through so many times.
• I'm blessed that you're taking the time to read this. Some of you reading this might be viewers from my beauty channel on YouTube. It's surreal to me that people actually want to hear about what I have to say or read what I type. Nevertheless, thank you for your support. <3 Every page view or video view honestly makes my day. 

God Bless,
 AdriaunaDanielle

Coming to Terms with Myself...

Hey guys. Long time, no type on this blog.... I'm sorry. 

I could tell you I was busy which I was. I'm a sophomore in college and currently I'm in the middle of finals right now.

However, lately I've realized that people make time for the things that are really important to them.

I've also realized that I haven't been making time for God.

I then asked myself the question, "Is God important to me, to my life?"

I then hated myself for having to ask myself that question.

I do love my God. I promise I do. But I haven't made a lot of time for Him.

I asked myself why. Why do I not have time for Him?  A better question to ask myself is: "Why do I think I don't have time for Him? Why have I been doing that takes up so much of my time?"

The Answers: 

I've been stressed and overwhelmed with college. (He can relieve stress and take away my worries.) 

I've been so tired lately. (Yet, He's the one who wakes me up every morning...) 

I feel like He's let me down. (He really hasn't. He just has a different plan for me.) 

The people I have been surrounded by lately aren't really the best Christian influences. (I... I honestly don't know what to say about this, so I'm going to let myself think about this one for a bit...)

I have been denying the fact that I have been drifting away from God lately.

However, you can't solve a problem that you don't accept.

This is me accepting it.

This is me racking my brain trying to think of ways to build my relationship with Him back.

Do I exactly know what I'm going to do right now? No, but I know I've going to try. I'm going to actually read my day and night devotions. I'm actually going to pray more like I used to.

That's all that I know of that I'm going to do right now.

But I also know that I'm going to build my faith back one day at a time. 

With His help.