Livin' life to its fullest

Ya'll sin is no joke.

Read Ephesians 5: 1-10.

I know I've made light of sin before saying "It's my weakness" or "That's my thorn." But that is killing me.

Do you know who you are? As kids of the Heavenly Father, we are taken away from the darkness and placed into the light. The darkness is an indicator of the wrongs we've committed that separate us from true love and the light is how we are made whole again, how we are brought back to life.

John 1:4 "In him was life and this life was the light of men."

John 8:12 "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Livin' life!

Basically what the Words of God are saying is that there is no one we can say we are receiving our life from God if we are not in the light, if we are not separating ourselves from the darkness, if we are continuing with the wrong doings that are stripping us of life.

John 10: 10 " The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full"

The only way we can have life to the fullest, is if we are in the light. The Bible clearly lays it out, but I have to be reminded that life comes from being in the wonderful light that only Jesus provides, otherwise, I'm just walking around in the darkness. Blindly.

So, go. Live life to its fullest. Be in the Light.

Much love, peace and livin' grease,

     Ife 'Quipayan' S.

P.S. It's 9:36am and I have Arabic class in 24 minutes. Gotta bounce! Ma'Salama!

Do you remember?

Oh heeeey friend. Whatchoo doin'? Reading my blog? Wow. You're cool. B)

I want to warn you that this post ends with a rather sweet song, but don't go to the end first: READ this!

If you're wondering what I'm reading, wait no longer:

Psalm 103:1-14

Reading this passage was truly fulfilling as I went away to a conference this weekend and the one thing (out of several) that I gained with the choice I make to thank God and give Him his dues when I'm focused on negative things in life or how sour things are turning. Example: This past Friday, I was in a funk that had me torn, the most torn and stressed that I've ever felt over the span of 24 hours. Inconceivable how fragile I felt. I cried ever few hours, sighed in contempt for life at school and just overall had a weird funk face (the one when everyone knows that something is terribly wrong--can't even fake happiness). Thankfully, God threw all of my friends in my path that day to give me great advice....or was it just to remind me that He loves me? I didn't take their advice. BUT, I did realize how not alone I was though I sometimes felt it. So shout out to Sara B., Yan S, Mommy, Daddy, Genna M., Kelsey B., Cheyenne O., Erin W., Daphne W., Marcia M., and everyone else. You all helped me get through the day. Seriously.

So, when I got to the conference I was semi still in the funk, but on Saturday God reminded me, through a Spanish song (!!!), that I need to praise Him in las buenas y en las malas (In the good and the bad). I had forgotten how much He loves me and all the great things He does for me. I had forgotten. 

The passage in vs. 2 says "Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits." I want to remember how he "forgives", he "heals", "redeems", "works", "makes known his ways". I had forgotten. In the good and in the bad, let us not forget what God has done. Not only to remember, but to praise Him for it. 

So, Do You Remember?

Much love, peace and remembering grease,
      Ife 'Quipayan' S.

The Remedy

Oh HEEEEY beautiful reader!


I just want to share these lyrics with you. Today, things panned out in a way I would NOT have imagined. After deciding not to skip a class and own up to my actions (possibly resulting in the loss of a potential position for next year), God still showed me His mercy. I figure I don't deserve it because I mess life up in different ways quite frequently, but the type of security I have in Him remains unshaken. 


Jesus is the only remedy to my craziness. 'The Remedy' by Ayiesha Woods.

A little too much time on your hand
So many things pressing your heart
Now you're caught up in a brain storm
And the winds are tearing you apart
And what matter the most now
Shouldn't matter at all
You forgot who's holding you up
And He won't let you fall

Who's in control of your life
And knows better than you ever will
Who tells you time and again
Hush and be still
It's time to recognize
That your answer in His eyes
Where the river flows If you'll just

Free your mind
And the peace of God will follow
Just give yourself a little time
Don't worry 'bout tomorrow

Don't you know that His joy is your strength
Can you fathom it
Peace beyond your understanding
When you gonna grab a hold of it
Cause you're life's not your own
You can't do it alone
There is a remedy if you will let go and just...

Free your mind
And the peace of God will follow
Just give yourself a little time
Don't worry 'bout tomorrow

Don't you know just thinking about it,
Ain't gonna add one hour
Tell me who's in control

'God, I am grateful for the fact that you're NOT human. You work things out in the most perfect way ever and kick in when I've thrown in the towel. You never give up on me which is great because I gave up on myself around 5:45am this morning. I'm sure my family sometimes wants to give up on me, but because you are YOU, that's just not the case. Not trying to take this for granted, so I'm here to say thank you for all you do on my behalf.'

Much love, peace and thankfulness grease,

    Ife 'Quipayan' S.

P.S. It's Tuesday! Yay!

Dream a little dream

What is your latest dream?


[Insert Ife's latest dream here. It's top secret. Can't have EVERYONE knowing.]


I was looking up quotes about dreaming on the internet and found a few of these quotes by a few lesser known peeps and a few by the greats.

"A person starts dying when they stop dreaming."-Brian Williams

"But the delights of solitude don't only consist of dreaming. Next in enjoyment, I think, comes planning." Anna Neagle 

"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."-John Barrymore

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." -Mohandas K. Gandhi

"I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams." -Jonas Salk

"But God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in bed. He whispers in their ear and terrifies them with his warning. He causes them to change their minds; he keeps them from pride. He keeps them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death." Job 33: 14-18

Basically what I'm saying is that dreams are important and significant. When we stop dreaming, I think we lose a very crucial balance between our realities and imaginations. Life doesn't stop when we start sleeping, but instead, this is what drives us to continue. I'm not saying anything new, but simply emphasizing that (even as adults) we should continue to dream: in the literal sense and abstract one as well. 


Whenever people ask of what I want to do after college, I used to tell them what I thought they wanted to hear, but I realized that my dreams (o sea the dreams that God has given me) are bigger than what people can define me to. My life and the events in it used to be driven by my dreams, but now I've gotten stuck and to be stuck is to not see what lies ahead. If I see the great things that lie ahead, I'll do whatever possible to not get stuck. Trust.


Aight, I'm done. Do what you must, but whatever you do, keep dreaming.


Much love, peace, and dreaming grease,
      Ife 'Quipayan' S. 


P.S. I'm super excited about the rest of this year because I now realize that the real world cannot offer what I'm going to experience/what I have experience in college, so I better live it up! Going rock climbing today and out with some amigas for a birthday celebration!

Consequences of cabin fever

Oh splendid, splendid reader. You are the delightful surprise at the end of lull-inducing day.

I do a lot of self examination. (Nothing too deep otherwise I'll find something about myself that disgusts me).

 Life has been quite interesting for me. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I want my last year at WashU to be like and what I'd like to spend my last year doing.

And I've come to a conclusion: I want to spend my last year doing things that I love! Now, this is all rather relative because I can only do things that I love once I've gotten past doing things that I may not love. Ejemplo: I'd love to spend every moment singing, dancing or acting, but in order for that to happen, I have to do hw so I don't fail out of school.

However, there just isn't enough time in the day to do all that. What to do?? This is where I am now. How in the world is it possible to get all this done?

-----Also, I've become rather pessimistic these past few days. It's quite the problem. I barely even notice it either, that's how bad it is. I know when it started, but I can't credit that one incident to my recent outlook on life. Story: I read an article in StudLife today about how WashU's ranking dropped from being 13th to 14th (essentially breaking the tie between itself and another university). My reaction was to laugh. I laughed at what I thought was a stupid system of grading universities and how trivial this article seemed. I also attributed this decline to the students at the school. I feel like each year is less intelligent than the previous...or are we all just kidding ourselves in our level of intellectualism? But really though. The people here don't seem that much more intelligent that people I know elsewhere who attend non-ranked universities. -------

I have cabin fever and I want to get out. So badly. People at WashU are making me so upset it's crazy. I've never felt this way before and I hope it goes away otherwise I'mma get a 4.0 and peace out without doing much or enjoying my last year. I kinda don't care at this moment. I really just don't care. Unfortunately.

I may have dug too deep.

Let's be honest with ourselves....

Student-Morning-Dread syndrome

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

I'm a senior in college!!! 3 years of experience under my belt and you would think I've figured it all out.

False. 

I woke up early and the first thing I felt was fear and disdain for my lifestyle as a student (late nights, early mornings, half-baked assignments, no breakfast, 4 hours of work ahead, strange smells in the kitchen etc). Those emotions, for me, create a cycle of being stuck and not knowing or desiring to move forward. I hate those moments. What makes it worse is when I can't catch a break to figure it all out. When I have that break, I just want to sleep (but really though). I call this the SMD (Student-Morning-Dread) syndrome. Define it however you like.

La vuelta al cole/ Back to school sales

Tonterías en vertical: [La vuelta al cole]

I love school...and can't get enough of back to school sales, but because I am on a budget, I didn't get all the things I wanted to. I'd rather go to Nigeria than spend $4.00 on a fancy pen, cachai?

So, enjoy this blog en español (which includes drawings!! My favorite).

Good night and much love.

Ife 'Quipayan' S.