The Rules Have Changed.

We should not treat each other as threats, but as allies.

I learned at very young age that the biggest problem problem facing girl world today is not jealousy, but simply lack of edification and accountability.

We simply do not look out for each other. What is even worse is that it starts in the home. Mothers aren't pouring love and light into their daughters, Big sisters aren't sharing positive energy with their younger sisters,  and most tragic of all, aunts and nieces aren't walking in harmonious field of daisies. (ok, that's a tad extreme, but you get the picture)

I am not saying that families are mean to each other therefore girls are mean to each other; however, it's an evident correlation. The power of simply saying "you look pretty today" has flown so far under the radar that we think it bears no significance. We are so SPARING with our compliments to one another because we HEAR them sparingly. Now I'm not a mother, but I am pretty sure that all well-meaning mothers and mother figures have the most honorable intentions with how they deal with their daughters but again i say, the simple art of edification has been lost. As a result, it is assumed that we already know our beauty and worth and potential, it is assumed that we know how to give a sincere compliment, it is assumed that we know how to interact with other females and retain our own self confidence. When in reality we think the complete opposite by default because we have been taught nothing else.

Lucky for us, Jesus died, therefore bringing a solution to this egregious condition. The word of God is Clear about the rules of girl world - I'm telling you, God really DOES think of everything.

"the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." (Titus 2:3-7)

Don't think for a moment this only applies to matriarchs, No matter how old you are there is ALWAYS someone younger than you. Be intentional to pour love, light and positivity into each other, Be fluid with compliments and tight lipped with criticisms. Be loving in correction and boisterous in praise. We have no reason or excuse to Not reverse the cycle. No reason or excuse not to be the generation of change. No reason or excuse not to put a stop the rivalry in girl world and simply live peaceably together. There should be no reason any woman should say "Ugh, i hate woman", there should be no reason for us to believe we are better off with only male friends. because let's face it[;] 

We need each other.

xoxo,

Ryen

Supercharged.

KEEP DREAMING BIG!

Seems Like the biggest challenge in life is "finding yourself".

 Why are you here? What are you supposed to do? Where are you supposed to live? Who are you supposed to be with?

These Questions are, or have been, very real and present in every single human being's life; but, first things first. Wrap your head around the fact that you are not alone. Everyone goes through it. everyone

 I like to think that the answer to these questions are innate, but throughout the twist and turns of life's trials and tribulations we tend to stray away from our instincts and begin to trust our senses and feelings. We trust what is tangible and accessible.

 Think about it, when we are small children, we dream big with no inhibitions, we don't care what anyone says, but as life goes on, our priorities shift into "grown up" mode and money becomes the primary focus; thus, leaving our dreams and our true selves in a dust trail behind us.

 Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

 The moment we lose our true selves in the fight for control and self sufficiency we begin to ask ourselves these questions for assurance; however, the journey back to peace and satisfaction can be treacherous, and it's sad to say some never make it back and have doomed themselves to a life of misery. I remember I used to say "Just tell, me [EXACTLY] what to do Lord, and I'll do it", then I would get frustrated when God didn't give me the blueprint of my life. It wasn't until a little later on that I realized God gave me feelings, thoughts, opinions and ideals that equip me to be the best ME I can be, because I am the only me there is.

 He doesn't want to dictate our lives with an iron fist; He desires for us to live an abundant life. He knows, just like you know, that until you get to know yourself and walk in your purpose you will never experience that.

 if you take time to stop trying to "hear God" - Just so he can tell you what to do - and take prayerful time to abide in god he can Prepare you for what lies in your future. i promise, you will be a lot happier and i can guarantee you will see the answer to your questions were in you all along. 

xoxo,

R.L. Cooper

imperfection's flaw.

Don't allow not being perfect become an excuse for you to not be your best.

Somewhere along the way, the'Nobody is perfect' message has turned into a 'I can do whatever I want with no consequence' school of thinking. This is just sad. It's hard to tell people that it is o.k. to make mistakes without them thinking it is o.k. to be a total screw up.

Well, here is my stab at it: 

The fact that we make mistakes does not give us live a mediocre life. Saying 'nobody's perfect' does not allow us to circumvent the consequences for our actions. Understanding that perfection is an unattainable goal does not mean we can live however we want;understanding no one is perfect means that we live life knowing that we NEED Christ, and each other.

Hmmm, that was pretty easy. - Don't allow imperfection to be an excuse to not do/be your very best. God doesn't call us to be perfect people, for there is no such thing, He calls us to total dependence. Nothing more. Nothing less.

xoxo,

R.L.C.

It's ok not to be ok.

Love is louder than the pressure to be perfect.

I used to be a firm believer that all mistakes were a matter of poor judgment, ignorance or a lack of focus and can be 100% avoided. The way i saw it, a lack of mistakes equaled  perfection and , so there was no way in the world I believed that perfection was an unattainable  goal. Whenever i would make a mistake simply out of ignorance i would scold myself for not knowing better. I was on a constant quest for knowledge and information as to never make mistakes in an effort to retain as much perfection as humanly possible. I took this mentality with me into every avenue of my life and It wasn't until I was curled up, bedside in a suicidal heap of a mess that I realized this mentality was killing me. literally. 

A couple days ago my debit card vanished into thin air. No guys, i didn't "lose" it, it really vanished. (Believe it or not the same thing happened to my keys dec '11. They have yet to be recovered) After retracing my steps between my car in the driveway to the 10ft walk to my front door, a couple hundred times, I gave up the search and assumed it was in the disappearing black hole that reappears every so often to consume my valuables. This mistake, according to my mother was 100% avoidable. As she listed things i SHOULD have done to avoid making such an error, I mentally listed all the things I DID do to avoid such an  error, and although our lists matched up perfectly, the card was still lost.

In those moments I realized one thing that changed my life: "Nobody is perfect, mistakes WILL BE made, you can't avoid them."

Ground breaking right? I mean that's kind of like a DUH type moment. At least for normal people.(unlike myself)

In those moments I realized I am not perfect and while the pressure to BE perfect is always gonna be coming from SOMEWHERE I don't have to give in to it, and neither do you. I can Choose to make, learn and grow from my mistakes. I can choose to accept the fact that I am a flawed human being. I can CHOOSE to love myself through my mistakes. I can choose to believe, "You don't have to be perfect to be loved, you don't have to have it all together to prove your worth." You are perfectly imperfect just the way you are.

Learn it. live it. love it!

xoxo,

Ryen

JesiRatings: ChurchClothes Ft. jrawkit

We at funfabSAVED want to introduce a new chapter to the site called JesiRatings were YOU can discover new music, books and movies, ect. all in the realms of Righteousness recommended by the FFS staff. You can also Share your opinions and introduce US to new music, books, movies, ect. To Kick of this new segment we had our Dearest friend Jen tell us what she thinks about Reach Records leading artist Lecrae's Newest Mixtape entitled 'church clothes'....

"Man, I just cannot get enough of these Church Clothes flows!! I am not one to use the term "hot" for things (ive just never liked the way it sounds)... but this Church Clothes mixtape by Lecrae is seriously hot!!! it is straight fire! I've been puttin on these Church Clothes every chance i get & it's got me burnin up.. but i don't wanna change out this outfit! & I'll stay stubborn no matter how hot it gets.... it's that fly.

Lecrae's free album(mixtape) titled Church Clothes, hosted by Don Cannon, dropped for us on May 10th, 2012 @ 1:16pm. (lemme hear you say 1•1•Six)! It's a project with intricate texture & prime production. Lecrae comes through with his superior lyricism, delivering tough metaphorical pictures & exemplary rhyme schemes that leave your mind blown while holding the message of hope, meaning & purpose that only come through the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Lecrae is one versatile beast who flows crazy amazing across some of the sickest beats. & those featured aren't too bad themselves ;) 

Controversy tries to rise due to the collaboration with "secular" DJ's & artists... but i aint buyin it. If there's anyone I trust who knows what he's doin when he does somethin, it's Lecrae. I've been a rebǝl since '08 & i pity those who're tryna debate. Lecrae's all about redemption & transformation, and Church Clothes is yet another conquest to reach those who are lost in depravity, living without the Prince of Peace. I consider this project a milestone for the holy hip hop culture, with it's extreme relativity to the world outside - I pray that this approach causes the eyes & ears of those who wouldn't even glance at "christian" music to open their mind to the glorious hope that GOD's merciful graciousness provides. And for me who's always prayin for more boldness in the evangelism department, having this mixtape to hand out is just the right tool to get these feet movin farther & faster." 

~ღ jrawkit ღ~

While i am personally not the biggest fan of HolyHipHop, we at funfabsaved collectively give it TWO thumbs up:) Do you agree with Jen? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Let us know in the comments below:)


(if you wanna take a listen, you can download it here)

Hand Delivered Success.

in light of this season of graduation, and the primetime celestial joke that is my life, i figured i'd write a little on a subject that is no stranger to FunFabSAVED....

Success: We all want it.

I think the easiest way to define success is to do it by your own standards. Everyone wants to succeed but not everyone knows what that means for them. For some it may be starting a family, for others it may be starting a thriving business, for others it may simply be making it through each day.
As christians  our definition should include salvation and eternal life and things of that nature. We should measure our success by the word of the lord.

If you measure success on someone else's terms you will be aiming for a target that is moving at warp speed, which in turn will frustrate you because you aren't guaranteed to hit it, which will in turn cause you to loose heart, which will in your mind deplete the purpose of your life. Trust me, i've been there.

We are told that success isn't hand delivered, that if we want something we have to work for it, fight for it, GO GET IT ourselves.
However, the word of God says something completely different.

The bible says humble yourselves before the hand of god and he will life you up(James4.10).
the bible also says delight yourselves in the lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.(psalms37.4)

See, what is happening, humble? delight? those don't seem to be burdensome verbs at all. it's simple, if we LIVE in God he will GIVE us Everything we want and NEED. We only have to fight ourselves in the relinquishing of control. God literally wants to GIVE us the world. (well, he already did but we gave it back. oop)

All the powers of the universe at our finger tips. If THAT doesn't scream success, i don't know what does.
Get your mind right, Succeeding in this life isn't as hard as "they" make it seem.
Trust God, He's God your back!

xoxo,
Ryen L. Cooper

p.s. How many times did i say success in this post? GAH, use a synonym ryen, GEEZ! :)