// don't let evil get the best of you

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. 

Run for dear life from evil; 

hold on for dear life to good. 

Be good friends who love deeply; 

practice playing second fiddle.

Don’t burn out; 

keep yourselves fueled and aflame. 

Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. 

Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. 

Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. 

Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; 

share tears when they’re down. 

Get along with each other; 

don’t be stuck-up. 

Make friends with nobodies; 

don’t be the great somebody.

Don’t hit back; 

discover beauty in everyone. I

f you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. 

Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. 

“I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. 

Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. 

Don’t let evil get the best of you; 

get the best of evil by doing good.

WINTER // yes please

It's winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Yup. Here are some of my winter wants:

1// Blanket capes are cool. Amiright??!! I really like this Glassons one.
2// Bright pink Revlon lippy to brighten a dark day
3// A cosy scarf from Trade Aid. Helps people in need, as well as keeping me warm #winningatlife
4// A cute winter blanket DIY

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What are you lusting over this winter? Leave a comment below!

THOUGHTS // of the literary kind

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AUTUMN // yes please

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1 // Dreaming of Autumn in Arrowtown, NZ
2 // My hands dry out in Autumn because of the colder weather. For that, I use Body Shop almond hand cream. Delicious.
3 // The time of year when it is possible to wear bare legs and coats. Such fun!
4 // Rhubarb pie. Need I say more?
5 // New boots for those rainy days and for kicking through leaves.

You're a gem

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“Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.” 
― Leo Tolstoy

The Leather Jacket

Just a tiny bit bad-ass, and totally on trend this season. Lovin' that leather jacket.

Here's some ways to wear it this season.

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TOP 3 - dystopian reads

Thinking about what to read over the weekend? A fan of The Hunger Games? Consider checking out these other sweet dystopian books. They certainly tickled my fancy and stretched my brain. Get amongst it!

1. 1984 - George Orwell
// “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.” 

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// 1984 is dark, disturbing and extremely thought-provoking. Orwell's 1949 novel follows Winston Smith, a government worker whose job is to rewrite history, changing things in newspapers to appear as though they never happened. Winston outwardly appears a strong party supporter, but secretly begins hating them and dreaming of rebellion. And yes, 1984 has the original Big Brother. Watching you. All. The. Time. 

2. THE ISLAND - Jen Minkman
// "Our world is small. We are on our own, and we only have ourselves to depend on. We rely on the Force deep within us, as taught to us by our forefathers."

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// The Island is a recently published dystopian novella, and is both a gripping and fun read. The Island is narrated by Leia, a young girl living in a world where children leave their parents at ten years old to take care of themselves on a separate part of the island. Guiding the kids is a psychopathic teenage boy and a divine book curiously inspired by the Star Wars films. The island itself is divided by a wall, where the inhabitants are fraught with a multitude of illogical prejudices. Leia goes on a journey of understanding, and uncovered at the end is the truth of the island.

3. BRAVE NEW WORLD - Aldous Huxley
//“But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”

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// Brave New World is a disturbing novel about a society based on a strict caste system, where the upper castes live a completely self-centred and controlled existence, and the lower class 'savages' live separate to society and work at menial jobs. Life at the top is easy: Sex without love, escapism through 'soma' (a hallucinogenic drug), and absolutely no deep thinking. In order to keep the lower casts content at their level, children are educated via the hypnopaedic process. This basically brainwashes each child with subliminal messaging about their place in the world. Read this novel to challenge your thoughts about the foibles of modern society. Yup. 

What dystopian fiction do you enjoy? Leave a comment below!