Purpose in pop culture

This year artists in pop culture want purpose in life more than ever before. During the fall Justin Bieber released his album "Purpose" with many great songs that have depth to them. My favorite song on his album is "Life is worth living" which has such a positive message. When I was in high school 15 years ago the song "Join me in death" by the rock band HIM was number one on the charts. I'm happy to notice that we seem to be entering a new era today with positive and uplifting lyrics in pop culture rather than songs about death. I have a good friend who is a social worker who tells me that mental health issues and the number of teens who are having suicidal thoughts is only rising today, so although "art is only art" I feel encouraged by the fact that popular artists are wanting to spread positive messages in 2016.

A few days ago it was Beyonce's turn to release a new album which is called "Lemonade". The album is very transparent and uplifting if you ask me. Beyonce could have chosen to write her new album about anything, but she chose to write about how she overcame a very painful experience in her life, that takes real strength and courage. I love what Beyonce says in the May 2016 issue of ELLE UK:"I hope I can create art that helps people heal."

There are many things in our modern culture that can weigh people down; mental health issues, stress, low self-esteem and then there is the beauty ideals. Cameron Diaz is one actress that has decided to take on these negative ideals and inspire everyone to love themselves rather than to try to follow the impossible beauty ideals. I love what Cameron Diaz says in the May 2016 issue of Women's Health UK: "We live in a self-obsessed, narcissistic society that's focused on the superficial, instead of what's on the inside- and that is our soul and our spirit and what we accomplish. If all we concentrate on is what we see in the mirror, that is very dangerous. We're going to be very lost."

Whether we we are celebrities or regular people doesn't matter so much, we all carry the responsibility to set an example in life for the next generation. We don't get to choose if we will impact young people or not, we all influence them in one way or another, but we get to choose how we want to impact them. A big part of how how we learn to live life we learn from the culture that surrounds us, so each one of us should decide what we want to teach those who are younger than us.

One of the things that I'm the most thankful for in my life is the free university education that I got in Finland. My free education is a gift I received because the generations before me decided to create that law and opportunity for the next generations. In the end our personal accomplishments doesn't matter so much, what matters much more is what we leave behind for the next generations. What do you want to leave behind?

Living Life Together

Toxic Words

Craig Groeschel talks about the importance of us speaking life-giving words to ourselves and to others. Words are powerful, we need to choose our words carefully. Our words can either encourage and lift people up or pull people down. Many of us have incredibly negative self-talk. We say things to ourselves like: "I'm not good enough." "I'm never going to get out of this debt." "I'm so stupid." "My marriage is always going to be this bad." etc. These statements are not the truth, they are only words we speak to ourselves, but don't underestimate their power. We have to choose what kind of words we will speak to ourselves. As Christians we know that what others say about us isn't the truth, what God says about us is the truth. Here's a few things God says about me through the Bible: 

I was created to do good works, which God prepared in advance for me to do. (Ephesians 2:10)  My own translation: My life is not meaningless, my life has a God-given purpose. I have all the skills I need to do all the things I was created to do. 

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) My own translation: My nose is not too big, I'm not too skinny or too curvy, I'm not too tall or too short. I look exactly the way God wanted me to look and I have all the skills that God wanted me to have, I am beautiful and wonderful.

I am loved by God. (John 3:16) My own translation: I'm not unlovable or insignificant, the God of the universe loves me deeply, my life is important and matters greatly to God. What I choose to do with my life does matter.

The more I read the Bible and learn about how God views me the clearer it becomes that my own negative self-talk is far from the truth. The negative words we speak about ourselves will only have an impact if we believe that they are true. They are not true. There is not one person on the face of this Earth who was not fearfully and wonderfully made and who is not loved by God, not even one. We are all his children. We don't all love him, but He loves us.

My Weekend

On Sunday I started my day with my favorite combination Church&Brunch, first some food for the soul and then some food for the stomach. :) Pastor John preached a very helpful message in the series called "Take Heart".

I also took a visit to the book store during the weekend to check out some magazines and new books I want to buy. Cameron Diaz was on the cover of many magazines and I love how she wants to encourage women to embrace the age they are at, rather than to strive to be "forever young". Go Cameron!

It was rainy in Toronto this weekend so my husband and I decided to go watch a movie together on Saturday. The movie theater was packed so I guess a lot of people thought the same way. On Sunday we spent a lot of time with our family members which is always fun. It was a good weekend and now I'm rested and ready for a new week again.

A Balanced Diet

Over the years I've tried so many diets, and after years of avoiding certain types of food I've finally gone back to eating in a "normal" way. My only rule nowadays is: "Eat more of what's healthy, and eat less of what's not good for your body." I used to have a hard time staying at the same weight but nowadays I get on the scale very seldom, my weight seems to stay the same by itself. I've noticed that in the end it's less about food for me and more about other stuff. For example, I've always gained weight during really stressful and lonely seasons of my life or when I've been homesick. I've learned that if I take care of my mental health my physical health will follow. It also works the other way around sometimes, if I don't prioritize exercising and get lazy and eat unhealthy food my mental health will also suffer.

Today my goal is to work out 3-4 times per week and to eat healthy most of the time. I usually try to stay away from treats during the weekdays so that I can treat myself to dessert and a vanilla latte during the weekend. A couple of weeks ago we celebrated 1st of May with donuts and Swedish cider on the weekend. If I want to treat myself on a Wednesday night I might buy a new interior design magazine and make my favorite green smoothie.

Face to Face

I remember when I called Your name

There I knew I'd never be the same

Love came rushing to this heart of mine

Like You waited for this all my life

I remember when I learned to pray

Close to You I find my hiding place

And Your Spirit looks within my soul

And Your presence keeps me wanting more

That sounds too good to be true

Carl Lentz from Hillsong Church in New York teaches a sermon about God's grace and how the forgiveness, mercy, blessing, favor and love God has for each one of us can often seem too good to be true the first time we hear about it. My favorite part of this sermon is when Carl talks about how we get our calling in life from grace. God will never call us to do something with our lives that we are totally capable of doing on our own. God always asks us to do something that seems impossible for us to do, and on that journey God gets an opportunity to show us his favor, grace and love. When we find ourselves doing something that is a way bigger challenge than what we could ever accomplish on our own it is God who fills the gap between our capability and the great goal.


When we get our calling from God it will vary a lot from person to person but it will never be something that is within our own capability. God always calls us to step out in faith and believe that He will make a way even where there is no way, because when God puts a calling in our hearts he will always see it through to completion. Out of our own strength we can only do small things but our great God can do great things through us if we have the courage and obedience to step out in faith and trust Him.