Today's post is from my heart.
I’d like to start off by saying thank-you, if you’re here today, and for those who visit often, for joining me in this endeavor. Thank-you for your support and your love. I couldn’t do this without you.
Writing to you from Love Shyla has been such a fun and beautiful experience for me so far and when I hear feedback from you it blesses my soul!
Many of you have come up to me and told me that you enjoy my blog and I’m almost always a little bit surprised! Ha. But so incredibly thankful! When I started this blog last fall it was truly an act of divine inspiration. I felt God’s hand in it and through it.
Megan taking in the warmth of the sun on the docks of Barcelona
I had just returned home from Europe. It was a very special time, last summer, of transition and asking the Lord what he really meant for my purpose. I was in between jobs and I was asking Him again what I was good at and what His greatest purpose was for me. I had been doing things that I enjoyed and felt good at. I had my hands in some things that I loved and business ideas floated by throughout time but I didn’t know where to place them. At that point, I didn’t want to just move forward and fill the void of activity; I wanted to reassess.
My trip around Oxford and London and Barcelona with my dear friend Megan, whom I met while volunteering in India, was wonderful. It was full of beauty and intrigue. My sense of adventure and wonder were fulfilled alongside my friend and it was very good for my soul. I had hoped that God would speak to me during the trip about the purpose I was seeking. Coming near the end of the trip, I didn’t hear anything specific and I wondered if I was going to hear God’s voice on the matter at all.
The Vision
On one of our last days in Barcelona we visited a cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi, a prolific architect who is known for his intricate, spiritual and imaginative work in Barcelona. We saved La Sagrada Familia for a Sunday morning. It was a very special place for Megan to visit so we planned to reserve several hours there. To begin to explain the effect of the cathedral would be hard, but the words holy and moving would be part of it; it was a truly spiritual experience. Megan wanted to spend some time in prayer at the chapel, so while she was there I entered into the center of the building reserved for meditation. The rows of seats were directed towards the altar where there was a moving depiction of Christ on the cross as the focal point.
Megan, representing the true awe felt in the spirit of the cathedral. La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi
It was very peaceful to sit there; the presence of the Lord was very present. It became clear to me in those moments that the act of sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was the ultimate act of love. I felt overwhelmed with a revelation that Love is the most important thing in this life and felt the Lord say to me that His calling for me was to share this love.
That revelation didn’t give a lot of clarity vocationally but it was very special to me. I felt it was the Lord’s way of answering my questions even if it was vague and although I didn’t have an idea of what steps I needed to take next, I felt peace in the revelation.
Love Shyla
It’s always a unique feeling the day you come back from a vacation, especially overseas, and return to everyday life. I knew that the relaxation and treasured moments from a trip can fade fast if you jump right back into your everyday obligations, so I reserved a day to be at home before returning to work that week. It was that day, sitting in the sun at home, that I got the idea for Love Shyla.
The idea of writing a blog wasn’t a new one, as I’ve had one before and love to write, however the time to move forward with it never surfaced. This time the vision seemed so clear to me and I felt it was divine inspiration from the Lord. I shared the idea with my good friend Jenn, who works with web development, she jumped on board and it just seemed liked the pieces fell together from there.
The Name
The concepts changed and morphed during the process as things pulled together. One of the things that I wasn’t sure about was what to name it. I bounced between Shyla Marie and Sincerely Shyla, both of which were taken url’s and finally came to Love Shyla. It wasn’t my first choice, but I can’t see any other name for this endeavor now. It solidifies for me the vision that the Lord gave me in Barcelona about love. Though I could’ve named it Love God, there is something special to me about making it personal. I don’t want the source of love to be misdirected, but I want to be a vessel of it. Somehow, I hope that I, in flesh, can be a living example of the beautiful love of a heavenly God.
Sharing this, I pray that you can feel that purpose in what I am doing. To me, this mission is from the Lord and it is His words that I want to share with you here. I consider it an amazing privilege to be able to be a vessel of such an amazing message and also something that must be done!
I pray that we can experience and learn about God’s unfailing love together in this journey.
Thank-You
I want to say thank-you again for being apart of this. Thank-you for those who have come up to me and told me that you enjoy following along, left comments, pressed the precious heart button below, or shared my posts. It comforts me that we are passionate about the same things. This community has become very special to me because of this shared love.
On that note, I would love to hear your feedback; what you love and what you’d like to hear more of. Clicking the heart below or leaving a comment let’s me know you were here and that what I’m doing is purposeful. Thank-you so much!
For what I feel God has to say to you in regards to partaking, YOU ARE A RECIPIENT OF A DIVINE AND VERY SPECIAL LOVE. May you be enveloped here.
If you’d like to be apart of what’s going on here and follow along, scroll to the bottom of the page to subscribe and get the blog straight to your inbox. You can also follow along on Instagram _shylamarie
See more of Barcelona and England on the Travel page!