Marisa Donnelly

Love her without conditions.

We are capable of pushing through, of starting over, of regaining our footing, of beginning again. But only when we believe we are.

If you’re going to love me, please promise you’ll stay.

Because true love takes time. And it’s not something you can rush.

It is you who has loved me and who has reminded me, time and time again, that family is forever, but true friendship is too.

I don’t want a relationship that can’t be labeled, a connection that has no commitment nor promise of a future. I want someone whose heart I can hold.

What if every painful thing you faced was actually pushing you forward, pushing you down a different road, a better road, the road you’re meant to be on?

Pain is inevitable. But that doesn’t mean we give up hope. We just have to shift our perspective.

The beautiful thing about your lowest point, about reaching an end, about falling and crashing and hitting the ground, is that the only direction you can take from here is up.

I’ve never felt anything so real before, so raw. I’ve never met a person whose simple existence could make me feel alive.

For whatever you’re facing is tiny in comparison to His strength.

I’m only looking for the love that stays. A love that continues. A love that knows all the impermanence of this world, yet pushes back against it. A love that believes. A love that trusts. A love that moves forward, even when the pieces don’t quite fit, even when there’s more stubbornness than solution, more frustration than faith.

I don’t believe in rules or caution signs. I don’t think it makes me strong to keep my feelings at bay, to hold you at arm’s length and not let you in. I don’t want in a timid love, a half-love—with you, I’m all in

You cannot change the past, but what you can change is the present—who and where you are right now.

Let yourself be scared, just for a moment. Let yourself feel that fear running through your body, the promise of possibility. Because where you feel fear is where you grow.

Even in the moments where we feel the most purposeless, the most directionless, the most off-track, our God is reaching out to us with His open hand. He is searching for us, beckoning to us, waiting for us. He is here.

If someone loves you, they’ll love you. They’ll love you in all the ways you need. They’ll love you in all the ways they know how. They’ll love you, and prove this love, over and over because they don’t want to lose you. That’s real love.

Because when someone loves you—it’s not about them trying to fix you, change you, or fall in love by a certain time. There aren’t rules, aren’t guidelines, aren’t ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts.’ Love is something that comes naturally.