Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

Hi! Here's another award thing that's from Margaret. I think it shall be fun, because as I told her, it is fun to talk about myself xD thank you, Maggie.

The rules:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their site
2. Put the award logo on your site
3. Answer the ten questions they asked you
4. Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer

Mag's questions to me:
1. What's the best book you've read recently?
 "Sonny's Blues". It's by some guy named Baldwin and is actually a short story.

2. What's your favorite song of all time?
um. Yes, Maggie, you have broken me.
I'll just say... anything by Tenth Avenue North, anything on my Phillip Phillip's Pandora station, Fred Astaire, Michael Buble Arms by Christina Perry, lots of Rend Collective Experiment's music, Josh Groban everything from his chocolate voice, Separate Ways by Journey, EVERYTHING IS AWESOME, as well as Batman's Darkness song, oh! ahh ...the classic Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Catching Stars by One Republic, also all the songs from Grease, all the songs from Phantom of the Opera, Newsies, Cats, and most any Disney song, plus Mumford &Sons stuff...etc.

3. What is a hobby or interest of yours that no one would expect?
I like to throw knives, but don't mind me. I can hardly aim at the ground and hit it...

4. What is currently stressing you out?
How far I should go to change my life.

5. What is a reason to not be stressed out about that thing you answered in #4?
Because God has all the answers in His Bible, and I need to respond accordingly.

6. What [are] your favorite memor[ies]? <---I changed it to plural because I can never decide.
Going on long, rainy car trips at night; going to Target in the rain (I like rain); going to Hobby Lobby on a bright-blue, sunny, frozen day; telling that random lady at the airport how pretty she looked; going to the small town sandwich shop and seeing the postman; having the postman with the curly hair tell me what a stamp was; digging the curly-haired postman a pathway through the deep snow (I have a special regard for postmen); having a 'golden moment' with a customer when I worked at the Golden Arches; building bridges across the neighborhood creek with the neighborhood kids; going to Haiti; basically all the fun times I had while working at the Youth Leadership Conference; hiking on the board-walks; hiking up the mountain to get to the crystal clear lake where the ashes of a random cremated dog were scattered; roasting mini-marshmallows over a little candle when we had planned on having an outdoor bonfire, but it accidentally rained instead; hiking and it accidentally rained again so we all rushed home, took showers, and then watched Star Wars; the time Mom woke us up in the middle of the night because she was bored, and she just wanted to go on a long drive, so we did; driving during a thunderstorm and seeing the sky flash with the biggest lightning I have ever witnessed...

7. Who is your biggest role model, and why? Maggie said I'm not allowed to say Maggie, and other than Jesus, I'd have to say the Statue of Liberty, because she's the biggest model I can think of...

8. Biggest pet peeve?
I hate it when people get mad at other people.

9. What is a misconception that you are learning to overcome?
That God hates sinners. His eyes are too pure to look upon evil.
And I kind of used to believe that to a point where I was scared that God wouldn't have my back when something bad happened, because God won't let the righteous fall, but I'm not righteous!
Thankfully, my friend, Christina put some sense into me. Jesus' righteousness is on me, so when God looks at me, I am righteous. He won't let me fall.

10. Finally, what are you currently eating/wishing you were eating?
A grilled cheese sandwich (I just ate one, but I want another...)

And now I am done. So I am going to nominate
Faith
Claire
Kate
Juliette
Caroline S.
Marni
Sam
can I nominate Maggie again? (I don't know too many bloggers...)

My questions for all of you are as follows:

1. What is something you would want to say to the world?

2. What TV show/movie would you want to be a part of making, and how would you help make it?

3. What is your favorite character stereotype?

4.What fairy tale creature (fairy, wizard, troll, enchantress, etc.) would you want to be and why?

5. What is your favorite genre to write in/read/watch?

6. What kind of person do you want to be/become?

7. What is stopping you from becoming that person?

8. What stocking stuffers do you want this Christmas?

9. What do you want?

10. Who hurt you?


The End

Crazy Life

I have been slowly learning that this world doesn't revolve around me. You care, but not that much, whether or not I put another scene of my book up. It's not like I'm breaking any one's heart by not writing. I have been busy with important things. More important than writing a self-pleasing story.

This week is VBS week at my church and I, and my friend Kate, have been practicing for the drama for the past few hundred years---well, more like 2 months, but it's crunch time now. And I have yet to learn my lines for tonight...

My grandfather is in town, so taking care of him definitely takes priority of my writing. He likes to play Dominoes and for the first time in my life I beat him....I just had to brag, for I'm rather pleased with myself ;-)

I have also been studying for a girls Bible study that I am going to be leading in a month. I feel so unprepared and unworthy to peer-to-peer disciple all my beautiful friends. So if you ever have a chance, pray that God will grant me wisdom and understanding as I read His word.

Another activity I have gotten myself into is editing my brother's book. He is my writing idol, so to speak, and has inspired me to write for about seven years...And now I get to bless him back by proof-reading his eloquent novel! Oh! He is brilliant!

Tell me what you've been up to, and tell me whether or not you'd be interested in the rest of my story, and tell me if you will pray for me, and tell me one random and wonderful thing God has done for you this week. (For instance, my random, wonderful thing God did for me was have my mother put a pair of finger nail clippers in my purse. It was so out of the ordinary...but when I got to church for VBS, my friend came up to me with a finger nail emergency! God knew what would happen, and He took care of her finger nail...God is so good!)

National Novel Writing Month A Few Months Early

Soooo Sunshyne is the only person who voted. Thank you, Sunshyne ;) You voted for National Novel Writing Month!

As of RIGHT NOW, I'm plotting and creating some characters...I'll write soon! I already have a few scenes---but if I posted them now, they'd be all out of order xD

So now I have to write everything in order. Yikes.

Did you know I've never finished a novel before? But I'll try for your sake.

Here is my Pinterest board I made for this story. All the pictures on the board won't necessarily happen in the story. The pins just seem to fit the mood of the story..

I'll introduce you to the characters I have so far.

Katrina:

 my protagonist. (This isn't what she looks like at the beginning, just so everyone knows) She has no family or friends or place to lay her head at night. That's at the beginning of the book. She's starving half the time, and she'll do anything for food. She changes when she meets-

Armand:

supporting protagonist. He finds Katrina on the streets of the city, which looks like this:

Anyway, Armand is a leader. He is strong and bold. When first he meets Katrina, he wants to use her for his political cause.But later he begins to like her as a good friend.

Jo:

Jo is my feisty girl. She and Armand have known each other for years. Katrina finds her to be the loner-a rude vigilante, of sorts. But there is more to her than meets the eyes.

Mary:

The big sister. She is kind to everyone but Jo. She is everyone's friend-except Jo's...It appears that Jo gets on Mary's nerves...But other than being around Jo, Mary is wonderful.

The Gov'ner:

No, that's not how I'm going to spell his name-it's just how everyone in the story pronounces the word 'Governor'. Here's what he almost looks like:

(Minus the weird hat.)
He is the most important guy of the story. Although not the main character, it is he who set all the events in action. He is old and wise. The 'been there, done that' sort of fellow.


And that's all my characters so far! I have to get off my computer now because of a thunder storm (I love thunder storms, they are awesome displays of our mighty God's power!)...But I'm writing my first chapter right now :-) Maybe I'll have it up by tomorrow...

New topic?

I am stuck..Now that this month is over, I want to choose a new topic to focus on...but OH! What should it be?

I have been wanting to do the following topics:

  A Month On Writing: Tips And Tidbits That Have Helped Me.
With this topic, I'll just spill back out to you what I have learned in English, Grammar, and Literature classes, as well as a few writing instructional books I've read along the way.

  NaNoWriMo.
In other words, National Novel Writing Month.Yes, I know it is officially in November, but I have never actually written a novel before. I'd like to practice writing one in a month. Since it is summer, now is the perfect opportunity!

  Blast From The Past: A Month Of History
This topic sounds like so much fun to me! I get to research quite a bit of history, and write a paper about it! What fun! I already have a few people in mind whom I would like to discuss: Ludwig II: Mad King of Bavaria; Queen Margaret; William the Silent: Savior of the Dutch..and many more!

  Books is what you do; art is who you are
This is a quote from Tokyo, my beloved brother. I asked him what one word would describe me, and he said, without hesitation, "Art."
 I asked him, "Why not books?"
He replied, "Books is what you do; art is who you are."
I must say, that is the highest compliment I have ever received from anyone (Besides Jesus), which is why I want to talk about it a little more.
Writing about this topic I will try to answer the question asked by so many: "Who am I?"- You don't know-I hardly know-But like I said, as I write, I learn. If you want to go on that journey with me, I'll take you along.

We can be a democracy here. Post in the comments what you would like me to write for you next month. I'll give you 2 votes per person, and I will then write for you the most popular topic for the month of June.

Thank you so much, my dedicated followers! You are all so encouraging to me!

Please check out my friend Faith's new blog here. She is a sweet friend, and I am so happy that she now has a blog!

The Truth About Truth

I'm not going to lie, this month it has been HARD TO WRITE. I have so many excuses to give; it would take an entire post to list them, but there ain't nobody got time for that!

Therefore, I will commence my final post about truth, and what better to write about than truth itself?

I may have been gone for ages upon ages, but, I have not forgotten my topic. While, I was not necessarily meditating on this (which would have been good for me), I did give it a good hard thought every other day...

Truth:

What is it? There are so many Bible verses about it...where do I start? I must say I have been baffled by it frequently...

But why should I be? Jesus gave us the definition oh so clearly: "I am the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life, no man comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

Jesus is truth. He is the only truth.

But still I am at a loss to understand.

The dictionary says truth is anything that is true (to which I reply: CIRCULAR REASONING...but whatever, Mirriam Webster...)

And true means: agreeing with the facts: not false; real or genuine; consistent.

Now, I'm beginning to see the light...(Have I ever told you I dive head first into my blog posts? I learn as I write and drag you along for the journey. You're welcome!)

Jesus is real; He is genuine; He is consistent. What facts does He agree with? All facts! He invented facts.

His ways are true. He never lies. His words are true. He is true. I wonder what it is like to be true...

Are you just reading past that? Do you grasp what I am saying? I have the queerest feeling as I ponder these things. What is it like to be true? Is there a rock-hard answer that I am missing? Do you have it? It must be in the Bible, if there is an answer at all. I'll look:

The Bible Promise Book for Women reads as follows: "In the Bible, the idea of truth carries four interpretations: 1) actual, true to fact; 2) real, ideal, genuine; 3) dealing faithfully or truly with others; and 4) truth in all its fullness and scope, as embodied in Jesus, showing sincerity and integrity of character."

For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation. (Psalm 100:5)

The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice. righteous, and upright is He. (Deuteronomy 32:4)

Doing everything in truth is to do it faithfully, sincerely, genuinely, righteously, justly, and unfailingly. And Jesus does just that, for He is truth itself.

{ Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction, and understanding. (Proverbs 23:23)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. (1 John 3:16-20)

These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgement in your courts. (Zechariah 8:16)

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. (John 8:32)  }

The Truth About Words of Life

Have you ever been verbally abused? Maybe it wasn't the absolutely nasty kind with all those colorful words, but maybe it was the not-so-evident kind, the kind of verbal abuse that people might not even consider verbal abuse.

When a friend mocks the way you speak.

When a brother criticizes a piece of art you have worked so hard on.

When your mom gets on to you about the horrible job you did making dinner.

When your dad doesn't appreciate the work you put into fixing something for him.

When your sister smirks at a poem you wrote.

You were trying to do good things. They don't recognize the effort you put into all of it. They condemn you for the little mistakes.

And it hurts, probably more than it should. Your heart aches; your gut is heavy. Your throat even chokes...

It hurt, but you weren't yelled at.

It rips you up inside, but you weren't even struck.

Now imagine this:
Your sister is tied to a post. You have a whip in your hands and all the power to strike her. What are you going to do?

Well, you're not going to whip her are you?

NO WAY!

You love her. You would never hurt her!

Would you?

Now you are back at your house. She walks in your room while you are enjoying a fantastic book.

 (Ugh! How irksome! I hate it when people interrupt a good read!)

She says, "I just bought a new game for the X-box! Lego Batman! Your favorite! Let's go play!"

You are vexed. So you say, "What are you doing? You didn't even knock on my door! YOU KNOW THE RULES ABOUT KNOCKING ON DOORS, you little pest. Get out! It's not my favorite. You're just being selfish because it's your favorite and you want someone to play it with you to get you through all the hard parts-don't tell me I'm wrong, I know exactly what you're thinking!"

She leaves quietly and you can get back to your precious book.

But, what were you thinking??

Your favorite game really is Lego Batman, no matter how much you deny it, and your sister knows it too. She wanted to give to you, but you threw it back in her face.

Do you remember how you felt after your friend mocked the way you spoke; after your brother criticized your art; after your mom got on to you; and after your dad undervalued the work you did?

Do you remember when you could have whipped your sister, but didn't?

Did you know that you just did?

No, you didn't actually lay a finger on her, but by slandering her the way you did, you might as well have whipped her skin instead of beating her ego.

It hurts on the inside sometimes way more than it does on the outside. Trust me, I know.

So what do we do?

Do you remember when I was talking about words of life? For starters, in a situation like the one I just described, you could speak kindly:

"Darling sister, you are the sweetest peach that ever walked the face of this planet. Thank you oobers for buying me my favorite game. Will you please play it with me this evening instead of now, for you see I am reading a wonderful book-not that this book is better than you, believe me, sister, it isn't! I just want to spare you the ill mood I shall surely be in if I am parted from the events of Ivanhoe and Rowena. I must ensure that she is safely rescued, before I even dream of commencing to rescue Gotham City. You do understand don't you? It is for your own good! I look forward to our missions as Batman and Robin, but first I must be intertwined in the missions of Ivanhoe and Locksley. Good sister, you are wonderful. Goodby now."

Don't you see how much better of a statement this is? It accomplishes everything! 1.) You complimented and thanked your sister numerous times. 2.) You got to read the rest of your book. and 3.) You get to play Lego Batman later!! A fantastic remedy to the previous speech in which you hurt your beautiful sister and probably would have gotten grounded, thus being unable to play Batman or finish your book!

Please understand this as I am trying to. I have found so much that I am totally unaware of other people's feelings as I live from day to day. I grumble and complain often, which is a sure damper on other people's chipper days. I mock, which is absolutely insulting. I tease-which can also be lying, it is a horrible thing. I dishonor my parents, sometimes without even realizing I am doing it. It is a constant circle of insults and apologies of which I am tiring.

I'm doing my best to compliment in place of mocking; having a cheery disposition instead of grumbling; and gratify instead of tease. Oh, but it is so hard!

The Truth About Food

1 Corinthians 10:31

 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

This is one of the verses that helped inspire this month's topic. All my life, I have wondered, "How in the world do we eat and drink and EVERYTHING to the glory of God?"

Now, maybe you have figured it out, if so, let me know in the comments, please!

But here is my light-bulb moment I had a few months ago, which I have been brainstorming ever since:

Food brings us together:

We fellowship around food, whether it be a church potluck, a Thanksgiving dinner, or just a family luncheon. 

We serve food to others. We like having people over to enjoy a meal. Jesus did too. Remember this:

Luke 5:27-32

27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectorsand others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

We also serve food.

Jesus did too:

Mark 14:

22 During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this. It is my body.”

23 Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He gave it to his disciples, and they all drank some. 24 Then he said, “This is my blood, which is poured out for many people, and with it God makes his agreement. 25 From now on I will not drink any wine, until I drink new wine in God’s kingdom.”

Oh, and just so you know, Jesus not only likes to eat with sinners and disciples, but He also wants to eat with you (yes, you).

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.

Now of course, Jesus is talking about spiritual food. It is symbolic, yes, yes, I know.

But still, food is important. Cultures revolve around the foods they make. 

When we think of America, we think about apple pie and hotdogs.

Japan is sushi and raw fish.

England is tea and scones.

Mexico is fajitas and tacos and burritos and rice.

Why do you think we have so many varieties of food? Why did God make all these flavors?

He could have just given us one kind of fruit tree to feed us and keep us healthy. He could have made tongues without taste buds.

Can you imagine what that would be like?

But He didn't! God gave us the ability to taste and enjoy breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper!

Why?

Because He wants us to see how absolutely awesome He is!

 We pray before we eat, thank Him for our meal, and say Amen. But have you ever truly thought how thankful we should really be that God gave us so much flavor in our lives?

Praise Him with me and thank Him so much for food, glorious food!