Light Painting!

Hello!

Finallyy... I will be honest with you. I needed a break. It's not like I am this big-time blogger or anything, but I was running out of ideas already. I had no clue what to write about! Today, though, I attempted to light paint for the first time. Recently, one of my relatives has really motivated me to take a wing at photography and really, actually try it. He told me to take my camera off of automatic and learn how to capture neat photographs. So, today, I began my journey of photography with light painting. It isn't all that hard, but it takes some practice. These are extremely easy to do, but when you really get into it, you can take some neat, yet complicated photos.

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."
                                                     - Colossians 3:23

Feed Thy Children, God Most Holy

Feed Thy children, God most holy;
Comfort sinners poor and lowly.
O Thou Bread of Life from heaven,
Bless the food Thou here hast given!
As these gifts the body nourish,
May our souls in graces flourish
Till with saints in heav'nly splendor
At Thy feast due thanks we render.

This is actually a video of someone I know! :) She plays many instruments, including the harp, if you want to look at her Youtube channel!

I'm Alive!

It has been so terribly long since I last wrote on my blog. I have been quite busy, if you could imagine that. I may be young, but boy! anyone can sure be busy. I would like to try a daybook today to see how it works out. Hopefully it will also help me to share with you some wonderful things that have been going on.

Daybook: 6:5:2013

Outside my window: It is quite muggy outside with the much needed rain we have been getting. We did have such a dreadful drought, but now the rain just keeps on pouring.

I am thinking: That I have had a wonderful opportunity in that I have been blessed with getting to volunteer at a State Park near us. There is "Living History" where I get to dress in period garb and demonstrate different activities from the past.

I am thankful: For my wonderful family.

In the kitchen: The only thing cooking at the moment is bread. :o)

I am wearing: Nothing stylish, that's for sure. I am still in my clothes from volleyball camp.

I am reading: I am reading The Preacher's Daughter by Beverly Lewis at the moment. It is a wonderful book so far. I am also sinking my mind into many well-written articles in my Higher Things magazine.

 

I am looking forward to: Higher Things in July!

Around the house: My mother was horribly sick yesterday, but she has recovered quite nicely today. We watch Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea (I will mention this is a first for me).

A few plans for the rest of the week: Volleyball and a meeting for Youth with Vision

Eric Liddell

:: I read "Eric Liddell" by Catherine Swift for school. What a marvelous book! I recommend it to anyone. I even cried at the end. Great book. Soon we are going to watch "Chariots of Fire" which is a movie based off of his life. I'll see how well it is accurate according to the book.

"We are all missionaries. Wherever we go we either bring people nearer to Christ or we repel them from Christ."

"In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory there is a glory to be found if one has done his best."
                                                                         ~::Eric Liddell::~

Mother/Daughter Tea

:: This event actually occurred a couple weekends ago, but I have finally found some time to make a blog post about it. I just realized, as well, that I never got a picture of just my mother and I. However, I had my first "piano recital" at the tea! It was extremely nerve-racking, but I played it well, Canon in D.

:: Pictures taken both by myself and friend, Mariah.
:: We all had a marvelous time with lots of salads and tea. They had an amazing tea, raspberry tea. I usually do not like cold tea, but this was one superb. :o)
::My mother was going to record my playing of Canon in D, but she figured it would make me even more nervous.

Hair Tutorial to come? I'm not sure yet, but I would do one on this hair style.



A Bundle of Quotes

I have recently finished The Odyssey...

"For a friend with an understanding heart is worth no less than a brother."

"My name is nobody."

Also, reminiscing on the younger days, I read Alice in Wonderland!

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

"Would you tell me, please, which was I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care where - "
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."

"Off with their heads!"

“Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more."
"You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take more than nothing."
"Nobody asked your opinion," said Alice.”  

::Broken::

 

 

A couple interesting parts of the book, Broken: 7 "Christian" Rules That Every Christian Ought to Break as Often As Possible. Maybe you will be engrossed and want to read more. ;o)

 

     "But first, if the devil is ever to slip in his own words as if they were Jesus' words, he must get us to trust him. You might think that would be quite a challenge, but in the end it is actually very easy. All he has to do is lie. The devil really has only one lie. The Lie. It's the same Lie he has been telling ever since the beginning (John 8:44; Genesis 3:4-5). As a result, he's very practiced at it. He's learned that there's more than one way to put a little spin on the same deception. He dresses up The Lie in new clothes, and he gives The Lie a new name. And at the drop of the hat, he can do it again. And again. And again. First he points you left. Then he points you right. But both directions are off the path and lead down into a bog, where the waters are muddy and fog blurs the sight. Slogging through those waters gets tough, but then along comes The Lie again (the same lie, but this time with a pretty wig and some fake eyelashes), whispering for you to try yet another direction. Not back to the path- no, never that! Just, 'This way.' 'Over yonder.'

     "With each new step, the fog gets denser, and memories of the path grown dim. Your hands rub raw on the weeds and thorns. Your feet bruise on the stones sunk beneath the mud. Your conscience feels ragged and tired. Then here comes The Lie again (it's the same lie, but now with a top hat, monocle, and a refined, compelling accent), and this time he says, 'You know, you have that cursed path to blame for all of this. If you'd never been on the path in the first place, none of this would have happened to you.'

     "You would think we humans, after all we've been through, might start to recognize that we've fallen for the same dupe so many times before. But the devil is the master of disguising his Lie. He is like a cook preparing immaculate masterpieces worthy of gobbling up to the last delicate crumb. To the unwary, each dish looks like a new creation, something never before seen or tasted. That is the true talent of The Lie. Even so, just as with any other kind of ingredient for a meal, there are only so many things you can do with The Lie. No matter how many spices you add to the tomato base, you can take it only so far, and after all that, it is still going to taste like tomatoes. For all the countless tweaks the devil stirs in to spice up his dish, at the end of the day it's the same old ingredients in the same old recipe" (Jonathan Fisk).

 

     "Mysticism has found many ready listeners in American culture because American culture is a melting pot of trying to feel good. Humans have always made feeling good a high priority, but in our age we have made it an art form. Both Christians and non-Christians alike spend most of the waking day trying to feel good. When we feel bad (which happens a lot), we begin casting around the market for something new to consume in order to try and feel better. Once we find an answer, we remain as diligent in trying to make the feeling better last as long as possible. This is our way of life. It is our economy, our national pastime, and our greatest export. We believe, teach, and confess that the key to happiness is managing discomfort by increasing good feelings instead, and we are so successful at it that we've also come to assume God approaches religion the very same way. Why wouldn't God want me to be happy? Why wouldn't God want to meet my needs, take away my cares and worries, and life me up? Why wouldn't a truly good God want me to find Him by learning to feel the goodness of His presence? It only makes perfect, heartfelt sense."

 

     "There are two main problems with this mystic pursuit of God through feeling. The first (and the biggest for Christians" is that Jesus never actually taught it. The Bible never tells you that the path to finding God lies hidden within positive experiences. It's not that Jesus has a problem with hearts and emotion in general; after all, He created them. But He didn't create them in order to speak to us through them. That was why He created words.

    "The second problem with believing that we can find God in our hearts is that human emotions always have an unintended side effect: they wear off. Feelings can come with extraordinary strength. They can be as real and potent as the sun warming your face. They can fill you with confidence, conviction, and daring. They can motivate you, get you to turn your life around, and press you to achieve things you never though possible. But they inevitably also do what emotions always do- change" (Jonathan Fisk).

 

     I would just keep typing and typing if I could, but I suggest you read this book yourself. I am not even that far, but it has opened my eyes with the little bit I have read.

 

 

The back issues I ordered of KBR finally came! Time to start reading. :o)

 



By Grace I'm Saved (LSB 566)

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this world of promise?
Has Scripture ever falsehood taught?
No! Then this word must true remain:
By grace you too will life obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in His love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone,
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace God's Son, our only Savior,
Came down to earth to bear our sin.
Was it because of your own merit
That Jesus died your soul to win?
No, it was grace, and grace alone,
That brought Him from His heav'nly throne.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
As long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in His Word our God commands,
Our faith in what our God has done
Depends on grace- grace through His Son.

By grace to timid hearts that tremble,
In tribulation's furnace tried,
By grace, in spite of fear and trouble,
The Father's heart is open wide.
Where could I help and strength secure
If grace were not my anchor sure?

By grace! On this I'll rest when dying;
In Jesus' promise I rejoice;
For though I know my heart's condition,
I also know my Savior's voice.
My heart is glad, all grief has flown
Since I am saved by grace alone.

Hello There. . .

Finally! I have found some time to sit down and write, once again. I am perched on a chair in the kitchen with a wonderful, cool breeze breathing down my neck. It is so nice to have the windows open even if it isn't yet that warm. I smell the beauteous aroma of *many* things being baked and cooked just a couple yards away in the hot oven. Yesterday, my mother and I and our dear neighbor, as well, went to Watkins Mill State Park where there was a special event called "Spring on the Farm." We got to tour the well-preserved house of Waltus Watkins along with the wonderful Woolen Mill with all of the original machines still there. It was wonderful to see everything. We spent a fun five hours here yesterday. We also explored the old church and one room schoolhouse. Here are many, many pictures of our wonderful day. Be prepared. :o) Settle down, make yourself comfortable, come along on this journey with me.

Rag Doll Making



Rope Making



 

It was a fantastic day! The only thing we had to pay for was the tour of the Woolen Mill which was well worth the three dollars per person. We brought home rag dolls, wooden tops, rope, flattened pennies (for my collection), seed balls (the seeds were for wildflowers!), and happiness. :o) Along with many pictures, as you have seen. I hope you enjoyed the pictures just as much as we enjoyed going.

 

 

"A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me." So some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and, 'because I am going to the Father'?" So they were saying, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We do not know what he is talking about." Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her house has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you."

                                                                           ~ John 16:16-22 ~

Currently I watched after finishing the wonderful book, Jane Eyre :

“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal — as we are!”
                                                                ~ Jane Eyre ~