Reformation Day // 500th Anniversary

Oh -- October 31st. Today a lot of kids -- big and small -- are running around in costumes, begging for candy, pulling pranks, or posting selfies of themselves in their clever cosplay on social media. 

But guess what? I found out recently that Halloween isn't the only holiday going on in the world on this day. Today is also Reformation Day, the 500th anniversary of the protestant reformation! 

500 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenburg, Germany. While this act that Luther did doesn't really seem like all that big of a deal to a lot of us now, it was in fact a very big deal during that time, and was a very important event in sparking the protestant reformation. And that, in turn, does indeed affect us as Christians today, because if this reformation had never happened, we most likely would not have the kind of freedom of religion that we have today, to worship God in the way we see fit, or even be able to own a Bible of our own. 

So, today is a great day to be thankful to God for this much easier time that we live in now where we can openly worship Him without fear of being arrested or even killed for going against a certain church's doctrine.

I also wanted to share with you this video down below that gives more information on Martin Luther and his life and what led to him writing down his famous 95 Theses. I'd definitely recommend taking a little time out of your day today to watch!

"[Martin Luther proved] that it's not [entirely] about technology or distribution -- but having something important to say." -Dave Stotts, Drive Thru History

Happy Reformation Day, everyone!

~Faith

Thankful Thursdays // Week One

Hello again, all!

So, what did we find to be thankful for this past week? Some days, I actually wrote down more than one thing to be grateful for, because there's just so much! When you start intentionally looking for things to be thankful for, it seems that you begin finding more than you ever thought you could before!

So here's some things I found to be thankful for this past week. They're kind of random, some being general things while others more specific; but anyway, I think this helped me some though in being more aware of how many great things I have in my life and how good I really have it.

Friday - Our family's laptop that I get to blog/write on a lot.

Saturday - A comfortable bed - Running water

Sunday - Joy in my life - Great friends

Monday - A lighthearted family with whom I can have a good time and share inside jokes with.

Tuesday - Beautiful weather and a beautiful area to enjoy it in.

Wednesday - Baked potatoes (what can I say... I had baked potatoes for lunch that day, and I mean... they were SO GOOD -- how could you NOT be thankful for them??) - That music exists.

Thursday (Today) - An old computer game of ours still works on our Windows 7 computer - I'm able to have a blog

What about you? Write what you thought of this week to be thankful for in the comments below if you'd like! :)


So, that's all I have for today. Another Thursday I might write a more elaborate post digging deeper into a scripture about thankfulness or something like that... but unfortunately I didn't really have much time to do that this week, so today is not that day.

There is, however, one more thing I thought I'd share with you just for fun... This comedic, yet thought-provoking video on gratefulness by Blimey Cow down below. :) Enjoy! :D

Have a great rest of your week, everyone!

~Faith

Thankful Thursdays // Introduction

As a society, we complain a lot. Think about it -- when was the last time you complained about something? I can think of quite a few instances in just the past few days where I've complained... maybe not out loud all the time, but in my head to myself.

God's Word tells us in Philippians 2:14-16 to "do everything without complaining or disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life..."

Do everything with out complaining? That seems almost impossible to do. However, in Matthew 19:26 Jesus informs us that "with God all things are possible." So apparently, it must not be impossible to do all things without complaining or arguing. God can help change our attitudes. But He's not going to just come along and do it automatically for us. We've got to be willing to change and trust Him to help us change our mindset.

It's good to take time each day to look for the good in your life even when things seem to not be going so great. I've always found that it's easier to not complain when I'm thankful and am thinking about all the blessings God has given me in this life.

So... I had this idea. Since the Thanksgiving season is going to be rolling around here soon, I decided I'd challenge myself starting today till the end of November to write down at least one thing each day to be thankful for. And then each Thursday of what's left of October and November, I'll come back here and share what I wrote down and what I found to be grateful for each day that past week.

Also, YOU are definitely more than welcome to join me in this endeavor as well if you'd like to! I'd very much like that if you did! :) You can come back and write down what things you thought of to be thankful for the past week in the comments each Thursday if you'd like, or you can just write them down in a notebook or somewhere else for yourself. And then when you're bored someday, you can go back and read them and remember how good this life is that God has given you!

Sound like a plan? I hope that made sense. (I feel like I made the explanation above kind of confusing.....maybe not...) So, whether you join me in this Autumny/Thanksgiving project or not, please don't forget to make room for thankfulness in your everyday life and take time to thank God for all the wonderful blessings He's given you!

So, let's get started, shall we? Here's one thing I've thought of that I can be thankful for today:
Having a family who cares for me.

Well, that wasn't too hard. Now -- it's your turn! What's one thing you can be thankful for today?

Have yourselves a wonderful rest of the week and see you next Thursday! :)
~Faith

Just for a laugh... 2.0

So, today I thought I'd do a second installment of Just for a laugh which I did a while back. "A merry heart does good, like medicine" (Prov. 17:22), so let's get pumped up and joyful and have a little fun, shall we? :D

Let's kick it off with this clever joke......

Ahahahaahahahahahahaha... :P

How Ninjas Make Pancakes --- FINALLY REVEALED!

Okay okay, so I get it. Some of us are worse at matching clothes and doing all that fashion stuff than others, but come on...

I SAW MY WHOLE LIFE FLASH BEFORE MY EYES

Leviticus 13:40 (NKJV) “As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he is clean." :P

Too true, too true...

NOOOOOOO, MOM PLEASE not my fidget spinner that probably no one will care anything about by this time next year! D:

I have a feeling Spain will have a lot to explain about this plain name they've gained from playing this game...

YAS JUST YAS

These just might be the best homemade eclipse glasses around! Man, I wish I had known about making these before the eclipse happened this past summer. Oh well, maybe next time...

I hope you liked that! I sure did. :D Which was your favorite picture?

Also, what do you think of the new fall look? And I've finally done a "face reveal" thingamajig... in other words, just putting a picture of myself on the side there. :P

I hope all of you have a wonderfully blessed and joyful day!

~Faith

The Hare & The Tortoise (a politically correct version)

This past year for school I had a writing assignment to rewrite one of Aesop's Fables using the style of another author. One of the authors they recommended using the style of was James Finn Garner's in his "Politically Correct" series (where he retells classic stories to be "politically correct"). So, I chose to rewrite the renowned story of The Hare & The Tortoise in the style of Garner -- with a politically correct twist. ;) It was one of my favorite writing assignments from this past year, and so, I've decided to share it with you all, just for fun. So... enjoy, my friends! :)

   
     One day, a hare was making fun of a tortoise for being motion-challenged. The tortoise became offended by the hare's teasing and considered suing him for slander, but decided to challenge the hare to a race instead. The discriminatory hare laughed and said, "How ridiculous!"
     With the tortoise being thoroughly offended, the hare finally agreed to the race. They asked the fox to be the judge.
     "Ready, set, go!" the fox yelled.
     The hare rushed way ahead of the tortoise, and so the fox called, "Hare, don't run so fast! You will make Tortoise feel bad."
     But the prejudiced hare ignored the fox's advice and kept on. But soon, after getting so far ahead, the hare started to feel bad for the tortoise, and so he decided to stop for a little while so that the tortoise could catch up and regain some of his self-esteem. While he was waiting for the tortoise, he laid down to rest, and as it was such a nice warm day, he drifted off into a deep sleep.
     Meanwhile, the tortoise kept plodding on. He was beginning to get quite tired, but then he saw the hare asleep. The tortoise became excited and carefully tiptoed by the hare, realizing that he might be able to win. Finally, the tortoise crossed the finish line.
     All the other animals cheered, and the hare woke up suddenly to the noise. With a shock of realization as to what had happened, he dashed to the finish line, finding that the tortoise had already crossed the finish line before him.
     "But it's not fair!" the hare complained. "I would have won if I hadn't fallen asleep!" He began to cry.
     The fox judge thought about this. "Well, you both worked so hard," he said. "So you both get a prize!" The fox handed both creatures a 1st place ribbon.
     The ungrateful tortoise pouted. "But I crossed the finish line first!  I won! Why does he get the same prize as me?"
     "We're all winners, Tortoise!" the fox said. "Don't be upset. No matter what you do you'll always be a winner."

Moral: Any pace will win the race.


Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
~Faith

A New Look & A Bookish Tag

Hello again!

So, as you may have noticed, I've changed my blog look quite a bit and have added a couple of new pages! What do y'all think? I made the new header on a neat website, www.befunky.com where you can make professional looking collages and such for free (well, and you can pay to have more stuff to work with, but you can do a lot with just the free things). I believe I first heard about this website from my friend, C.D. Hulen, and it's already been quite useful for me. So thanks, C.D.! :D

~~~

I also got tagged once again by the lovely Olivia quite some time ago. This time it is a book-related award! :) So let's get to it, shall we?

The Bookish Tag Rules:
-You must be honest. 
-You must answer every question. 
-You must tag at least 4 people.

Okie doke. Here we go!

1.) What book has been on your shelf the longest? Hmm, good question. I don't... really know? Well, if we're talking about just my shelf (on which I've usually kept school stuff), I might say... maybe The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope. I have not read this book yet, but I think I might read it sometime in the near future. We'll see.

2.) What is your current read, your last read, and the book you'll read next? I'm currently reading Yankee Belles in Dixie by Gilbert Morris (the second book in the Bonnets & Bugles series), but I got a little tired of it for the moment, so I started reading A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck which has been interesting :P; my last read was Drummer Boy at Bull Run by Gilbert Morris (the first book in the Bonnets & Bugles series); and the book I'll read next will most likely be Keeping Secrets by Joan Lowery Nixon.

3.) What book did everyone like, but you hated? Hmm... I'm really not sure if I have one.

4.) What book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't? Maybe another Shakespeare play? (I had to read Julius Caesar for school this past year... yipee. :P) Or the other possibility might be To Kill a Mockingbird.
(...Oh my, I just realized how ridiculous that sounds if you don't read that as a book title...... XD)

5.) What book are you saving for retirement?  I honestly have never really thought of saving a book for when I'm older before; so yeah, I have no idea at the moment.

6.) Last page: read it first, or wait 'til the end? I usually don't want to spoil anything, so I try not to read the last page with most books I'm planning to read. But it really depends... with some books you just randomly find at the library, you need to read the last part of it to make sure it ends up good to see if it's going to be worth reading or not.  

7.) Acknowledgement: waste of paper and ink, or interesting aside? I think they can be interesting to read sometimes. It's kind of neat to learn of some of the people who inspired, encouraged, and/or helped the author in the writing of his or her book.

8.) Which book character would you switch places with? Well, really (as Olivia said), I wouldn't want to trade places with anyone in the world, because I know God made me who I am and put me in the time I'm in for a reason. :) But if I must choose... ahhhh, there are so many choices! HOW DOES ONE CHOOSE?? ....Possibly Pollyanna Whittier.

9.) Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life? (Place, time, person?) When I was maybe five or six, all our family had to get rabies shots because of some reason that I don't quite remember (something about a cat I think...). And I didn't like it, of course. But anywho, we had to go several times, and almost every time we brought an I Spy book along to look at in the waiting room before we had to go in and get our shots. That was a real bright spot in that experience, and made things a lot better for me. So, sometimes when I pick up an I Spy book, I think about that time. (I think the last time we had to go though, as I recall, we forgot to bring it, which was a real bummer.)

10.) Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way. A number of years ago I participated in a Summer reading program at our local library. You got different prizes, such as a free pass to a pool or a free Chick-Fil-A kid's meal for reading so many hours. So, the big prize at the end (if you read all the hours on the chart they gave you) was getting to pick out a book from the library to keep. I chose a book called, Toliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady. It stuck out to me from when I first saw it, and I'm so glad I chose it; it's a really great book. :)

11.) Have you ever given a book away for a special reason to a special person?

Hmm... I actually can't really think of a specific book at this moment that I've given away before. D: The closest thing to giving a book away that comes to mind is giving out tracts and christian magazines at our church's annual "free yard sale". It is for a special reason, and the people we're giving them to are each very special people... So, that should count, shouldn't it? :)

12.) Which book has been with you most places? My Bible probably. It's a good book to have around!

13.) Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad later?
Well, there was Pride & Predjudice, but I didn't really hate it. I actually quite enjoyed it. But I think I came to appreciate it more as I went along and after finishing it.

14.) Used or brand new? Probably used, but I'd prefer it be in a pretty good condition though. I definitely don't mind brand new either... It really depends. :P

15.) Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?  No.

16.) Have you ever seen a movie you liked more than the book? There are probably several movies I liked more than the book :P, but one I can think of at the moment is The Apple Dumpling Gang. The movie is a lot funnier, and more family-friendly really than the book. Also, the fact that I saw the movie before reading the book could have somewhat of an affect on which one I prefer. ;) (But with this one, I think I'd like the movie better than the book anyway to be honest.)

17.) Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks included? Cookbooks definitely make me hungry (especially flipping through the dessert section... mmmmmmmm). I don't know if I could choose a specific one though... any one really!  

18.) Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?  My mom's. Definitely. :)

19.) Is there a book out of your comfort zone (e.g., outside your usual reading genre) that you ended up loving? I read Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis a while back after seeing the movie for it, and I guess that's a little bit out of my usual kind of genre. I remember enjoying it pretty well. That's the only Narnia book I've read, though, and I'm sure it would have been better if I had read all the Narnia books in order and everything. (I know, I know, all you Narnian-loving peeps who've grown up reading the books are all probably looking at me in shock right now....)

 

Well, that was fun! (And a bit more challenging, to be honest.) Thanks, Olivia for tagging me! :)

Okay, let's see, I'll tag...

Abby @ Novels, Dragons, and Wardrobe Doors
Jonathan @ Fishing For Ideas
Faith @ Chosen Vessels

Katherine @ The Ramblings of a Young Writer
and YOU who are reading this if you so desire. :)

Have a wonderful week, everyone!
~Faith

A Savior Alive // A belated Easter poem

A World created

A Sin committed

A Bond separated

A Love omitted

A Promise given

A God with power

A People who followed

A People who cowered

An Angel sent

A Woman submitted

A Baby born

A Savior given

A Boy who grew

A Man who taught

A Man who healed

The Son of God

A Sinless Man

A Trial commenced

An ignorant people

Blood on their hands

A Whip snapped

A Crown placed

A Crowd spat

Into His face

A Cross carried

A Hill scaled

A Nail hammered

A Hand nailed

A Savior dying

An Agony displayed

A Blood so pure

A Man Who forgave

A Savior dead

A People dismayed

A Promise remembered

A Sign -- three days

A Stone rolled

A Veil tore

A Tomb empty

A Devil mourned

An Angel present

A Woman wondered

A News proclaimed

He was not kept under

A Savior alive

A Hope brought near

A Bond renewed

No more to fear

A God Who loved

A People so much

A Son He gave

The Son of God

A Savior lived

A Savior died

A Savior Loved

Our Savior, Jesus --- is ALIVE.

This was a poem I wrote up that I was going to put on here for Easter, but I just didn't get around to it for some reason. (Maybe it was because I wasn't exactly sure if it was good or made very much sense... What do you think of it?)
But anyway, even though it's far past Easter, I think us as Christians should be excited about and celebrating Jesus' resurrection all year round, don'tchya think? :) I mean, just think about it --- Jesus was willing to take such a horrific punishment in our place --- the punishment we very much deserved, so that we could be free from all hurt, grief, pain, sickness, and sin. But why on earth would he do such a thing for a people who deliberately denied and rejected him?

LOVE.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

It makes me so sad to hear people say or see people hold up signs that say things like "God is mad at you" or "God is angry". God is not mad or angry at you. Just look at what he was willing to do for us. Would someone who hates your guts go off and take the punishment and death you deserved? I wouldn't hardly think so. He might be sad or not be pleased with something wrong we've been doing, but that doesn't stop Him from loving us. He loves you SO SO much, and wants the very best for you. (That of course doesn't mean we should keep doing wrong things. [Romans 6:1-2] God will forgive us for them, but we should still obey God's commandments and do what's pleasing in His sight.) 

God's love is truly just... amazing. It's indescribable. It's incredible. It's almost unbelievable... but it's real. Sometimes I think we forget how deep of a hole we'd all be in if Christ didn't do what He did. We'd still be stuck in that deep pit... but Jesus rescued us. He stretched out His hand and pulled us back up out of that dark hole of sin. He embraced us with such love. He gave us life --- but not just life --- life more abundantly. Because of Him, we're FREE. It's more awesome than words can describe.
But if you haven't experienced that kind of freedom and still feel stuck down in that hole of sin, God can pull you back out, too. All you have to do is tell Him you're sorry for the wrong things you've done and "confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) It's really that simple. And Jesus dying on the cross made that way for us to be able to just simply ask for forgiveness with a sincere heart, and then be washed clean from all sin. Praise God!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and are having a great start to your summer! :)
JESUS IS ALIVE!!!

~Faith