A few favorite quotes and verses

I can't tell you how many times in my month-long absence I've clicked "new post". I've been busy, as I wrote about in my last post. I think of things to say… and just never get around to saying them. It occurs to me that I have other things to do, or I don't have enough things to say to fill one post, or do I really feel like writing a post right now. This post alone has almost become a quotes post, then I was going to do a Top Ten Tuesday post (twice) then went back and decided to do a quotes/verses post again.
There will probably *SNEAK PEAK* be a sewing tutorial in the next month, the nature of which shall be revealed to you… then. I'm working on another short-story fairytale (as well as plugging slowly along with Arthur) so probably I'll be posting some snippets of that soon (that is if I keep on track of writing it…).
I don't know about you, but I'm super excited about school ending. Being homeschooled, it's not all ending at the same time, and some will go through the summer. But math and chemistry were both over last Friday (EEK!). I liked chemistry, I really did. But just now I'm the gladdest I've ever been about school being done. Tomorrow we're leaving for a two-week trip, the longest trip I've ever been on. It will be a sorely needed break.
In the meantime before I post about wildly mysterious tutorials or hopefully-interesting story snippets, I decided to post a few favorite quotes and Bible verses. Because that's a lazy man's post. And I'm lazy (really this post is mostly just to let you know I'm still alive and I didn't quit on you, you know).

~

I will hold to principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad – as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this... If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?

-Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

I really think that is such a great quote. If people actually understand that, think of how things would be different (ie, perhaps there would be no divorce, because people would remember those vows that were made for such moments as this. You don't need the vows when you're having fun, do you?)

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Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.
-C. S. Lewis

This makes me think of the Bible verse, 1 Corinthians 15:19, 'If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men'. Jesus can't just be a morally sound teacher. If he didn't die and rise again being a Christian is pointless.

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For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. Psalm 33:4

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. Psalm 36:5-6

I was thinking today how when I fail, I think, 'God is surely tired of this. Because I've been unfaithful over and over, he will stop being faithful – it is his right.' But his faithfulness is so much more than mine, he is even more faithful than any measure of fairness says he should be. Because God isn't fair; he is merciful. Think of the whole surface area of the earth, filled from the ground to the clouds with faithfulness. I think that's pretty awesome (in the truest sense of the word).

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If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.

C. S. Lewis.

Okay, I told myself I wouldn't make a comment on this because I've made a comment on all the quotes so far, but I really love this quote. So often I have this longing for more. Longings to go to Narnia, to Middle Earth, to live a fairy tale – longings however many book-readings or book-writings or imaginary game-playings can't satisfy. And it is such a comfort to me to know that in heaven, it will be satisfied.

~

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; 
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks,
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
The Lord blesses his people with peace.

Psalm 29

Till later,

Sleeping in Faith

Hello, my dearies. This is a season where people are focused even more than usual on "me, me, me" or even "me and my family" – a time when we'll soon be having the after Christmas letdown because it wasn't as perfect as we imagined it would be or we didn't get the gift we wanted. So, in this time of thinking all about ourselves and getting mopey, I wanted to share some praise. After all, we're called to give glory to God in everything and every time.
So here it is:
Last year, I struggled with insomnia – it could take me hours to fall asleep. Sometimes I would wake in the middle of the night and it again might take me two hours to get back to sleep. When I was having trouble sleeping, I felt so anxious and alone, because I was the only one in the house who was awake. I would get really hot and my head would start to ache terribly, and sometimes I would even feel nauseous.
And each night when it was time to get ready to go to bed, I didn't want to because I was so worried it would take me a long time to fall asleep again. It was a vicious cycle. The more I worried about it, the more likely it was to happen. The longer I stayed awake, the more likely I was to get nauseous (because of getting hungry and having a head ache), and therefore it would take me longer to get to sleep.
I share a room with my sister. When I was in the midst of dealing with this (in the summer), we were remodeling our room, so for a while our mattresses were just on the floor. I would want to push them closer together and sometimes would call out to her to see if she was awake, so I wouldn't feel so alone. But when I called out and she didn't answer, that was always worse than not saying anything. When she would want to go sleep in the guest bedroom to have some alone time, I wouldn't want her to leave.
I'm not saying all of this so you'll feel sorry for me, or anything like that. I'm saying this so you'll understand what a struggle it was for me. To this day, I can't drink Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea because it reminds me of several times of getting up in the middle of the night and drinking tea in hopes it would make me fall asleep quicker.
Little did I know, I was not alone. One night, after we'd gotten our beds back, my sister went to sleep in the guest bedroom. My mother came in and I told her what I was feeling – anxious and alone, again. I don't remember exactly what she said, but it was something to the effect that I was not alone. When I felt alone I could just talk to God. Of course I'd heard this thousands of times and probably told myself the same thing, but for some reason it clicked that night. She also reminded me that counting your blessings is a great way to fall asleep.
So I did. As I fell asleep, seemingly alone in the room, I whispered all the things I was thankful for to Jesus. And since that night, I've never struggled with insomnia or anxiety like that again. I've slept alone plenty of times – and I don't care. Once in a while, I'll have trouble falling asleep again, but I don't experience the soul-capturing anxious feelings that kept me in bondage before.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.

(Psalm 107:13-16)

I know that in God's time I'll fall asleep, and in meantime, I can have long conversations with him that maybe I didn't get time for that day. What was a curse can be a blessing. Paul talks about "walking by faith" in II Corinthians; well, I can now "sleep by faith" because of Jesus.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests! I hope that this time instead of being all about you can be one of drawing near to Jesus and learning of his peace in anxiety and his love amidst trouble. What can you praise God for today?

Merry Christmas!

Read this today and couldn't resist sharing. I love it. I have nothing more to add.

Keep me safe, O God,
    for in you I take refuge.

 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    apart from you I have no good thing.”
 As for the holy people who are in the land,
   they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
 The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.
    I will not pour out their libations of blood
    or take up their names on my lips.

 Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
    you have made my lot secure.
 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me.
   Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
    nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
 You have made known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

(Psalm 16, ©NIV)

Comparisons that arise when reading Jeremiah

I have been reading Jeremiah recently. Sometimes it's almost scary how applicable the Bible is to now-life. I just wanted to share a few of my thoughts.
At the end of chapter five, it says "'A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?'"
This is so true in America – people would rather be told lies that make things easier, would rather have a watered-down, mixed-up version of Christianity that men make up by their own authority, than live the real gospel. But in the end, only the gospel is really real. None of that other stuff will do a whit for you.
In chapter six, vs. 10 says "To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it."
This is talking about Jews, you know. Not about foreign peoples who've never heard of God and don't know anything about him. This is God's people, who are offended by his words! Worse, this is true for God's people nowadays. How many people find pleasure in reading their Bible? They close their ears to what they don't want to hear. They say they want to hear God's direction for their life, maybe they even pray about it a little, maybe even read their Bible a few times a week to see if God will answer them, but their ears are closed. They don't want God's direction for their life – that is clearly written in the Bible – they want God's endorsement of what they want to do.
Vs. 13 says "'From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.'"
Notice the word loathsome; somehow I don't think God endorses this.
Then in Jeremiah 8:8 it says "'"How can you say, 'We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,' when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handle it falsely?"'"

There are so many weak churches in America; church leaders who preach sermons that say "Peace, peace," who think they are doing pretty good because they "have the law of the Lord", but their eyes are closed to actually see what is in that law. People who can recite Bible verses but don't even know what they mean. Worse is people who know that they are lax and that they should and could read their Bible more often, actually read it, put some effort into maintaining their relationship with God, but aren't really bothered by the fact that they don't. Or maybe, because it's Sunday, they will read their Bible. They'll share with their friends the spiritual knowledge they've gained. But then they count themselves wise, for they "have the law of the Lord", and they've done their spiritual act for the week. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all. Do they imagine that this kind of worship is what God wants?? God does not want people to worship him because it's on their to-do list. He wants to me to worship him because he is so worthy, not because I feel the need to make myself feel a little better and nominally spend some time with him. It is scarily easy to sing a worship song without realizing it – to get distracted by something on the other side of the room, but the words and the tune keep coming out of your mouth, though you aren't actively meaning the words.

In the last book of the Old Testament, in the first chapter, God says, '"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the Lord Almighty.
"It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.
"But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' You place defiled food on my altar.
'But you ask, how have we defiled you?'… When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the Lord Almighty.'
Giving God anything less than his due is not enough for him. Living anything less than the life we are meant to live, is not enough for you. It will do nothing for you to live a half-life; believe me, you will be bored and miserable. Step out into real Christianity. Actually listen when you read your Bible. Give God the honor due him. That is something that is no less than real.

Two months ago today I came back from a missions trip. That trip rocked my world. To quote from Kisses from Katie, "In the beginning, I would have described  it as God turning my world upside down, but now I know that He was actually turning it right side up!" My world was turned right side up. Today I wanted to share a small part of what I learned about world missions. 
Most Christians consider missions to be just one thing the church does – have a church picnic twice a year, do a VBS, give money to the missionary. They would say there is missions because there is the Church; but I'd like to suggest that maybe it'd be more correct to say there is the Church because there is missions. If God didn't want us to reach the nations, why wouldn't we all go straight to Heaven after becoming Christians?
With that in mind, I'd like to address one of the main objections Christians have to going overseas to be a missionary (certainly one I would have said before going on this trip).
I would have said, "There are needs at home; there are hungry, poor people in America and my grandma and some close friends aren't Christians. I need to stay here to reach and care for those people."
It it so true that there are needy people here. I do not in any way want to discount that. It is one of the duties of the church to care for the widow and the orphan and the hungry people, and it is a tragedy when that doesn't happen and little girls go to be hungry even here in rich America.
But the simple fact of the matter is that there is no church in Guinea-Bissau (that's a country, in case you've never heard of it). Who will care for the hungry and orphaned people there? Who will speak of Christ and love to the grandmas and best friends there who've never heard of Jesus ever and may not have even a single verse of the Bible in their language?
Revelation 7:9 says that in Heaven there will be people worshiping God from "every nation, tribe, people and language". There is no Bible at all in the Kulisusu language. The task isn't finished, because there are not yet people worshiping him in Kulisusu and Kanembu and Mandar. 
Your grandparents or your aunt or your best friend aren't one tiny bit less important than the Guinea-Bissau people. God wants them to come to know him every bit as much as he wants the hearts of the Kulisusu and Kanembu and Mandar people, every bit. He doesn't love them any less. But the point is that there are literally no Christians among the Kanembu. There is no one to show them God's love, and today, today, literally millions of people are living and dying without any bit of true hope. Isn't that the greatest tragedy? There are 6, 974 unreached people groups (clarify, a reached people group is one that has the resources for the people to become Christians even if they aren't all Christian, and an unreached people group is one that is less than 2% Christian and usually has very little Christian resources available in their languages). There are 2.1 billion Christians on this earth. 600 churches for everyone one unreached people group. 600!! What if every church sent 5 missionaries? That'd be 30,000 missionaries for one people group! Granted, some people groups are huge - billions - and might need more than 30,000 missionaries. Well, some churches are huge - and some are small. The point is not the numbers but that every Christian is called to be involved in world missions, even if not every Christian goes. But don't let "there are needs at home" or "someone else will go" be your excuse to not go. How do you know that anyone else will go? The harvest is plentiful but the workers are indeed few. The time to serve God is now.

Anne-girl things

So, as some of you may know, I am playing Anne in Anne of Green Gables. It's crazy, but true.
My hair is really dark – and so are my eyebrows. We bought a red wig, but with my eyebrows it just looks awful. Awful.
Yesterday these black boots came in the mail. Ohhhhh! They're so gorgeous. They have a 2 ½ inch heel, which is good since I'm right at 5" and there's a line in the second act about how tall and stylish I've grown (FYI, I'm shorter than everyone in the play except one person). They make me so happy about being Anne.
And I'm going to have like 4-5 costumes. I've never had that many. I've never had so many lines either. I have the first line, the last line, and half the lines in between. And the other lines are about Anne. :) I hope this doesn't sound like bragging– it's just so different from any play I've been in before.
Life is hard sometimes, but I'm so blessed. A few days before the cast list came out, I was feeling insecure in Jesus's love. I had just finished Captivating, and I struggling with feeling like I was the Beauty of the story, the herione, you know? I wanted to be Anne of Green Gables, even for a night. To be the one that the Hero loved. I was just telling God how much I wanted him to tell me I was his Lady, that I didn't mind if I wasn't Anne as long as I was his Anne. As long as he loved me. Friends, God is so faithful. It was the very next day that I found out that I was Anne. I couldn't believe that I was lucky enough to be Anne. The biggest part I had was Mr. Beaver in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (due to a shortage of boys!). And since I was a boy, that I didn't feel as special.
Anyways, I hope his faithfulness is shown to you this week.
Love through him,

Life

Life is hard. And good. I'm frustrated and joyful. This day has been so mixed. Chiaroscuro, you know? Light and dark. The morning was good, at first. After breakfast wasn't as good. I was trying to find a skirt pattern which I just couldn't find, and then I wanted to work on the letter with my sister that we're writing to a friend, but didn't have time because I had to go to Biology. But Biology was good – it was cool to look at the amoeba and the spirogyra and the diatoms. That was fun, and when I came home the weather was just perfect. And we worked on our letter and started making oatmeal butterscotch cookies. And then – the cookies weirdly flattened and burned, at the same time as which our dog peed all over the tile in our basement. And his toy basket. And the door. ACH. I wanted to scream, "Why can't things just work out!?!??!" Yet minutes ago I was praising God because I felt like a princess in a swishy skirt even though I'm wearing a t-shirt, jeans that are slightly too big for me, and my hair is kind of a mess.
Life is complex.
We cleaned up the mess. I added some wheat flour to the cookies and reduced the cooking time and they came out perfect. Perfection amid chaos.
I just took some blueberry cornbread muffins (to go with our leftover soup from last night) from the oven. They're perfectly fluffed. It's so easy to forget all the things that go right amidst the things going wrong.
We are hard pressed, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. (2 Cor. 4:8-9)
I love love songs because when you're unmarried like me, you can sing it like a worship song.

This will be an everlasting love
This will be the one I've waited for
This will be the first time anyone has loved me.

I'm so glad you found me in time
And I'm so glad that you recrefied my mind
This will be an everlasting love for me

Loving you is some kind of wonderful
Because you showed me just how much you care
You've given me the thrill of a lifetime
And made me believe you've got more thrills to spare, oh!

This will be an everlasting love
Oh, yes it will now!

You brought a lot of a sunshine in to my life
You filled me with happiness I never knew
You gave me more joy then I ever dreamed of
And no one, no one can take the place of you

This will be, you and me, yes sir-ee, eternally (literally!)
Hugging and squeezing, and kissing and pleasing,
Together forever throughever whatever.
Yeah yeah yeah you and me

So long as I'm living true love I'll be giving
To you I'll be serving cause you're so deserving
Hey, you're so deserving, you're so deserving
yeah yeah yeah Whoooaaah
Love, love, love, love, love, love
love, love, love, love
love, love, love, love, love love,
love, love, love, love

From now on,
From now on,
From now on....

General Update from Minas Galen

Hello, all. I know I just blogged yesterday, but there are some important things to be said.
One, my dog Murphy got shaved yesterday. He is so bare and pink. I feel almost bad petting him because he seems so tiny and vulnerable. But he smells much better now, so I'm glad.
Another thing, I just wanted to share some blessings God has been sharing with me. A few days ago, I was reading my Bible, and Crazy Love (by Francis Chan) and I felt that God wanted me to give fifty dollars more. Let me explain. A friend and I are doing a bakesale fundraiser to purchase some things from World Vision, and I think we made a goal of a couple hundred dollars. But I felt that God was saying, "Try me on this. Do fifty more dollars." And if he didn't provide it through the bakesale, I knew he could provide it through me. And guess what:
On Thursday my sister Nan and I babysat my friend's baby sister (a 1½ year old, very adorable but very  tiring – I had to drink a cup of coffee, I was so tired!) all day. The next day, we babysat for two other kids for two hours. And yesterday, we watched the same kids for one hour. So how much money do you think is in my wallet now?
Fifty dollars. God is already providing, and we aren't having the bakesale until September 21.
And then the blessing of last night. Do all of you know that the Perseids is going on right now? The Perseids is an annual meteor shower. The peak night is tonight and Monday night. We went last night, even though it wasn't the peak, because you have to go late at night to see them well.
Seriously, if you've never done this, DO IT. This is the second time I've done it. It was spectacular. We saw about 40-45 meteors, some tiny, some quick, a few slow, and one really cool one that we all saw. It was copper colored, with a really long tail (some of us think it had two tails).
This is something that I think everyone should experience. Take a blanket, go find a field away from the city and just lie down and watch. We got there around 11 and stayed till 1. Seriously, it was so amazing. To just lie in awe, even though you grow tired, is beyond describing. But pack warmly, because it's cold out there (cold, in August? Who would've thought?). :)
Only three weeks until Reading Buddies. Wow. I never thought the summer would end. Once again, I entreat everyone who can to look into Reading Buddies and similar programs at their schools. You will be abundantly blessed.
Blessings on your week –

You should read this

Yet Another Period Drama Blog: God Is Not Dead, Nor Doth He Sleep: Very thought provoking and very true.