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)

Celebrate Musicals Week: Why I chose My Fair Lady

It's Celebrate Musicals Week! (A great idea, by the way, Miss Dashwood). I love musicals. I grew up singing Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, and Sound of Music songs. My mom is a musical lover. We try to watch  a new one every summer (at least one, anyway). I don't recall the first time I watched Cinderella or Fiddler on the Roof,  but I do remember the first time I saw My Fair Lady.
My sister didn't like it. She wanted Eliza to end up with Freddie (now she thinks Eliza should ditch both of them!). But I liked it – though in the first few minutes I insisted (having had no experience with lovely Audrey Hepburn) that Eliza was the same actress as Mary Poppins (which is ironic because Julie Andrews did want the part and she played it on Broadway).
Cinderella was always my favorite when I was little. I remember getting it for my fifth birthday. To me, Leslie Ann Warren was Cinderella (never mind the Disney version... I liked her, too, but when I thought "Cinderella" I thought of "A lovely night" and "Ten Minutes ago" not little mice in shirts [which my sister thinks is slightly creepy – a girl forcing little mice to wear clothes, thinking she's "helping" them...]).
Anyway! :) I always loved Cinderella, and whenever we listened to our My Little Broadway CD, I insisted that "I Could Have Danced All Night" was from Cinderella! Of course, my sister told me otherwise, which made me insist all the more. . .
I rather wish I could choose two musicals... Cinderella will always be so special to me, but I just love My Fair Lady!
However, I have chosen. My Fair Lady it is! For many reasons, but I can't tell them all here, because why would you then read my other posts? You shall simply have to wait. :)

Beautiful People: Araldon

Here we are, and it's time for Beautiful People again!

So, this is technically for villains. And although Lord Araldon is not "the villain" of my story, he marries Gwennie and so he is a villain of a man. It counts. Really.

1. What is their motive:

Okay, so this is hard, because he personally doesn't have a motive for his villainous action. He was told to do so by his superior because it was politically a good idea (you know, the motives for a good deal of noble marriages back in the Middle Ages). He's just following orders. He'd prefer not to marry Gwennie. He'd rather have his own life.

2. What do they want and what are they prepared to do to get it?

Lord Araldon is a handsome young man, smart, strong, but not overly ambitious. He is willing to help his master overthrow King Arthur because he'd like to be settled comfortably in his own castle. One day, he'd like to settle down, but currently he likes being the object of multiple young ladies. When forced to marry Gwennie, she's a little too spunky and less in awe of him than he'd like. He would, quite bluntly, be happy if she died and left him to be a happy bachelor, drinking, riding in tournaments, and flirting again.

3. How do they deal with conflict?

He is the oldest of three brothers, and when he and his younger brothers would argue, he would simply knock them down. Not a great way of dealing with conflict. Nowadays, when knocking people down isn't always convenient or politically correct, he uses words. He is not brutish, but actually pretty smart and perceptive. He will use what he knows about you to hurt you. And if all this fails and you are unintimidated, he becomes passive aggressive.

4. Describe their current place of residence.

Araldon lives in the castle, like most of the knights and lords. His chambers are on the southwest side of the castle (the back and to the left); they are very nice. High ceilings, one or two expensive tapestries on the walls, a large oak bedstead, elegant sconces, that sort of thing.

5. If they were writing this story, how would it end?

Gwennie would die, his master would conquer, and he'd be rewarded handsomely for his trouble.

6. What habits, speech patterns, etc. are unique to them?

I always have a hard time with these kind of questions. Umm… I don't know of any speech patterns. He clenches his jaw when angry. He drums his fingers while having conversations.

7. How do they show love? What do they like to do with/for people they love?

He likes to spar verbally with people he loves.  Most likely, if you and he are friends, you like to eat, fight, banter back and forth, do the things he like to do, so that would be what you would do together. If he wanted to do something for you, he'd probably buy you something.

8. Do they have any pets?

He has a horse, but it is not a pet.

9. Where would they go to relax or think?

Probably he'd take a ride if he wanted to think. He's not fond of horses but he does like to gallop across the moors. To relax, he'd go to the Great Hall or to a tournament. He likes fighting and eating.

10. What is their weapon of choice?

A sword. But he is not above using his own two hands or his words.

Amy

I am not "anti-choice"; I believe to kill someone without their consent before they can even take one breath of air is anti-choice. I am "pro-choice" and by that I mean pro-life. Was it the baby's choice to die? If not, how is that pro-choice?
The baby is not part of the mother's body – if it was, you could say that she has four legs, four arms, four eyes, two heads, two stomachs, etc and etc. Sure, she has the right to do what she wants with her own body. I completely agree with that. But the baby is not her body!
I think everyone has heard of the shootings that have happened in various schools – I believe one was in Connecticut – over the past year or so. Everyone is outraged, horrified, to hear about the children who died. I think 20 children died at that school in Connecticut. Horrifying. Rightly so.
But why in the world, if we are horrified at 20 deaths, are we not horrified at the millions of children who've been murdered? Children whose deaths the government has okayed, for crying out loud!
This, this is a violation of constitutional rights. At what point does someone's age change whether they have the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"?
At ten weeks old, a baby is about an inch long. His tissues and organs are rapidly growing. He has teeny fingernails and his hair is just beginning to grow. Many people would argue he is not a person because he cannot survive without his mother. Well, in that case, one-year olds are certainly not people because they cannot survive without their mother. However, if I suggested killing all the one year-olds, you'd be horrified at me.
My sister is pregnant right now. From the time I knew about it I've been excited about my niece or nephew I'll soon get to know. From the moment of conception she had a soul. Psalm 139 verse 15 says "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." My little niece has a life ahead of her; she will dream and plan and sing and laugh. And that was all ahead of her from the moment of conception.

All I ask is that you call it what it is. Just look it in the face and say "A child just got murdered." If you can say that and you still think it's okay, then I have nothing more to say. But don't call it "abortion" or say you're "pro-choice" and I'm "anti-choice". No. You're anti-life. If you do not value human life, I can't change that. But call it what it is.

Today I named a baby Amy – "beloved" in French. 50 Million Names still needs 49, 997, 611 names. Go honor an unborn child. Violence is not the end of the story!


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