A Nation of Complainers

I feel like all I ever hear these days is complaints.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, has an opinion about why the world is not as it should be.  Everyone seems to think they know exactly what the problem is and exactly how it should be fixed.  Everyone has something: their pet peeve, their political position, their current bother.  Whatever it is, no matter how huge or insignificant it is, they are going to complain about it.

I complain about not getting enough sleep.  My dad complains about more rules at my little brother's school.  My mom complains about people being inconsiderate.  My sister complains about having me as a sister.  My boyfriend complains about...just about everything (until I remind him he has the most awesome girlfriend ever, which seems to put things in perspective).

Why do we do this?  Why is it so easy to focus on the negative and ignore the positive?  There are so many things for us to be thankful for.  Simply having a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs should be enough.  But then we add our health, friends, family, and, most of all, Jesus, and the reasons we complain seem to wane in comparison.

Living in the United States of America, arguably the best nation in the world, we are incredibly blessed.  We have a beautiful, diverse nation, the home of the American Dream.  No other nation compares with the United States, and yet we still find reasons to complain.  We complain about healthcare.  We complain about gas prices.  We complain about the President spending too much of our money.  We complain about the President not doing enough.  We complain about potholes.  We complain about the snow not being plowed fast enough in the winter.  We complain about everything we possibly can.

But when was the last time we appreciated what a great nation we have been blessed with?  I know that I'm not really one to talk; I have plenty of opinions when it comes to politics and government.  I'm planning on majoring in Politics, Philosophy & Economics, for goodness' sake.  Those opinions are great and all, but if they are not tempered with a gratefulness for this nation, they are just complaints.  And complaints are stupid.

My Thoughts

I guess I'll write a stream of consciousness.
It's kind of a weird idea.
I don't really know what I'm doing.
What if I think something in Spanish?
Do I write that too?
Hola.
Que tal?
Estoy aqui con nosotros hoy.
Malarone gives you such weird dreams.
Last night I had a really weird dream about graduation.
I don't really know what that was about.
And in Nicaragua I dreamed about a huge polar bear in a barn.
I think it was from Narnia.
I really need to finish my powerpoint for the symposium.
I'm really scared to talk in front of everybody.
I hate doing stuff like that.
It's so scary.
I hope I don't look dumb.
Peace.
I love white Christmas lights.
I have them hanging in my room.
You know what I hate?
When people don't call you back.
I always overthink it.
And it makes me crazy.
I am thirsty.
I feel really unprepared for college.
I have the worst study habits.
Actually, I just don't study.
And I procrastinate.
Like a pro.
Professional basketball.
Why am I thinking about basketball?
Oh, I know.
I was watching Shark Tank today.
And Mark Cuban was on.
He owns a basketball team.
The Dallas? Mavericks?
I think.
I like Shark Tank.
They're smart cookies.
They know what's up.
I was thinking about majoring in business.
But now I want to be a teacher in Puerto Cabezas.
And I'm planning on majoring in Politics, Philosophy & Economics.
And minoring in Education.
I don't know what God wants me to do.
He'll work it out though.
My phone keeps vibrating.
Oh.
It was Michael.
I like him.
I'm wearing his sweatshirt.
I take all his clothes.
I feel bad.
I'm not gonna see him for another week.
Dumb H+M, making him work.
It's okay though.
I'll work on my thesis presentation.
Joy.
This is really long.
Me oh my.
I hope Mrs. Landry's okay with this.
I don't know why I thought it would be okay to do a stream of consciousness.
AHHHHH.
Give me credit!
It's late already!
Please?
Thanksssssssssssssssssssssss.
Okay.
Over.
And.
Out.

Freedom to Fail

Life is about more than simply getting to the destination. A journey precedes any destination, and is most times the most influential part. The mistakes that are so often made along the way are what make you and I who we are today. The ability to make mistakes and even fail is incredibly key in the process of maturing as individuals. Of course, the key is to learn from one's mistakes. However, without even the simple freedom to fail, it is impossible to have and learn from experience.
When the freedom to fail is taken away from an individual, the opportunity to learn and do better next time is also stolen. When a teacher gives a student a passing grade for something sub-par, that teacher takes away that student's chance to learn from his mistake and study harder next time. Education should not just be about learning from books and professors; it should also be about learning from life and the mistakes made and experiences along the way.

In keeping with what Michael Goodwin said in his video on the loss of the freedom to fail, what is success without failure?  Success is attaining a pre-defined goal.  In other words, success is reaching the destination.  Without the journey to the destination, the destination is nothing.  Without mistakes and failures along the way, the journey is nothing but a waste of time, a means to an end.  The mistakes and the failures are what make the journey worthwhile.  They are what we learn from and strive to improve upon.  How can a person ever truly succeed if his ability to fail is taken away?

Along the same lines, if everyone 'succeeds,' how can one truly define success?  If everyone is told that they are good enough, that they no longer have to work harder to do better, there is just average.  There are no particularly successful people, as well as no one who has failed.  When average and even below-average is considered the goal, true success is lost.  When SATs are made easier in order to cause fewer students to receive poor scores, the sense of achievement for those who do well is lost.  If a student can do just as well not studying as he can by meticulously searching his textbooks for every last answer, there is no reason for that student to try hard to receive good grades.  A student that has the ability to seriously rise above and truly succeed no longer has any motivation to do so, as it will not benefit him in any way, as he can do just as well being average.

The freedom to fail is a freedom that most people never even consider.  And for this reason, it is most vulnerable to attack.

Michael Goodwin on the loss of the freedom to fail

Heroism

"More often than not, a hero's most epic battle is the one you never see; it's the battle that goes on within him or herself." -Kevin Smith

A true hero is not something that is easy for one to become.  Like a Jedi, one must master oneself before seeking to fight or defend another.  Battle with and eventual mastery of oneself are what keep a hero from becoming a villian.  Wrestling one's own selfish desires, pride and arrogance is what gives any ordinary person the ability to be heroic, to think and act beyond him or herself.

In essence, this is what Jesus has called his followers to do.  We are commanded to shed our old selves and put on the "new man," no longer giving into our own sinful desires.  This is exactly what a hero must do anything heroic.  One must master oneself, battle the natural, sinful desires of the flesh, in order to do the heroic.

Many people consider heroism the ability to engage in an outward battle, but the true battle is fought inside oneself.  By this definition, Jesus calls every Christian to be a hero.

Seasons

Have you ever noticed that once you're tired of summer, the leaves start changing? That once you think you can't bear another snowstorm, the flowers start to bloom?

I feel the same way about my life. At this time last year, I would have told you I was terrified of going to college and that I would miss high school way too much. But now that I'm halfway through my senior year, with college just months away, it seems like more of a relief than something to fear. I feel like God knows me so well that He would not make college come too early or too late. He has it come at the perfect time, when I feel like another year of high school would drive me crazy.

This isn't to say that there's nothing about high school that I will miss. There are plenty of things that I will think back on fondly, and certainly miss very much. I will miss seeing friends that I've known forever every day, I will miss having teachers that truly care about me, and plenty of other things about high school. That being said, college is coming at the perfect time. The leaves are changing, and I'm excited to see where this new season will take me.

Meaningless?

I was told to serve the guests, not to stop and chat. I was told that today is going to be one of their busiest days, and that we must do our best to keep things moving smoothly. I worked as efficiently as I knew how, serving the guests their drinks, and making sure they had any condiments they needed. Others were there to talk with the guests, even pray with them if they felt so led. Totally focused on the task at hand, I was working as hard as I could. That is, until an older, gray-haired woman asked for my help pouring her orange juice. I soon realized that she was blind and obviously needed my help.

As I poured her juice and placed the cup in her hand, she started pouring out her heart. There, in the middle of this busy New York City soup kitchen, she began to tell me all about herself, her life, and the great amount of heartache she had endured throughout it. At first, I could only think about the rest of the volunteers that I had committed to help, and how, by talking with this woman, I was essentially abandoning them.

However, as she continued to talk to me, I realized how much she needed to be heard and to have someone genuinely want to listen to her. She had come there with a hunger for so much more than food; she was craving love. It was at that moment that I realized that even though I had made a commitment to help serve, my presence was needed here, to listen and offer words of love and encouragement. I ended up talking with this woman (who I later came to know as Edith) for about an hour, until the soup kitchen began to close for the day.

Throughout this experience, I learned that when faced with a decision, the answer is not always the easiest choice, or the one that will cause the least amount of disturbance. It is not necessarily what another thinks I should do, or even what the authorities placed over me say I should do. When faced with a decision between two seemingly good paths or actions, I have learned that I have to consider what is truly more valuable. I have to think about the importance of relationships versus getting a job done. For without relationships, life is simply a series of meaningless tasks.

POST 3

The Giver

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is one of the most thought-provoking books I have read in my short life.  It is a short novel, albeit one with a brilliant premise, but the ideas in this book are absolutely incredible.  I have read it at least three times, and every time I enjoy it more than the last.

The book is about a sheltered world, a place unconnected to any outside source of knowledge or ideas.  This on its own speaks volumes to the importance of human connection and interaction.  However, there is much more to the story, as one comes to find out.  The story centers around a young boy named Jonas who is chosen for a rather peculiar job, one that is given only to very "special" individuals, hand-picked by a committee of elders.  His job is to receive all of the memories passed down from the one who had his job before him, and to hold the memories for all of the citizens of the town.

One soon comes to find out that, many years before, a committee of elders decided that life would be better for the people if they were unable to feel pain, to have any troubles in life, and that a completely controlled life would be better than one filled with choices that could potentially lead to pain.  In order to completely control the lives of the people, all of the memories of good things as well as the bad had to be given to one person who held them for the so-called benefit of the people.

I love this book because in the end it shows that the ability to experience pain and to feel sad or even uncomfortable emotions gives us the ability to be happy, to feel comfort, excitement and even love.  In order to remove the pain of life, the joy of life must also be removed.  For this reason, The Giver is one of my favorite books.  I come back to it often when I go through hard times and wonder why life has to be so difficult sometimes, and why it can't all just be good and happy.  But then I remember that without the sad, we can't have the happy; without the tumult, we can't have the peace; without the hate, we can't have the love.

POST 2

Questions

Ever since I was little, I have questioned everything.  I refuse to take issues at face value, and almost always inquire further.  I want to know how things work, I want to understand why things happen the way they do, I want to see it for myself.  I have never been content with the simple I-don't-feel-like-explaining-it answer.  I want to be walked through it and shown what is going on and why.  I want to understand the world around me, to question it all and find the truth for myself.

If I think back, I realize this all began when I was a little girl, when my dad would come in my room after I was all ready for bed, and I would just ask him questions.  I would lay in bed, asking question after question about topics ranging from metamorphosis to the moon to where maple syrup comes from.  My curiosity was endless, as was his ability to answer my probing questions.

My dad, in answering my questions and encouraging me to ask them, showed me the importance of curiosity.  He showed me that there truly are no stupid questions, that there is an answer for whatever question I have.  Even if he doesn't have the answer, the answer is out there.  Someone else might have it, or I might have to find it for myself.

I know today that it's okay for me to ask questions, that God, my Daddy, will answer.  He knows even more than my dad, and loves it when I lay in bed before I fall asleep, asking Him questions about His creation.  He wants me to question it, to explore it, to find out all I can about what He has made for me to enjoy.

POST 1

Song of Myself

Living in boxes
It’s time to break out
It’s time that we learn
What this life’s all about

Everyone’s searching
For what, they don’t know
Simply open your eyes
And Himself He will show

He is who I am
It’s Him I live for
He’s right by my side
As I swim towards the shore

To me, there is nothing
That is more clear
My eyes focused on Him
And I’ll never veer

He’s the breath to my lungs
The beat to my heart
I’ll run with Him ‘til the finish
He’s been there from the start

When my sight is obscured
And life’s at a new low
His hand I will hold
And never let go

This is me
This is my story
Jesus is mine
From glory to glory

Tides

Life is like the ocean

It comes in and goes out

The waves crash on the beach

And tides push you about

Sometimes all you can see

Is the heartache, the pain
The swells seem too high
And joy you must feign

But look, look around
Don’t let your joy die
The waves bring you low
So you can go high

Things will change for the better
Just you wait and see
Tides turn around
And love will forever be

Yes, Lord.

At the beginning of my junior year of high school, my second year on Undignified, I was extremely excited about wherever we would end up going in April. After an absolutely incredible, life-changing experience in Nicaragua the year before, I knew that, wherever God sent the team, we would accomplish huge things for His Kingdom and be forever changed. When I found out that we would be going to Haiti, I was, admittedly, a little bit more uncomfortable, solely because I knew the language barrier would be much greater than in a Spanish-speaking country. However, I knew that God would not send us into a situation we were unable to bear, and I was excited to see what God would do through me and the rest of the team. And then the earthquake hit. If nothing else, knowing about the devastation of the nation of Haiti and the seeming hopelessness of the situation caused me to become even more passionate and excited about being able to go to Haiti.

As the deluge of information and reports and pictures came in about the situation in Haiti, my love for these people continued to grow. It seemed ridiculous, in a way. How is it that one can love a person or group of people without even meeting them? And without God, I don’t believe that it is even possible for that to be. However, because of God’s love for me, I was able to honestly love the people of Haiti. I could absolutely not wait to be able to go and help them rebuild, and show them the love and hope that only Jesus Christ can give a person, and that He has given me every single day of my life. As the days and weeks passed, God continued to grow a passion in my heart like none I had ever experienced before. It seemed that each time I opened my Bible to read, God would show me another verse, another chapter that was so pertinent to the situation in Haiti.

And then I got sick.

About two weeks before the scheduled departure for Port-au-Prince, I got a sore throat. It seemed like no big deal, until it would not subside. I continually became increasingly sick, and the doctors had no idea what I had. In the end, I was out of school and miserable for eight days. I finally began feeling better about four days before the team was leaving for Haiti. Because of my compromised immune system, it was decided that I would be unable to go. The whole time I was sick, I kept praying that I would wake up the next morning rejuvenated and healed, ready to go. I couldn’t even seem to wrap my mind around the thought that I might not be able to go to Haiti, that I might have to be separated from my family that is the Undignified team. It seemed impossible that God would give me such a love and passion for these people, provide all the necessary funds to go, and then stop me from going.

And yet that was His plan. He knew from the beginning of time that I was not supposed to be in Haiti at that time. I knew that, and I know that. However, even with that knowledge, the realization that I could not go was still one of the most difficult things I have ever been faced with. Having to say goodbye to the team was beyond painful. I love being able to serve God, and to love on His children, and the feeling that I was being stopped from doing that hurt more than I thought I could bear.

While it seemed like I was missing out on an experience with God in Haiti by having to stay home, this was definitely not the case. While I didn’t have an incredible, passionate, “mountaintop” experience with Jesus while I was home, my faith was strengthened incredibly. I learned to trust God more than I ever even thought possible. Before this experience, I knew that God had a purpose and a plan for my life, of course. I knew that He had a reason for doing whatever He did in my life. But I knew it in my head. I knew all the Bible verses and it seemed like I completely understood that God had a reason for keeping me from going to Haiti. However, like I said, it was head knowledge. I never really knew it in my heart, because, in all honesty, I had never before truly had to lean on it.

I don’t think this knowledge fully made its way from my head down to my heart until the team came back from Haiti. They hadn’t had a “mountaintop” experience with God either, it seemed. They learned to be true servants, to not need recognition for their work, to do whatever God asked of them without complaint or questioning. They learned to say, “Yes, Lord,” in every situation, no matter how uncomfortable, painful, or difficult to understand. When I began hearing these stories, I realized that they rang true to my heart and what it had learned from this experience.

I have truly come to the realization that whatever God wants from me I must give to Him. It comes down to the perfect trust we are called to put in Him. Although none of us are perfect, He is. We may never understand why He is calling us to do a certain thing, go to a certain place, or even not do a certain thing, or not got to a certain place. While what we want to do might be a completely good, godly thing, if it is not according to God’s will, we have to trust that it is not right. Being a servant comes down to doing whatever is needed at the time, regardless of compensation or cost to oneself. We are supposed to be God’s servants, so we must do whatever God asks of us, no matter what.

God called me to be prepared to go to Haiti, and, in the end, not go. Without planning on going to Haiti, I don’t believe that I would have had the same love for its people that I had, and still have. God showed me how to truly love people, and not just my friends, my family, the people I know. I can honestly say that I love the people of Haiti. I have never met any of them, and yet I love them, which is how I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is God who has given me this love.

True love and perfect trust are the two things I learned, and am still learning, through this experience. If I love God, I will trust Him. It’s as simple as that.

Addicted

I wrote this a few months ago while I was doing a week-long "electronic fast."  In other words, a week of no movies, television, Facebook, texting, etc.

Wow, this is already incredibly difficult, and it's only the end of my first day.  I've basically come to terms with being without Facebook, movies and TV, but texting's been hard.  I'm so addicted.  The idea of that, that I might actually be addicted to something is a hard one to accept.  I think to myself, 'Addicted?  Doesn't that imply that I'm an - oh, to even bring myself to say the word - addict?'  I guess so.  'But wait,' I ask myself, 'isn't that word generally reserved for hardcore druggies and alcoholics?  You know, bad people?  Not me, right?  How could that even be possible?'  But it is.  I've let myself do something so often and habitually that it has actually become an addiction.

The dictionary defines addiction as "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming...to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma."  Wow.  Enslaved?  As in, slave?  I'm a...slave to texting?  Well if that's not sobering, I don't know what is.  My texting really does match up with every other part of that definition too.  Psychologically or physically habit-forming?  Check.  Its cessation, or cutting off, causes severe trauma?  Double check.

I feel like a drug addict going through withdrawal today to be completely honest with you.  I can't stop thinking about the people I want to text, and keep looking at my phone thinking of how I could possibly text them without breaking my fast early.  And obviously, that's impossible.  But it doesn't keep me from thinking about it.  Constantly.  Honestly, until I just sat down to write out some of my thoughts right now, I couldn't get my mind off it.

When I think about this, and examine the situation at hand more closely, I realize that on the days when I'm not fasting and therefore texting my butt off, I waste an incredible amount of time.  What is so important that I just need to talk to people about it right then?  It takes away from my time with God, which if I am again being completely honest, has been rather lacking in these past few weeks.  Because, really, who can concentrate on spending time with Jesus when their phone is buzzing every few minutes?  Certainly not me, I'll tell you that much.  And just as a side note, my phone just vibrated and my face, if I could have seen it, must have just lit up at the prospect of a received text message, even with the knowledge that I would be unable to answer it.

But back to the main idea.  Fasting my texting habit today really showed me how much more time I have when I'm not so distracted.  No constant checking of Facebook, no wasting an hour watching House, and, of course, no texting.  I got my homework done in record time, and subsequently had what seemed like "nothing to do."  No one to text, no Facebook to check, no TV to watch.  What could I possibly do?  It's too early yet to go to bed, and it's too cold and dark outside to go for a walk.  But, uhh, duh.  Why am I fasting?  Well, really, why do I do anything in my life?  Obvious, cliché, Christian answer coming, so prepare yourself.  Jesus Christ.  So why don't I give that pure, undiluted, undistracted time to Him?  So here I go.  Wish me luck.  It could be a long night.

I do.

They say the greatest of these is love
But what about peace and joy?
For these both come about
When one special girl joins with one special boy

Marriage, they say, is what brings us together
When love like a river rushes into their lives
She sheds her old name
And into this new life, headfirst he dives

They promise to be there forever and ever
When they're old and gray
In both sickness and health
Together forever they'll stay.

Let's Dance.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain."

I'm typically not the kind of person who gives corny one-liners like this a second glance. Most of the time, the complete corniness of the quote distracts me from seeing any deeper meaning in it. However, by no work of my own, they all seem to get filed away somewhere in the file cabinet that is my brain, and seem to climb on out when an applicable situation beckons.

This is exactly what happened the last time it rained. I was looking out the window during class as the rain fell, and I became detached from all that was going on around me, falling into the bottomless chasm that is my thoughts. I began to think about how most people see rainy days as a seeming punishment from God. They, and many times I, see rain as something that solely ruins plans and frizzes hair. When asked how the weather is on a rainy day, most people would respond, 'bad' or 'gross.' This is understandable, as most people would rather not go outside and become soaking wet in their clothes.

But why? Why do we only go outside and enjoy the sunshine, and not the rain? I am quite sure that there are people out there that would have an absolute blast dancing in the rain, if only they were able to shed the societal manacles of today and not care what others think. Then there are those who seem to have lost that childlike joy, although I am a firm believer that everyone has a little kid inside; some have just been hidden deeper inside than others. In order to have fun in a rainstorm, these people would have to go through the difficulty of finding their inner child, and bringing him out again.

While most people would be unwilling to make the best of a rainy day and truly enjoy it, things would be so much better if they would. That's really what it comes down to: making the best of it. It's all about one's attitude. If we all looked at storms, whether they be literal rainy days or metaphorical storms in life, as a chance to dance in the rain, we'd be so much better off. If we wait for every storm to simply pass us by, we miss out on so much.  There are so many lessons to be learned and fun times to be had in the midst of these storms that will be missed if one doesn't have the right attitude. Life is full of learning experiences, one of those being the chance to learn to dance in the literal and metaphorical rain.

Baby, it's cold outside.

Christmas.  The one word that can bring so much joy and excitement to a child's face and at the same time, incredible angst to the countenances of certain adults.  Why is it that a time of year that always brought such happiness and warm feelings can turn into something that can go so far as to even strike fear into the hearts of some?  This is obviously not true for everyone; some people are able to maintain that childlike joy throughout their adult lives.  However, for others, Christmastime is a source of great anxiety.

What is it that gets people so worked up?  Especially recently, with the economy in its dire state, many people worry about how much money they can afford to spend and realize that they will probably end up in debt if they spend as much as they usually do.  People also tend to get stressed out about seeing family around the holidays, and many times, with good reason.

Most of the time, these reasons for not enjoying Christmas as much as one should are due to the fact that people lose sight of the reason for the season, that is, Jesus Christ and His birth here on earth.  Even those who refuse to believe that Jesus is the reason for our celebration should, at the very least, be able to see that Christmas is a time to enjoy together with one's family and friends, and not for worrying about how much money one spent or how annoying the in-laws can be.

If only everyone could remember how happy that first snow made them feel as a kid.  Or how every kid feels when they wake up like a shot on Christmas morning to go run downstairs and count all the presents under the tree, trying to figure out what's in all the beautifully wrapped boxes.  If only we could all remember that it's about Jesus first, and then family and friends.  If only we could all just relax and let Christmas be the truly amazing time that it is meant to be, the world could be just a little bit happier this time of year.

Rearview Mirror

When driving, it is incredibly important to be aware of what is going on around oneself.  Because it is mostly important to keep one's eyes on the road ahead, mirrors are used to maintain this awareness.  A glance behind every now and then is incredibly important in order to stay safe on the road.

Life, in my opinion, would be much simpler (and safer) if it came with a rearview mirror.  Many times, I feel as though I am self-aware and focused on the road ahead, but am unable to really know what is going on with those around me.  Without the subtlety of a rearview mirror, it is blatantly obvious when I look around to see what is going on.  This also takes my eyes off the road, and knowing my driving skills, we wouldn't want that.  In my day-to-day life, a rearview mirror would be perfect in order to see those things happening around me that I'd never notice, or for those moments when you realize something is going on behind you but you don't want to turn around and draw attention to yourself.  It would also be useful in making decisions in life, whether they be serious decisions, like which exit to get off at, or a less life-altering decision, like a lane change.

I'll Never Let You Go

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go
By Your Side -Tenth Avenue North


I feel like I always have a song to desribe how I feel about a certain subject.  Maybe it's because I listen to music all the time, but I feel like when I am unable to adequately express myself through my words, music is able to speak for me and convey how I truly feel.

This is how the song "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North is for me.  It answers the question of why I am a Christian.  I am a Christian because God is always there for me.  He has carried me through so many storms in my life; I don't believe it would be possible to measure how much I owe Him.  He died for me on the cross, saving me from an eternity in the fires of Hell, and all He asks in return is that I live my life for Him.  And he doesn't just leave me to go through life by myself and figure it all out on my own; He is there every step of the way, picking me back up when I fall, helping me through every storm that life throws at me.  For these reasons, I am a Christian and love Jesus Christ with all of my heart.

Three People

Pretty much everyone in the United States, as well as abroad, has an opinion about the President of the United States.  Our current president, Barack Obama has many ideals that I, as a Christian, do not agree with.  However, there is one president for whom I have much respect.  That is, President Ronald Reagan.

If I were able to talk to any three people in the world right now, living or dead, I would choose Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, and John Krasinski (Jim from The Office), for comedic relief.  I would want them to all be in a room together and I would just want to see their conversation.  After a while, since I know Obama would probably not be very open to receiving advice about being a good president from Reagan, I would change up the situation.  Reagan would get the chance to brainwash Obama into loving unborn children and not spending all of the taxpayer's money, while John Krasinski and I would go hang out at Starbucks and chat.

This would change the United States, as we would now have a competent president.  It would change me, as I would now have had the chance to meet Jim.  And maybe if I was lucky, Dwight would have accompanied him to this little party of sorts.

Cassie

The question asked in order to save her life or take it
The answer no avoided death and yes would make it

'Do you believe in God?'
Written on the bullet
Say yes to pull the trigger
And my Sister Cassie pulled it

They didn't love their life so much
As to shrink from death
Inspired in their footsteps
We will march ahead
Don't be shocked that people die
Be surprised you're still alive

All heads are bowed in silent reverence
The floor is wet with tears of sorrowful remembrance
The alter is filled with hearts of repentance
Perfect love kills all fear, rejoice in this deliverance
Cassie [Acoustic] -Flyleaf


The idea of being willing to die for someone you love has been around for centuries.  In old movies, one can see men fighting to the death for the object of their affections.  In medieval times, knights would fight to win the princess.  Along these same lines, Jesus tells His followers that the greatest love one can have for another is to lay down his life for his friends.  Jesus quite obviously believed this, as He did exactly what He said and died for this whole world.  He is the ultimate example of true love, for He laid down His life for not only His friends, but people He had never even met, and even those who hated Him.

Because Jesus Christ has done just this for us, we should be willing to do anything for Him.  If we truly love Him, we should be willing to lay down our lives for Him.  That is the ultimate love anyone could have for another person, and the same love we should have for our Father.  I, personally, have the utmost respect for martyrs, and hope that if I were in that same position, I would be willing and able to lay my life down for Jesus.

Whenever I'm learning about a certain time in history, whether it be in the United States or abroad, I always try to imagine what it would have been like to live then.  I think about the differences between life in different classes of society, and where I would like to fit in all of that.  Thinking about this, I don't think that I would like to live in a time period that was all that different from my own.  I enjoy showers, and other daily comforts, like bedsheets and tissues.

This is why I would want to live in the 1960s.  It was a lovely time.  It was a beautiful time.  The Beatles were all alive and together like friends should be.  Who don't backstab eachother.  The Beatles were a beautiful picture of what true friends really are.  They stay together through the thick and the thin, and you never saw Paul steal Yoko from John.  Why would he do that?  They were best friends.  Brothers, if you may.

While there was a lot of trouble in politics and social unrest at this time, the average person did not lose their values; they still knew what it was to do right, and be a true friend.