I am very excited to announce that I will be hosting a Ten Days of Christmas blog party! It will be held (posted) every two days from December 4th to 22nd. Multiple blogs will be participating (four besides my own), including Rebekah Morris, the host of Five Fall Favorites. There will be a giveaway, activities, book recommendations, and more! And YOU are invited!
I can't wait to see how this turns out!
Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Wow, we've had an interesting year, haven't we? There's been a lot of confusion and a lot of dissension over various things. But I pray and hope you all haven't lost sight of all the blessings we've been given. I'm so thankful, and He's continually reminding me of how good He is.
I'm thankful for family.
I'm thankful for friends.
I'm thankful for all you people who take time time to read my little blog.
I'm thankful for warmth.
I'm thankful for cozy blankets, hot cocoa, spiced apple cider, soft jackets, my crazy cats, and that God has saved me from eternal separation from Him.
And . . . I'm thankful for affliction.
Yes, you read that correctly. It's a hard decision to choose to be thankful amidst COVID, quarantine, spiders, seaweed, and all the other things that our plans get most frustrated from. This is something I've been learning myself. It's a lot easier to forget all the good things God's given us because everything seems so complicated. But the Bible says:
Psalm 119:71-72
It is good for me that I was afflicted, so that I may learn your statutes. The Law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Psalm 106:1
Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy is everlasting.
And this one is literally entitled as a psalm for thanksgiving:
Psalm 100
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with jubilation;
Come before Him with rejoicing.
Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
And His courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting
And His faithfulness is to all generations.
This is not to say that things won't be hard. Things are hard. But remember this: Jesus suffered the hardest affliction imaginable. He was perfect, the Son of God, and His Father crushed Him for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). In fact, when Jesus died on the cross, not only was He taking the weight and punishment for every person's sin, but in Matthew 27:46, it also says that God, Jesus's Father had forsaken Jesus. Because that's what we all rightfully deserve for our sins. To be eternally separated from God.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses [sins], made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10)
So let's give thanks with a grateful heart and remember all the things God had done for us. Because no matter what happens . . .
I noticed something very interesting some time time ago when doing my Bible reading, and I thought I might share it with you all.
Psalm 109:1-5 says:
God of my praise, do not be silent! For they [the enemies] have opened a wicked and deceitful mouth against me; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and have fought against me without cause. In return for my love, they act as my accusers; but I am in prayer. So they have repaid me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Did you catch that? All five of these verses are filled with descriptions of how he [the speaker] has been hated, fought against, lied about, and accused. Yet in the midst of all that oppression and mocking, five little words describe what he is doing. See it? Psalm 109:4b: . . . but I am in prayer.
What? He's being persecuted on all sides, and what does he do? He prays. He cries out to God about it. He asks for help, and as you will see if you go to that psalm and keep reading, he pleads with God to bring the evildoers to justice.
This is a good reminder for me. (I'm trying to work on this myself.) We humans like to talk, do we not? We tell others of our trouble; we ask others for aid. . . but how often do we turn to the One Who is ultimately capable of saving and helping?
Think about it.
Hello again, and many apologies for the temporary desertion. I've no excuse you probably haven't already guessed, so I won't even bother. :) On with the post!
First of all, if you've read my profile or my behind-the-blogger page, or you know my personally, then you have got a pretty good grasp of the fact that I'm an ailurophile. That means simply that I am a cat-lover. (I discovered this new word just today and am determined to add it to my mental dictionary . . . if I can learn how to pronounce it.) This means that if you have the same personality trait, this post is just for you! If you despise cats or simply have no real fondness for them, please just bear with me here. I have a special announcement not involving felines whatsoever coming up.
As I was lounging comfortably on the couch some time ago, I was joined by our affectionate purr-motor . . . well, one of them, anyway. She settled down on my lap and I thought it was too sweet not to share.
As the title implies, this will mostly include pictures, as was promised in the previous post. It will be short, but hopefully enjoyable.
Autumn
By Martha
God made leaves
Who fall from trees and fly;
Then land on the ground
Then shrivel and die.
I love those leaves:
Brown, orange, and red;
I love them and can't
Bear to see them dead.
Well, it's that time of year again. The time when I refuse to begin the Christmas season until after Thanksgiving . . . bu-u-u-ut Christmas songs get stuck in my head just the same and I find myself singing them aloud (even if I'm not meaning to). We'll see how long my resistance lasts. :)
I'm going to make an announcement now, even if Thanksgiving still isn't over. I'm hoping to begin a chain of Christmas-y posts starting at the beginning of December. In case I haven't made it very obvious, I love the Christmas season. So I'm going to do my best to make my first blogging Christmas a holly jolly one, with plenty of fun pictures, book mentions, and maybe some tags and the like. Just giving you fair warning. :)
And now onto recent events. First, I have made a "works-in-progress" page for my blog, which you can reference if I am talking enthusiastically about a book you've never heard of. It might very well be one of my WIPs. And speaking of works-in-progress, I am going to mention that Millie's Miracle, which I mentioned a few blog posts previous, is going to undergo a slight change. It has evolved from "short story" to "novelette." The stubborn thing is barely written and it has almost surpassed the general word count for short stories (7,500 words or less). So there goes my attempt to write something brief. Don't worry, though; I've got yet another idea for a different short story. I'll just have to see if I can keep it short enough to label it that. :D
Secondly, I may or may not be very diligent in posting in this month. For some reason, I have either gotten lazy or had a "blogging block." (Instead of writer's block.) However, I will try to do my best to keep you informed of any notable happenings. I have a few pictures to share in the next few weeks. Autumn-y pictures. *wink*
This time I am doing The Avid Readers Award Tag! This one looks like a lot of fun! Without further ado, here goes:
Rules:
1. Display the blog award logo on your blog. Got it!
2. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you. Many thanks, Abby!
3. Do not forget to link to their blogging website. Of course; go here to see it.
4. List your 5 favorite books.
5. Answer all the questions they have given you.
6. Nominate 4 bloggers of your choice.
7. Ask them 10 questions.
Five Favorite Books:
Um, just five?! Well, I'll try. Uhhhh . . . *crickets become audible* Umm . . . okay. Let's do this. I'll say five of my top favorite books are:
-The Raider's Promise by Lois Walfrid Johnson
-I Love Thee by Faith Blum
-More Tales From Memory Creek Ranch by Susan K. Marlow
-The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
-A Threat and a Promise by Angie Thompson
And that's just a few!
Questions:
1. What classic book character are you too much like? Oh goodness. Uhhh, depends on your definition of "classic." Well, off the top of my head, I am a lot like Melinda from Susan K. Marlow's Circle C series. But if you're meaning from a book that basically everyone has heard of, I'd say I'm a bit similar to Jane from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
2. What's a quote from a book that gets stuck in your head, even if it doesn't make sense? Oo-o-o-oh, yes! In one of my works-in-progress (a book still being written), one of the characters, a strange, overdramatic old hermit, squeals when he's pinned to the ground: “Get-Get him off! He’s going to kill me!” Though whenever my siblings and I quote it, we change it up a bit and say in a high-pitched pathetic voice, "He's killing me! He's killing me!"
3. Tell me your feelings on e-books. While I prefer physical books, I don't really mind e-books at all. I read them a fair amount, and the way they keep your spot is handy. The main issue I have is simply that they aren't as portable, and you have to keep it charged in order to simply read the book.
4. Is there a genre you used to love, but now don't like as well? Hmm. I'm not sure. If I had to choose one, I'd say those short, for-a-really-little-kid books that don't really have any storyline and are basically a bunch of random sentences thrown together. (Feel free to disagree with me if you want, but I think they are boring.)
5. What are some of the first books you remember reading? There's a lot of those. I knew how to read a little when I was five, I think, and I remember reading a lot at a fairly young age. I read stuff like Corduroy, Amelia Bedelia, The Berenstain Bears, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Little Engine That Could, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, etc.
6. How do you organize your bookshelves? By series, favorites, most-frequently-read, my-little-sister-is-probably-going-to-ask-to-read-this-so-let-me-put-it-out-in-front, and size. It varies. Technically my "bookshelf" is not even a real bookshelf . . . it's a wire crate.
7. What is your favorite theme for books to have? Christian books in which the main characters have been through a lot but are still able to find love (so, sometimes a touch of romance, so long as it's clean) and happiness.
8. Have you ever stayed up much later than you mean to reading? If so, what book were you reading? I used to do that all the time. I can honestly say, though, that I almost never stay up late reading books anymore. At least not in bed. The last late-night book-reading I can think of was around a week ago, maybe, and I stayed up past my bedtime to finish A Mighty Fortress, by Faith Blum. I was so close to the ending. And my staying-up-to-read-it proved worthwhile. It's a good book with clear Christian values, but definitely for a more mature audience.
9. If you could trade places with a fictional character for a day, who would you trade with? Oooh, this is an exciting question! I would like to trade with a character from another of my works-in-progress, Millie's Miracle. I'd like to give my two sweet, sad main characters a hug.
10. Do you read the acknowledgements, character lists, author's notes, etc. at the front of books? I often do. Unless they are super long and I am very eager to just get on with the story.
And now onto the nominations. I nominate Katja, Lilly, Faith, and Rebekah! If you haven't been nominated but would like to be, feel free to steal this tag!
Your ten questions:
1. What is the weirdest book you've ever read?
2. Who would you say is your #1 favorite character of all time, and who is your #1 least favorite character?
3. What is at least one book which you wish you could change the ending of?
4. Have you ever cried over a book? If so, which one(s) was it?
5. What is your favorite book that has been made into a motion picture? If you can't think of any, give your favorite motion picture which you know was made off a book, even if you've never read it.
6. If you could travel into a story, which character(s) would you want to meet the most?
7. Have you ever read a book which has a character strangely similar to you? If so, which character and book was it?
8. Who is your favorite bad-guy-turned-good-guy character?
9. What is your favorite genre?
10. What are some books that have covers you really like?
Well, that was a lot of fun! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed doing it (which was a lot).
