so yesterday a really great thought for the blog flitted into my head...unfortunatly this thought happened at ten PM when i was going to bed, and I didn't write it down so I forgot it. If I remeber I will alert you.
And now, since it's the final day of the first week of school: the school post!!! duh duh duh.
Sorry for all this sillyness, but since school started life has been a little less interesting.
I have fairly good teachers, and my math teacher is fun and energetic, which always helps. Everyone keeps telling me that Sierra(my sis) and I look a lot alike. And so on and so on. And I'm starting to realize how much harder it's going to be to continue to 'do hard things' when life is the same day after day after day.
But yesterday was our first debate club meeting. And it was fun being a smart political student for a while. However, what am I going to do with all this information? Unless it goes somewhere, what's the point?
And about the political thing. It's very easy to look down on Senator Obama, for me at least. But it's important to not slander him. both canidates claim christianity, yet we hear them putting each other down constantly. Let's remember to keep courtosy in our politics. A friend of mine has opposing political views, but we're still wonderful friends. It's a hard thing to do, but we need to do it.
Quote: N/A cause I'm in school.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The circle of life
I got some sad news today. a kid in my graduating class from school died earlier this summer, about a month ago(not suicide FYI, he died from heart surgery). While i didn't really know him that well, it's still sobering. In the one class I had with him freshman year he seemed to be a nice kid, but really, who expects someone to die at my age? It shakes things up a bit. I liked what I knew of Grant and felt rather shell shocked when I learned he'd died.
Ironically, the other news that I wanted to post involves birth. My cousin is pregnant and due in April. (see picture from her wedding on the sidebar). She's wanted to be a mom all her life and her dream is finally coming true. I'm happy that I'm getting a second cousin (is that right?).
But it proves the circle of things. People die and are born and life is finite. God is infinite. being with God for eternity is infinite. Life is a flash in the pan and can be cut off whenever God feels your ready. The ancient greeks used believe your life was a thread that the three fates wove. One fate spun you into existence, the other woven you into the world, and the third cut you off when your life was done. In some ways I'm going thru the same emotions that are always expressed in books, that it's not fair that a thriving young 16 year old should die, but I can't change anything that God had happen. All I can do is pray for his family and rejoice that God is in control of our circle of life, giving K and C a new baby.
Snapshot:
This week on my street a big bonanza has been running. All the kids on the street under age 10 have been running a lemonade (spelt lemonaid on the sign) stand and selling it to varouis parents, dog walkers and mailmen. they probably would have made a total of 15 total over the three days it ran, but they kept spending their own money that they'd earned the day before on their own lemonade, and then getting it back and spending it again. It reminded me of the stories about old cotton sharecroppers, who'd get paid by the big boss and then go to spend thier money in the store run by the same big boss.
Quote:
"We are all connected to each other, in a circle, in a hoop that never ends." ~ Pocahontas
Ironically, the other news that I wanted to post involves birth. My cousin is pregnant and due in April. (see picture from her wedding on the sidebar). She's wanted to be a mom all her life and her dream is finally coming true. I'm happy that I'm getting a second cousin (is that right?).
But it proves the circle of things. People die and are born and life is finite. God is infinite. being with God for eternity is infinite. Life is a flash in the pan and can be cut off whenever God feels your ready. The ancient greeks used believe your life was a thread that the three fates wove. One fate spun you into existence, the other woven you into the world, and the third cut you off when your life was done. In some ways I'm going thru the same emotions that are always expressed in books, that it's not fair that a thriving young 16 year old should die, but I can't change anything that God had happen. All I can do is pray for his family and rejoice that God is in control of our circle of life, giving K and C a new baby.
Snapshot:
This week on my street a big bonanza has been running. All the kids on the street under age 10 have been running a lemonade (spelt lemonaid on the sign) stand and selling it to varouis parents, dog walkers and mailmen. they probably would have made a total of 15 total over the three days it ran, but they kept spending their own money that they'd earned the day before on their own lemonade, and then getting it back and spending it again. It reminded me of the stories about old cotton sharecroppers, who'd get paid by the big boss and then go to spend thier money in the store run by the same big boss.
Quote:
"We are all connected to each other, in a circle, in a hoop that never ends." ~ Pocahontas
Monday, August 11, 2008
Thoughts from a busy busy week
Well my younger sibs. went camping this weekend and I got my school schedule and the Olympics started and therefore I haven't posted!! So here's a latest update on all my thoughts.
Quote (first so that it won't be missed): “True Love is not simply an emotional Response. It manifests itself in acts of kindness, generosity and those actions that produce the greatest benefit to the object loved.” ~ William Wilberforce
Thoughts on...
1) Antietam National Battlefield
Rather terrifying. More than a thuosand men died there during a 13 hour battle. If that was the carnage from one battle, think how many families were hurt, how terrible the rest of the war must have been? And now we just go and look on as curious tourists. Very sad. I hate studying the wars. I think that I would have been one of the settlers wo moved west to escape the civil war. I'm personally more interested in random but peaceful stories, like Emma Thompson, the girl spy who played boy and then stole across enemy lines.
2) the movie Mamma Mia! (Warning: if you want to see it this part will spoil it, so skip it and come back after you've seen the movie if you want it to be a surprise)
At the end of the movie there's a bit with Colin Firth's character being gay. I personally was aaffronted by that and found it very unnessecary. it added nothing to the original plot and sulied the actor for me. A friend of mine, Nancy, says that she tries not to let an actors personal life affect her opinion of thier acting skills, and not to let the roles they've played affect her opinion of them. While that is a worthy goal, and I also try to follow it, I think that by agreeing to play this part Colin Firth is inadvertantly showing his approval of male-male relationships. He's popular enuogh to have turned it down but he didn't, and sad to say that has to reflect on his character.
Also the rest of the movie had confusing morals and ideas. The Mom in the movie slept with 3 men the summer she was pregnant and suffered almost no emotional consequences. She has no idea who her daughter's father is and frankly doesn't care. At the end of the movie each man agrees to 'take a third' of Sophie and it seems to approve of the mother's wild summer twenty years before. Appropriate? I think not.
And another thing. At the end of the movie, the young Sophie decides at the Alter that she doesn't want to marry at all, and rather she'll go around the world with this boy unmarried, having sex all over the place! They claim they love one another, why not say the vows and consecrate thier relationship? Nope, not in hollywood.
Finally the mother gets married to her first summer fling boy who was engaged at the time of thier first meeting and he fooled around. Went home., got married, got divorced, camp back and married his summer love. Confusing? yes. But why was he fooling around that original summer if he was engaged, hmmm?
The Music was OK, catchy, the girlfriend theme was cute, but the moral ideas were not a winner with me.
3) Pride in my heritage
I watched the opening of the Olympics, with it's obvious Chinease Culture and heritage. The chinese people are proud of who they are. I'm proud to hail from that nation and carry thier blood. No, I'm not proud of communism, but I think they deserve this Olympics and are being good hosts, and I'm glad I can claim part of it.
I'm also proud to be a marylander. once again, I'm not proud that Baltimore was a great slave port or of other mistakes, but I'm proud of Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, proud of our civil war soldiers, proud of the people, even proud of our crabs.
4) School schedule
While everyone else complains about teachers and having to go back, I'm looking forward to finally getting back to a routine and meeting my new teachers. Yep, I'm a nerd, and I'm proud of it. I have a fire for learning that my friends lack.
Quote (first so that it won't be missed): “True Love is not simply an emotional Response. It manifests itself in acts of kindness, generosity and those actions that produce the greatest benefit to the object loved.” ~ William Wilberforce
Thoughts on...
1) Antietam National Battlefield
Rather terrifying. More than a thuosand men died there during a 13 hour battle. If that was the carnage from one battle, think how many families were hurt, how terrible the rest of the war must have been? And now we just go and look on as curious tourists. Very sad. I hate studying the wars. I think that I would have been one of the settlers wo moved west to escape the civil war. I'm personally more interested in random but peaceful stories, like Emma Thompson, the girl spy who played boy and then stole across enemy lines.
2) the movie Mamma Mia! (Warning: if you want to see it this part will spoil it, so skip it and come back after you've seen the movie if you want it to be a surprise)
At the end of the movie there's a bit with Colin Firth's character being gay. I personally was aaffronted by that and found it very unnessecary. it added nothing to the original plot and sulied the actor for me. A friend of mine, Nancy, says that she tries not to let an actors personal life affect her opinion of thier acting skills, and not to let the roles they've played affect her opinion of them. While that is a worthy goal, and I also try to follow it, I think that by agreeing to play this part Colin Firth is inadvertantly showing his approval of male-male relationships. He's popular enuogh to have turned it down but he didn't, and sad to say that has to reflect on his character.
Also the rest of the movie had confusing morals and ideas. The Mom in the movie slept with 3 men the summer she was pregnant and suffered almost no emotional consequences. She has no idea who her daughter's father is and frankly doesn't care. At the end of the movie each man agrees to 'take a third' of Sophie and it seems to approve of the mother's wild summer twenty years before. Appropriate? I think not.
And another thing. At the end of the movie, the young Sophie decides at the Alter that she doesn't want to marry at all, and rather she'll go around the world with this boy unmarried, having sex all over the place! They claim they love one another, why not say the vows and consecrate thier relationship? Nope, not in hollywood.
Finally the mother gets married to her first summer fling boy who was engaged at the time of thier first meeting and he fooled around. Went home., got married, got divorced, camp back and married his summer love. Confusing? yes. But why was he fooling around that original summer if he was engaged, hmmm?
The Music was OK, catchy, the girlfriend theme was cute, but the moral ideas were not a winner with me.
3) Pride in my heritage
I watched the opening of the Olympics, with it's obvious Chinease Culture and heritage. The chinese people are proud of who they are. I'm proud to hail from that nation and carry thier blood. No, I'm not proud of communism, but I think they deserve this Olympics and are being good hosts, and I'm glad I can claim part of it.
I'm also proud to be a marylander. once again, I'm not proud that Baltimore was a great slave port or of other mistakes, but I'm proud of Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, proud of our civil war soldiers, proud of the people, even proud of our crabs.
4) School schedule
While everyone else complains about teachers and having to go back, I'm looking forward to finally getting back to a routine and meeting my new teachers. Yep, I'm a nerd, and I'm proud of it. I have a fire for learning that my friends lack.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
What defines me...
Listening to the BarlowGirl song Mirror. Thinking about it, in the lyrics she sings that 'you won't define me', 'who are you to tell me that I'm less than what I should be'. Well personally I've never had much trouble with mirrors, but there are other things that define me. The important part is figuring out what parts are good motivators and which are not.
Snapshot:
Now I'm listening to MercyMe's I can only imagine. I had the best chat with my little cousin yesterday about the idea in this song. We were in the car on our way home from Coldstone Creamery and I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Noah yells up to my dad "Emily's not wearing a seatbelt!" He's really worried about it. He turns around and asks me, 'what if we get hit, then you'll die!" My sister says 'yeah it'll be headline news '16 year old dies in car crash. Cousin tried to warn her''. I laughed and said it would be really funny, then Noah says, 'but you wouldn't be here to see it! You’d be dead. You’ll have to come down on a cloud to read the paper!" So then I said 'Noah I wouldn't be thinking about the paper, my soul would be rejoicing!" Noah says, 'well if I died I'd come visit you."
I was touched by his eight-year-old heart, but thinking about it, I really don't believe in that idea that people can see the world from heaven. Why would you want to? You’re in the presence of God, why would you ever turn back? It's something that I can 'only imagine'.
Snapshot:
Now I'm listening to MercyMe's I can only imagine. I had the best chat with my little cousin yesterday about the idea in this song. We were in the car on our way home from Coldstone Creamery and I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Noah yells up to my dad "Emily's not wearing a seatbelt!" He's really worried about it. He turns around and asks me, 'what if we get hit, then you'll die!" My sister says 'yeah it'll be headline news '16 year old dies in car crash. Cousin tried to warn her''. I laughed and said it would be really funny, then Noah says, 'but you wouldn't be here to see it! You’d be dead. You’ll have to come down on a cloud to read the paper!" So then I said 'Noah I wouldn't be thinking about the paper, my soul would be rejoicing!" Noah says, 'well if I died I'd come visit you."
I was touched by his eight-year-old heart, but thinking about it, I really don't believe in that idea that people can see the world from heaven. Why would you want to? You’re in the presence of God, why would you ever turn back? It's something that I can 'only imagine'.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Books and Barbie dolls
I read a mavelous kids book today. It's called Julia's Kitchen. The book is about a eleven year old girl, Cara, whose mother and little sister die in a fire, and how she deals with her grief. It was a sad little story, but ended on a message of hope and love. In all honesty it made me cry. I won't spoil the story but it should be read!
My thought for today comes from playing Barbies with my younger sister. We were each going to pick two barbies and dress them up and then go play with them. Well, since I wasn't interested in dressing my barbie doll in a cinderella gown I began to search for some regular clothes. In the multitude of boxes, I found several clothes that would have made me blush if I saw them on a real person. I eventually did find some cute barbie clothes that I liked and that were modest, but it took me at least fourty five minutes of serching through the box to find some. Now, If you think about it, three to seven year old little girls are going to be playing with these dolls, you'd think the maker's would make some better clothes for them! I got to explain to my little brother what modesty was as a result of these dolls, but wouldn't it have been easier to just make modest clothing for barbies in the first place? It's not like it's impossible!
Quote: "Are you, daughter of God, all that he planned for you to be?" -Brett Harris
"we will become the men and women we strive to be" - Alex Harris
My thought for today comes from playing Barbies with my younger sister. We were each going to pick two barbies and dress them up and then go play with them. Well, since I wasn't interested in dressing my barbie doll in a cinderella gown I began to search for some regular clothes. In the multitude of boxes, I found several clothes that would have made me blush if I saw them on a real person. I eventually did find some cute barbie clothes that I liked and that were modest, but it took me at least fourty five minutes of serching through the box to find some. Now, If you think about it, three to seven year old little girls are going to be playing with these dolls, you'd think the maker's would make some better clothes for them! I got to explain to my little brother what modesty was as a result of these dolls, but wouldn't it have been easier to just make modest clothing for barbies in the first place? It's not like it's impossible!
Quote: "Are you, daughter of God, all that he planned for you to be?" -Brett Harris
"we will become the men and women we strive to be" - Alex Harris
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