J7 National Security

"There are an estimated 12 million people living in the U. S. without permission. In regards to national security, do you feel safe?"

Sometimes i feel safe, sometimes i don’t. i know the U.S. has an excellent military, and they are there to protect this country. Sometimes i worry, knowing that there are ways of sneaking into our country, 9-11 terrified me, and it indirectly caused a friend to be sent to the middle east. i’ve had the privilege of meeting several soldiers, and i know they all would die for their country. That knowledge makes me feel very safe. As far as illegal imigrants, i'm not against letting people migrate to the U.S., i just want the goverment to know they're here! i know that a lot of countries have so many rules and regulations that it's very hard to leave, especially permanetly. And of course the U.S. has a millon and one regulations for entering our country. It isn't like a 150 years ago with Ellis Island. If i was in their postion i would prolly try to sneak in too, but i hope someday that it will be easier to leave your home country and to become a U.S. citizen.

J6 Abortion

"Do you believe minors should be allowed to have abortions without parental consent, and why?" i don’t think minors should be allowed to have abortions without a parental signature. The girls are scared, or angry, and a lot of the time they don’t understand the long-term consequences. Also, it’s the parent’s grandchild, they should have a say in the child’s life. A lot of people don’t ever think about how an abortion will affect the father. It’s his child too, the loss of his baby is almost as devastating to the father as it is to the mother. Emotionally its the same, but the mother also has all the physical complications that come with abortion. Aside from all religious/ moral reasons, it isn't smart to let minors make such a drastic decision by themselves.

J5 Animal

"If you could be any animal, what would you be?"

If i could be any animal, i would be a niffler. They are cute, fluffy, and very friendly. They have two front "flippers" for digging. The niffler’s job is to find all types of valuables, like money, jewels, and buried treasure. i think it would be really cool to be a niffler ‘cause I’d get to spend a lot of time finding stuff for people.


i still think this is the animal i would choose =) These little guys are prolly my fave out of all the animals mentioned in Harry Potter.



New Job

About two weeks ago i was told that a family my mom knew was hiring for an office job at their company. It's a tractor salvage business, owned by a husband/wife team (David and Robin) with one other employee, Kevin. i called Robin and got all the details: they need someone to answer the phone, take orders, package parts & prep for shipping, put invoices in the computer, keep the offices clean, help Kevin in the shop, and watch their 5 year old girl, Amber.

i know what you're thinking, me? Working at a salvage yard? Yea...no. Not me at all. Still, its a job and the hours are pretty good so i went in to interview. That did not go so well. Robin likes me, but David doesn't seem to care for me much. Or at all. He told me that he doesn't like having teenagers work for him, they tend to be lazy and incompetent. Then Kevin introduced himself by saying "I'm the most difficult person here to get along with. You're not gonna like me." Care to guess who i'll be working with the most? Yep, its Kevin. Robin told me that he's scared off a few girls.

Anyway David and Robin decided to let me, and another girl who was also interested, start training and they'd pick one of us in a few weeks.

Now i don't really want this job, its definitely not what i was looking for, and not suited to my personality at all. However, both David and Kevin don't think i can do this job. They straight out told me so. i love a challenge, and this job is nothing if not challenging. i know i can do this, and even excel at it, and i want to prove it. So i agreed to the probationary period, thinking i'll show them how good i am at it, then let the other girl have the job.

So i went in to start training today. It was hard work, and really dirty, but i did pretty well. David still doesn't like me, but Kevin was actually really cool. We were joking around and talking during lunch. That prolly won't last, but at least he didn't yell the first day.

Before i left Robin told me that i did pretty well, and we'll fill out all the official forms on Thursday. The other girl didn't ever call them back so i have the job. That isn't what i planned. i think it'll be ok though. The hours work with my schedule, and they're pretty flexible if i have to take off or something. The pay is only minimum wage so that kinda sucks, but i think it'll all work out ok.

The city girl who's never even been on a tractor, is now working at a tractor salvage yard. Someone needs to get video of this....

Why? cont.

So a few weeks ago i wrote about how i was having a hard time dealing with some old friend's actions, and not understanding why i couldn't just let them go. i blame part of it on them. They're the kind of people that have to make sure everyone knows how much fun they're' having , and what you're missing by not being part of their exclusive group. That definitely didn't' help my own being-left-out insecurities.
Well i figured it out... sorta. i don't know why i still cared about being with them, but after an exceptionally awkward and uncomfortable evening with that group, i was over it. I'm not missing anything by not hanging out with them. A few nights ago i spent an evening by myself. i washed some clothes, cleaned my room, finished some homework, and went to bed early. i had a lot more fun than i did at their party. I'm glad i went tho, i guess i needed to see what I'm missing, or not missing. i think ( i hope!) they are officially out of my system now.

J4 Stress

"What do you do to calm down when you're stressed?"

There are several things i can do that will help me to calm down. The first is getting by myself and just breathing for a few minutes. This usually helps if i'm just stressed cause i'm busy or my surroundings are really chaotic.
Another thing i do to de-stress is listen to Jewel CDs. i don't know what it is about Jewel, but the music is calming to me for some reason.
If i'm really stressed sometimes i'll read a mystery. Now, it can't be just any mystery. It has to be one of three series that i like, and i have to have read it before. A new mystery doesn't help me any. i know that sounds really weird, and i can't explain it, but these books are... familiar almost. Reading them is like being with old friends. If i'm reading one of these books and listening to Jewel... it's bad. Watch out cause you're gonna get your head bit off if you bug me.
Another thing that i do to calm down (usually after a fight) is to just drive. i've explored a lot of back roads and gotten lost quite a few times when i'm driving around to calm down. i usually listen to country when i'm driving, but if i'm listening to Jewel i'm Really Mad.
The last thing i do to de-stress is go to an undisclosed place to hang out alone for a while. This place is undisclosed so that no one ca ever find me there. If i'm there, i don't want to be disturbed. i don't even take my phone with me. A deadly combination is if i'm driving to my place, listening to Jewel, and taking a mystery book with me. That means i'm exceptionally upset and no one will see or hear from me for several hours. The upside is that if i spend at least a half and hour doing any one of this things i'm a much nicer person afterwards =)

What do you do to de-stress?? What works best??

Reformation Party

Ok, so i'm gonna go back in time for a bit. My dad's church hosted a reformation party last fall, just before Thanksgiving. It was a smashing success, and a lot of fun! The singles/teens planned, decorated, hosted, entertained, and cleaned up from the party. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it. So what is a reformation party? Its a party celebrating the reformation, honoring the leaders of the movement, and learning about what changed Christianity into a multi-denominational religion, instead of just Catholic. If you research it, a lot of denominations can trace their roots to the Reformation, like the Lutherans, the Baptist, and others (there really are others, i just can't remember them). My dad's church is very big into Reformed theology. Me, not so much, but that's another story. Anyway, i could go into depth about all the reformation movements, and prominent people, but i want this to be fun so i'm just gonna talk about the party =)

The first interesting part is that we pulled it all off in two weeks of work. We were presented with the idea, and told that we could host the party in two weeks (so it would be a week before thanksgiving) or wait till January. We chose two weeks. Now that may sound like enough time, but think about what we had to do: plan the schedule, come up with ideas for entertainment and rehearse them, set up the building, decorate, make our costumes, make all the decorations, and make a million calls to people to tell them about it and ask them to come. The two weeks were crazy, stressful, super busy, and a lot of fun. We all got to work together, and see each other a lot more than usual (sometimes more than we wanted) but it all went ok. The night of the party we were still rehearsing, setting up, and generally freaking out, but it all came together really well!! Everyone thought it was really great.



The night opened with Jeremy's welcome, i wish i could remember all of it,it was really funny. The we all had dinner, which was impressive in its self. There were trays of cold cuts, huge wedges of cheese, fresh baked bread, and Friar Tuck's Homebrewed Ale (really, ginger ale). Then the entertainment started. There were several skits, two speeches, a medieval dance, a short sermon, and a choir performance.

The first skit was of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the church door. Danny played Luther, and most of the rest of us were townspeople. Joe played a monk selling indulgences and Danny/Luther called him out on it, and made a speech on how wrong the church was for promoting such practices.

The next skit was a comedy of Katherina von Bora's escape from a convent. Lauren (blond) played a ditzy girl that kept ramblig in the middle of trying to tell the other girls the escape plan. It was mostly improv, and completely hilarious! It ended with all of us sneaking out of the convent in fish barrels (really, cardboard cutouts) and one of them was accidentally upside down!!

Then Ricky gave a speech on William Tyndale's life and work, and i gave a speech on Katherina von Bora's life.

The dance was next. It was so beautiful, and elegant. The girls practiced for hours to get it all timed right. i think watching the dance was my favorite part of the evening.

 

The best part of the evening was Jake. He played Pope Leo X and would randomly walk around blessing people. He also had one of those holy water things that they walk around swinging... Anyway it was hilarious cause Jake is such a country boy, but he got the pat of the Pope perfect! The best part tho was his hat. It was about two feet tall, and so over the top! It just completed the whole performance so well!

The next part was prolly the most emotional. We all stood around a 'burning' cross and sang a song about living for Christ no matter what happens. It was very moving.

That was the end of the entertainment, but hardly the end of the evening! Most everyone stayed for another hour or so talking, looking at all the decorations, and just hanging out =) Then we had to clean up, but that's pretty boring so i'll skip that part lol

The whole project was pretty spectacular, i'm still impressed that we pulled it off so well =) i hope to be involved i something like it again someday!

Christmas Music

i was shopping today, and i noticed that most stores have at least a few Christmas decorations out, if not an entire Christmas department. And it's only 3 days after Halloween. It reminded me of an argument that my mom and i have every year, starting Nov. 1st up till Black Friday. its the age old debate of when its appropriate to start playing Christmas music. i personally love Christmas music, and listen to it all year in the privacy of my own room or my truck. i think its acceptable to start playing Christmas music publicly (where the rest of my family can hear it) the day after Halloween. My mother does not agree. She thinks Christmas music should be strictly kept to the day after Thanksgiving thru Christmas day, and no one moment longer. We argue about this for most of the month of November, and she finally gives in about the week of Thanksgiving, saying "Its close enough now, i give up." i love the moment when i win =) i usually play Christmas music the whole time we're arguing, so its really all academic cause she knows i'm gonna play it no matter what, but by now its something of a tradition. All part of the holiday preparations.
When do you start playing Christmas music?? What's your fave Christmas song??

Concerts

i went to a Thousand Foot Krutch concert last Sunday nite. It was completely awesome!! i got to go with my best friends, i haven't had a chance to go to a concert with them before so that was way cool =) i haven't really listened to TFK much, but i knew the concert would be fun even if i didn't know all the songs. Actually, i didn't know any. Oh i recognized a few, but i didn't know them well enough to sing along. It was still pretty amazing tho!! We were about 8 feet from some speakers so we were pretty deaf by the time we left but it was totally worth it!
i lovelovelove concerts =) The crowd, the noise, the heat, its all so exciting! And of course the show is (usually) pretty incredible. i especially love the lights, but the whole 'show' aspect of a concert is my fave part. Yea its way cool to see the artist live, but (again, usually) the music isn't as good live as on a CD. Its all about the show. The lights, the stage, the clothes, the sound, getting the crowd involved, that's all part of a concert experience. Its not just about the music.
What is your favorite part of a concert? Whats the best concert you've ever been too??

Playlist: Welcome To The Masquerade, Move

Spirtiual Gifts

i've been attending my church's new member class for a few weeks (i just completed it!!) and one of our projects was to take a spiritual gifts test. i was pretty excited cause i have no clue what my spiritual gift is. Ok, let me back up a bit.

What is a spiritual gift? Well, my pastor described a spiritual gift as something the Holy Spirit equips us with the moment we become Christians. It's purpose is to help us fulfill God's plan for us, and to bring glory to Him. It can be a 'new' gift, something we've never been good at, or tried, or it can be something we're already good at that is strengthened. Also, our gift doesn't just happen right away, it has to be matured, or cultivated. As we show we're responsible in small things, God trusts us with more complex things. Its the same with our gift, the more we use it to glorify God, the stronger it gets.

Anyway, i had to take a spiritual gifts test to see what mine might be. (This test isn't conclusive, its just a way to see where to start looking) Here are my 3 highest scores:

14- Helps: Serving/Hospitality
"These individuals make people feel at home and comfortable in new situations. Whether they are opening their homes to guest or welcoming new faces into the local body of believers. These men and women have a friendly smile and a helping hand for everyone." Ok, i could have told you i'd be good at this one, i Love having people over and making people feel welcome :) This one totally fits me, though i do need to practice it more. i sometimes get stuck in "my little world" and forget to be nice to new people.

13- Mercy
"These individuals empathize with others, feeling compassion and a desire to help. They are able to help with the grieving process or acclimate individuals to a new environment." Ok....That sounds kinda like stuff i'm good at, certainly "help with the grieving process" fits, but the general idea of Mercy doesn't fit me. i'm not very forgiving, if you cross me, or worse my friends, prepare to die!! jk. But seriously, im not merciful. i hold grudges, i don't forgive easily. Most of the time if you hurt me, i don't let it get to me. i'm strong enough to just let it slide off. But if you do manage to hurt me, or far worse a friend, the claws come out. i mostly ignore whoever hurts me, and make sure thier name is mud in the community. i don't lie, i tell it exactly like it is, which is usually worse than something i could make up. People are pretty terrible sometimes, and i have no patience for them. So i kinda wonder why i got this answer, if really doesn't fit.

13- Faith
"Those with the gift of faith have a deep conviction and belief in the truth of the Word of God. These individuals believe God in the face of extraordinary circumstances and inspire those around them to deeper relationships with him." Hmmm... i think this is kinda cheating. i mean, we're all supposed to have deep faith and conviction from the Bible, right? The "believe God in the face of extraordinary circumstances" part applies to me, i guess. but not the "inspire those around them to deeper relationships" part. if i'm struggling with something, even if it draws me closer to God, no one really notices. i'm kinda torn on this one, some of it fits, but not all.

So those are my results! What do you think? Accurate, or completely wrong? What about you? Do you know what your gift is??

Shiloh

Shiloh – A Requiem, by Herman Melville

Skimming lightly, wheeling still,
The swallows fly low
Over the fields in cloudy days,
The forest-field of Shiloh -

Over the field where April rain
Solaced the parched ones stretched in pain
Through the pause of night
That followed the Sunday fight

Around the church of Shiloh -
The church, so lone, the log-built one,
That echoed to many a parting groan
And natural prayer

Of dying foeman mingled there -
Foeman at morn, but friends at eve -
Fame or country least their care:
(What like a bullet can undeceive!)

But now they lie low,
While over them the swallows skim,
And all is hushed at Shiloh.

Narnia Declawed

i found this article on my fave Narnia website, http://thelionscall.com/. its quite thought-provoking, what would Narnia be like without Christianity?

A few years back it was believed that Harper Collins, publishers of the Narnia books, meant to rewrite them and remove all evidence of Christian allegory. This was not true, but it does makes one think:
What would the stories be like without the Christian influence?
Here's my attempt:

Once there were four children whose names were Peter--oh, wait, he was a disciple. Keys to the kingdom and all that.
Well, then: Once there were four children whose names were Percy, Susan--oops, that name's based on the Biblical Susanna. And wasn't there a Santa Lucia, too?
So: Once there were four children whose names were Percy, Sybil, Edmund, and Lana.
Moving right along, these four kids entered a magical land via armoire. There they became involved in an epic struggle of good versus evil--oh, wait, there's no such thing as absolutes. No one is all evil. The Witch is just misunderstood. She probably had an unhappy childhood. Oh, and we can't keep calling her the Witch. The implies censure. We'll call her pagan--no, that might remind people that there's an opposite to paganism, such as religion. Ah! We'll call her a Child of Nature.
So, these four kids join forces with the local inhabitants and try to overthrow the Witch--er, Child of Nature (despite her very stable and mutually beneficial reign.) However, lacking any true leadership (That would mean Him, and we certainly can't include Him.), the children and other rebels soon are turned into overlarge paperweights.
Huh, well, that won't sell. Let's try this: We'll include him, but only after a fashion. So, the children go to meet Aslan and Edmund is rescued. Then Nature Girl comes to claim the traitor, according to ancient law. Aslan, not being a type of Christ, cannot die and be resurrected, so he has to give Edmund back, to fulfill the law. Nature Girl kills Edmund (but he had it coming, after all), and the four thrones are never filled.
No, no. That won't do. Well, how about this: Nature Girl comes to claim Edmund, and Aslan says, "No, that's just tough. You can't have him. I don't have to honor the law my old man put into Narnia years ago."--wait, that implies creation. Can't have that.
Aha!: The Witch, er, Child of Nature, comes for Edmund, and Aslan eats her (So what if it was supposed to be a parley? Getting to eat your enemies during a truce is one of the beauties of situational ethics.). Everybody else lives happily ever after, including the wolves, hags, efreets, etc. who are shown the error of their ways and reintegrated into society. The four children, not satisfied with the concept of "divine right of kings," hold elections to see who will be the new president of Narnia. Some dwarf, who was never given fair opportunity for advancement in Nature Girl's regime, gets the job. The kids go back through the wardrobe. Book sales plummet.
The End.