I Can't Blog When I'm Awake

I cuddle up in my warm bed and try to go to sleep. It never works. If I am trying to go to sleep, it will never happen. So I usually end up thinking. And as I reach that dozing stage where I'm not asleep and not awake yet, I know exactly what I'm going to blog about in the morning. Oh, let me tell you, peeps. Some of it is astounding. I think. See, the problem is this: When I wake up in the morning I have absolutely no clue what it was that I planned on blogging about! Sometimes I have a vague impression of a story about my little brother. Or last night I'm pretty sure I was thinking about a recipe that I want to share.

Sorry if you feel like you're missing out on a lot now. Maybe I should try to wake myself up and jot some kind of note to myself? Facing the truth, it appears that I'm a better blogger when I'm asleep.

Just a Little Reminder

For those of you who either did not know or do not remember, PBS is airing Emma right now and they have it online temporarily so that TV-less Jane Austen fans can enjoy it, too! If you haven't done so already, why not go and watch it? I still can't make up my mind whether or not it's my favorite version, but it's pretty much amazing! Enjoy!

P.S. Return to Cranford is also available for viewing on PBS, but if you haven't seen Cranford yet, I'd recommend watching that first!

Broken Before God

It's been awhile since I heard this sermon, but I've thought about it a lot. I decided that I'd finally stop and post about it. Some of this is my sermon notes from January 6. If anyone wants to hear the sermon, you can go to my church's website and look it up.

Broken Before God

Brokenness is a(n)

• Acute and constant awareness of God's presence
• Devastation from the presence of my sin

For me, I've had to think about this a lot. Am I always aware of God's presence? He is always there. Somehow I find that it's easy to forget that no matter where I am or what I am doing, God is right there with me. It's rather mind-boggling, actually. 'Cause God is always with me - and He's always with you, too!

Getting back to my sermon notes, here are three examples of brokenness that can be found in the Bible.

Brokenness of a King
Psalm 51 says

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

[Emphasis is mine]

David was possibly the most powerful man on earth at this point, but no matter how powerful he was, he was still human. And no human being (except for Jesus) has ever been without sin. David sinned. And what do we see? "Oh, Lord, thou knowest that Thy servant is the most powerful man on earth. I have done what is not right. Do not judge me, O my Lord, for I can do as I please..." Not on your life! David's response was to be broken before his God.

Brokenness of a Prophet

Isaiah 6:

¹In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

²Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

³And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

⁴And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

⁶Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

⁷And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

⁸Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

⁹And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

¹⁰Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

¹¹Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

¹²And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

¹³But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

[Again, the emphasis is mine]
Isaiah was one of the holiest people on earth, but was he perfect? Nope. And he knew it. Isaiah was also broken before God because of his sins and the sins of God's people.

Brokenness of a Businessman
Luke 18: 9-14

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Look at the contrast between these two men! Remarkable! You know, I think that I'm somewhere in between them. I'm not (quite) as proud as the Pharisee, but I am no where near as humble and broken as the publican. That's something that I've been praying about. Because I want to be used by God. I want to be broken before God. Maybe I can tweak that quote of John Piper's. You know, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." How about

God is most glorified in us when we are most broken before Him.

Youtube Tuesday - Christian Movies

Today I thought I'd mention some different Christian movies and show you their trailers. I have seen all but the last of these and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.



Come What May isn't as professionally done as most of the movies you might watch, but it's still enjoyable. It's somewhere between Facing the Giants and Flywheel in film quality. The story line was great, though!



Facing the Giants is probably my favorite Christian film of all time! The acting, filming, and story are all wonderful, and I find it to be an excellent reminder that NOTHING is impossible with God.



Time Changer is also an excellent Christian film. I don't think it's as widely known as Facing the Giants and Fireproof, but I think that everyone should see it. It gives me the I-need-to-do-something-about-this chills every. single. time.



Flywheel is a great movie because of the story. Honestly, if you look too hard at the acting or at the filming, you probably won't like this movie very much. But the story! It redeems the quality as far as I'm concerned. I know that other people love the story but still can't watch the movie because they focus too much on the quality. =(



Fireproof is a close second to Facing the Giants. What an incredible movie! There are so many touching moments. I *ahem* (can't believe I'm admitting this but) tend to be rather emotional when I'm watching movies. Well, so far as emotion goes, Fireproof is one of those that finds me with tears rolling down my cheeks more than once in the movie. Sherwood is definitely cranking out some good material!

Last, I want to talk a bit about the newest Christian film to hit the big screen. To Save a Life. Before I say anything about the movie, here's the trailer:



What's the first thing you notice about this movie? For me, it was the bold PG-13 Parents Strongly Cautioned before the trailer even began. What? Okay, so obviously not all Christians are going to have the CLEAN stories that I love so much in Sherwood's films. But then read the rest: Mature thematic elements involving teen suicide, teen drinking, some drug content, disturbing images and sexuality. WHOA! A "Christian" film. After reading all of that, I decided that this was one of those times that the word 'Christian' needed to be put in quotation marks. What exactly is the message of this film supposed to be, anyhow? Here's a part of the Plugged In review:

The Christian film industry still has a ways to go before it can tangle with Hollywood's best. And, more significantly, Christian audiences may be legitimately troubled by some of this film's grittier aspects: The language. The drinking. The dope smoking. The cutting. The suicide. And the scene that shows the lead-up to teen sex.

Britts understands those concerns.

"We never really set out to make a Christian film," he says. "We said we wanted to make a film for teenagers that would never set foot in a church but would go to the movies—something that would reach them. … We wanted to make a movie that really mattered, and that empowered students to be able to reach out to their friends."

I admit, if I could cut out the language etc etc etc, I would really want to see this film. It sounds great! BUT (and that's a big but) I don't really want to encourage Christians to continue with this line of thinking. "You have to be a part of the world in order to reach the world." It screams out from the music that Christians are listening to, the clothes that they're wearing, the movies they're watching, and now, the movies that they are making. Wrong attitudes can be shown without language. The topic of immorality can be approached without showing lead-ups. A changed heart can be seen without the physical evidence of quitting drugs and alcohol. The world can be reached better if we choose to keep ourselves separated completely from their ways.

There's my two cents worth. What do you think?

An Author's Faith

Until November, every book I had written displayed my belief in God. The main character in my historical fiction works has always been a Christian. My detective series is about a family who are Christians. My modern-day heroes are Christians as well. And then... I began my first fantasy. Writing The Looking Glass has been one of the most enjoyable, but also one of the most difficult books, that I have written. For once in my writing career I no longer have to worry about historical accuracy (for the most part), but new problems have come up. Keeping my fantasy clean so that it won't be thrown in the Christian's bag of "DO NOT TOUCH" books along with Harry Potter. Making my totally-not-happening story seem completely possible. And... how do I handle my faith? It's as much a part of me as my writing, but does that mean I should include it in my writing?

I decided that when writing a fantasy, one should not include God. It may put God on the level of fantasy. Unless the fantasy is allegorical and would point to God, mixing God in with a bunch of unrealistic fiction would detract from His character. After I made this decision, though, I wondered if it was wrong of me. If an author is a Christian, should everything they write point to God? Would people judge me for being inconsistent? I wondered about other authors. How do (did) they handle their faith?

In the midst of my asking these questions I read a series called The Shadow Children Sequence by Margaret Peterson Haddix. In the first book, Among the Hidden, there are three boys named Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Their mother admits that she had wanted a fourth son to call him John. I was curious about the choice of names, so I determined to keep my eyes open and see if maybe Margaret Peterson Haddix gave any evidence of being a Christian. After reading the seven books that make up the sequence, I still couldn't answer the question. A main character prays a lot. It is said that God is the one who saved the lives of different kids. But Oprah Winfrey talks about God for cryin' out loud! Though I'm sure I don't need to say this, she's not a Christian. A lot of people can talk the talk.

What am I getting at? I think I know, but I'm not sure that I know. I guess you could say that I've come to a conclusion. If I talk about God in my books, it'll be all there. No one will have any doubt that the author of the book they're reading has a personal relationship with Christ. God knows the heart, so it shouldn't really matter to me whether or not Margaret Peterson Haddix is a Christian. But I've decided that for my part, I'd rather not leave people guessing.

Emma is This Weekend!

Hey, everyone! Sorry I haven't been around much. I've been kinda busy. Right now I'm just popping in to remind ya'll that Emma is coming to the US of A this weekend! Now, some of us have... is cheated the right word???.... and we watched it while it was premiering in England because of the good ol' World Wide Web. But for those of you who have not yet seen this, I'd encourage you to do so! (Especially if you're a fan of Jane Austen and Emma in particular)

Thought I love all of the versions of Emma that I have seen, I think that this one just might be my favorite. It was faithful to the book, and I love Ramola and Jonny Lee Miller as Emma and Knightley!

In celebration of Emma's premier here in the US, PBS has a quiz on their site to see which Highbury gentleman would best suit you. I did it and came up with:

Mr. George Knightley

"You might not see one in a hundred with gentleman so plainly written as in Mr. Knightley."

You're looking for the complete package: a man with brains, good looks, a great job, perfect manners and a sizeable fortune to boot. Well, today's your lucky day.

As Highbury's wealthiest landowner and all-around great guy, Mr. Knightley is what your mother meant by "a good catch." He's a "sensible man" with a "cheerful manner" who loves his family and friends and has no patience for vanity or drama. Direct, down-to-earth and happily duty-bound, he proves time and again that chivalry is alive and well. He's a reluctant dancer but an astute judge of character and a trustworthy confidant. Overt displays of emotion or affection aren't exactly his thing, but you couldn't ask for a more caring or thoughtful friend.

No one's perfect, so you'll have to work through disagreements now and then (usually over something you've said or done). But, if you can get over his being right most of the time, you two should enjoy a fine life together indeed.

Humorous side note: 0% of quiz takers have ended up with Mr. Elton!!!!! LOL

Have a great weekend, everyone!

He Looked Beyond My Faults and Saw My Need

Here is a great song that I have just recently really fallen in love with. I hope it blesses you as much as it's blessed me!

The Well-Meant Shortcut

Last night my mom wasn't feeling well. She's actually been a bit under the weather for a few days, now. Anyway, I was putting Seth to bed for her so that she didn't have to get off the couch. We sang "Only a Boy Named David", then Seth prayed. And I was humbled.

"Please be with Grandpa and Grandma S. Keep them safe and in good health. Be with Grandpa and Grandma O. Keep them safe and in good health. Please help my sisters with their school. Help mommy to feel better. I pray for Grace that you would keep her safe and in good health. Keep her family safe and in good health. I pray for Bailey to keep her safe and in good health and her family to be safe and in good health...."

Get the picture? Each of his friends (and my friends!) and their families got their own prayer slot.

I love my friends. I pray for my friends. There are many many times that I will pray for them individually. But to tell the truth, most of the time I don't want to think of each individual and pray for every one of them separately. But of course I don't want to leave anyone out. So my normal prayer sounds something like this: "Dear God, please be with all of my friends and my family...." Everyone is covered, and in a shorter amount of time for me.

Go back to my earlier statement. I love my friends. How much do I love them? Do I love them enough to get up a little earlier so that I have time to pray for each of them by name? The only time I usually pray for them by name is when I have a specific request for them. (Please don't be offended! I hope we'll all still be on speaking terms by the time you finish reading this!)

I take the shortcut. Yup. I pray for my friends. I want them to draw closer to God. To be healthy and safe. I want them to be blessed in relationships with friends and family. So I mean well enough, but in the end... I'm taking the shortcut. What about you?

Why I Love My Brother

As most of you know, I have a 5-year-old brother named Seth. He is... quite the character. Aren't all boys? Anyhow... I wish I could remember all of the funny moments from this week, but that is pretty nearly impossible, so I'll just settle to a few favorites.

When my mom is making dinner, she is likely to have 3-5 of us come in and ask what she's making. Now, if there is one thing that I know about moms, it's this: They get tired of repeating themselves. Especially 5 times in the half hour or forty-five minutes it takes to make dinner. I guess my dad might have figured this out, too. Because this is what happened: when Seth wanted to know what was for dinner, my dad told him to go read the label. Seth, eager to show off his skills at reading, went to the package on the counter and read the label.

"It has a bad word on it!" He exclaimed in shock. My curiosity was instantly aroused (I hadn't yet asked mom what we were having for supper ;)) So I went over and looked and lo and behold, the package said "Pork Butt". LOL I think that's one of the highlights of my week. When we were sitting down to eat, someone asked Seth what it was we were eating, so he said, "A pig bottom." =D Way to go, buddy!

Another (quicker) Setherism. (I notice people doing this a lot: They say "Charlieism, Ethanism, Auroraism, etc etc etc when talking about their siblings/children. I may as well join the crowd!) Anyhow... last night he was having a rather difficult time saying, "Thessalonians" - it kept coming out "Sethalonians"! Maybe I should say "Sethalonians" instead of "Sethisms" hahaha

A Place of Peace

Hey, everyone! I meant to post about this on Friday, but I guess I didn't. 'Cause I can't find the post that I thought I posted. Not on my blog. Not in my drafts. Weird. So... here I am today to tell you about a new magazine for girls. It's called Cadia, which I'm told means "Place of Peace." Please be sure to go and check it out and subscribe! I am on a team of nine girls who will be doing the magazine, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how things go. Our first issue will come out in May. Once I get the names of all of these girls' private blogs, I hope to post them here. In the meantime, go ahead and head over to the website and subscribe!

Many Years Ago He Was Dead... And He's Still Dead

I get the Wikipedia daily article email. It's very interesting. Random stories are picked... there's a word of the day, a quote of the day. And, for history lovers like myself, the icing on the cake is "This day in history..." Some of them are things that I know about anyhow. Some are things I'm glad to learn. And other things, like something that I learned about today... Well, it's just a little disturbing.

Have you ever heard of cyropreservation? I have. In Mission: Impossible, they pretend to preserve a guy in order to get information out of him. (Man! Now I want to watch that show!) Anyhow... On this day in history, the first man was preserved by cyropreservation. I would tell you about it in my own words, but I find that Wikipedia did a fantastic job telling about it. Fantastic as in... I was laughing at the whole idea, but was... well, disturbed. Here's what is on the Wikipedia page for cryonics:

Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals that can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine until resuscitation may be possible in the future. Currently, human cryopreservation is not reversible, which means that it is not currently possible to bring people out of cryopreservation alive. The rationale for cryonics is that people who are considered dead by the current legal or medical definitions will not necessarily be dead by future standards – the most stringent standard being the information-theoretic definition of death – and that such people could be brought out of cryopreservation in the future.

(Emphasis is mine.)

Just how far do people think that technology is going to take us anyhow???

The Will of God

I have heard some really great messages in church lately. And in Sunday School. I have a bunch of things that I want to share with you guys, but the truth is... I'm lazy. And I keep forgetting to bring my notes upstairs so I can use them as references. But I actually have a notebook next to me right now with notes from Sunday, December 27. I have heard this message (or at least similar ones) three times, but it's a good reminder, so I hope I hear it again!

God's will for man is pretty easy, actually. A lot of people think that there's no way to know God's will without seeing the writing on the wall, but it's really simple. Here is how you can know God's will:

God's will is:

1. You should be Saved. (1 Timothy 2:3&4 & 2 Peter 3:9)
2. You should be Spirit-Filled. (Ephesians 5:18)
3. You should be Sanctified [Set Apart] (1 Thessalonians 4:3 & Titus 2:12)
4. You should be Submitted (See below)
5. You should be Suffering (1 Corinthians 12:7-10, 1Peter 2:20&21, 1 Peter 3:17&18, 1 Peter 4:19, 1 Peter 5:10, & 2 Timothy 3:12)
6. You should be Thankful (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Before I move on, I wanted to give the scripture for being submitted. The reason I didn't just give a list like I did with everything else is because there are specific things that we are to submit to.

1. Submit to God (James 4:7)
2. Submit to Others (Ephesians 5:21) (Philippians 2:3)
3. Submit to Spiritual Authorities (Hebrews 13: 7&17)
4. Submit to the Government (1 Peter 2:13-15)

So how does this apply to what college you should go to? Who you should marry? What job you should apply for? Etc. etc. etc.... Here's the truth that seems so obvious when you think about it, but that I tend to forget:

As long as these six things are true, you are in God's will and will continue to be.

Are these six things true for you?

Of Books and Books and... More Books!!!!

[Warning: this post is long. I took WAY too long to say what I was saying. Maybe it's 'cause I didn't really know what I was saying? I don't know... ]

I have been obsessed with books for... my whole life, basically. When I was really little, I had memorized my favorite book so that I could "read" it to myself - even turning the pages at the right moment. In my mind, nothing can compare to a good story. And I have to admit that as a kid, the illustrations were often a major part of how well I liked the book. The Seven Silly Eaters. A Spoon for Every Bite. Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch. It Could Always be Worse. These are just a few of the ones that I remember even now. As I learned to read on my own, Mr. Putter and Tabby and then the American Girl books and Mandie series were favorites.

For my ninth birthday, my grandma gave me some chapter books, including a few from the Sugar Creek Gang series. My word, if my Mom had only known what was going to come of that, she may not have let me open my presents! See, when I got those books for my birthday, I realized something. I could own my own books. Libraries are great, but wouldn't a personal library be better? Call me stupid for not realizing this before, but yes, at the age of 9 I decided that I, Emily Rose, was going to have a library. I started by buying more of the Sugar Creek Gang book. Then some of the Trailblazer series by Dave and Neta Jackson. I was still keeping my reading at a pretty easy level, but then I fell in love with Elsie Dinsmore and began to collect that wonderful series. Sure, I read Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys like most kids, but I remember being... stubborn and rather contrary about other things. "You shouldn't attempt to read Little Women yet," the librarian told me, "unless it's abridged. You're too young." So... I read the unabridged version of Little Women and absolutely loved it! Too young for Anne of Green Gables? Ha! I'd show them! L. M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott were the extent of the classics that I read for quite some time, but on my 12 (13?) birthday, my Mom got me Pride and Prejudice and made an instant Jane Austen fan of me. Then for school she had me read The Count of Monte Cristo. At the age of 14, I didn't get why people cringed when they saw it. What's wrong with a big book? I started reading non-fiction, too. Historical accounts of the lives of missionaries and war heroes. Survival stories from the Holocaust. All about the Titanic. I read why the South thought they were right in the Civil War, and then I read why the North thought they were right. I read about inventions. Different types of planes. How to fly. Etc. etc. etc. From the time I was very little until now, I have read probably every possible genre of book. (Wait... maybe not. Does Narnia count for Sci-Fi? haha)

Aaaaaanyyyyhow... Why did it take me so long to get here? What I'm trying to get to is that lately I have been reading a lot of princess stories. Not really the norm for me. Until now. Some of them were so good that I knew right away that I must add them to my library. Others were okay, but I doubt that I'll remember the author's name next year, nor will I likely read the books again. So today I'm going to share with you some of the books that I've read.

Good (Or should I say so-so?)

The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison

The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison

Winter's Child by Cameron Dokey

Princess Ben by Catherine Murdock

Better (Pretty much awesome!)

Forest Born by Shannon Hale

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

Belle** by Cameron Dokey

Best (Totally awesome!)

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

River Secrets by Shannon Hale

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey

Beauty** by Robin McKinley

** These two books are incredibly alike, but I thought that Beauty was a bit better. This might be based on the fact that I read it first, so Belle just seemed like a copy of a book I already loved.

Anyhow... I think I'm forgetting one or two, but it's not going to kill me. hehe I have found these books --- refreshing, I guess. Some of them were written down to the level of modern-day teens and (dare I say it?) adults. Because of this, I found them to be incredibly easy reading and got through some of them in one rather short sitting. After reading Wives and Daughters, North and South, Little Dorrit, etc etc etc, my mind was too focused on the Jane Austen era and those four-syllable words that Darcy searches for. lol It was nice to read something totally out-of-this-world. In fact, because of these fantasy/princessy stories, the novel I'm currently working on is a fantasy. It's good to stretch my brain in another, newer direction. Now, I will say that I read these over several months. Too much of one thing is really not a good idea. So I've read plenty of other fiction and non-fiction in between these books. Just so you know.

Now for two words you've probably been looking forward to since the list of books I liked when I was younger....

The End

Another Picture Giveaway!

Yesterday I mentioned that Buttercup was having a giveaway, and today I'm here to tell you about another giveaway! This one is done by Buttercup's sister Poppy. So go have a look if you'd like!

Giveaway!

Just seconds after my last post was published, and I'm here again to share a giveaway with ya'll. My friend and fellow Rebelutionary Buttercup is having a giveaway on her blog. I'd encourage you to go have a look!

A Little Faith

I have been reading Know Why You Believe: Connecting Faith and Reason by Paul E. Little. Okay, maybe I should rephrase. I've been planning to read this book for about... two or three months. And I actually pulled it off my shelf and put it on my nightstand last Thursday. But I didn't really read any of it until this morning. But I just had to share some of what I read. Here's a small passage from the first chapter:

Faith is only as valid as the object in which it is placed. Trust an untested food, an unqualified doctor or a dishonest person, and the faith is not valid... Faith may be well intentioned but the object unproven, rendering the faith useless. Meager faith placed in a reliable object, however, will bring results. For instance, if you have weak faith in thick ice, the result is nonetheless positive: the ice holds your weight regardless of your strength of faith.

You know how Jesus said that if we have faith as big as a mustard seed, we could move mountains? You know, mustard seeds aren't very big at all. But, like the situation with the ice, if our faith is put in something tried and true, no matter how small our faith is, it will be rewarded. For a person of not-so-much faith like myself, this is so encouraging! Because even if I don't have nearly the amount of faith I would like to have, I do have some faith, and I know that my mustard faith is in the right place.

A Tag

It's been awhile, but I thought I'd get around to doing this tag. Poppy over at Mold Me, Make Me tagged everybody who looks at her blog at least twice a week in this post, so I'm doing the tag now! If you're interested, she's also having a caption contest right now.

Are you...

a Christian? Yes!!!

a good listener? Ah... depends who's talking

a good friend? I think so. Ask my friends, they should know.

artistic? In my mind. LOL

funny? Oh, yeah. ALL the time. Or at least a good deal of the time

good conversation starter? Sometimes

crazy? *ahem* Perhaaaaaaaaps....

random? And who isn't?

communicative? To some people

loving? Not always

clumsy? Uh, yah. 'Nuff said.

happy? Not totally.

athletic? I'm as much of an athlete as I am Asian. So yeah. Like, ZERO

excellent in school? Nope. =( Just the subjects I enjoy

an animal lover? Yes. As long as reptiles are not included.

sister? Yessirree!

brother? No. That would just be... weird.

daughter? Yup.

son? Again, weird.

caring? Yes. I think. Mostly.

technology challenged? Not usually.

techno-freak? no

respectful? For the most part.

a movie lover? Yup! As long as it's a good movie!

book worm? Do I breathe? =D

attentive? Uuuuuhh.... What was the question again?

responsible? More than some, not as much as I should.

honest? Yes

Youtube Tuesday - Post it!

I haven’t done a Youtube Tuesday in awhile, so I thought I’d do one now. Here’s some videos involving Post-it notes. The one video doesn’t have too many Post-its, but I decided to share it anyhow. And for my fellow Jane Austen fans, the girl in the one video is Charity Wakefield who plays Marianne Dashwood in (my favorite) Sense and Sensibility 2008.

Happy New Year!

Hey, everybody! I just wanted to wish you all a happy new year and say that I'm really excited about the potential that 2010 has. I really hope that all of us will see incredible growth in our spiritual lives. Thanks to everyone who has read my blog: ya'll are awesome! One resolution I think that you could benefit from is to leave more comments here, but I guess that's just my idea of things. =D
My sister Erica and friend Bailey are leaving a little later today to go to Athens, Georgia for a Bible Quizzing tournament. I have to admit that, though they will be back on Sunday, I will miss them both. I wish them the best of luck, though, and hope that they come home with a trophy or three. =D
Today I'm going bowling, and I should go check my phone for any messages to see if I managed to convince my friend Erin to come. =) I hope she'll make it, but I suppose I shall determine to have fun regardless.
I don't have much else to say right now, but I might say more later. I actually have some book-related things to share that I've taken way too long to get around to. =D Before I go, though, I'll share the conclusion of what Focus on the Family has to say about the new Sherlock Holmes movie. This is from the review on pluggedin.com

We ultra-modern culture consumers love our fictional heroes. It doesn’t matter if they’re 10 years old, 100 or 1,000. And if we haven’t seen them for a generation or so, we can’t help but pick them up again, dust them off and … change everything about them.

Mickey Mouse is now set for a makeover in the Wii game Epic Mickey. And rumor has it that Superman, in his next feature film, will turn dark and brooding.

Sherlock Holmes? Well, he’s always been a brooder. So what could Guy Ritchie do to make this 19th century detective a 21st century box-office draw? Make him more violent, of course! Pummel audiences with roundhouse kicks, Victorian nunchucks and outsized explosions! And I haven't even gotten to the sinister Satanic cult and the occult rituals complete with pentagrams and dripping blood. We can’t expect people to sit in a theater and marvel at a man’s bare-brained brilliance for two hours, can we? We don’t have that kind of attention span anymore!

The deerstalker cap is gone, arguably a good thing. And Holmes doesn’t do cocaine and morphine the way Doyle wrote him.

But there’s a certain irony in the idea that in an age when technology is king and high school nerds go to class reunions driving Corvettes and Aston Martins after launching billion-dollar Internet start-ups, we somehow can’t embrace the essentially geeky Holmes. No, we must tweak him with a little Charles Bronson, a little Jackie Chan and a little Severus Snape.

What’s next? Hercule Poirot as an eccentric Belgian weight lifter and sometime rave DJ? Miss Marple as an angsty, twentysomething supermodel?

Maybe I’ll just read a book.

I was disgusted with this movie when I saw the trailer, and now I have to admit to being beyond disgusted. And some of my friends are talking about watching this thing! I shall try not to disown you - I do love you, after all. But this is disgusting filth and I can't believe that it was even made.

End of rant. Before I get going any more. lol

Your true Sherlock Holmes fan blogger,

Emily Rose