A Novel Idea

Today is the last day of November, and for me, the last day of NaNoWriMo. In case you don't know what that is, it is a challenge to write a novel in a month. (http://www.ywp.nanowrimo.com/) My goal was to write 30,000 words. So far, I have all but 700 of my goal. Hopefully I can finish today :D

Speaking of writing, though, I found this amazing, Christian book on how to write a novel. It's called "A Novel Idea"

It has just about everything in it for the aspiring writer - making believable characters, powerful dialogue, how to form a plot, and all about publishing. It explains what makes Christian fiction, Christian. It has been helping me a lot with my writing, both my novel and short stories. I've also lent it to several of my friends, and they really liked it, too.

So, are there any other writers out there? Anyone else who did NaNoWriMo this year?

-Aylin

Whose Opinion Is Important

"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Pleasing God should be, as a Christian, my number one goal in life. I mean, He made me, has a plan for my life, and has shown His love for me a thousand times. I know that He is should be everything for me.

But then there's people. They are a pressure to look right, say the right things, and act the right way. They don't have to truly say anything for me to know that there is an acceptable way to do things. So, sometimes I forget about the important things - like going that extra step to help someone or speaking what I actually believe - because I am caught up in worrying about how everyone else perceives me.

Then there's this verse that brings me back to the reality of life in God, and another one that's even more powerful and convincing - "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Matt. 10:28 God matters. People - not so much. What they think is best, what they think is acceptable, is not nearly as important as what God wants for my life. Now if I could just remember that...

-Aylin

Thanksgiving. . .

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

This is truly one of my favorite holidays. There's never any expectations to wear nice clothes or give unforgettable gifts. . .just fun time with family. 

I doubt any of our turkeys actually look like this, and if yours does, then you are very fortunate indeed. 

As I was saying. . .everyone just sits around a table, and, well. . . talks. I learn new things about my family every year.

What I try to do every year is come up with six things I'm thankful for--one for every letter in thanks.

T) Time--the time that God has already given me here, and the time yet to come. But, most importantly, the time I will have after I die.

H) Heaven. The fact that I have something so amazing to look forward to.

A) Agape--the Greek word for unconditional love; namely love from God, although it can also be used for love between very close friends.  It is one of my favorite words, and has inspired me a lot ( For a broader definition of agape, click here. ).

N) Names. All of the names of people that I hold dear--my family, my friends, people that have inspired me. . . 

K) Knees. The fact that I have body that is completely healthy. I have no diseases, no missing body parts, and two hands that I can use to serve the LORD.

S) Surreal. All of the surreal things I've witnessed--the tiny little new-born babies, a little child praying, an incredible sunset, a sky filled with stars. . . So many beautiful things. 

I have so many things to be grateful for. What's your list?

~Elizabeth

Thanksgiving

Yikes! Thanksgiving is tomorrow!! I do not like it when holidays sneak up on me like that :)

My grandparents are coming over, and possibly some friends, for dinner. We're having turkey, stuffing, rolls, sweet potatoes, and lots of pies. Both my sister and I are helping with the meal. My sister is making the illustrous, stomach-pleasing pecan pie. I am making the pickle tray. Don't laugh at me! My pickle trays are heavenly :D Just kidding, it really isn't that heavenly. But, I'm not much of a cook, and the one thing I enjoy doing in the kitchen is arranging stuff on platters, so that's what I'm doing!

Well, I can't post the day before Thanksgiving without encluding a list of the things I'm thankful for. Here it goes (in no particular order!)

1. My amazing family
   


2. May, the baby we're watching
   


3. Venison (yumm!)



4. My wonderful, supportive friends



5. Christian rock (Skillet, Red - you guys are awesome!!)



6. Jesus' extraordinary love for me



7. My piano that I love to play



8. Bing.com images!!



9. The youth group I attend, and my church family



10. Christian fiction

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" Ps. 118:1

Happy Thanksgiving! -Aylin

Hope, Love and. . . ?

I think we often forget that faith is the word that should be included with those. Everywhere I look--even within some Christian stores--it's Peace, Hope, Love, or grace or compassion. . . the list is endless. But rarely, however, do I find one that includes faith.

Don't you see? It would be very hard for the devil to attack love, because there are certain types of love that our culture and those before it are accustomed to; love for the opposite gender, love for your children, love for friends. . . No--if someone came up to you and said, "Don't love anyone!", how likely would you be to agree with that person?

Then there's hope. No one wants to be told to give up hope. Again, it would be quite difficult for the devil to attack.

But faith. . . Faith tends to be very fragile. People tend to always have excuses to give up faith, whether it's something as simple as losing a car key to a car crash. It's our sinful nature to rebel against God.

Yet, faith can be so incredible. . .Jesus tells us that even if our faith is the size of a mustard seed, he can use it to move mountains through us. Which is exactly why the devil is trying to tell us it's not important.

~Elizabeth

Yeah!!!!

Boy, I have been so busy lately! Between blogging, writing for NaNoWriMo, schoolwork, hunting - and the best yet -

(Drumroll please XD)

May! No, not the month, but the baby! A friend of our family had a baby girl, but since she has to work in the daytime, we get to watch the baby. Today is the first day that she's here. She is so sweet! And amazing! And absolutely perfect! Just now she is staring up at me and grimacing. It is adorable. It's only noon, but I've already taken a lot of pictures of May on my camara.

So, yeh, I'm kinda busy, but I'm happy being busy with May and the other stuff I've been up to. What have all you readers been doing this November?

-Aylin

Most amazing blog post...

Wow. My sister just showed me the most amazing blog post ever. Because it's on a website, and not part of blogger, I couldn't find the button to post the post here, but click here to see it.

It is so sad and beautiful and bittersweet, it almost made me cry. And I thought - trust in Jesus. Wow. This kid, this Jonothan who lives in Ecador alone and abondoned, he trusts every day. He can't lean on his own understanding, because he can't have any understanding. It makes no sense. Abandonment, favoritism, lovelessness - it isn't something anyone can understand. Yet Jonathan trusts. He still believes.

You have got to check his story out. It is heartbreaking, and it is powerful. It makes me want to sponsor a compasssion international child so bad, because I know that there are thousands of kids like Jonathan, who just need love.

-Aylin

Trust. . .

These are two of the results for trust from http://www.dictionary.com/ : 

1) Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

2) Confident expectation of something; hope.

You see, trust has always been a hard one for me. I've had people let me down; we all have.  So it's hard for me to then, put everything I have in the hands of God, Whom I can't even see. 

"Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 

I really like the American Standard Version of this verse. It uses such strong, meaningful words. 

I think God has been using this verse, and others like it, to help give me confidence and trust in Him. I learned that, apparently, not only does He want us to believe in Him although we can't see Him, but He wants us to have conviction of it!

Conviction. . .that's not exactly something that comes easily. It involves a lot of prayer, reading the Bible, talking with fellow Christians. . . It's just a part of walking with God. :) 

~Elizabeth

He knows what He's doing

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

I am a human (I'm sure you're relieved that I'm human, and not actually an alien, that's been writting all this time!). A human is a finite being. Its body, its heart, and its mind dies. Only the soul lives for eternity. The thing with being a finite being is, my view is limited. It's limited to the teeny, tiny world that I can see. It's controlled by my fallible brain that will eventually die. I'm encased in a human body that is confined to time and space. My view is limited.

But then there's God! He's in heaven and on earth and everywhere in between. He sees all, knows all, and created all there is to see. His brain (if He techinacally has one) is perfect, infallible, and eternal. His being is not confined to anything. He is not bothered by time or space - they work for Him, not against Him, because He made them.

And the thing is, God made you. He has a great plan for you. It may not seem all that great from your limited point of view, but God knows what He is doing. No matter what you're going through, He has a purpose for your life. He loves you, and He knows what He's doing.



I love this song. It reminds me that God is not shaken. He loves me. He knows what He's doing.

-Aylin

Quick Post

Ok, so I honestly don't have much time to post. I'll try to make up for that next week. :)

So. . .

~Elizabeth

Garbage

Today's garbage day at my house :( I am not a big fan of garbage. First of all, it stinks. Second of all, my driveway is long. Well, it isn't the longest one I've ever seen, but it's long enough.

Anyways - I was thinking about garbage today, because of the impending need to take it to the road, and I realized something. I have garbage in my life, too. I've got stupid things people have said on tv that's in my head, I've got bad habits that clutter, and I've got piles of yesterday's mistakes that I'm still looking back on. That stuff stinks. But the problem is - I've got a long driveway.

Some stuff is easy to get rid of. Asking Jesus for forgiveness carries my sins as far as the east is to the west. But habits are harder to break. And past mistakes can be difficult to move on from, even if God has taken them far away.

So, I guess today's a good day to take the garbage out. It's a good day to start praying for forgiveness, direction, and the strength to drag all the garbage to the curb and leave it there.

-Aylin

Wonderfully Made!

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Ps. 139:14

I totally forgot to put up a new verse of the week last week! Sorry about that.

I am "fearfully and wonderfully made." My "soul knows it full well." Well, my soul might know it, but sometimes my mind forgets that God made me in His image. ME? Yet, He has, though sometimes I don't see it. Some days I wake up and feel ugly, dumb, klutzy, uncreative, and covered in sin. My attitude stinks, I've already complained and argued with my family, and I'm walking around with one of those little storm clouds over my head. You know the days.

Yet I am wonderfully made! And, even if I really feel not so well put together, the Holy Spirit is continuing to mold me in His image. God loves me and made me just how He wants me. My soul knows it - I just gotta shove my mind out of the way and let Him take over.

-Aylin

A little box. . .

Alright, so I know Aylin just posted about this yesterday, but I honestly cannot stress enough what an amazing thing Operation Christmas Child is. I just packed my box yesterday with a local church. It's for a 10-14 year old girl.

I'm really excited about it, and I think I did a really good job this year of getting good things for them.I got her a small sewing kit, with lots of strings and two needles; a nice, big hair brush; two toothbrushes and toothpaste; soap and washcloths; a few necklaces; some warm fuzzy socks; a yo-yo, jump rope and ball; two really pretty headbands; some candy; glue, pencils and colored pencils; a journal; sun-glasses; and I think maybe a few other things.

And honestly, it cost me less than $25. It doesn't cost us much, but it means the world to someone else.

~Elizabeth

Operation Christmas Child

Hi, Guys! It's time to get ready for Operation Christmas Child!!!!

For those of you who might not know what that is - Operation Christmas Child is a project run by Samaritan's Purse, which is an awesome organization. They help with disaster relief work and other great stuff in God's name. For Operation Christmas Child, people get the opportunity to fill up shoe boxes with gifts for children in poverty around the world.

My family is making 5 shoe boxes this year. We normally go to the Dollar store and find everything we need. We get combs, toothbrushes, stuffed animals, bar soap, hard candy, yo-yos, jacks, hair scrunchies... We basically take over the store! Then we pack everything into our shoe boxes, fill out the forms, and take the boxes to the nearest drop off location.

After our boxes are dropped off, they get shipped to a center where Samaritan's Purse workers sort through the boxes to make sure that there aren't any breakables or liquids or stuff like that packed in them. Then they get sent to poor children around the world. These kids also get the Gospel message presented to them in their own language.

I also put a simple letter in my box with my address. That way, the child who gets my box can write me, although that has not happened yet. Some kids can't get a stamp or don't know how to write.

So, the national drop off week is Nov. 14 through the Nov. 21. You can go to http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/GO_Box_LandingPage to find out more info on what to pack and where to find a drop off location.

-Aylin

A Poem

This is a poem  I recently wrote:

Being a Christian isn't easy,
But did God ever say it would be?
Treasures are lost, lives shaken,
But you shall never be forsaken,
God is wise and all knowing,
His majestic mercy ever showing,
Be still and do not fear,
For the LORD your God is always near. 

~Elizabeth