He Will Exult Over You With Loud Singing

O my dear friends, keep in mind these glorious words from the Lord, our God, who sits enthroned in the heavens... Can you believe that he really said this? That it is really true? I can't... it's so surreal... so lovely, so entirely beyond me to understand how an all-powerful, sovereign God could say this to a wretched sinner like me... It is so beautiful, and what joy can be found in the fact that it is true!

Isaiah 30:18-26

 "¹⁸Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
   and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.
 ¹⁹For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. ²⁰And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.²¹ And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. ²²Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, "Be gone!"
 ²³And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, ²⁴and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. ²⁵And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. ²⁶Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow."

Imagine this! When we have the strength to say to the unclean things, our gods, our idols - "Be gone!" And imagine when they really truly will be gone! What a burden will be lifted from us when we see that we are delivered from our temptations!  This is, indeed, a wonderful thing.  And, though our God strikes us... though he breaks us... though he inflicts wounds on us that sting and ache and make us cry out in pain... Bear in mind, dearest reader, that he is our healer... The Lord binds up our brokenness, just the same as he caused it.  He is our Rod, and he is our Healer.  How entirely awesome this is!

And the fact that we will see our Teacher... and that we will know the way in which to walk.  Nothing will be confused... it will be clear.  How I long for that day!

And... this is something else that daddy showed us the other night, that is so incredibly comforting and awing to think about.

Zephaniah 3:17

^"17The LORD your God is in your midst,
    a mighty one who will save;
 he will rejoice over you with gladness;
   he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing."

That God... the same one who wrote down the events of history... who made this earth and all the things therein, who is powerful and might... That this same God is in our midst constantly... And not only that, but he will save us.  And! Not only that... but imagine this.... he rejoices over us with gladness.  The tumult of our souls and our hearts caused by the fallen state of our depraved world will be quieted by his love.  His love is so great that it will quiet our fears, our anxieties, our anger... it will quiet us, and we will be at peace.  And not only this! But he will exult over you with loud singing.  Can you imagine that? God exulting over us with loud singing? Over us?  We are proud, indeed, to be the children of God.

And it is so comforting.  Our Father loves us, he cares for us... He really truly does! And not in a wishy washy sort of way... In a very masculine way, and yet tenderly.  His love is strong, and even the strongest men out there who are his children, must admit that even they find comfort and everlasting solace in his embrace. :)

A Perfect Day

Today when I was lying in bed, I felt so gratified that I was inspired to finish up a lot of my books, and wrap up some papers and essays that I needed to write.  But during the course of the day, I only accomplished two of my eight assignments.  This irritated me, and suddenly my perfect day turned to a bad day.  But I was encouraged by a new thought.

It is not the accomplishment of our plans that makes our day good, but our ability to cheerfully cope with anything that comes in our way, and be grateful for what work we did accomplish.

In my mind, a bad day is looking back at what you did and thinking: "What a lazy, lazy day. All I did was lay around and eat."  That is an awful day.  Sometimes there are days when we need rest, but what about the days where we can do something and won't do it because we don't feel like it?

The temptations of the mind are ever so powerful.  More powerful than anything else.  And our mind governs our actions, because the source of our actions are our thoughts.

We are so constantly assailed by overwhelming problems that prohibit us to exist in a state of perfect bliss.  If only we could be like Bob Wiley and "take a vacation from our problems."

I feel that when I am in our church, worshiping God, listening to godly teaching, and fellow-shipping with other Christians, I have left behind the cares of the world.  True, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath... but I believe that the Sabbath is an escape from our corrupt world that allows us to glimpse a very small view of heaven.  We go to church, and we forget about everything but God.  God is foremost in our minds.  Everything we do is centered around him.  He is the sweet haven that we run to, he is our Rock that defends us, and to be his child is to be in perfect bliss.

A perfect day doesn't exist.  Perfection doesn't exist, except in Christ.  And yet, all the little odds and ends that make our day awful are actually what makes them perfect.  Because all those little things bring about the will of God, and because his will is perfect, so is the day.  But from our selfish perspective, we're not willing to trust that He's got it all figured out, and maybe it wasn't his plan for us to do everything we wanted to.

Submitting to God is a bitter sweet thing.  It is bitter because we leave behind the desire of the flesh... The things that we selfishly yearn for... But it is sweet because we leave behind sin, and accept God's perfect and absolute will.  It is sweet because we find refuge and protection in his sovereignty, for if we denied it, what would we rely on?

I've just been thinking about a lot of things lately, and when my thoughts come together like this I like to write them down here... tell me what you all think, and please give me your thoughts. :)

As a parting thought, upon reading the first sentence again, I am reminded of a wonderful quote by G.K. Chesterton: "Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to color on the ceiling with." You have to love the great thinkers...

The Family Vision

My Dear Friends and Blog Readers....

I was recently perusing a book William Wilberforce, A Hero For Humanity by Kevin Belmonte.  A few ideas struck me while reading this which coincide with something my daddy and I were discussing late last night.

William Wilberforce was a single man until 38.  He had always thought to remain a bachelor; however, when his cousin Henry Thornton got married, his "evident happiness" gave Wilberforce an excuse to think, and in a letter to a friend he quoted William Cowper (poet) saying that he 'began to wish "not to finish his life alone."'  He stated his thoughts to a good friend Thomas Babington, who knew of a beautiful young woman named Barbara Spooner.  He encouraged her to write to Wilberforce, and when Wilberforce "received her letter, he was charmed."  They met on April 15th, and were engaged by April 23rd of the same year (1797).  They were married by May 30th, he being 38, and she 20.  Within ten years they had six children.  Wilberforce, being a MP (Member of Parliament) for a seat in Yorkshire, was required to travel a great deal.  Making speeches in the House of Commons and his "Great Object" namely the "abolition of the slave trade" took up much of his time.  Being deeply involved in politics did not involve having leisure to sit at home by the fire reading a favorite book every evening.  But Wilberforce found time to write above 20 letters per day, and have at least 6 hours a day devoted to studying the works of great philosophers, historians, poets, and literary artists.  But he was often away from home....

One evening, when returning from one of his journeys, his youngest son was set on his lap.  The child was quite young, and began crying when his father held him.  Wilberforce, having the most tender heart, was anxious as to the cause of the child's distress, and the nursemaid informed him: "Oh, he has always been afraid of strangers."  Wilberforce was a passionate man... he loved his children and his wife tenderly.  His humane spirit is exhibited through the years of hard work that he put into the abolition of the slave trade, though obstacles like serious illness, weakness, poor eyesight etc constantly assailed him.  He always thought the best of people, and was determined, even when they hated him, to find something good about his worst enemies.  And so, we might imagine how hurt Wilberforce was when he perceived that he was as a stranger to his child.  His elder sons noted a determined change come over his face as if to say: "I shall not suffer this to continue." And he didn't.  He wrote to his friends telling them that he was resigning his seat for Yorkshire in order to "take a more active role in educating and rearing his children."

The Parliamentary seat for Yorkshire was a powerful one, and Wilberforce was a man of eloquence and persuasion... and yet, he gave all this up.  Why would he sacrifice this great opportunity, just because his small child regarded him as a stranger? Soon the young one would grow up to realize, like his elder brothers, that this is part of papa's life... it was part of the his life.  He must grow used to it.  Soon Wilberforce would not be a stranger anymore.  But the wise father saw that in order to develop a strong and firm Christian character in his children, and further to develop his own relationships with them, it was necessary to resign.  But this did not mean he was done politically... His brother in law offered him a "so-called safe seat in Parliament as MP for Bramber in Sussex."  This position was much less demanding, and so he could be involved in politics and yet spend all the time he wished with his family.

Wilberforce not only resigned from his seat in Yorkshire but he took upon himself the educating of his children.  In the evenings they would read together, and often they would go for walks in the morning during which he would discuss what his children had learned in their reading.  He developed firm relationships with his sons and daughters.  Wilberforce wrote over two hundred letters to one of his sons.  This was towards the end of his life, and only one child.  He was no less reserved in writing to his daughters and other sons.  Amid his social and political life, he yet found time to continue corresponding with his children on a daily basis!  Once he pleaded with his daughter to "let him be her best friend.... to not be afraid to open her heart to him."  She confessed in a reply that she sometimes felt a loneliness in her heart... a sort of emptiness.  Wilberforce was not ashamed to tell his daughter that upon reading this he wept for her.  This is the tender character of Wilberforce....

I realize that I've made y'all read all of this in order to get to the point.... :P

Over the years the family vision has decreased and changed, and now in our day and age, it has almost vanished, except for the precious few families who seek to live up to God's standards.  The family vision used to be that fathers would teach their children the law of God, and teach them to teach their children, who would teach their children, who would likewise teach their children.  Then you have this multi-generational vision of families faithfully serving the Lord.  But modern parents have been deficient in this respect.  Something called popular culture has taken the place of this vision.  Children rebel against their parents by listening to music, reading books and watching movies that do not honor God or the things their parents have taught them.  This distracts them from the vision that should be implanted in their minds, and their disobedience is not punished, which encourages them in the way their rebelliousness.

Most times it seems as though technology has taken the place of studying.  A pastor remarked that the reason there are not many well learned preachers is because when they come to seminary, they have hardly read a single thing beforehand.  Our current society is so caught up in popular culture and "what's hot" that it's become nearly impossible to see the family dream.

Fathers come home from a long day at work, but do they take the time they have to actively spend time with their children to teach them and develop relationships with them?  When a lot of fathers in our modern world come home, their children are in their rooms doing loads of homework, or messing around with their technology.  The father has things to do.  The mothers have their own things to go to or work on.  The kids are engaged in sports and activities with their friends that hardly any time is spent with their family. If such a life is continued down through the ages, how many generations do you think the family vision will last?

My point is, nothing will be implanted in childrens minds unless parents purpose to make time for their children.  Wilberforce did.  He was probably one of the busiest men his day, and yet look at the impact he had on his children!  I am not saying that just because you do this all your children will be Christians... It is true that each and every person must experience what Wilberforce called his "great change."  Each must acknowledge their state of depravity, and the fact that they're sinners, and that they need a Redeemer, and that God in his infinite grace sent one to atone for his people's sins. For "without blood there is no remission of sins."  But it is the parents job to teach their children, and when their children grow up and have families it will be their job to teach their children what their parents taught them.

John Piper said an interesting thing about Facebook.  It went something like this: "When we go to heaven, Facebook will be an excellent proof that there was time to read our Bibles and pray."  I am not against the idea of Facebook (seeing as I have one) but this quote made me think.  Every time I find myself heading to the computer, I try to stop and make myself think: "Is there something else that I should be doing? Something I haven't done yet?" Most times there is.   I think that getting into the habit of reading in place of being on the computer during free time is a good rule.  This will cut down on the time I waste on the computer, and it will also broaden my reading horizon.  I will be learning and gaining intelligence, and these things will cause my mind to think.  It will also free up more time to read my Bible and pray, which is by far the most important of all.

Technology and popular culture—and even the idea of age segregation—have all become preventives for children to learn the accurate law of God and His character.  Not just some sugared up version that most of the modern day churches preach about.  Our God is a God to be feared, a God to be worshiped, a God to be loved and honored and obeyed in every thing!  He is NOT something that passively sits in the heavens and watches what everybody's doin' down there.  God is also something else.  He is El Qanna.  This is the zeal that arises when sin threatens our relationship with God.  He is a jealous God, and he will not let sin reign over us.  Whenever we run from Him, he is faithful in chasing us down and returning us to Himself.

Apathy has replaced the zeal that fathers should feel for their children.  When their children are heading off in the wrong direction, how far do you think most father's go to try and bring them back?  How hard do you think they work before they give up?  Or do some not even try at all?  Is there such an apathy in their hearts that they don't even care where they child goes or what they do, how they spend their time and money?  Think, O think of Wilberforce: "I am not ashamed to say that I wept when I received this news [of his daughter feeling a loneliness in her soul at times.]"  There is such an absence of apathy there, there is such a presence of feeling and emotion that he felt for his daughter.  In modern day world, there is such an absence of feeling and emotion, replaced by apathy and ignorance.  The family vision has digressed radically.   It is next to meaningless to most families.  "Why should we care?" they ask.

Why should we?  How do we answer these people?  Because to us, the reason we care is because we have been faithfully taught by our fathers the law of God, and the importance therein.  We know and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and from there we find our life.  We desire to live our lives according to the law of God, and not the laws of a fallen and corrupt world.  We desire to shine like stars in the universe, and to be a credible witness to the gospel of our Lord.  This is why we care.  We care because we want to honor God, and this is honoring God, because it is obeying his commandments.  And how can they understand this if they have never been taught it?

Deuteronomy 6:1-9  says this:
"Now this is the commandment, the statues and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." [Emphasis added.]


I think we have a pretty clear picture of the Family Vision in this passage.  How accurately do you think families today follow this commandment?  How important do you think it is to them?  Perhaps children do matter to their parents, but maybe the parents' personal lives matter more.  This is self-centered.  But no one ever said raising a family would be easy.  It requires self-sacrifice, diligence, work, and sometimes even pain.  But the reward is satisfying.  Can you think of a greater reward than the pleasure of God?  Can you think of a worse punishment than his anger? 

My proposal is to reawaken the family vision... to thwart the ideas of popular culture, to defy the world, and return to honoring God by obeying the principles he sets down in the Bible.  To begin studying the Scriptures for a new way of living that honors and glorifies God.  For fathers to begin teaching their children in a God-glorifying manner, and for us children of the younger generation to not despise this teaching, but to treasure it... "Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head, and pendents for your neck." (Proverbs 1:8-9)

I pray that the passion in Christians to serve God, honor his commandments, and establish a firm family vision that will be passed down through the generations will be reawakened.

"My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart." (Proverbs 7:1-3)

Let us follow the example of William Wilberforce.  He went against the social standards of his day in raising his children.  Let us be passionate about truth, faithful in teaching our children, replacing apathy with enthusiasm, ignorance with knowledge, and folly with wisdom.

"...for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you desire cannot compare with her."  Let us seek to be wise, not in the the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of God, following his standards, his rules, and his commandments only.  We will only be faithful to one God.

Where Lies The Difference? Is There One?

What is one of the ancient practices of the world that makes us cringe and fall back in horror? Child-sacrifice: that ancient tradition that many countries in B.C. as well as A.D. practiced. Why is it so horrific? Perhaps it’s the idea of an innocent child, who has no say in whether he/she can live or die, who cannot even fight for his/her life. They are cruelly killed – sacrificed to heathen gods; they go through innumerable pains and sufferings – things that we cannot even imagine. These children, ranging from the ages of new-born to – well, even to adult age were sacrificed to “please the gods.” The horrific ways in which these new-born children were killed is too gruesome for me to describe, but it was bloody and morbid. I cannot even imagine how they went through it. But this is my point:

Many sacrificed infants and babies to the gods…. We think that is horrific. Really, who would want to kill a baby? But it is happening everywhere all the time – all the time! This dreadful thing is, yes, abortion. Many babies are aborted because the mothers “do not want them” or because they “can’t afford them” or because it is a humiliation – a result of a circumstance they shouldn’t have gotten into anyways. But what is the ultimate point of why babies are aborted? To satisfy and please the agenda of the mother. This is no different, if you really think about it, than those people way back then sacrificing babies to please the gods. In a way, the mother is pleasing a god – Self. Martin Luther once said, “I have a great pope within me: Self.” When we do things to please ourselves, even when it is wrong, we are satisfying and pleasing our own selfish desires. This is wrong – really, truly wrong.

Abortion is no different than child-sacrifice. Why would it be? Because life does not begin until the baby leaves the womb? What grows that is not alive? How can a baby grow for nine months and not be alive? A brick, which is not alive, does not grow, but if you leave out in the wind and rain, it will become beaten down – this is a result of the weather – the brick itself does not grow or shrink by itself. If life begins at conception, then abortion is murder. If abortion is murder, then why does our country allow it to go on? Why does not the government do something to stop this wicked crime? These little infants, just like the ones sacrificed, do not have the strength, or even the sense to fight for their life. They have no say in the matter. The matter of life or death is decided for them by other human beings. This is injustice, this is cruelty and murder! If life does not begin at conception, then what about those little ones who sometimes survive abortion, and are left to die on the hospital floor? When the baby screams and cries, kicks its legs and arms, then they ought to know that it is alive. They cannot kill it – they have no right. But since we do know that life begins at conception, then they have absolutely no right to interfere with that baby’s life – unless it is to save it. (Note: I am not saying that all babies that survive abortion are left to die, but I am referring to the ones that do.)

I wonder, what are the doctors consciences like? Do they even have one? Does the sound of little children’s feet haunt them – and the mother alike? Whenever they hear a baby’s cry, are they filled with regret, with remorse? Or not? Do they just go on as if nothing happened? I wonder…

How wrong, how utterly wrong it all is! Is there a worse evil than this? O! the cries of the innocent must ring and shake the earth! What a sordid, filthy, and twisted culture we have! How can we mend this great evil? Or have we gone so far that it cannot be mended?

Who will speak up for the little ones?
Helpless and half-abandoned.
They've got the right to choose life
They don't want to lose,
I've got to speak up, won't you?

Equal rights, equal time, for the unborn children.
Their precious lives are on the line,
How can we be rid of them?
Passing laws, passing out
Bills and new amendments.
Pay the cost and turn about,
And face the young defendants.

Many come and many go,
Conceived but not delivered.
The toll is astronomical,
How can we be indifferent.

Little hands, little feet,
Tears for Him who made you.
Should all on earth forsake you now,
But He'll never forsake you.

Forming hearts, forming minds,
Quenched before awakened,
For so many deliberate crimes
The earth will soon be shaken.

[Lyrics to a song, “Little Ones By Phil Keaggy.] I’ve never heard this song, but the lyrics are wonderful.

O, please pray!

Saint Patrick's Day

Many of you know that Saint Patrick's Day is my favorite day of the year. It has been ever since I can remember. It's not because of the corned beef... it's not because I'm a "go green!" kind of person. (Except when it comes to Spring.) I love it because Spring is just around the corner, because it represent Truth and Light coming into the pagan Ireland. I'd love to write my own little summary of Patrick's life, but I don't think that I... can... write... a good thorough narrative... But I do know someone who has written a very good and (I am almost certain) reliable one, and that is Pastor Serven. The link to the article is here. I especially love the poem at the end. :)

Patriotic Sentiments

I was just "reminiscing" as some people call it, on a time a few months back, when I was in the most beloved and honoured (by me) town (or not so town-ish) Hickville. I remember that around sunset, Rachel and I "took a walk through the wilderness" as we call it. As we were coming back, we got a rather patriotic feeling within us, or at least I did, and we decided to belt out America's National Anthem. Alright.... Please don't think I'm strange when I say what I was feeling at the time, because I feel like I've gotta tell somebody, but I don't know which somebody to tell, (so why not tell everybody?) and besides, I wouldn't be able to put it in these exact words that describe the feeling as I am about to do now.... Wow, that was a really wordy sentence!!

So, we belted out the National Anthem. We really sang it out, as there was no one to listen but God and the birds around us. We looked across the vast land around us, so desolate, maybe, but so free, and so beautiful in the setting sun. What made the song more astounding, the view around us more spectacular, and being in the place itself more wonderful was the knowledge we had that we have a God, a heavenly Father in heaven, who is supreme over everything, who is all-powerful and in complete control of any little thing that happens. And if he cares for the life of a sparrow, how much moreso the life of his children! And also this thought.... the hymn O Worship The King says in the last verse, "Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!" If he is all those things, then he certainly will care for us in times of trouble or should disaster strike! Malachi 4:2 says, "But for those who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings." I feel that "we the people" have been very blessed, and have felt God's grace and mercy in giving us, and allowing us to live and flourish, in this free country.

Some people say that we don't have a very free nation... A good friend went to England this past year. She said that a homeschooling mother there said to her, "The law of England states that a superviser must be within our home to watch how we treat and raise our children. They never warn us when they come. Don't let, like we have, the simple freedoms that you posess slip through your hands, because we look and depend on you." I don't know about you, but when I heard that my mind bounced... so to speak. I almost got up and slammed my hand on the table saying, "That's it! First I'm going to the American Government and then I'm going to Parliament to do something!" If only it were that simple! Many of you might have read a post I wrote a few months ago entitled "pray!" I was about to say that the only way we can help our country is by being some great person of state that has great influence on our government. However, I was promptly reminded that, again, we can, and we WILL pray. Prayer is the greatest thing that we can do for our country.

But may I be so bold (in a good way, of course) to urge my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray without ceasing, and to never, ever be complacent! I'm not saying you are, but remember how many thousands of people died for a freedom that they had not yet obtained in the late 1700's! Remember how many sacrifices they made, and how hard they worked, and how constantly the fought for a freedom and a liberty and a country that they could call their own! And just think, after all that they had suffered to make this, our nation America, and after the thousands upon thousands who had died (not even knowing the end result), just think how ungrateful it would be, how entirely careless and thoughtless and defiant it would be to take all those sacrifices for granted, and to stand complacently by while this our country, one Nation under God, reaches a crisis! How in the world can we do that? We must not, and we cannot, stand passively and complacently by and watch the show.

So pray! And watch! And never be passive! (I would greatly appreciate it if y'all would help sharpen me and remind me to do the same thing.)

I feel so much better after saying all this.... :D

A Few Days At Olivia's....

So at OGAL-BEE park, there was this pond... and these two trees, and Olivia really enjoyed having a photoshoot there. I was her victim—although, a most willing victim I must admit— and we took a lot of pictures, trying out different lights and angles, and pretty much practicing Olivia's photography skills. :P

Notice the reflection of the trees in the water. :)

Aww. :)

I think this picture is self-explanatory

On a Monday, the Monday before I left for home, we made a trip up to Cabelas. I was quite impressed by all the dead and stuffed animals, but it was so much fun, and again, their fudge is impeccable. :)

The statue in front of Cabelas.

Reorganizing is FUN!!!! :)

Well, it's okay, I guess....


Olivia doesn't know this yet, but I really like this picture. :)

I thought this one was a bit... odd, but funny, as Olivia looks very young, and I look very weird.


So, I'm over on another side of the room, when I hear this really loud laughing... it came from Olivia, of course, and she was laughing because she was taking the most absurd pictures of herself. Some were quite funny, but they will never make it to the blog. :) Actually, I thought this one was quite nice.

Girls will be girls...

Note: I don't actually use this cheap mascara... Fortunately, Olivia had already bought Maybeline Defin-a-lash by the time I arrived, so we didn't have to use the stuff you see advertised in this picture. :) Olivia and I agreed that the new stuff is much better than that ^ stuff. :) (No offense intended towards Olivia's previous mascara.)

I thought that this would be a good picture to end the post with.... :)

The Fool's Prayer

by Edward Rowland Sill

The royal feast was done; the King
Sought some new sport to banish care
And to his jester cried: "Sir Fool,
Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!"

The jester doffed his cap and bells
And stood the mocking court before;
They could not see the bitter smile
Behind the painted grin he wore.

He bowed his head, and bent his knee
Upon the monarch's silken stool;
His pleading voice arose: "O Lord,
Be merciful to me, a fool!

"No pity, Lord, could change the heart
From red with wrong to white as wool;
The rod must heal the sin: but, Lord,
Be merciful to me, a fool!

"'Tis not by guilt the onward sweep
Of truth and right, O Lord, we stay;
'Tis by our follies that so long
We hold the earth from heaven away.

"These clumsy feet, still in the mire,
Go crushing blossoms without end;
These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust
Among the heart-strings of a friend.

"The ill-timed truth we might have kept—
Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung!
The word we had not sense to say—
Who knows how grandly it had rung!

"Our faults no tenderness should ask,
The chastening stripes must cleanse them all;
But for our blunders—oh, in shame
Before the eyes of heaven we fall.

"Earth bears no balsam for mistakes;
Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool
That did his will; but Thou, O Lord,
Be merciful to me, a fool!"

The room was hushed; in silence rose
The King, and sought his gardens cool,
And walked apart, and murmured low,
"Be merciful to me, a fool!"

(Sometimes blogger makes me mad because it won't let me do tabs!!! ahh!)

Praise the Lord!

The whole story started like this.... A year and a half ago I started writing Travels to Inverness, which is supposed to be a 400 paged novel. (Something like that.) A very good friend gave me a laptop last October, and I was so happy that I had it, because I needed something to write on other than the computer that everyone else needed to use. Lately the laptop has started shutting down on me right in the middle of writing, and the screen clouds over and stuff like that. Also it isn't connected to the internet, which I need because I have a lot of research to do, especially since I recently decided to put a war in my book.

Well, obviously I can't afford the expensive laptop that I need, and I don't really want to use the one I have now for fear of its shutting down and never starting up again, and then my whole book will be lost, as I don't have it anywhere else. Daddy and Mommy decided that until God provides a new Macbook laptop, I should write on a different computer and make do with what I have. Since I didn't have an Ethernet hookup, or a flashdrive, I had to type the whole thing out. I started doing this and I was so happy because I can edit as I go along, and in the first four pages I added several things, changed several things, and really made drastic changes.

Well.....

Later that night, Gabriel was cleaning out the hard drive on the computer, and it broke. Every single bit of information was completely lost, and gone. The computer couldn't restart, or do anything. It was completely broken. Of course I was upset. I was furious. I was too upset to cry. I couldn't remember any of the changes I made, my school papers that I had studied so hard for on John Smith, Christopher Columbus, and others, and four pages worth of notes on the Reformation and the Renaissance were all deleted. Plus a few poems which I hadn't copied yet, and I couldn't remember. I was too frustrated and mad and upset to even think about trying to make every possible change that was necessary, though it was different from the previous ones I made. I was really wondering what God was trying to show me. This whole incident completely ruined my entire day, and I got really tired and stressed out, had to go to bed early, and couldn't sleep.

The next day was better. I made a few changes, and daddy said the computer could be fixed, although Gabriel called the Apple store and they said we would have to get a new part which would cost 300 dollars. That was not an option. I didn't work on my book for a few days. I became happier, especially since a lot of people said that it could be fixed, though it wasn't easy at all. And then....

Today Gabriel decided to work on the computer. And he fixed it! He got all the information back, and the computer works great now, without any new parts or anything! Praise God! I can't tell you people how happy I was. Chloe had gently tried to tell me that I "shouldn't get all worried about it" the day the computer broke. I yelled, "If you were a writer then YOU would be worried!" :P But I see now that there was no cause for saying that, or being worried at all. I see that it was all a lesson in trust and faith in God. And praise God that I have all my information and poetry and papers back!!!!!

Extremely Excited,

~Ruby

Simply A Post

Sometimes the days go by and one simply cannot think of what to say on his or her blog. It can really be the most disappointing and frustrating thing at times, especially when certain parties are begging the person to post about something when quite often the person doesn't know of anything that would be amusing or of interest to his or her audience. And now I find myself in this same position. Well, well, well, I suppose that I must write something, and I hope that whatever it is, my readers will enjoy it. Frankly, I myself would ramble for forever and a day, if I could, about anything, but I must not. And I hope, and am quite sure, that this will be the first and last of this kind of posts, however much enjoyment my readers may find in it.

And now I must be sensible. Speaking of that word, I used to believe that "sensible" and "sensibility" meant the same thing, only, they were used differently, depending on how the sentence was built. But by way of a dictionary, I was proved quite wrong. Sensible means "aware of" or "informed" as in, 'I am sensible of the difficulties;' whereas "sensibility" means the ability to appreciate or respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences. As in the beloved movie when Mrs. Dashwood remarks to Marianne, "I think that might be carrying your romantic sensibilities a little too far." And now I ask my reader... Do I have any idea of what I am speaking of? Because I am quite sure that I do not know. Just an interesting thought... Although I daresay that my reader may not have found it quite so interesting as I did, and they are most likely "bored to death" like Lady Dedlock, who, in the end, did die. (But most certainly not of boredom... Read the book. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens.) Goodnight and God Bless!

One of the Saddest Poems Ever!

I found this peoms in McGuffey's Fourth Reader.... It is so incredibly heart-wrenching. I love this poem, because the tragedy, the grief, and the story are all so original and classic... Very well written, and so... tragic! (Just the type of thing I like!) Oh, and I know it's kind of long, but it is so worth it!

Ginevra- by Rogers

If ever you should come to Modena,
Stop at a palace near the Reggio-gate
Dwelt in of old by one of the Donati.
Its noble gardens, terrace above terrace,
And rich in fountains, statues, cypresses,
Will long detain you—but, before you go,
Enter the house—forget it not, I pray you—
And look awhile upon a picture there.

'Tis of a lady in her earliest youth,
The last of that illustrious family;
Done by Zampieri—but whom I care not.
He, who observes it—ere he passes on,
Gazes his fill, and comes and comes again,
That he may call it up when far away.

She sits, inclining forward as to speak,
Her lips half open, and her finger up,
As though she said, "Beware!" Her vest of gold
Broidered with flowers and clasped from head to foot
An emerald stone in every golden clasp;
And on her brow, fairer than alabaster,
A coronet of pearls.

But then her face,
So lovely, yet so arch, so full of mirth,
The overflowings of an innocent heart—
It haunts me still, though many a year has fled,
Like some wild melody!

Alone it hangs
Over a mouldering heirloom; its companion,
An oaken chest, half-eaten by the worm,
But richly carved by Antony of Trent
With scripture-stories from the life of Christ;
A chest that came from Venice, and had held
The ducal robes of some old ancestors—
That by the way—it may be true or false—
But don't forget the picture; and you will not,
When you have heard the tale they told me there.

She was an only child—her name Ginevra,
The joy, the pride of an indulgent father;
And in her fifteenth year became a bride,
Marrying an only son, Francesco Doria,
Her palymate from her birth, and her first love.

Just as she looks there, in her bridal dress,
She was, all gentleness, all gayety,
Her pranks the favorite theme of every tongue.
But now the day was come, the day, the hour;
Now, frowning, smiling for the hundredth time,
The nurse, that ancient lady, preached deco'rum
And, in the luster of her youth, she gave
Her hand, with her heart in it, to Francesco.

Great was the joyl but at the nuptial feast,
When all sat down, the bride herself was wanting.
Nor was she to be found! Her father cried,
"'Tis but to make a trial of our love!"
And filled his glass to all; but his hand shook,
And soon from guest to guest the panic spread.

'Twas but that instant that she had left Francesco,
Laughing and looking back and flying still,
Her ivory tooth imprinted on his finger.
But now, alas! she was not to be found;
Nor from that hour could anything be guessed,
But taht she was not!

Weary of his life,
Francesco flew to Venice, and embarking,
Flung it away in a battle with the Turk.
Donati lived—and long might you have seen
An old man wandering as in quest of something,
Something he could not find—he knew not what.
When he was gone, the house remained awhile
Silent and tenantless—then went to strangers.

Full fifty years were past, and all forgotten,
When on an idle day, a day of search
Mid the old lumber in the gallery,
That mouldering chest was noticed; and 'twas said
By one as young, and thoughtless as Ginevra,
"Why not remove it form its lurking-place?"
'Twas done as soon as said; but on the way
It burst, it fell; and lo! a skeleton
With here and there a pearl, and emerald-stone,
A golden clasp, clasping clasping a shred of gold.
All else had perished—save a wedding ring,
And a small seal, her mother's legacy,
Engraven with a name, the name of both—"Ginevra."

—There then had she found a grave!
Within that chest had she concealed herself,
Fluttering with joy, the happiest of the happy;
When a spring lock, that lay in ambush there,
Fastened her down forever!

The End.

Poetry!

As many of you already know, poetry is one of my passions. To begin this blog, I will start with this poem that I wrote back in October of 2007.

Wind and Rum

From East to West, from North to South,
There blows a wind that bites the mouth
It gnaws the lip and chews the gum
And the only remedy is rum.
It blows across the hard, rock floors
Of Scotland and her wide bleak moors
I felt the sting of this wind on my face
As I herded my sheep 'cross that wide bleak space
And the only comfort for me red, raw gums
Was a beaker of that strong, hot rum.
It warms the spirit, it melts the snow!
It heats the blood from head to toe!
In the glow of the kitchen I heard that sound
Of the furious wind whipping 'round and 'round.
But I laughed at the wind and drank my brew
Enough to fill a whole ships' crew.
I awoke at dawn the next dark morn
And remembered nothing of the day before
But the only clue 'tis not a fable
Is the empty beaker on the table.
And still I hear that endless sound
Of the furious wind whipping 'round and 'round.

The End.