My Month in Proverbs, Part 6

Today is my sixth and final post from my month in Proverbs. You can access Parts 1-5 here.

Proverbs 26:20 “Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.”

Think of fire, so powerful and potentially destructive. Yet, without fuel, it is impotent. This verse makes a parallel between fire and a quarrel. And what feeds a quarrel? Gossip. Our tongues have so much power. And when we don’t control them, it’s amazing what they unleash. Disagreements fly out of proportion when other people’s words get involved. Our tongues need a supernatural taming.

Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

“What is man that you should think of him?” Humans are nothing. Really, what do we have that’s so special? We’re destructive and selfish on our own. It’s God Who makes us worth anything. He chose to create us, and He chooses to care for us. We can rest in that promise. What does tomorrow matter when I’m resting in the arms of God? He’s got everything taken care of. No, I don’t know what the future holds. But I know it’s in His perfect timing and plan. And I can rest in that.

Proverbs 28:19 “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.”

So often I find myself doing exactly this: chasing fantasies. I get so caught up in what I think I want and what might come to be that I lose sight of the here and now. I’m coming to realize that God put me where I am for a reason. Very often, His will is that we keep taking the steps before us. Focus on the task at hand; look for the opportunities God has placed right before you. Don’t get so caught up in pursuing possibilities that you miss now.

Proverbs 29:20 “Do you see someone who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for them.”

After reading most of Proverbs, I realize how poorly fools are spoken of. To be called a fool is one of the worst things that can be said of you. Yet here we see that speaking in haste is actually worse. I think out loud all the time, using my words to process my thoughts. And that’s not always bad. It can be quite useful, but I have to be aware of my surroundings. Who am I talking to? What am I talking about? Awareness and discretion are both so important for a Christian. We can’t lose control over our mouths; after all, they are probably the most important part of our bodies.

Proverbs 30:6 “Do not add to His words, or He will rebuke you and call you a liar.”

Following the Lord is actually quite simple: do what He says with an open heart. So why then do we add new things constantly? To be a good Christian, you must give this much to the poor. If you really want to follow Jesus, you must be in church three times a week. We’ve become modern-day Pharisees, so concerned with adding all these rules that we lose sight of God’s heart. We unnecessarily overcomplicate the Gospel, and that displeases God. We’ve got to stop adding things to that which the Bible clearly spells out. And those things which are personal decisions? We need to leave those between the individual and God.

Proverbs 31:10-31

Most of you probably are quite familiar with this passage, but, if you’d like to read it yourself, click the reference.

One of the most interesting things to me about the so-called Proverbs 31 Woman, the “wife of noble character,” is how capable and prepared she is. She clothes her family and prepares food and purchases fields. Those are not skills one picks up at the drop of a hat. Marriage does not automatically a good wife make. Instead, the wife you will be is a product of the choices you make as a single woman. The same goes for young men. Lord, help me to be productive and forward-thinking. Teach me to be open and teachable, so that you can make me into the woman you want me to be.

So, what do ya’ll think of these verses? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Writing Through My Years: A Walk Down Memory Lane

My writing has lately been, at best, sparse. I’ve had to set it aside in favor of slightly more important things. But I miss it. And a break is far different than giving up. Anyway, I’ve been thinking recently about the writing that I have done. The more I thought about it, the more I decided to share it with you. Thus, I present a walk down memory lane.

• Pre-2009 – First Writing Projects: I’ve always liked writing; when I was young, it was my best subject in school. I remember going way too in-depth on a school project where I was supposed to write a story with my vocabulary words. What could have been one or two pages densely incorporating my vocab turned into a full-on short story where I was lucky if one of my words appeared per page. Though I took more time on that than I was supposed to, I really enjoyed it. Eventually, I moved on to non-school projects. Some of the timeline gets a little mixed up in my head, but I believe the first book I attempted was my detective story. I can only wince now when I think about it or read anything from it. Emma Starr, Girl Detective. Gag. This story was a full-on Nancy Drew copycat, right down to the convertible my heroine drove and her two girl best friends. I only got a couple chapters into that one, but I was quite enthused, even designing some kind of cover art. I also wrote several short stories for school; I called them my Sylvia Stamherst stories, in which the narrator, Sylvia, would introduce whatever topic I was covering, whether that be Cowboys and Indians or a Twenty-First Century Family.
• 2009 – First Major Project: The project that stands out the most in my mind from my early attempts at writing is my Civil War book. When I began Caught in the Middle of a Conflict, I also apparently had a thing for alliteration. This was the first project where I actually did some backstory work, creating character profiles. The story suffered from too many unimportant characters, an extreme dose of historical inaccuracy, and entirely too much exposition. I literally spent hours researching colors and furniture so that I could give painfully detailed descriptions of three different bedrooms. Though I got quite far into this one, most of what I wrote was set-up, and I didn’t finish it. This is the first project that I actually do want to go back to sometime and redo.
• 2011 – First Completed Draft: During high school, I did the One Year Adventure Novel Program (OYAN). Over the course of that school year, I was guided step-by-step in creating my novel’s characters, themes, and plot; then I wrote the entire story. I got as far as the second draft, which was a huge accomplishment for me. A Title Taken told the story of a young French girl taken from her home by an evil count who eventually ends up fighting for justice. The cliches make my head hurt – I mean, just read that description! In addition, I had a love triangle (of course) and a heroine who managed to beat full knights in battle with swords. Oi… Part of OYAN is the novel contest for its students, so I was able to send my novel off to that, as well. I didn’t get anywhere close to winning, but I believe I placed as a semi-finalist, which was great.
• 2012 – First Blog Post: In September of 2012, I began The Ink Loft. You can find the first post here. It’s funny to look back at those posts and see 1) what I began with, 2) how far I’ve come, and 3) how horridly tiny that print was. Though I’ve gone through some rough patches here and there, this blog has been a huge blessing to me, and each of you readers mean more than you probably know!
• 2013 – First Contest Entry (non-OYAN): My first non-OYAN contest entry was the Gemini Flash Fiction contest, in which I submitted two stories, “Sensations of Music” and “Well Worth the Wait.” I’ve posted the former on my blog, and you can find it here. Neither of them placed, and, frankly, I was disappointed with the stories that did. This contest confronted me with the fact that secular fiction is depressing and definitely not my sphere.

  Courtesy of Pixabay

• 2013 – First Blog Story: Ah, the “Pinata Birthday Party.” This was an… interesting… project, part of a writing challenge that I set for myself. Which, honestly, didn’t last long. It was a good experience, though.
• 2014 – Second Completed Draft: Raiders’ Rise is my biggest project to date. It is also one of my favorites. Topping out at 30 chapters and 132,264 words, this project, which I’ve so far only finished the first draft on, took me about two years to complete. the idea first came to me in 2012, and I worked on it from then on, gradually picking up speed for the project. The editing is an ongoing top-of-the-to-do-list item for me. Though it needs a lot of work, I’m still really happy with what I was able to accomplish on it, and I’m excited to rework it and make it better.
• 2014 – First Flash Fiction Challenge: In April-May of 2014, I hosted my very first Flash Fiction Challenge, which was an absolute blast. Though I was late, I came up with this story, and I was fairly pleased with it. The challenges have only grown from then, and they seem to be one of the most popular things on this blog.
• 2014 – First Novella: Every year, Rooglewood Press holds a contest for fairytale retellings. In 2014, the theme was Beauty and the Beast. Over the course of about four months, I created a novella involving a young man with cyborg implants, a young woman from eighteenth-century France, and a frantic race to cure his disease. Through Time was an exhausting project for me, but it was a really good project for me, too. It didn’t end up getting accepted, but it was my first completed novella, topping out at just under 20K words (I had to cut so much!). I first used Scrivener for this project. And it was really my first major editing effort. I’m really excited to work on this story more in the future.
• 2015 – First Serial Story: After finishing the draft of Through Time, I took about a week and a half break before edits (I was kind of crunched for time). In that break, I wrote a short story set in space and based on a prompt from a really neat book I have. The result was Truth in Space, a journal-style story that, while technically a 2014 project, wasn’t posted to The Ink Loft until April 2015. You can find all the installments here.

Originally, I was going to include my favorite blog post of all time, but then I couldn’t decide which one was my favorite, so my favorite posts (plural) will appear in a future post. Clearly, I haven’t written a lot since last year. Technically, I have written a few pieces; after all, we just had another Flash Fiction Challenge a couple months ago. But it’s been a rough patch for me. I want to get back into writing this summer – I need to edit Raiders’ Rise and expand Through Time. I’m starting to feel the spark of blogging again.

This post turned out to be a lot more emotional for me than I expected it to be. It started out as just a fun review of what I’ve done, but, as I looked up dates and got distracted going through stories, emails, and blog posts, I found myself getting a bit choked up. As that first blog post (which I linked to) says, this has been a journey. I can feel the weight of each step. And I’m so excited to see where God’s leading next.

Happenings of the Month: April 2016

Oh my goodness, I didn’t post anything in April! I’m horrified! And after I promised ya’ll at least two posts a month, too. I’m sorry. I value each and every one you readers immensely, but I’ve got to hold up my end of the deal here. Besides, I love blogging. I just need to remind myself of that every now and then. I’m actually going to skip the Entertainment of the Month section for this post (sorry!), but here’s my Happenings of April.

My Life This Month:

Well, ya’ll already know that I haven’t blogged anything in a month. Even this post is later than it was supposed to be. It’s indicative of how crazy April was for me.

Finals week was not as bad for me as it was for some, but the end of the semester is always a little nuts. The hardest part of it for me wasn’t my assignments but rather the stress of choosing classes for next fall. It’s frustrating that they expect you to choose classes right as you’re brain-dead from your semester, but I didn’t want to risk my classes being full by the time I got around to it. So, such is life. I survived the process, thankfully. I’ll have a full load next semester, but I’m excited to be taking a history class. I love history, but I haven’t had to the chance to take it until now. So, I’m looking forward to that.

I closed out this semester with good grades, which is a blessing. I was happy to be done with most of my classes, but saying goodbye to ASL was harder than I expected it to be. I’ve had this teacher and most of these classmates for about eight months now, and suddenly it was over. I did really well on my final presentation, thankfully, but leaving class was unexpectedly difficult for me. This wasn’t one of those classes where you go all semester without meeting each other; this was a really interactive class. I was sad to leave. I still am, honestly. I’m feeling kind of melancholy. Time will cure it, but enough time hasn’t passed yet. Goodbyes are hard.

I am taking more ASL next fall, but most of my classmates aren’t taking up that class. So, it will be different, for sure. As for this summer, I’ll keep going to deaf socials and try to get some actual order into my life. Cleaning my room is first on the list (it is a disaster), followed by my writing. For now, I’m living with the end-of-the-semester blues and waiting for my summer job to start. Such is life.

Other Web Happenings:

5 Trends Christian Millennials Must Stop Doing | John Wesley Reid

5 Pieces of "Out-Dated" Dating Advice | Marshall Seger – What we can learn about dating from the story of Isaac and Rebekah

"Nearer, My God, to Thee" | BYU Vocal Point ft. BYU Men's Chorus

So, tell me how ya’ll are doing. How was April for each of you?

Happenings of the Month: March 2016

Entertainment of the Month:

• Movies/TV

I have a great love for old movies, especially ones with Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra. High Society happens to have both actor/singers, as well as the lovely Grace Kelly, and it is fabulous. In this musical, C.K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby) is a jazz musician who was once married to the beautiful socialite Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly). But they’re divorced, and now she’s all set to marry a different, “safe” man. Dexter is determined to convince his “Sam” that she’s happier with him. Into that whole mess comes the reporter duo of Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra) and Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm). Things are about to get even more complicated. This film also contains the humor and talents of Louis Armstrong and his band. It has a couple of really fun song and dance routines, and it’s nice and clean.

• Books

To be perfectly honest, I’ve read almost nothing this month. Which is just about the most depressing thing I’ve ever said… I finished 1984 by George Orwell, which I was reading for my Political Science class. Trust me, that book is immensely depressing, and it took me an immensely long time to read. Strange for such a small book. At any rate, I got an excellent grade on the paper I wrote for it. So that was rewarding.

I also finished the last book of the Fate of the Jedi series, Apocalypse, the other night. After getting deeper into weirder and darker things, I was hoping for an exceptionally satisfying conclusion. I didn’t get it. Apocalypse is one long battle, which is exhausting on its own merit. But, though it did technically end in victory, the series left too many loose ends for my liking. It’s a happy ending, but it doesn’t feel particularly happy. Honestly, it makes me regret the three months of valuable and rather scarce reading time I sunk into this series. So, I’m quite annoyed on that account.

I’m actually in the middle of a couple different books, including the autobiography of the great evangelist Billy Graham, Just As I Am. This book is crazy thick, but I’m enjoying it. He’s hilarious and I love reading about how God worked in his ministry.

• Music

"No" (Meghan Trainor) - Anthem Lights – I’m not really into most of Meghan Trainor’s stuff, but this song is actually pretty good. I haven’t heard the original, but I love everything Anthem Lights does, and this is no exception. The video may appeal mostly to people who know the band, but it’s hilarious. And this song is super catchy!

"The River" - Jordan Feliz – This is easily my favorite song on Christian radio right now, talking about the peace of Living Water and prayer.

My Life This Month:

This month has been…weird, honestly. My play ended, which was both good and sad. The whole cast was exhausted and I was struggling to keep up on my schoolwork. Any longer than four weekends would been too much. Yet it was sad to have it be over. This was my first non-church play, and I had an absolute blast. Most of my humor is still linked to the play, two-and-a-half weeks later, which is rather unfortunate when I’m not with castmates… I’m so glad that that was my first community theater experience. It’s good to move on, though. I have plenty to keep me occupied without it.

It’s rather surreal to realize that I only have a little over a month left of school. I mean, goodness, what happened to the semester? Soon I’ll be nannying again, which is a great job, don’t get me wrong. I know I’ll probably miss school, though. But it will be a good break. Trying to plan next fall is a little overwhelming.

I’m trying to learn how to live in the moment. Admittedly, this isn’t an easy concept for me; I tend to overthink everything. But, you know, that’s exhausting; I’m tired of trapping myself in a constant state of worry. It’s counterproductive for me, certainly, but it also hampers my relationships with others. I don’t want to do that. Still, it’s a process.

I went to a Zumba class for the first time last night. A friend wanted me to come with her, so I did, and I had a lot of fun. I’m sore today, and there were parts that were certainly difficult. I’m glad that I went, though. A good step forward in the whole “living in the moment” plan.

Other Web Happenings:

5 Things to Do While You're Still Single | This Incandescent Life

Live Kindly | Kindred Grace – This post has really gotten me thinking about Fair Trade and the things we buy a Christians. I’m still trying to decide what to do with it, though.

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How have all of your lives been this month? Busy? Happy? I haven’t gotten to interact with you much. Let me know what you’re up to in the comments. Read any good books, watched interesting movies, or discovered new music?

My Month in Proverbs, Part 5

I messed up so badly. I promised you all an edited version of my flash fiction last Friday, and I didn’t deliver. I am very sorry. Life has been a little crazy, so it’s going to have to wait a little longer, unfortunately.

Today, however, I do have a Proverbs post for you. You can catch up with Parts 1-4 by clicking here.

Proverbs 21:13 “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”

God, I don’t know how you want me to touch the poor. I want to be wise, and I know that not all methods of “giving” actually help some people. But I don’t want to live with a closed-off heart, either. Give me an open, gentle heart, Lord, and direct me where that will serve your kingdom.

Proverbs 22:10 “Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.”

Though this passage speaks of a specific person, I was struck by the application to my own heart. “Drive out the mocker.” There is no place for a harsh, critical, mocking spirit in our lives. Satan is the source of all those things. We should have a gentle, uplifting spirit. That comes from God. The more we run after Him, the less room there is in our hearts for Satan and his lies. We need God to drive out the mocker in our own hearts and replace it with Himself.

Proverbs 23:4-5 “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wrings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”

Our culture values wealth so highly. And even those who hate the rich are still trying to get more and more. We want all the wrong things, and we sacrifice the right things in our “pursuit of happiness.” We’ve gone so mad that we push thankfulness out of the way in our crazy rush to get more stuff. During November, Verizon literally had a commercial that called the holiday “Thanksgetting.” It made me sick. People strive so hard for these things. Yet, in the end, it will all crumble into dust. I want to pursue the things that last: forming relationships, giving blessings, and sharing God’s love. After all, those are the real riches.

Proverbs 24:10 “If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!”

Strength is not strength when left untested. How do you know someone is physically strong unless they are tested under pressure? The same goes for inner strength. It’s easy to have the loudest faith in the room when everything’s going your way. But when things fall down around us, it’s the quiet ones who stay. It’s the ones whose strength comes from Someone else. True strength is revealed under fire, but it’s not our strength. Our strength can’t hold up under pressure. We crack. True strength comes from God and flows through our weakness.

Proverbs 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”

We rarely know things instantaneously. We have questions. Lots of them. Yet I wonder if God sometimes hides the answers on purpose. Jesus said to ask, seek, and knock. And here Solomon says to “search out a matter.” There are things we will never understand. It’s the very nature of God: He’s so much bigger than we can comprehend. But He doesn’t want us to sit around, passively accepting the first explanation we hear. He wants us to be truth-seekers. He wants us to active. After all, He has made us royalty.

So, what did you you think of these verses? Let me know in the comments!

Happenings of the Month: February 2016

So I intended to have this up on Monday, but life kind of intervened. Anyway, here’s February for you.

Entertainment of the Month:

• Movies/TV

Based on an amazing true story, The Finest Hours tells the story of a horrific storm, a broken tanker ship, and a daring Coast Guard crew. Set in 1950’s New England, this movie follows Coast Guardman Bernie Webber (Chris Pine), his girlfriend Miriam (Holliday Granger), and the crew of the S.S. Pendleton, guided by Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck). When one of the worst storms in history hits the coast of New England, a huge tanker splits in half, dooming the crew to their deaths. But the Coast Guard “[has to] go out,” and Bernie Webber is in charge of the rescue attempt. This was one of the most intense theater experiences I have ever had, but it was also an amazing story of bravery and perseverance. I highly recommend it.

• Books

Karen Kingsbury is known for deeply faith- based, contemporary fiction. Though I have my criticisms sometimes, I do tend to devour her books  when I have them. Her Angels Walking Series is exceptional, based on the concept of angels walking among us. Kingsbury takes the concept a little further, creating a story based on teams of angels sent to Earth on specific missions. In Chasing Sunsets, famous baseball player Marcus Dillinger is turning his life around, learning to find purpose in Christ. He is helped along by the magnetic, bigger-than-life Mary Catherine. Everything depends on keeping these two safe and bringing them together, but the powers of darkness seem determined to separate them forever.

During the month of February, I continued my journey through the Fate of the Jedi series and finished The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. The former has gotten a little weird, but not too bad. It’s still extremely interesting. As for the latter, it got darker than Cinder was. The next book, Scarlet, in particular, tickles at some really dark edges. Overall, the series kept me up way too late. Lots of adorable moments. A few horrible ones. I can’t help but feel that the many young couples is highly unrealistic, though, and that frustrated me a bit. For those of you who’ve finished The Lunar Chronicles, what did you think?

• Music

"Disney Love Medley" - Voctave ft. Kirstie Maldonado and Jeremy Michael Lewis – This a cappella medley of love songs from Disney features the vocal talents of Pentatonix’ Kirstie Maldonado and her boyfriend, both of whom have heavenly voices. They’re adorable and the song itself is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever heard.

"Homeward Bound" - BYU Vocal Point ft. The All-American Boys Chorus – BYU Vocal Point is an all-male a cappella group with some fabulous flair. Their arrangements are really neat, and this particular song is absolutely gorgeous, highlighted by the angelic voices of a boys’ choir.

Adam Young Scores – I’ve always liked Owl City, but this year Adam Young has started a really neat new project. Every month he’s releasing a new soundtrack inspired by many different things, entirely free. February’s album was inspired by the Apollo 13 space mission, and March’s is based on the RMS Titanic. Young’s soundtracks have a quirky, non-conventional edge, but they still have the emotional basis that all good soundtracks do. March’s is particularly gorgeous. I’m really loving this project, and you should definitely check them out.

My Life This Month:

I had a near breakdown this past week. Emotional breakdown, that is. Not entirely unusual for me, but nonetheless frustrating. Everything just overwhelmed me at once: my play, school, and relationships. One of my scenes went a little wrong on Saturday, and it kind of made everything seem terrible. After a little time and context, I thankfully felt a little better. Funny how often life is like that. Sometimes I get overloaded, and I have to take a step back.

Speaking of the play, I am having a blast. Such a large, young cast has its backstage drama, but I really love acting. And it’s fun to be a part of community theater. I highly recommend getting involved with your local theater in some capacity, either on-stage or off. It’s a blast.

Sometimes growing up feels so difficult. There are so many new waters to navigate. Friendships change and grow, new responsibilities crop up. So many things are unfamiliar, and I don’t always know how to handle them. But then, that’s life, isn’t it? Experiencing new things, learning to trust. I just wish it wasn’t so frustrating sometimes…

Other Web Happenings:

The Firewall Saga | Braden Russell – Blogger over at thestorymonger.com, Braden is an awesome writer. He’s started a web serial project, self-described as post-apocalyptic cyberpunk. I’m really excited to see where this project goes.

How to Read Flirting Signals | Studio C – Studio C is one of my absolute favorite Youtube groups, and this sketch is absolutely hilarious.

How was February for all of you?

My Month in Proverbs, Part 4

Before I get started with today’s post, I need to mention something about the flash fiction challenge that we just finished up. A very important part of that challenge is the feedback given to recipients, but I’ve been hearing that some of you haven’t given the feedback to your partners. I know that I, too, have been guilty; I haven’t gotten to my feedback yet (sorry, Jessi and Katie!). I haven’t forgotten about it, though. Please, if you haven’t gone to both of your partners’ stories and given them solid feedback, do so now. That’s what makes this challenge worthwhile.

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This is the fourth post in my quick thoughts on Proverbs. You can read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 to catch up.

Proverbs 16:21 “The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.”

You can have the best thing to say, but, if you say it poorly, people won’t listen. And even pleasant-sounding words are no good with bad intentions. Giving criticism should never be about the pride of the giver; it should always be for the genuine benefit of the hearer. And take care with your words and tone; they can mean everything.

Proverbs 17:14 “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam, so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.”

Especially as Americans, we can get rather uptight about “our rights.” And while there are certainly times when something needs to be said, there are other times when peace is far more important than our perceived injustice. No one likes a quarrelsome person. Don’t go picking fights.

Proverbs 18:2 “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”

This whole chapter is a warning about the tongue. Fools run their mouths without any understanding, wanting to be the center of attention and to hear themselves speak. The wise, however, listen and understand before saying anything. They say what’s pertinent, and they don’t seek to dominate the conversation. I need much more wisdom in my speech.

Proverbs 19:2 “Desire without knowledge is not good – how much more will hasty feet miss the way!”

All the enthusiasm in the world directed along a stupid course is still stupidity. God has given us energy, zeal, excitement, passion, etc., but we must submit it to his purpose. Misplaced zeal is so easily destructive. However, passion directed along God’s path is immensely powerful.

Proverbs 20:3 “It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.”

It’s easy to look for people’s faults. We all tend to do it naturally. But that doesn’t glorify God, and it drives a wedge into our interactions with others. We need to look at the world through God’s eyes, not rising to every provocation but rather blessing at every opportunity.

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So, what do you think of these verses? Let me know in the comments!