tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34931866911776398302024-02-20T17:53:28.404-08:00.Karolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493186691177639830.post-71883298303102555142017-02-22T16:43:00.000-08:002017-02-22T16:44:03.927-08:00Speak Life Social Good CampaignI've been busy with school/design, and thought I would share the link to a project I just finished, a social good campaign called Speak Life. Enjoy!<br />
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https://spark.adobe.com/video/pze3eqsKk2lRAKarolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493186691177639830.post-65066024095290885702016-11-28T07:07:00.003-08:002016-11-28T07:09:44.637-08:00My God Is Not Safe<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Earlier this month, I finished a book that, in a large sense, redefined how I think about God. I'm in the process of writing a book review, but it might be a few more weeks before I finish. In the meantime, go read <i>Your God Is Too Safe </i>by Mark Buchanan! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also, I wrote a poem (in the loosest sense of the word), which I have here transcribed from my journal. It's a bit of a synopsis of my thoughts upon finishing the book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * *</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My God <i>is</i> <i>not</i> <i>safe</i>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He is the God of the wind and waves,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of tornadoes and hurricanes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He is the God who calls people out</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from their lands and comfort zones.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He leads us beside raging waters</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and gives us free will </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">where we should not have it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He calls us to preach to everyone,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">despite persecution, death, suffering, hate.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He might take away that which we hold</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">precious, or that which we want.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">BUT GOD.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">God is just, merciful, always present.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He will never forsake us through the hurricane</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or away from our comfort or beside the raging waters.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He is our ever-present help.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our weakness is His strength. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He has gone before us, boldly, like a lion,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">preaching and being persecuted and killed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He will take away, but He gives more generously</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">than we can comprehend.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">My God is not safe, but my God is good.</span> </span><br />
<br />Karolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493186691177639830.post-87837484941552499182016-09-19T13:41:00.000-07:002016-09-19T13:42:04.306-07:00Goal: Posting More!<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In an effort to post more often, I am starting to realize that perfection should not be my goal! Thus, I'm going to attempt to post more, less-perfectly... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To start, I was recently thinking about prayer. I've actually been thinking about prayer a lot lately, but in particular, I had a question: why do we close our eyes when we pray?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we close our eyes, we are filled with darkness. Prayer, however, is a time of communication with God, who is Light. Of course, there are good reasons to close our eyes during prayer, such as limiting distractions. I do, however, think this is a question worth pondering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it" (John 1:5).</span>Karolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493186691177639830.post-21037541143717263442016-07-23T23:27:00.000-07:002016-07-23T23:27:43.859-07:00Thousands of Miracles<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Sometimes God works miracles in non-miraculous ways. I think sometimes I expect him to have thunder and lightning to give answers, so that I just can’t miss them. Sometimes he does. Then again, sometimes, he doesn’t. Or maybe they’re faint signs, riddled with our own concerns and doubts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Last month, as my family and I were driving to Vancouver, BC, on the way to a cruise, my grandma had a nose bleed. Normally, nose bleeds aren’t serious, but this one didn’t stop for hours. We were on a pretty tight schedule: not the best time to have an issue! We thought the nosebleed would clear up, but after about an hour of thinking that, it was still going. We were driving through a town by then, so we stopped in at a medical clinic. We were all quite concerned by then, and also concerned about how long a stop would take, especially if we had to go to an emergency room. After about an hour at the clinic, the doctor was able to stop the bleeding and we were able to continue on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">There was so much stress during this whole time. Gram was crying, and I was worried, and we all wondered if we were going to have to miss the ship. I don’t know if anyone else in my family was praying, but I was — hard. And in times like those, you pray for miracles. You pray for answers. You pray that darnit, God, why don’t you answer? I know you’re listening, but why aren’t you answering?</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">But I think he does answer us all the time. I think he gives us miracles all the time. I think even when we think he’s given us a hardship, maybe he’s given us a blessing, too. Gram could have had a heart attack, not a nosebleed. The medical clinic could have sent us to the hospital due to the seriousness of the injury, but they were able to quickly treat it and send us on our way. The cruise ship people could have been grumpy when we arrived late, or not even let us on the ship, but they were unbelievably nice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Times like these make you realize that life is full of answers, of inexplicable experiences: of miracles, even when we don’t notice or care. How many things could have gone wrong, and how only a few did. And now, I’m able to ponder the day, sitting on the ship, looking out at Vancouver, and thanking God for the bazillions of little miracles he did for us today. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Maybe I’m overthinking this; maybe I’m putting “miracles into God’s hands,” as it were. But I think not really. When I’m talking about the God who has the power to stop time, to freeze it for one and speed it for another, to control time and generation, to create down to the minutest detail — I think I can’t put it past him to be so intimately involved in his creation — to love us so much — that he could create thousands of miracles for us in a week and hundreds in a day.</span></div>
Karolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493186691177639830.post-14140845562870849672016-01-04T11:25:00.000-08:002016-01-04T11:25:10.830-08:00Patience and Perseverance, Part I<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
Think of a time when you successfully learned something difficult. We can probably all relate to learning to ride a bike. If you were like me, you couldn’t wait to get those training wheels off, even though you knew it would be harder and scarier to ride without them. The first couple times you pedaled off, you probably fell. If you fell hard enough to hurt yourself, you cried, and maybe said you didn’t want to try anymore. As you kept at it, you learned balance, and by the end of the day you were pedaling happily around the driveway, proudly showing off your new skill. Just think if you had given up at the first, second, or third sign of struggle: you might never have learned how to ride a bike! However, because you patiently persevered through the learning process, you were eventually rewarded with a new skill. As we get older and the skills and activities we want to learn are usually harder than riding a bike, we often doubt that we’ll ever learn, and we tend to give up too easily. A large part of our success in anything we do is the patience to try over and again, and the perseverance to keep being patient. </div>
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These two qualities are so important, yet rather rare. For example, the person who taught me to knit showed me the basics, and I didn’t see her again for months because of where we lived in relation to each other. So, I took what I had been taught and kept moving forward, and when I had a problem, I read books and experimented to figure it out. Even after I learned a lot more, and had to start getting help from a local knit shop, I would always try to exhaust my knowledge to fix my problem instead of running straight to get help. I may have been totally confused at the pattern, but I would read it over and over until I either saw something new, or had no idea how to continue. Perseverance is going on long after you aren’t sure if you can or should. </div>
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However, you can’t persevere through a problem for very long unless you are patient enough to keep a clear head through it all. Continuing the previous example, when I come to a problem in knitting, I have to be patient enough to go over the problem for a third or fourth or fifteenth time, even when I think I’ve already exhausted my resources. Patience is perseverance personified.</div>
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Five years ago, I went to the animal shelter at the encouragement of my friend, who said she had found me a new dog. When I brought my new dog home, I realized that she was terrified of men (which was problematic, since I have a dad and a brother). Over the next two or three years, I read training books, websites, forums, called dog experts, and tried any advice that sounded remotely sensible. For me, my dog was the personification of patience and perseverance. We almost got rid of her too many times to count, because it was hard to train and train, and still have marginal results. My dad and brother got tired of having a dog that only my mom and I could interact with. After three years of sweat and prayers and small steps forward, she has become the sweet family dog we originally wanted. Patience and perseverance from both me and my family made it all possible.</div>
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More recently, I learned some patience in the Frankfurt airport. Being eighteen, international travel isn’t always the most peaceful experience. After I disembarked the plane, I went with the flow of people, down the stairs, out the door, and onto the bus. The bus took us to the main terminal, and everyone headed straight for the big electronic flight board. Most of the people from my flight found their connecting flight and headed off; I looked for about ten minutes and still didn’t see my flight. I waffled between staring at the stupid board for a while longer, or continuing on to find someone to help me. I took a deep breath, and decided to keep looking. I decided (why didn’t I think of this sooner?!) to figure out how the board is organized. It took me just moments to see the organization, and my flight. If I had just walked away, I wouldn’t have seen my flight. However, I patiently persevered through the problem, trusting that God and I would find a solution.</div>
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Not an hour later, I emerged from the maze of stairs, trams, and security checkpoints into the A gates. I didn’t have a boarding pass, I was sweating from carrying my backpack, I was hungry and thirsty, and I had no clue what my gate number was. Finding another board, I saw my flight listed, but without a gate number. I prayed quickly, in order to quell my rising panic, and looked for somewhere to sit. Behind the board was an empty gate, so I plopped there and checked email. After looking for a map of the airport, I tried to relax, knowing (hoping) that I will find a way. I prayed again, specifically asking God that He’ll show me where to get a boarding pass, and then I head for the bathroom. Lo and behold, on the way to the bathroom, I saw an automatic boarding pass station that I had walked by at least twice previously. If I hadn’t taken the time to resist my panic and clear my head and pray, I would have been nervously wandering around in the A gates for a long time.</div>
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When I was thinking about patience and perseverance, only these three stories came immediately to mind. I have surely had many, many opportunities to show patience and perseverance, but have most certainly failed on many occasions. In fact, the times when I persevere the least are probably in the things I love most, like reading, crafting, and writing.* The good part is that we always have more opportunities to practice! Take a moment and think about your own experiences with patience and perseverance. How much more would you be learning if you had patience and perseverance?</div>
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* More on that in Part 2!</div>
Karolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493186691177639830.post-81727326672087372392015-11-26T20:39:00.000-08:002015-11-27T12:40:47.123-08:00Thanksgiving<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s Thanksgiving! My mom and I just flew back today from visiting family, so we’re celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow. It’s strange, because we typically have a big gathering in our house on Thanksgiving, and I miss all the cheer and laughter. At the same time, I’m also feeling very thankful to just be safely home, snuggled in front of the fireplace with my dog.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last year, I made a “thanksgiving” jar – our guests wrote things for which they were thankful on little pieces of paper and placed them in the jar. It was great fun, because when the food was consumed and everyone had settled into the living room, we began passing the jar around and reading the slips of paper. Everything from “Star Wars” to “my brother” to “tea” made it into the jar, and some of them were quite amusing — it really was a great way to finish up the Thanksgiving evening. Since we aren’t hosting a party this year, I’m going to make a virtual “thanksgiving jar” here, and list some of the myriad things that I’m thankful for. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and it’s in no order whatsoever! Enjoy — and Happy Thanksgiving!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My dog, Violet</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My brother</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Books</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Hobbit</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Rabbit Room</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Creativity</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tea</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fancy teacups and teapots</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jewelry</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blue</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Transformers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Star Wars</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mountains</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Horses</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Food (I’m a hobbit at heart…)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pretty dresses</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Christmas lights</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flowers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Firewood</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Soft puppy fur</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Liberty University</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Laughter</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Agents of SHIELD</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Home</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Owls</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Beautiful stationery</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Friends</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Homemade bread (well, homemade <i>anything</i> really…)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Scrapbook paper</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Truffle cookies (like the chocolate, not the mushroom)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Visiting relatives</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My Macbook Air</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Millet (who doesn’t love a muffin with that little crunch of millet?)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Harry Potter</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">J.R.R. Tolkien</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">TobyMac</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Francesca Battistelli</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hiking</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pomegranates</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Christmas (and the reason for it!)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cleverness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Humor</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tatting</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Airplanes</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">…</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! I keep thinking of things as I’m trying to finish this — so many things to be thankful for!</span></span></div>
Karolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493186691177639830.post-87580002984477358792015-09-13T17:35:00.001-07:002015-09-13T17:35:52.649-07:00The Book Our Mothers Read<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
This poem has been on my mind the last few weeks. I read it in a literature class several years back, and thought it was beautiful.</div>
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<b>The Book Our Mothers Read </b>| John Greenleaf Whittier</div>
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We search the world for truth; we cull</div>
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The good, the pure, the beautiful,</div>
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From graven stone and written scroll.</div>
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And all old flower-fields of the soul;</div>
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And, weary seekers of the best,</div>
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We come back laden from the quest,</div>
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To find that all the sages said</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Is in the Book our mothers read.</span></div>
Karolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493186691177639830.post-37423566480901131292015-09-06T21:38:00.003-07:002015-09-08T12:51:34.263-07:00The Beginning<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love to write. When I was a little girl, one of the first stories I wrote was called “The Caribou and the Blueberry.” It was an adventure in which I got kidnapped and my brother and dad came and saved me. I don’t remember now how the caribou and blueberry fit in… I’ll have to find that box of stories and let you know. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I digress. I love to write, and, until a few years ago, I had no idea that my writing could be purposeful. That idea came about upon discovering the <a href="http://rabbitroom.com/" target="_blank">Rabbit Room</a>. There, I found a philosophy that I had never heard: since God created us, we can create stuff that reflects Him or His light. A few years later, in a class on J.R.R. Tolkien’s <i>The Silmarillion </i>and <i>The Hobbit,</i> I realized that Tolkien was practically the inventor of this idea. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I fell in love with the Rabbit Room, Tolkien, and the idea that they had taught me. But I stayed in the shadows. I read the posts on the Rabbit Room, laughed and cried over them, but never commented, never thought that I could be good enough to write something that good. Then I started looking at personal blogs of people in the comments, and I just shook my head and wondered how they were so good at writing and articulating their thoughts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I had an idea — a crazy, crazy idea: I should create a website, where I could blog and have an outlet for my writing. I’m not sure what I’ll write about on here, so you are on an adventure with me — there may be a blueberry or caribou along the way! However, I do know that I want to stick to the idea that Tolkien and the Rabbit Room taught me — I am a subcreator and whatever I create can and should reflect (or as Tolkien says, refract) the light of God. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome to The Blue Amaranth! </span>Karolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111955457516454269noreply@blogger.com4