Shadows Slowly Lengthen

The sun longs for its distant bed, 

A cold hard place to rest its head, 

So the shadows slowly lengthen, 

Until the time the sun awakens.

(~)

This summer has so far been very long, full of twists and turns. 

Work has been, well, work, full of constantly changing schedules and long days. 

Transferring to a different college is almost completed.

 My sister is now engaged, and planning a fall wedding this year. 

I still have a trip ahead of me to see my grandmother, and this isn't mentioning the headache I'll get trying to figure out plane tickets for getting to college and mailing my stuff. 

But for tonight, I'll just claim the truth that God is good, and He doesn't put anything in my life that He hasn't prepared me for. 

Until next time. 

God Bless

SDG

Joy

MercyMe - Greater

A great reminder for today.

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

Something Fun

The fae won't go into the sea, 

Where dragons and mermaids be. 

The elves wonder the distant shore, 

Telling of the others' folklore. 

Me, I sit here watching on, 

For this is all too much fun.

Music is a Blessing

Yesterday, a friend of mine introduced me to the group The Digital Age.

This is what I listened to this morning.

Our God is good!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

Gifted

I've been home from college for almost a month now.

God has blessed me, and made my life a roller coaster since coming home.

My home church doesn't feel friendly to me right now, making it hard to concentrate on the real reason that I am going to church.

I'm so busy helping my parents around the house and working on other important stuff, I completely forget to look for work.

Yet God is good.

God is wonderful.

God is my provider.

A good friend of my mom's started to talk to my mom about an opportunity that she was able to join a few months before. 

Karat Bars International.

http://karatbarsintro.com/

My mom joined it, and I joined it about a week ago now.

It is a company that allows you to switch your money from paper money (that easily drops in value, making it harder to pay bills, taxes, etc.) to gold money (that moves with inflation instead of dropping).

This is not investing.

I would never recommend investing in something, as I'm not a professional.

In fact, I do not think I would be able to recommend anything to anyone except for Jesus.

I'm serious.

The only thing that I know 100% will work, no matter what, is Jesus Christ.

You see, history does not repeat, but it does leave patterns that we can see.

And the patterns are clear.

Fiat Currencies all fail eventually.

Our system is showing signs of collapse soon.

This is sounding a lot like fear mongering, but this is not.

This is the truth.

This video explains much better than I ever could (yes, it is for Great Britain, but like I said, it explains better than I ever could): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIt-qP1gdy8

If you have any questions, feel free to comment.

If I do not have the answers, I will go to the people who do.

Thanks so much for at least reading through this if you've reached this by now.

God Bless

SDG

Joy

April Showers

This is becoming sad.

I have at least been able to keep this blog going at "a post a month" basis, and this month I didn't have anything prepared. 

Well, here's just what's been going on up here in northern Wisconsin.

College life has been, well, busy.

For one of my Bible Classes I had to read 300 pages of commentaries on Old Testament books over the entire semester, and they are due this next week.

Being who I am, I put it off until the last minute, so I'm busily trying to read about 200 more pages. 

Speech class has actually began to be easier.

Slightly.

I still sway and talk fast, but I'm not nearly as nervous now as I used to.

I'm happily sitting on a solid B.

To top it all off, my piano lessons have gone a bit haywire.

My piano teacher's wife had her baby, a little boy, on the day of my piano lessons.

I'm happy for them, it just complicates everything more.

But tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Founder's Days here at Northland.

A day of no classes for us students, it will be much more relaxing and happy for me.

It'll end with a concert by Andrew Peterson, which is very happy.

*Side Note: I didn't know about his music until they sent out information about this year's Founders Day.

I looked him up and love his music.

I especially like his Life for the Lost Boy and Counting Stars CDs.*

Moving on.

God is good.

He's given me strength to get through the last few weeks.

He hasn't brought snow down on us in the last week.

The grass is turning green.

The sun was out yesterday.

Today was restful.

God is good.

SDG

Joy

I am Ordinary

I am Ordinary.

Nothing special.

I'm overweight.

Quiet.

Short.

I am Ordinary.

I read books.

I write books.

I geek out over books.

I am Ordinary.

I waste time on the computer.

I wisely use the computer.

I dream away on the computer.

I am Ordinary.

I am quick to judge.

I am quick to ignore.

I am quick to grudge.

I am Ordinary.

But in Jesus Christ,

And by Jesus Christ,

And through Jesus Christ,

I am ExtraOrdinary

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:16-17

God is Good

Time and time again, God surprises us.

As in.

WHAM.

There.

The surprise.

Completely unexpected.

Here's the surprise:

I'm going to OYAN Summer Workshop 2014!

You heard me.

Unless something else is dropped into my lap, that's what I'm going to this June.

I'm right now bouncing and swaying and crying.

What with college payments and scholarship search's/essay writing, I never expected to be able to afford it.

Now.

Oh beautiful Lord above!

Story:

An anonymous donor had given a good friend of mine from England the money to pay for an OYANer to go this year to the summer workshop.

When she asked me if I was going on Facebook and I told her I couldn't for financial reasons, she told me about that and offered to pay for my registration, meals, etc.

Right now I'm waiting on information from my sister so I can finish up registering.

God is so good!

God is so good!

He's so good to me!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

Jesus Son of God - Chris Tomlin & Christy Nockels - Passion 2012 - White...

The Cross is Enough.

There is no way around it.

This week is week three of a new
semester and God won't let me be.

Again and again He's been shouting at
me “I'm enough”.

The Cross is Enough

He's blessed me by suddenly giving me a
grant that I didn't even know I could get that is worth $2,900.

He's blessed me with a week of in depth
Light showing me who I am through His Words and works.

He's blessed me with seeing my family
for the first time in almost three weeks through a video chat.

The Cross is Enough.

I'm worried about whether I can afford
to come back to college next semester.

I'm worried about my family possibly
moving twelve+ hours away.

I'm worried for some of my siblings
because they don't personally know Christ.

The Cross is Enough.

Trials will come and make me stronger.

The years ahead will be
filled to the brim with them.

I have the perfect map and help in God's Word.

The Cross is Enough.

God Bless

SDG

Joy

Some Days. . .

Some days I feel like an idiot.

That's when I have to restrain myself from face-palming every few minutes because of something I forgot, or said, or did. 

Today is one of those days.

I forgot to order the textbook for one of my classes, and I'll need it by next Tuesday.

And the textbook is out of print.

So I'm going to have to have quite the chase looking for it before hand.

On top of that I'm taking a block class this week, with up to 5 (maybe 6?) hours in the classroom PER DAY.

Yup.

I'm going to be so worn out by Saturday. . .

Well, what I'm learning I'm loving, so that's something to look forward too at least!

As an added bonus, it's very important to know as well!

God is Good, ALL the Time!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy 

The Road Goes Every On and On. . .

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

~J. R. R. Tolkien, The Road Goes Ever On and On

My life feels like this song right now.

My first semester in college is done.

I now have seven left to go.

After that, I do not know.

It's times like these when I sit back and stare in amazement at everything before me and behind.

Who am I, Lord?

Who am I that You have shown me the next path to take for now?

Who am I that You have directed me this far?

Who am I, Lord?

Who am I?

All that I know, is that I'm a creation of the Creature, and must follow what He tells me to do.

For now, I'm to follow the path of a student.

In four years, He'll show me the next path.

I'll just have to wait until then.

Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,

And though I oft have passed them by,

A day will come at last when I

Shall take the hidden paths that run

West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

~J. R. R. Tolkien, A Walking Song

God Bless

SDG

Joy

Mirror

There is something about being a writer that makes you stop and think now and then.

~

Everything that you write, everything that goes on paper, mirrors something in you.

~

I don't know about you, but that frightens me.

I don't know how many people actually look at my writing blog, at my posts about my story ideas or my current writing in progress, but what I'm writing isn't necessarily happily 'Ever After' stuff.

So if every story that I've written/come-up-with, what is it telling me about myself?

Each story points to something already in the theme, so in a way I can say that the theme is pointing out something about myself (my current WIP's theme is basically making decisions).

What about each character?

Don't I come through in each character?

Well, yes and no.

Everyone has a little bit of the Myers-Briggs different personalities; the difference is in how much it comes out. 

Even so, I can tell you out and out that I've never had any trauma from being in a war zone, I haven't dealt with parental abuse, and I have not ever been hospitalized. 

Each of those affects my characters differently, and I have to learn about all of that before I can make it realistic.
(In one of my stories, I'll have to look into turning guys down. Yeah, I haven't had to deal with that yet either. . .)

But even so, my characters and I still share the same similarities.

We are flawed.

I'll never be perfect, and neither will they.

In that way at least, they will (or at least should) touch reality.

Maybe that's how I'm coming through in my characters, as seeing this real world (and the people in it) as continually flawed.

The more I learn at college, the more I see/notice things coming through in my writing.

In a way, my stories are walking me through things that I'm having a hard time understanding or taking in. 

Wow.
I'm pretty sure I rambled there, sorry!

Thanks for reading all of that, even though it doesn't make much sense!

God Bless,
SDG
Joy

Be Our Guest!

I have no idea why I'm so horrible at keeping up an every day blog, and yet am getting pretty good with keeping a writing blog.

Tears of a Hawke

Anyways.

I've been learning tons.

Tomorrow I have a few tests, so technicly I'm going over my clause introductory words (that, which, who, how, when, after, etc.) and reviewing my ancient history notes (Rome, Carthage, China, India, all that good stuff!). 

I might try doing a post some time of all that I've learned in my history class alone! 

I might even try doing it with my other classes too. :)

Church has been interesting.

I would say great, except for one reason:

On Communion Sundays I'm usually late to work.

Like today.

Other than that damper, I've been learning lots!

Sunday School is about the names of God (Today's was El Shaddai), and during the Service we're going through the book of Mark (today was chapter 10).

Work has been pretty good.

Tonight I'm actually rather hyper.

I even started to hum/mutter-lyrics-beneath-my-breath Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast.

Now I have a great yearning to watch that movie again!

My writing has been stop and go.

I might try to turn my winter break into a NaNoWriMo type of thing, even though it isn't really a whole month.

For more updates, look at my writing blog!

I really should be studying more. . . 

And reading my Bible. . . 

I have to finish reading the Gospel of Luke before Thursday!

And I also have to read Hebrews and 1 Peter. . .

Yup, I'm returning to reading!

God Bless

SDG

Joy

Blogging Month: Week two-Why Can't I get this done on time?

Yup. I'm late. Yes, I'm still keeping at this. If I don't, I'd be giving up. I don't want to make giving up a habit, as that is something I already tend to do (Blogging problem, perhaps?).

Week overview. . . Well, last week's devotions seminar was easy (kind of) for the last few days. I just did my own devotions because Mr. Patz wasn't here, though we all had to sign in still to get the credit. We're actually fined ($10 if I remember correctly) for every absence that wasn't pre-planned.

I'm actually getting really vague on all the details of last week already. I'll just knock that up to being overly tired. You see, this week is FOCUS week at my college, which means that we have a second chapel session in evening. Plus we still have 7 AM devotions in the morning. Plus two tests that we/I still had to study for. Which, by the way, is finished now, so tonight I'm going to sigh with a relief not quoting Bible verses and trying to remember what all the meanings of words are. . . 

Anyways. Until day after tomorrow. . . 

God Bless!

Joy

Pictures, Pretty Pictures

Seeing as I won't be having much time to be writing posts for this blog, I've decided to start posting pictures, most of them from Pinterest. Have fun!

*Redwall geek/lightbulb moment*

Useful indeed. . .

Very true. 

*guilty*

Amen!

So pretty!

I literally do. :D

Beautiful ring!

I love old fashioned keys. :)

That's it for now!

God Bless!

Joy

Blogging Month: Week One-GREETINGS

Greetings!

I'm not sure how many of you know about this, but a group of people I know has decided to make September a blogging month where they (and I) will hopefully create a habit of writing on our blogs more consistantly. As a college student, I have decided to write on the weekends (possibly even get some posts scheduled).

College

My first full week of college has now gone by. I've so far met every homework assignment deadline, and I'm hoping to get ahead today inbetween work. I love my World History and my Basic Computer Skills course, mainly because the teachers are so fun. I have mixed feelings about English (it's stuff that I already know, but don't know well enough evidently). My Bible classes are interesting and really stretch my mind. All in all, I had a rather fun week, and I'm hoping to get ahead in my homework over the weekend (even if just a little).

Writing

I'm currently brainstorming and beginning to outline another novel. This one is a fantasy novel, that I'm currently calling The Gypsy Gift. I'll be writing more about it on my writing blog later. So far the brainstorming pinterest board is a secret board, but once I've gotten far enough I'll share it. 

Work

So far I've been able to do work study in the college campus cafeteria. I do the scrubbing mostly, though lately I'm suddenly working the check in counter. 

That's the highlights of my week. 

God Bless!

Joy

What a Bad Girl am I. . .

I feel so bad! 

I'd completely planned on posting about going through the fuel cycles. That didn't happen. Then I completely planned on doing August Resolutions. That didn't happen. 

BUT SOMETHING DID HAPPEN THIS MONTH.

I completed my first novel. The first draft of Shadow Wings is done at a little over 27,000 words. I was able to send it in to the One Year Adventure Novel contest as a last huzzah, as this is the last year that I could send it in. 

College is coming. 

In a little over a week, I'll be heading to college. I'm both excited and freaked out. What if I forget something?!?!?! It's times like these that reading my Bible becomes the most important thing to do each day. God is in charge. He shows it through general revelation everyday, and special revelation when we turn to the Bible. 

In Saying Farewell. . .

I hope to post a quicky partial August Resolution tomorrow. . . Let's see how good I'll be. 

Fuel Cycle: Day 2

More on Deep S days 

Nothing that has the slightest hints of carbs. So no yogurt (even 0% Greek), no cottage cheese, none of that. Everything is to be of the purest fats that you can find. So what does that mean for me and my family's low budget? Lots of eggs.

Breakfast

Fried eggs seasoned with Nutritional Yeast and salt and pepper, small cup of coffee with a bit of cream and stevia

Lunch 

Salmon on lettuce with fried bacon

Snack 

Okay, I was bad. I got into some ready whip my mom had gotten this morning for our fuel pull days. . . It was an hour until supper and I didn't (still don't until someone proves me wrong) think it was that wrong of a thing to do. It's just about a fuel pull!

Supper 

Kai Si Ming from the THM book with much smaller amounts of onions. My first try at something like that, and it was good! At least I thought it was, others might have other opinions.

I really need to work on drinking more, I've only drank two cups of water other than the coffee with breakfast. I can't wait until tomorrow!
God Bless
Joy

The Start of My First Fuel Cycle

What is a Fuel Cycle? 

A Quick Rundown 

If you have not heard of (or most likely read) the book Trim Healthy Mama, a Fuel Cycle is a week long of eating that forces your metabolism to start using your body's fuel (aka fat). It goes very much like this: Three Deep S (eat as pure of fats as possible with non-starchy veggies and no Carbs) days, two Fuel Pull (foods with very little to no fats or carbs with non-starchy veggies), and two E (Next to no fats, low carb) days, you repeat this a second or even a third time depending on how stubborn your body is. Today was day one of my Fuel Cycle. The deep S days forces your body to use up the sugars that are already in it (all of the glucose) and to start turning towards your fat for burning while giving it the best fats you can possibly afford. The Fuel Pull days are to start burning your own fat. No carbs, basically no fat (what fat you are allowed is burned up quickly by your body). Finally the E days where your body gets to refuel on glucose/carbs.

Day 1

My first day, a deep S, is now coming to an end. As my family's budget is rather low, we have had to come back to some pretty basic foods until tomorrow, when we get to go food shopping. So far I'm tired, but then again I haven't been keeping to a good bedtime lately. . . (usually sometime between ten and eleven, but I always take about fifteen to thirty minutes to fall asleep only to get up around six in the morning. . .)

Breakfast: Fried eggs, half a cup of coffee with a small amount of cream sweetened with Stevia

Lunch: Scrambled eggs and mushrooms with salmon seasoned with salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.

Snack: Whipped Cream  and Iced Oolong Tea sweetened with Stevia

Dinner: Scrambled eggs with hamberger and mushrooms, more Oolong Tea sweetened with Stevia

Each day is a new one, I can't wait to find out what it will be like!
God Bless,
Joy

July Resolutions

July is so much more relaxed compared to June! But that doesn't mean I'm any less busy. . . What with college preparations, finishing my first draft before August (at least it's my goal), and looking for a job!

#1  Less computer
      Yes, I'm going to try again on this one. The more I'm on the computer, the less ANYTHING gets done. This month, my goal is to be on the internet for an hour or less, and the rest of the time I'm on it will (hopefully) be working on my first draft of my story.

#2  Help with the Garden
      I love gardening, but I also don't like the bug bites, sunburns, and soreness I tend to get when I do garden. Seeing as I'm in charge of two garden plots this year (brocali, radishes, lettuce, marigolds, cilantro, and cucumbers) I'm going to work even harder on actually gardening!

#3  Finish My College Application Stuff
      Technically I've been accepted to Northland International University, but I'm not all the way finished. It's mainly the smaller stuff like sending in the medical papers, insurance info, and signing up for my classes. I'm a horrible procrastinator (as you can probably guess by now), and I have been putting this off for as long as possible.

#4  Finish My First Draft
      I have the first two and a half chapters written for my first draft, that leaves just ten and a half left to write up before the thirty-first. Word wars anyone?

#5  Complete a Fuel Cycle
     I'm doing the Trim Healthy Mama life style now, and one of the ways to kick starting your metabolism is by going through a Fuel Cycle which forces your body to start burning its own fuels in a safe way. I've already started, but it's a two week long cycle. I'm going to have to really work on my self control throughout those two weeks.

This month, I have FIVE resolutions to work on. Let's see how I do this time.
God Bless,
Joy