Last Blog Post!

Throughout this year I've read a lot of books for blogging for this class. I added up a rough estimate of how many pages I've read this year and I came up with around 1,415 pages. I finished almost every book that I started except for the first book I started to read which was called "A Long Way Gone" and the reason why I didn't finish that book was because it wasn't very interesting to me in the beginning. I'm sure it got better if you kept reading, but it didn't interest me right away so I decided to start a different book. The other book I didn't finish was "My Sister's Keeper" which I am going to finish, but didn't have enough time in the year to keep blogging about it.

When I would read for this class I would usually read in my room. If I were to read anywhere else I would get too distracted and wouldn't be able to comprehend what I'm reading. I can't read with music one, it has to be completely quiet usually for me to be able to read effectively. I would usually read at night before bed because that's the time where I can relax and enjoy my book the most. If the book was at it's climax any time I had free time I would find myself reading it. I would turn my phone on silent and put it out of reach from my bed so I wouldn't be tempting to check it. Depending on the book, I would get really into my reading if it was an intense part. I would talk about the books I was reading with my friends or family. A lot of the books I read this semester were about Christian things so I would even discuss issues from that with people at my church and in my Bible study to compare the different views. It is fairly easy to find books that interest me because I can just go into the Family Christian Book Store and look around and find a book that intrigue me.
Word count: 352

"My sister's keeper" pages 253-303

Total for week: 102

In the beginning of this section Anna starts thinking about how awful it would be if Kate died, but she also thinks of the things she could do if she died. I think that's pretty selfish of her to think of the advantages of Kate dying, but then again she's been selfless all of her life so maybe she deserves that. Sara and Brian are fighting in the car about hiring a better lawyer. Meanwhile, Julia shows up to the hospital and asks Anna if she wants her mom to leave the house, but Anna says no. Anna also says that she's changed her mind about the lawsuit and doesn't want to go through with it anymore. Julia leaves and Brian stays with Anna to give her some time away from her mother.
I wonder if Anna decided to drop the lawsuit because it was causing too much stress for everyone. She probably felt bad that now the family's problems are because she wants her body to herself instead of helping her sister live. Or maybe it's because she wants to continue helping her sick sister out, who knows! I can't wait to find out.

"My sister's keeper" pages 202-252

In this section Julia meets brian at the firestation and they discuss the situation with Anna. Brian starts talking about why he even became a firefighter. He did it to save lives, but wishes he could chose whose lives to save (thinking about Anna). Then Brian asks Julia if he can take her to meet someone, but won't tell her who.

In Brian's car on the way to meet the mysterious person, there are flashbacks of Julia weeping after Campbell left, and of her drinking. Back at the house they decide to go to the hospital where Sara begs Julia not to tell Kate that Anna has not dropped the lawsuit. kate and Julia talk alone and Kate tells her that Jesse does a lot of rebelious things to be noticed. I'm guessing since all of the attention is always on Kate, Jesse just wants some atention. Kate also tells her about a year where she got sick just about every day and that was really hard for Anna because she suffers to since she has to donate things to Kate when she's sick. If I was Kate I would feel so bad for my family because everything it centered around her, especially all of their problems and arguements. I wouldn't let Anna donate parts of her body to me if they were making her sick too, I just wouldn't be able to make my own sister go through that.

"My Sister's Keeper" pages 141-201

Total for week: 101

Desalvo calls Julia and asks her to be the guardian item in Anna's court case. Julia says yes and then goes to meet Anna. Julia takes her to the zoo and talks to her, asks her about her life. Julia realizes that either way this court case goes either Anna or her sister will die. When they get home Julia tries to talk with Sara, but she just blows her off and doesn't talk to her. Julia then goes to Campbells office and it appears they have had a romantic relationship in the past.

Julia and Campbell discuss what the options are for the Fitzgerald family and Campbell suggests that they kick Sara out of the house. Julia doesn't think that is the best option for the family. They keep arguing about what they should do and finally Campbell leaves and Julia is alone in his office. She has a flashback to when they were in high school. When Campbell composes himself in the bathroom he goes back to his office and Julia is gone. Another flashback happens and it's their first kiss. Later Campbell goes to Anna's house and feels awkward because he doesn't usually spend time with his clients. That same night Campbell goes to visit Julia and confuses her with her twin sister Izzy. When he finally talks to the real Julia, she tells him that she doesn't feel comfortable being around him after all that has happened. I think they should set aside their past and move on to help Anna's family. It's almost childish to let a relationship from 15 years ago get in the way of helping a girl that desperately needs help.

"My Sister's Keeper" pages 101-140

In this next section Campbell was out for coffee and when he returned Anna was in his office waiting for him. While she was there Sara called Campbell lied and told him that Anna had changed her mind about the lawsuit. Anna said that was not true. While this is going on Campbell has a sad flashback of when he was younger and he lost his sailing competition and dissappointed his father. Campbell goes to meet Sara and she said that she is going to act as counsel for her and Brian. Later Sara and Brian meet with Judge Desalvo and they argue about what Anna really wants. He then decides that he needs to speak with Anna first. I think this was a good call on Desalvo's part because he doesn't know what he's getting himself into so it's best for him to talk to the girl in the case.

The next part is narrated by Anna. She wondered what her funeral would be like and comes to the conclusion that not many people would show up. She thinks that there would be a ton of people at Kate's funeral because she is so loved. Later Anna meets with Judge Desalvo and becomes emotional while telling him a funny memory of Kate and her pulling a prank on a nurse. She tells him that she doesn't want to give Kate her kidney and Judge Desalvo reassures her that a hospital would never take from an unwilling donner. Anna tells him that she never chose to be a donner, her mom just offered her up. I think this is really sad how all of Anna's life has been about her sister. She must feel so unloved with the spotlight always shinning on her sister.

6 Poems

Theme: the divinity of God

1. Macular Hole by Catherine Wagner
2. Jerusalem by William Blake
3. Spring Song by Lucille Clifton
4. A psalm of Abraham of that which was visited upon him by A.M. Klein
5. At the three fountains by Arthur Symons
6. His sovereignty by Kalonymos ben moses of lucca

"My Sister's Keeper" pages 49-100

Total for week: 100

In this next section, Sara, Kate and Anna are at the hospital while Kate has her dialysis. Then a sherrif comes to their room and hands Sara paper work about the case that Anna has filled out. Then Jesse picks Anna up from the hospital and they go home. When they are all home Anna says that she refuses to drop the lawsuit and Brian starts to think that maybe this isn't fair for Anna. It seems obvious to me that this whole situation isn't fair at all to Anna. Anna says in the beginning of this section that she feels as though this is just a temporary family and she is just waiting to move on to her real one. Which if she is religous at all is right, this is just a temporary home and life for everyone.

Later Kate goes to the hospital to find out that her cancer is resisting the treatment given to her. They try new treatment and she becomes nauseous and doesn't respond well to it. Soon after she develops an infection. Sara is considering having another child that would be a genetic match for Kate. I find it interesting that Sara doesn't seem to realize that if she has another child, she will love that child as much as Kate and won't want to hurt it for her other child.

"My Sister's Keeper" pages 1-48

This book starts out stating the facts. A young teenager named Anna Fitzgerald begins telling her story of why she was created. She says she was made to save her sister Kate who has leukemia. In other words, Anna is the extra body, who will be used whenever Kate becomes sick and needs something like blood, or any other essential body part. It also talks about Anna selling a locket she had to a pawn shop.

In the next section, Campbell, a lawyer is brought into the picture. Anna is talking with Campbell about her situation and he thinks this will be a sure fire case that she will win. It seems obvious to him that this case will be won on Anna's side. He feels compassion for Anna because she is the back-up child. He also wants to help out with the case for publicity because he knows this case would be a popular one.

Sara, Kate and Anna's mother is the star of the next section. In this part there is a flashback to when Kate's disease was first discovered. Sara would find buises all along Kate's spine and body, so she took her to the hospital to get tests done. When they found out that it was leukemia, they were devestated. The docters told them that she would have a 23% survival rate. Sara was committed to keeping Kate alive.

Brian Fitzgerald nararates the next section where Sara gets mad because Kate has a t-shirt on that says "cancer" on it. I've noticed that Kate seems to be fine with her disease for the most part and Sara is very touchy about the subject. Later Jesse, they're son, walks in smelling like pot and drugs. Anna arrives after and Brian could tell something was wrong with her, but said nothing. At the end of this section Brian and Sara discuss their concerns for their children, mainly their daughters.

"Do Hard Things" pages 211-241

Total for week: 105
(I've been reading the past two weeks, but forgetting to blog so I thought I should do a few blogs tonight.)

One thing you have probably noticed is that I love the lists that this book provides, it makes it very clear what they think you should do in nice lists. This book broke it down into five kinds of hard things that can change your world. The first one is things that take you outside your "comfort zone", which is taking risks to grow. This is a hard one for me, stepping outside of my comfort zone is difficult for me because it's hard to do things that you normally wouldn't do. The next one is doing things that go beyond what is expected or required, or pursuing excellence. This one is mainly what this whole book is about, getting rid of the low expectations of teenagers. The third one is things that are too big to accomplish alone-dreaming and daring big. For many people, dreaming big isn't the hard part, it's actually pursuing the big dream. The fourth one is things that don't earn an immediate payoff, or being faithful and choosing integrity. This past Sunday at my youth group we were talking about this and how many people choose the thing that will give them instant-gratification instead of waiting to do something. The last point is doing things that go against the cultural norm, or taking a stand for what is right. This is a teenager's nightmare; going against the crowd and doing something that is different is so hard for teens to do. Rejetion is hard for anybody, but especially teens, if we are rejected for doing something that isn't considered "cool" then that prevents us from trying it again, when it shouldn't.

"Do Hard Things" pages 167-210

In these chapters they talk about how Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth and once the salt loses its saltiness it is hard to become salty again. Jesus goes on to say that it is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. What Jesus says here stings a little bit, because I know that I don't want to be something that Jesus thinks isn't good for anything. I want to be a person that Jesus is proud of and can say well done to me at the end of this life. Jesus also compares us to light, saying that we are the light of the world and that we should shine to show everyone our good deeds and praises of our Father.

In the next chapter, they talk about the accomplishments of other young people that have done hard things too. These stories have blown me away; it's amazing to think that people my age are doing things so large and Godly. It inspires me to want to do similar things to praise God.

"Do Hard Things" pages 136-166

This book keeps getting more and more fascinating! The achievements that these two young boys have made in their lifetime really inspires me to want to be as successful as them; not for my own glory, but for God's glory. I also love how this book gives ways to do "hard things" like this book displays examples of. Some books tell you that you should become a better person, but they don't lay out the steps you should take to become that person.

They provided six ways to guide the "rebelutionaries" who want to take a stand. The first one is "start with the Bible". This one seems simple enough, yet many people just forget to read their Bible all together. They may be a strong Christian because they attend church events, but if they don't read the Bible then they can't get God's word daily. The second one is "examine yourself", which is a good one because first we need to make sure we are strong enough in our faith to start taking a stand and doing hard things. The third is "listen to your conscience" a conscience is something that everybody is born with, whether they believe in God or not. This is something that God has instilled in our minds that gives us our common sense and morals. The next step is to "seek godly counsel". Seeking this kind of counsel could be from a pastor, a youth pastor or even a close Christian friend. Recieving other peoples' advice on certain things can help you get a clear picture of what the situation really looks like. The fifth is "be humble, loving, and bold". These are three characteristics that are great to possess whether you are trying to take a stand or not. The last guide is :be part of the solution". This step stumped me for a while as I tried to think of what it actually meant. I came up with the idea that this was saying you should be a part of the solution instead of part of a problem.

"Do Hard Things" pages 113-135

Total for week": 101

This book gives a lot of ways to help you start doing hard things, but in this chapter it gives excuses that people think of as to why they fail when attempting big things. The first one was procrastination, which I'm sure every teenager can relate to because this is what many kids in school live by. It's so much easier to committ to something when you're talking about doing it in the future instead of right now. The second thing is inconsistency, which is another thing that many people can relate to. It's so hard to keep perfect consistancy if it's something that we don't particularly want to do. I see this alot with teenage Christians who are trying to be the best they can be. They start reading their Bible and praying for a few days then they forget for a while then when something reminds them of it then they do it again in spirts. The third one is compromise, which is one of the hardest things to do in life. Compromise involves someone to lose their plans and incorporate the plans of others in their own. Begrudging is another thing that keeps us from doing hard things for God. We may agree to do something that we don't neccessarily want to, but we don't do it with a good attitude, to let people know that we did this even though we didn't want to. The last thing that keeps us from doing small things is cheating. Cheating is a huge problem in the teenage world involving school and being a Christian. People may say that they did something good, when they didn't really do all the work to get to that point. These are things that we need to overcome in order to accomplish anything in life.

"Do Hard Things" pages 81-112

In these pages they went over three zone breakers of teens who do hard things. The first one was that we see God through them even if they have inexperience to accomplish big things. Number two was that we see them disregarding their fear and taking the first step then letting God give them more opporunities. The last zone breaker was that we see them risk failing or looking dumb. These are the zone breakers that Seth and Ian did in order to succeed in their big plans.

They also gave some forms of fake encouragement that people might try to give you if you're considering trying these zone breakers. Some people might say that you're okay just the way you are so why work to improve yourself? Others might say that compared to some people, you're not that bad. A lot of people that I know try playing the comparing game, trying to convince themselves that they're good people compared to those who do drugs and drink all of the time. I try not to compare myself to the expectations of others because that's a good way to stoop down to the morals of those around them instead of going by their own standards.

"Do Hard Things" pages 34-80

This part of the book defined what "adolescence" actually means. This term literally means "to grow up", which works on two levels. This is accurate in a biological sense because during this time children are growing up physically. This is also true on a maturity basis, because throughout this time of adolescence kids are learning more common sense and how to be mature. Some people might beg to differ because they may say that adolescence teenagers are immature and aren't trust worthy, but this is the time where kids start to develop their morals and personality.

They also had an interesting list from googling "teens and expectations", and they came up with very few good things associated with teenagers. The first few terms that came up were, teens and drugs, alcohol, smoking, drinking, marijuana and cell phones. This backs up their statement that teens are associated with things of low expectations. I was a little insulted when I saw this list because not every teenager experiments with drugs and drinking, so I didn't like how they grouped all teenagers as bad, with low expectations.

Spring Break!

Spring break this year was awesome! I had some troubles getting down to Florida since I was flying alone, but thankfully I made it into Clearwater the night I was supposed to! Then my parents and I drove to Fort Myers and stayed the night in a hotel. The next morning we drove to the airport and picked up my brother and sister in law and my friend. We drove to our condo and got settled in and made our way to the beach! The weather was extremely nice while we were there, except for one day when there were storms, but on that day we just went shopping, which was still fun. For most of my break I relaxed on the beach and soaked up the amazing rays of the sun that we don't get in Fort Wayne yet. We also rented a boat for five hours and took it out into the gulf and walked along the beach there. We went out to eat most nights,where I had excellent food and fellow ship with family. It's sad to have to go back to school, but at least that means we're getting closer to summer!

Doctrine pages 407-447

Total for week: 109

This is the last chapter in this book and it ended with a lot of knowledge. This chapter is called "Kingdom: God Reigns" and it was about just that, the kingdom. The verse that started this chapter was from Matthew 6:10 which says "Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This verse is probably on of the most popular verses in the Christian world. Part of this verse is the Lord's prayer which Chrstians and Catholics know and pray in many situations.

This chapter talked all about God's kingdom and death. Everyone knows that they will die someday, but many people think that they don't have to start thinking about that until they are close to death. Death could come at any time, no one is guarenteed a full lifetime.

When we die we will go to judgement, every person faces judgement from God when they die. There are two different judgements; one is of a person who doesn't have Jesus in their life, where they will be reminded of every sin that they did and then they have to try to justify themselves by their "good works", and this person will not make it into God's kindgom. The other judgement will be in front of God telling him that you are a sinner and Jesus' righteousness covers your life, and this person will go to heaven and prais God.

Scripture teaches us that heaven is perfect and in heaven there is no darkness and no sin. When we go to heaven our sinful nature is taken away from us; therefore, we are not able to sin there. We will praise God in heaven for all of eternity, which is hard for us as humans to picture eternity.

"Do Hard Things" pages 1-33

I found this book at the Family Christian Book Store and thought it looked interesting. The book is called "Do Hard Things" and we were talking about doing hard things as Christians at a group called student leaders which is a small group of people who are campiagners for campus life.

This book is about two college students who decided that they don't want our generation to have low expectations for young people. They made up the word "rebelution" because they want this generation to rebel against the expectations that young people are all partiers.

This book is very different from any other teen book. Instead of a book about love and the romantic relations between teenagers, this book tells the story of two people my age who went above and beyond the average expectations.

These two guys are twins who grew up in Oregon. They were just like any other teenagers except they just had some big ideas from God about what to do next.

Doctrine pages 370-406

This chapter is called "Stewardship: God Gives" and it is the twelth chapter in this book. It starts out with a verse from 1 Peter 4:10 and it says "AS each has recieved a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace."

Even though Jesus was a poor carpenter he still paid his taxes and gave generously to the poor. Jesus was perfect, and traded his perfect righteousness for our sin and brokenness. He wasn't selfish and didn't believe that his possessions were his.

The book teaches that there are two ways to view life. One is a perspective of ownership, where a person believes that their life is their own and all of their possessions are theirs alone. The other way to view life is by stewardship, where a person believes their life and possessions belong to God, no themselves. A few facts that distinguish a steward are knowing that he or she fully belongs to the Lord. Another fact is that they believe everything belongs to the Lord. Stewards also look over all that God has entrusted to us faithfully.

"Online Poker's Biggest Winner"

When I picture a millionaire, I picture a person in their fifties or sixties, dressed very nicely and retired from their long, hardworking life, but Daniel Cates changed that image for me. Daniel Cates is twenty one years old and is a multimillionaire from playing online poker. I think Daniel has become so accustomed to living with millions of dollars that he doesn't realize exactly how insane that is. After winning another $30,000 from playing, Cates apologized to Jay Kang by saying that he "would be playing bigger, but it's been a rough week". Cates is so used to playing with high prices that he feels bad if watching him win only $30,000 is "boring". Growing up, Cates played video games nonstop, which is why he is such a talented online poker player in his early twenties.

Even though the world makes being rich such a dream for most people, I think being that rich deteriorates a person's life, rather than builds it up. Having millions of dollars makes people selfish and their motives for anything they do in life are for their own self-seeking desires. Daniel Cates' case is very unusual because he hasn't won all of this money by working hard, or by figuring out a new creation in the science world, it is simply from being talented in an online game. Also, from making all of his money on an online game that he plays all day, what is he using that money for? His whole life is consumed with online poker; therefore, he has no time to have an actual life.

"High School Seniors Predict Their Future"

Seniors in high school have a lot to think about for their future; I find it interesting how some of the seniors view themselves ten years from now. One senior named Damion Dumas sees himself being a school counselor because he always shows people care. I think think it's nice how he still wants to go back to school after he will finally graduate from it! That seems crazy to me, to want to go back to school after being there for twelve years, but I guess that's how all teacher must be if they're willing to come back and work with students. I think it's kind of inronic how Jeremy Land wants to be an emergency medical technician, but he comes off as a very layed-back person who doesn't deal with emergency situations often. There is a wide variety of motives driving these senior high school students to their goals. Tri Li's motivation is fame and fortune to become a docter, whereas Tudel Riek just wants to make his parents proud of him. I think I identify with Andrew Benedict-Pillipp in that we are both undecided on where we will be in ten years. But for the motives behind their goal I side more with Zach Peterson because we both want to help people in whatever the career.
To be honnest I don't know where I will be in ten years. My hope is that I will be graduated from high school and college and I will have a job that I genuinely enjoy. Where ever I end up I want to make sure I don't become so consumed with the ways of the world and forget who I am and what I'm living for. I do enjoy working with kids so that is a possibility for my future career, but who knows.

Doctrine pages 305-345

Total for week: 100 pages

This chapter is called "Church: God Sends" and it's picture is a white dove flying in the air with rays shining off of it. The Bible verse that is quoted at the beginning of this chapter is from Ephesians 5:25 and it says, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." I find this interesting that he refers to the church as a her. I found out a while ago that even though God is repetedly refered to as a him, he has no gender; therefore, he is neither a male nor a female. This clears some arguments that men are superior to women.

The very famous verse from Matthew 28:19-20 says that Jesus commanded us to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Song and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." Many Christians kind of overlook this Bible verse and think that as long as they have a relationship with Jesus and that they're going to heaven, they don't have to worry about telling other people about it. The Bible clearly states that we have to live out our faith and bring others to know him so that his kindgom would be filled with people.

This chapter provided a long list of sins that Christians repetitively commit. This list included when a Christian refuses to obey civil laws, when a Christian sins against another Christian and it cannot be overlooked in love. This list also included when a Christian leaves the church to pursue sin or heresy, or when a Christian has repeatedly rejected counsel by a church leader. The list goes on and on of sins that many Christians tend to commit to.

Doctrine pages 279-304

This chapter is called "Resurrection: God Saves" and this is the nineth chapter in this book. I don't really understand what the picture at the beginning of this chapter is of. It looks like a dark cave with something wrapped up outside of it, but I'm not sure what it actually is.

It is very bluntly said that if Jesus is dead, then Christianity is dead, and if Jesus is alive then Christianity is alive. If Christ was never risen from the dead by God then there would be no Christianity, but since God did raise him Christianity is in full effect.

This book clearly states that resurrection does not mean that everyone avoids hellish punishment in the end. Resurrection means that those who have a personal relationship with Christ will be accepted into heaven through God.

The object of worship changed after the resurrection because people are now worshiping Jesus for making a way for us to be in relation with God through him. Since one of the ten commandments forbids the worship of false Gods, it is impossible for Jews to simply worship Jesus as the one true God without the proof of Jesus' resurrection that they don't believe in.

Doctrine pages 245-278

This chapter was called "God Dies", and the picture at the beginning of this chapter is of Jesus hanging on the cross. A quote from the Bible from Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Even though every human sins God still sent his sinless son down to earth to die a brutal death for us. The fact that God did that on top of creating us and providing grace and forgiveness and countless other things to us completely blows me away.

When people hear of the Christian faith most people automatically think of Jesus and that he died for our sins, but a lot of people don't understand why a man dying is a good thing. This chapter provides good counterarguements and explainations to people who don't understand the goodness of Jesus's death.

This chapter had a very helpful chart to show the different beliefs of some Christians on unlimited and limited atonement. It showed that some people believe that we are born sinful, but guilty for our sins, and not Adams. Others believe that we are born sinless, but chose to follow Adam's poor example. Unlimited limited atonement and limited atonement both believe that we are born sinners guilty in Adam.

There are also debates about who Jesus died for. Some believe that Jesus took all the sin and pain of the world onto himself, but others believe Jesus lived only as an example for sinners. Some believe that Jesus died to provide payment for all, but only in a saving way for the elect. The elect are the people who will believe in him and who will eventually live in heaven with the father.

Another section of the chart was about heaven and hell. Some Christians believe that everyone will be saved and will go to heaven and that there is no eternal hell. Others believe taht those who live a Christlike life will be saved and go to heaven and those who reject goodness will go to hell. Most believe that God does not need to save anyone from hell, but chooses to save some.

I do

Recently my brother Christopher was married to my now sister-in-law Emily. The wedding took place in Durham, North Carolina at Duke college. Christopher and Emily both graduated from Duke so that place is very close to their hearts. The wedding was in the Duke chapel so it was very big. I thought this wedding was interesting because it was a Catholic wedding and I've never been to one before. I was a bridesmaid along with nine other girls, and we got to stand up front and watch the ceremony. Emily's dress was absolutely beautiful. I love brides on their wedding day because they are just so overflowing with joy and happiness and they look beautiful. After the wedding the reception was held at a museum just ten minutes away from the church. It was gorgeous in the museum; tables were set up to eat at and there was a buffet of food to choose from. Instead of a cake there was a variety of mini cupcakes to choose from, they were delicious. I am so happy for my brother and Emily, they will have a wonderful life together.

Let kids rule the school

The school that the students would create had some interesting ideas, but also had some ideas that would fail. One idea that the kids had for their school, Independent Project, was the idea that there would be no grades, only an evaluation of their classmates at the end of each semester. I think this idea would not work very well because some students might just make a pact that they would only say good things about eachother so that they would both succeed in that class, even if they didn't deserve it. They would also split the term between September and January in half and in the first term they would learn about the natural social world and they would answer questions about it. During the second half they would choose eight books to read in eight weeks. This sounds a little bit like what we do in etymology except it only has to be one hundred to one hundred and fifty pages, but we also have to blog every week. Throughout the course of the year students would learn certain math skills and also learn how to cook or play piano. Then at the end of the year all of the students would perform their skill that they learned for the entire school. I think if this were a real school it would work effectively for a while, but sooner or later the students would start taking advantage of the fact that they can have the power to help other succeed through cheating on their evaluations. On the other hand I do like the idea that learning a certain skill would be incorporated in the school ciriculum. Some students learn how to play the piano or learn another skill outside of school, but if more students were able to learn in school then more students would figure out if they have an aficionado for a certain activity. Overall I think most aspects of the school would be a success and would help students make it through their high school career, but I think that some parts of the ciriculum would be taken advantage of.

Frankenstein pages 43-76

Total for week: 102

The letter that Elizabeth writes to Victor expressed her concern for his sickness and attempted to encourage him to write to his family. She also says that Justine Moritz who is a girl who used to live with victor's family, came back to his house after the death of his mother. Later Victor introduces Henry to the professors, which is painful for him because it brings baack symptoms of his illness. Victor then decides to return to Geneva and wait for his father's letter to reveal the date he is leaving. At the end of this chapter, Victor and Henry wander around the country and enjoy the beauties of nature.

In the next chapter, Victor recieves a letter from his father that says his younger brother, William, was murdered. After hearing this news Victor rushed to Geneva, but when he got there he found that the gates were shut so he decided to roam the woods and outskirts of the town. He wandered around where his brother was murdered and found his monster that he created creeping around; Victor was positive that his monster killed his brother. When Victor returns home the next day he finds out that Justine has been accussed of the murdering of his brother. A servant found a picture of Caroline Frankenstein in Justine's pocket which was last seen in William's possession.

In hopes to gain salvation, Justine confesses to the crime. After her confession she tells Elizabeth and Victor that she is innocent. They kept quiet about the secret, but sadly Justine was excecuted for her confession of crime. Victor becomes extremely guilty because his creation killed two of his family members now.

I can't even imagine the guild Victor must feel that his creationn killed his own family members. I'm wondering if he is going to admit this fact to other people or if he is just going to keep it quiet and live with the guilt.

Frankenstein pages 17-42

This reading includes chapters 1 through 5 of "Frankenstein". Robert Walton finds out that the stranger's name is victor Frankenstein, and he tells his life story, which includes his background, birth, early childhood, and his father and mother. Walton then goes ahead and describes his childhood and life to Victor, feeling a connection with his stories. Then the novel flashs back to Victor's childhood and we see a look at his early life.

Victor grew up with a close grew of friends and was very happy with his life. Then as he became a teenager he became fascinated by nature and the mysteries of it. He witnessed a terrible storm where lightening struck a tree near his house. He was blown away by how the strange light force in the sky was able to destroy a tree. Then a natural philosepher helps his family describe to him the nature of electricity.

When Victor was seventeen he left his family to attend the University at Inglostadt. Just before he leaves, his mother catches the scarlet fever and while on her deathbed begs that Victor marry one of his good friends named Elizabeth. He still went with his original plan to attend the university and while studying there was convinced that he wants to keep studying sciences. Victor is fascinated with the creation of life and the destruction of it. He spends all of his time to focus on his studies and forgets about his social life and his family back home. Secretly, Victor begins building this creature in the privacy of his own apartment. He soon becomes lonely and obsessed with the creating of his new creature. Later on he finally finishes his creation and brings it to life. He is horrified with the disgusting look of the creature. He finds himself having nightmares about his dead mother and Elizabeth. The monster of a creature came into his room when Victor was trying to sleep, and hovered over his bed. Victor ran outside pacing back and forth when he sees his old friend Henry Clerval. Seeing his old friend was a breath of fresh air for Victor, but he was still weakened by his months of hard work creating the creature that he developed a nervous fever that lasted for months. Henry nursed him back to health and then Victor recieved a letter from Elizabeth.

I think it's so crazy how someone can go from being a social and family fun guy to completely isolating himself from everything except for his creation of a monster. It shows that anyone can become so obsessed with something that they forget what the other part of their lives are about. I'm really interested to find out what the letter from Elizabeth says and how it will affect Victor and his creature he created.

Spellbound

It's very interesting to observe how the participants in the spelling bee prepare and act during their spelling bees, but rather it's more interesting to me to see how the parents of the students act. Some of the parents were very set on their child winning and doing well in the competition, and other parents were more relaxed about their child's preparations for the bee.

Two opposite parents that I noticed were Neil's father and Ashley's mother. The two parents were in the same situation having a child who participates in spelling bees, but they have very different methods in how they coach or react to their child's strategies.

Neil's father is a very driven man. He coaches his son day and night in hopes that he would be the proud father of his successful son. He dresses proper, and shows off his elegant house to show the status of his wealth. There is no doubt that Neil's father is extremely proud of his son's accomplishments, but he always wants more out of his son. He obsessively drills his son while he studies words for his upcoming spelling bees. He shares his method of work to the camera, which shows how motivated he is to keep is son on track for a clean win in the bee. Some of his flaws are his arrogance and his pride. These two traits show through his personaliy even when he isn't talking about the spelling bee.

Ashley's mother on the other hand has a more relaxed outlook on her daughter's activities in the spelling bee. Although Ashley's mother wants her daughter to be succsessful in the spelling bee, she isn't as brainwashed as Neil's father in comsuming her life in the bee. Ashley seems driven enough on her own to study and succeed in the spelling bee so her mother feels that she doesn't need to put even more pressure on her to win.

Frankenstein pages vii-16 (42 pages)

In this reading I read: the introduction, the author's introduction, and the preface. This was a lot of information to take in at once, throughout these pages there was a lot of background information. I'm guessing this information will be important to know through the rest of my reading or else the author probably wouldn't have put this in the book.

The author, Mary Shelley, starts off saying that this novel was started during a vacation in the Swiss Alps. This just gives a little background on the writting of the novel and the setting of what the author was going through during the creation of this book. The actual book starts off with four letters sent from Robert Walton who is on a ship travelling to the north pole. The letters are written to his sister, Margaret Saville. The first letter states that Robert is on a mission to travel to the Pacific Ocean. In the second letter Robert shares his loneliness he feels on his ship. He reveals his "love for the marvellous" as he puts it, which shows his romantic side. The shortest of the four letters is the third letter; in this letter Walton tells his sister that he loves her genuinely and that he has full confidence in his trip ahead of him. In the last of the four letters the ship encounters large sheets of ice as they make their way through the ocean. They spotted a sledge guided by a large creature only a mile and a half away. The next day the men find out that the sledge was being pulled by dogs and led by a man. All but one of the dogs were dead, but the man was barely alive. The ship took care of the man and nursed him back to health, and eventually Robert and the man become friends. The man begins to tell Robert an interesting story.

Robert Walton seems like a very perplexing character to me. The fact that he wasn't as interested in the man at first as the other crew mates were makes me wonder about him. He seems like a layed back person yet at the same time seems very adventurous. Anyone who is willing to travel across the Pacific Ocean is pretty courageous and adenturous to me.

Claim Paragraph

The unadorned, yet seemingly complex style that John Ashbery presents in his writing of, “At North Farm,” helps paint a picture of marvel and uneasiness. In the beginning of this poem Ashbery creates a feeling of anxiety and fear when he says, “Somewhere someone is travelling furiously toward you”. In the next stanza, he moves on and says, “Hardly anything grows here, yet the granaries are bursting with meal”, which is an amusing paradox. It generates a sense of wonder in that if hardly anything grows, then how are the granaries still full? In this dictum the speaker alludes to a force that is greater than ourselves that provides for us. He also gives more examples such as “The sacs of meal piled to the rafters,” and “the streams run with sweetness, fattening fish” to emphasis the fullness of nature. This poem is ends with a puzzling question that could have many possible answers. He asks, “Is it enough that we think of him sometimes”, which is almost trying to make the reader feel guilty in a way, and implies that we must think of “him” more than just sometimes. The most perplexing part of this poem is how the speaker ends that question with “sometimes and always, with mixed feelings”. The speaker’s thought toward other humans is that we are ambivalent and modulated in our feelings.

Doctrine pages 209-244

Total for week: 103
The picture that this chapter displays is a picture of Mary with her son Jesus in her lap. Jesus is reaching up at his mother’s face in a loving way. Mary has a halo hovering over her head as she looks genuinely into her baby’s eyes.
The verse this chapter starts out with is John 1:14 which says, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”. I had never heard this exact verse before; I had heard the concept of it, but never the real thing from the Bible. There is a song that talks about the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us which means that Jesus came down to earth to be with us. And when we see Jesus face to face, we will have seen God, and seen the truth.
Incarnation: God Comes is the name of this chapter. This was very in depth and answered a lot of questions I had never even thought about. Incarnation is used to explain how the second member of the Trinity entered into human history in flesh as the God-man Jesus Christ. This chapter explained that when Jesus was on earth he was both fully God and fully man. This concept can be hard to grasp because some people think that he either had to be fully man or fully God, and that he couldn’t be both. But this book does an excellent job of breaking down how it was possible for Jesus to be both. This book takes me deeper in thought about God than I thought was possible! I love it.

Doctrine pages 175-208

This is the sixth chapter in this book and it's called, covenant: God Pursues. Before I start talking about what I read in this chapter, I wanted to point out that at the beginning of each chapter there is a picture on the first page. This chapter's picture is of a man (I'm guessing he is supposed to represent Jesus) who is laying down with a cloud of smoke floating up from him. He looks very fatiged and in need of healing. I just thought I would share the pictures in the chapters because I think they get me thinking before I even start reading the chapters.

This chapter started out with the verse from Exodus 6:7, "I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God". I love this verse because it reminds me that God didn't just create us and then abandon us here on this crazy earth; he is here with us always and he will always be our God.

This chapter brought up the point that no matter how badly someone has sinned against us, nothing compares to the sin we have committed against God. God did nothing but bless us and pour his grace out on us and our response is to sin agaisnt him. And even after God has given us all of this and we chose to respond with sin he goes even further to give us a convenant, his saving, glorious, and loving covenant. The rest of this chapter painted a really good picture of what the covenant is and why God gave us his covenant.

Doctrine pages 140-174

This chapter, called "God Judges", talks about our battles with sin, and why there is such a thing as sin in the first place. It starts out from the Bible verse: Ecclesiates 7:29 which says, "God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes". The verse at the beginning of each chapter really paints a sketch of what the chapter will be about, and it helps your brain start thinking about this topic. In the beginning of this chapter they talk about the fall of Satan, who was an angel, but then rebelled against God and was kicked out of heaven. God made this perfect world and created Adam and Eve and put them on earth and said they could do whatever they please, except for going near the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve was tempted by Satan to disobey God and take from the tree that God had forbade her to take from. Satan convinced Eve that God was untrustworthy and if she took from the tree then she would become like God. Adam just stood their and watched Eve be taken into darkness and he too sinned against God. God gave Adam the job of leading his familiy in godliness, but Adam failed. When God called for them they hid and then started blaming everyone else for their own sins. Adam blamed Eve for his sin and he also blamed God for making Eve.
The bright side to this seemingly dark story, is that when Adam and Eve repented, or confessed their sins, God forgave them. God replaced guilt and shame, with a clear conscience. He also changed the human view God as an enemy to hide from, to a view of God as a friend to walk with. Sin and the fall don't have the world, but God does. Even though sin seems so powerful, nothing compares to the power of God.

End of Crazy Love!

Total reading for week: 100 pages

This part of the book talked about giving. He gave inspiring examples of how people expressed their faith through their giving. One example was a man who would always give 20 percent of his money to the church and then his income greatly decreased and he started giving 30 percent to the church. I find that amazing that a man would have that much faith that even though you would think he would start giving less to the church to accomadate for his lowered income, but instead gave even more! That just amazes me. Another thing Francis talked about along the lines of giving was giving your time. Giving time can sometimes affect your life more than giving money can because if we let God have control of our time then he will do awesome things with it. But giving that is not motivated by love will gain nothing. If we are just giving because we feel like we should then we will not gain anything.

This chapter also brought up the idea of downgrading so that others may upgrade. I love that thought. There's a Bible verse that says "He must increase and I must decrease", which is one of the favorite Bible verses. The thought of being more like Jesus and less like my sinful-self fills me with joy.

Another thing that I liked was when Chan said that pride tells us that we've given more than other people so that is sufficient enough. We always compare ourselves to other people, which is silly because we are all different people! We all have different circumstances and lives so why do we always compare to others to see if we're doing the bare minimum it takes to be considered a good Christian?

Chan starts talking about what it is like to be obsessed with something. It means to have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic. God tells us in Luke chapter 6 to love our enemies and loan to them without expecting anything in return. I thought it was interesting how Francis brought up the point that it is so easy for us to lend things to our loved ones because we know that they will repay us somehow, but God says it is more important to lend to our enemies and expect nothing in return. God says that is true love.

The end of this book gave many examples of people who really live like that. Those examples were extremely touching and inspiring. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is feeling dry in their walk with Jesus becasue this book makes you think deeper than you ever thought you would! So go buy it!

Crazy Love pages 113-128

This chapter was probably one of my favorites so far. It's called "Your Best Life...Later" and it talked about how we must live our lives on earth in order to spend eternity with God. One statement that really stuck out to me was when Francis Chan said, "Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers". This really stuck out to me because it is so true. Our lives as Christians shouldn't look like everyone else's, they should reflect the fact that we find love in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Having faith often means doing things that others see as crazy. The verse: 1 John 2:6 says, "whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did". This makes me reevalute my life and see if I am really doing all I can to try to live a life like Jesus did; and if i'm being honest, most of the time it doesn't look like that. It is so hard to put aside our fears of what other people will think of us if we do certain things, but we can find joy in the fact that we will be rewarded in heaven for the things we do to glorify God on earth.
This next thing that Chan talked about blew my mind. He asked the question, "How would your life change if you actually thought each person you came into contact with as Christ?". I know I definitely don't treat every person how I would treat Christ if he was human flesh again. That really makes me want to change and treat even the most annoying kid in class as if he was Christ. Doing this takes a lot of patience and love, but if Christ did it then we should strive to do it too.

Crazy Love pages 99-112

This chapter is called “When You’re in Love”, and when I first heard the title I thought this would be about our earthly relationships with one another, but I was wrong. This chapter was all about being in love with God, and what that love should look like. It blows my mind that God actually wants a relationship with me; the almighty, powerful, perfect God wants me. The part that makes me feel bad is that He wants me, but sometimes I find myself forgetting about him. It seems crazy to think that we as humans on earth could ever forget about God because he is everywhere and he reveals himself through his works. One thing it said in this chapter that I liked was when it said “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you”. I like this a lot because it says God’s love is better than life itself; life is all we can see, so it seems to be all we ever pay attention too, but his love is way better than even life. The second part of that quote kind of makes me sad because I see so many people in my school who claim to be Christians and believe in Christ, but they use his name in vain every day, or they cuss and use vulgar language.
One of the subtitles in this chapter said “Help! I Don’t Love You”, which makes us feel kind of embarrassed because how could we not love such a loving and perfect God? It said that we need God’s help to get us to love him. This statement is true because we as imperfect, sinful people can’t love him without his help.
One thing that always comforts me whenever I hear it is in Luke chapter 6 verse 23 which says this, “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven”. This verse is a great reminder that we shouldn’t be discouraged by people on earth who try to condemn us for loving God because our reward for it will be in heaven when we can spend eternity praising Him.

Crazy Love pages 83-98

This chapter is called "Serving Leftovers to a Holy God", and it's all about giving God parts of your life instead of your whole life. Francis Chan puts it very bluntly and says, "churchgoers whoare "lukewarm" are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven". This really stuck out to me because many people think that as long as you go to church and don't do too many bad things then you will go to heaven. But Chan says that if you are not a Christian with all of your heart and life then you are not going to heaven. Chan backs up his statement with scripture; in Revelation 3:16 it says, "Jesus says 'So, because you are luke warm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth'". This scripture basically says that God doesn't want people who aren't on fire for him to enter his kingdom of heaven. This means that Jesus wants all or nothing; he doesn't want us to pretend that we are christians if we aren't fully committed to serving him. Francis also made an excellent analogy of being a "lukewarm" christian to being a marine and only doing half of the work. You can't go into the marine and only do the work that you want to do and then skip out on the hard stuff. Another blunt comment he made was that people are only willing to change their lives if they think it will affect their salvation. One of the most popular questions that some Christians ask is, "What do I have to do to make it to heaven?". This question implies that we are only willing to do the bare minimun of what we think it takes to go to heaven and have eternal life, instead of going to hell and having eternal suffering.

Article on Teenage Driving

The article "Teenagers, Friends and Bad Decisions" by Tara Parker Pope was very interesting to me. Of course we all know that in the presence of friends, kids are more likely to be reckless, but this article brought up some points that I had never realized before. The test they ran was having some teenagers play a driving game in which there are stop lights that turn yellow, and the driver has a choice to stop or run through it and get a bigger prize. They compared how risky the teenagers played while they were alone, as opposed to when they knew their peers were watching. The teens appeared to be more of a derring-do when they knew their friends were watching. This proves some parents wrong when they say that kids' friends always directly pressure them into being reckless, but really they have an affect on the teen even when they are just there. I also thought it was interesting how teens being watched by people of the opposite sex did not act much more daring than under the eye of people of the same sex. I would think that teenagers would want to try to impress people of the opposite sex more to try to sway them into having an attraction to them. This article also brought up a good point that even a mature, well-behaved teenager will be influenced by his or her peers when they make the decision to be daring or play it safe.

Step Up 3 Dance In the street classical music By sp33dolino666

I love this scene because it shows the passion between the two dancers and their love of dancing. The way they smoothly glid down the street in synch with eachother amazes me.

Doctrine pages 109-139

This chapter is called "God Loves" and it is all about how God loves us and why he created us. One thing that this book said was that God created us as his image bearers, but not because he needed us in any way. Many people say that God created humans because He was lonely, but this is very untrue. God is perfect by himself; therefore, He does not need sinful people to keep him company. He created us because He genuinely loves us. There was also a list of shared and unshared attributes of God. The list of unshared attributes includes: omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, immutability, eternality, and sovereignty. The list of shared attributes includes: holiness, love, truth, righteousness, mercy, and beauty. All of these attributes show a tiny glimpse of just how amazing God is. Jesus Christ is the only person who has perfectly imaged God. In the Bible numerous times Jesus is described as the image of God, and the radiance of the glory of God. Jesus said, "Whoever sees me sees him who sent me" in John 12:45. God has called us to live godly lives, and to live in ways that serve him by making advances in his kingdom, including making culture that honors him. I try to honor him in everything I do, but of course I can never do that perfectly because I'm human.

Modern Family

Modern Family is one of my favorite shows, along with The Office. Modern Family is about three different immediate families that are all related either through marraige or blood. One of the families consists of a wife, Claire, husband, Phil, two daughters, Hayley and alex, and a son, Luke. In this family Phil is the one with the most humor, in my opinion because he makes a joke about everything. His humor can be lame, but that's what makes it funny in my opinion. Claire is more uptight than Phil, and she is a perfectionist. Hayley is the stereotype of a sixteen year old girl; she is obsessed with her cell phone, her friends and her boyfriend. Alex is the middle child who is a bookworm and excels in school. Luke is the youngest of the family; some might say he is the dumb one of the family. The next family has two gay partners who have an adopted daughter. One of the men's name is Mitchell, and he is a lawyer who is a little more quiet than his partner Cameron. Cam is a loving guy who is friendly and can pretty much get along with anyone. Their daughter, Lily is the cutest baby ever; she never cries or shows any emotion during the show, but she is adorable just the way she is. The last part of the family has a wife, Gloria, a husband, Jay, and a son, Manny. Gloria is from columbia and she is a very outspoken, beautiful women. The husband is an older man who loves to play golf and who loves his wife. Their son, Manny, is mature for his age, and by blood he is Gloria and her previous husband from Columbia's son. Jay is the father of Claire and Mitchell, and that is how all three of these families are related. The humor in this show between these families is hilarious, and flows very naturally so that people can relate to these crazy families.

Doctrine pages 77-108

This chapter was all about creation. It says that creation is a gift from God and God created everything. He created the Heavens and the Earth (as said in Genesis 1:1), he created all of the planets and the stars, he created everything. I thought it was interesting how they said that there was a pattern to God's words in Genesis, which is the first book in the Bible. They said that the announcement was "And God said", the commandment was "Let there be", separation was God's separation of night and day, water and land, animals and plants, the report was "And it was so", and the evaluation was "And God saw that it was good". I really liked this because it kind of broke it down in terms I had never thought about before. There was a long list about what creation reveals about God, and it was this: God is the only God, Trinitarian, eternally, living, independent, transcendent, immanent, personal, powerful, beautiful, holy, a prophet, and a sovereign king. I think it's so amazing how creation reveals all this about God and yet there is still so much we as humans don't know about him. This chapter went on to list all of the different theories of creation and how the earth came to be. These theories sound so silly when I know that God is the creator and nothing else helped creation. One thing that also helps me to believe that God is the creator is the fact that God is outside of time. This is hard for us to comprehend because we live inside of time, where this is all we know. We know that everything has to have been created somehow, but God has always been there, there was no creation of Him.

Doctrine pages 37-76

This chapter starts off talking about how God reveals himself. God reveals himself through creation, common grace, and conscience. Part of God's common grace is rain, the sunrising every morning, and setting every evening, the air we breath and the moon coming out every night. Everyone is blessed with God's common grace because every human being is subjected to it, and feels and sees these things that God has provided us with. One analogy that this book made that I liked a lot was when it said that Jesus is the Last Adam who passed his test in the garden and this imputed his righteousness to us to overcome the sin imputed to us through the sin of the first Adam. This was an excellent analogy because it paints a good picture for us to understand the relation between Jesus and every part of scripture. This book also taught be what moralizing is, which a lot of people are accused as. Moralizing is reading the Bible to only learn principles for how to live life as a good person instead of learning about Jesus. This kind of approach to Scripture is not Christian because it treats the Bible just like any other book, to learn a lesson. This chapter also talked about believing every single part of scripture. You can't add to or take away any parts of the Bible because it is all God-breathed; therefore, it is all true and trustworthy. You can't believe one thing in the Bible and then not believe another part, it just doesn't work. No part of the Bible can contradict another part. Some people might try to say that the Bible contradicts itself, but those people are just missinterpreting parts of the Bible and using their missinterpretation as a contradicting, false accusation.

Snow Days

These past two snow days have been amazing for me. First of all, on tuesday it was unexpected that we would have the whole day off, so that was nice. I slept in til eleven, which I haven't been able to do in a few weeks. At noon I went to my favorite place to eat, Buffalo Wild Wings! I was able to meet up there with some friends, which was nice. Even though our school lunch is pretty tastey, Buffalo Wild Wings was still much better than the food I would have been eating if we had had school. After we ate, a few of us had planned to go back to my friend's house to go sledding because she has a big hill in her neighborhood. On our way back we decided that it was way too cold to go outside, instead we just stayed inside and watched a movie. Later that night I went home and just relaxed for a while. Then surprising news came that they issued another closing for the next day!
Today, on our second snow day, I am determined to finish as much of my homework as I can bare. I slept in til eleven again today, and am now doing some homework that I know I will be gald I did, later in the week. When I woke up this morning I looked outside and was blinded by the unending sight of white snow. When I went downstairs, I looked at our outdoor porch, and everything was lightly sprinkled with snow because of the strong winds blowing the snow in. I do hope that we have school tomorrow, so that we don't have to go even farthur into summer with school days. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

Crazy Love pages 83-100

This chapter was eye-opening for me. The title is "Serving Leftovers to a Holy God", and it talked about the idea of being "lukewarm" like in the last chapter. He gave many verses that helped back him up in his reasoning. One thing he said was that people are only willing to make changes in their lives if it affects their salvation. This is very true to most Christians; many of us are mainly concerned that we will make it to heaven more than our personal relationship with God. Francis said that so many people ask him questions like "Can I divorce my wife and still go to heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved?", these questions reveal the sins that people have done. We are so worried that we will not make it to heaven from our sinful actions, but yet we don't take the time to change our ways. Francis quoted Jesus's words in John 14:15 that say: "If you love me, you will obey what I command". This verse is very simple, but also complex at the same time. God lays out what we have to do, and we should do it, but instead we are so worried about doing the wrong thing and not making it to heaven. This chapter gives so many verses from the Bible that tell us exactly what we need to do in order to live a godly life, which I am striving to accomplish.

Favorite magazine to read

For those runners out there, "Runners World" is a perfect guide to help improve running techniques. I've had a subscription to this magazine for about two years now, and it has really helped me become a more knowledgable runner. This magazine gives the complete guide to running. It gives information for a wide range of runners, from beginners to marathon runners. This magazine gives the best types of foods that runners should eat, and it even provides the recipes to some tastey, runner-friendly meals. Exercises, to increase muscle in key areas that runners need, are provided in step by step instructions, and even include pictures of how to exicute them. Everyone who wants to become a runner, or is already a runner should check this magazine out!

Crazy Love pages 68-82

This chapter is called "Profile of the Lukewarm". Right when I heard that title I thought I had a pretty good idea of what all would be said in it. I've heard of being "lukewarm" in a relationship with Christ before, but I'd never thought of it the way Francis Chan put it. One thing that stuck out to me was when Chan said that he "rejected what the majority said", and instead he compared his life to scripture. Today in church my Pastor said that sometimes the majority is wrong, so we should always just listen to what God says. It's kind of ironic that I read this the same day that my Pastor spoke about it; to me, that's God trying to send me a sign. The next things that Francis said really stood out to me, he had a long list of things that "lukewarm people" believe and do. One of these things on the list that made me think was when he said that these people tend to do what is popular over what is right. He said that people strive to fit in based on what other people think of their actions and words, more than what God thinks of their hearts and lives. I'm sure everyone at one point or another has done things solely because they are accepted by the public. A piece of scripture that Francis quoted from Revolations 3:1 and said "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead". This goes along with pretending to be a Christian, but not obeying what the Bible says.

Crazy Love pages 39-64

This book amazes me everytime I sit down to read it. It makes me think ten times deeper about life than I ever thought was needed. Francis made a very good point about how we think that our lives are so important, but really they are just a vapor, and we tend to live as though we will live forever. Chan says that we tend to get caught up in our busy lives and feel that we have an excuse to disobey, or forget about God. I'm definitely guilty of this, I think that everything I'm obligated to do needs to get done before I can spend time with God, but really in the end He is the only thing that matters. I worry about a lot of things in my life, whether I will do well on a test, whether I will be successful in the future; I realized that when we stress and worry about those things we are doubting God's power. We tend to forget that He has already planned out our whole lives, and he know exactly what's going to happen in it, so we should just trust him with our whole life. Another awesome point that Francis brought up, that I've heard and thought about before, is that this life is about God, not me. We always think that the little things about us are what matters in our life, but the only thing that does matter is living a life for God. One thing that kind of scared me during my reading was when Francis said that so many funerals are full of people who have to make up nice things to say about the dead person because they can't think of any real nice things to say about them. And of course you can't say anything bad about the person who has just died, so people are put in the position to make the person seem like a better person than they actually were. I would really hate it my funeral was like that. I want people to say genuinely nice and true things about me; I want everyone to know the same "me". I try to be the same person around everyone, but that gets hard when peer pressure and society seemingly forces us to act different ways than how we really act.

Crazy Love pages 1-38

I started a new book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan because a few of my friends have read it and said it was amazing. I'm still reading "Doctrine", but I'm just switching on and off. The first chapter is called "Stop Praying", which I thought was interesting considering this was written by a famous Christian speaker. When I started reading I understood what he meant by stop praying. Francis meant that we should stop talking at God, and instead we should just sit in awe of him. He says that we as praying Christians do so much talking at God and so little listening to him. Chan goes on to talk about how it is so easy for us to forget to thank God and to talk to him. God has made thousands of galaxies, and He is uncomprehendabley huge, but still we seem to forget about him. I am this way too, I get so caught up in the little things in my life that I sometimes forget that God is so much bigger than I am. Francis made a good point when he said that it confuses us when loving God is hard. It should be so easy to love such an incredible, loving God, but it's hard. We get so caught up in thinking about what he don't have instead of all of the things we do have. I really liked the quote from A. W. Tozer; he says "...and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart concieves God to be like". I especially liked this quote because it is very true; just because people may seem like they are a strong Christian and always seem to say the right Christian things doesn't neccessarily mean that in their heart it is the same. And since God is the only one who can see our hearts, he is the only one worthy of judging us in the end of our life. Francis quoted this from Hebrews 4:13, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account". Too often we forget that no matter how hard we try to cover something up, God can always see it, and already knows it. Even though we can fool our peers about what we are really thinking, or our true intentions, God always knows our real thoughts.

Doctrine pages 37-100

These pages talk about how God speaks. The second chapter starts off with a verse from 1 Corinthians 2:11-12 which says, "So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God". This verse gives me comfort knowing that it's okay that I don't understand God's plan because He is the only one who knows it because He made it. This chapter also says that, "People want to know and be known" which I thought was very interesting and true. All humans strive to know more about the world and what's going on around them, but they also desire to be known by other people. We as humans try so hard to be socially accepted, but all that matters is God's acceptance. In these pages of "Doctrine" it also talks about how God reveals himself in the world. Even when we don't notice, or think that it is God's doing, He is always there. God reveals himself through creation, common grace, and conscience. One way God acts as a conscience is how that he has already written his morality on our human hearts. God brings missionaries to an unreached group of people to reveal the gospel to them. God even sends angels to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ, if necessary. This book makes me think deeper about my faith than I have before.

Doctrine pages 22-36

These pages in "Doctrine" continue to talk about how the Bible is a trinitarian. It says that god always works in unison and does so in history for his glory and for our good. I thought that was very interesting because God does everything for us even though we don't deserve any of it. We all sin every single day and God still loves us just the way we are and forgives our sins, I think that is truely amazing. This book states the verse Matthew 28:19 which says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". I have heard this verse many times before, but never really stopped to think about the trinity that is mentioned in this verse. It also quotes from the Bible Acts 1:7-8 which says, "He [Jesus] said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority'". I like this verse a lot because Jesus tells us that even when we aren't supposed to understand everything that happens in our lives, but that we should trust the he has it under control. The chapter sums up by saying that the trinitarian life consists of love, humbleness, relationships, and joy. It says that we should love everyone, even our enemies; I think that is very hard because it's hard to love the ones that don't have the same interests, or personality as you. It also says that God welcomes us into a relationship with him, which just blows me away that He wants a relationship with me.

Doctrine pages 1-21

I started a new book called "Doctrine, What Christians Should Believe" by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. This book is very interesting so far. It makes me think deeper about religion than I normally do. This book breaks down Christianity and answers very in depth questions people might have about the religion. The book starts out with this Bible verse: "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven [god the Father] said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'". That verse is from the book in the Bible, Matthew 3:16-17, and I really like this verse because it is the first time that God spoke down to earth about his son Jesus. The "Doctrine" continues to talk about how we as mankind, long for selfless, trustworthy, unending love from someone who we can trust to be faithful. It also says that we long for this kind of love, but then our longings turn into pits of selfish desire. This book says that our desire for unending, selfless love is ultimitely a longing for the Trinitarian God of the Bible. This chapter talks a lot about the trinity, which is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It says that many people confuse the trinity with being three separate things, but the Bible says that they are just three components that work together as one. I thought it was interesting how this book said that the word "Love" is spoken roughly eight hundred time in the Bible, and that the name "Yahweh" which means God, is used 6,823 times in the Old Testament. I like how this book just dives right into teaching and answering questions that people might have about Christianity.

video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozsOLdgp_y0

I thought this video was interesting because it gave me a visual of how to picture the setting as I read it.

A long way gone pages 58-100

In these pages of "A Long Way Gone", the boys find theirselves in a hut acting like their old selves again. The boys are running around and acting silly when a man enters the hut and demands them to stop, and their punishment is to give him their shoes. This turns out to be an awful punishment because they have to walk on hot tar which burns their feet. Their host brings them food and water and makes them feel all better. The cheif of the village comes to interrogate them and is fasinated by their unusual clothing. The cheif makes them dance to their rap music to prove that they know what it is. They continue on and find that the next village only has one large house and it is used for production of palm oil. They spend a night there and three rebel army men come, the boys hide away until they leave. One of the boys, Saidu was in a trance for a while. The next day they find that Saidu is not just in a trance, but he is actually dead. The boys had a quick burrial for him at the farm. The boys keep walking and grieving the loss of their friend. They finally make it to Ishmael's home town and they find that the town has been lit on fire with bombshells. Ishmael could not find his family and figures that they are dead. Ishmael starts taking his anger out on the boys with him and begins choking them and blaming them.
I can't imagine being put in Ishmael's situation. He had to go through this long, terrible journey and then only to find out that his family has died. I can see why Ishmael would take his grief out on his friends that he has been traveling with because I'm sure it's hard to accept the fact that his family is gone. I think it's interesting how every time the boys come into contact with the rebels, somehow they manage to escape. I wonder if soon their luck will run out and they will be captured by the rebels. I also thought it was a little creepy how Saidu's prediction of him dying, ends up coming true. This adds to Ishmael's grief having lost his whole family and one of his friends.

A Long Way Gone Pages 15-57

During these pages in "A Long Way Gone", Ishmael, the main character, keeps having these strange dreams in which he mixes his actual memory with imagination.  In an attempt to not have anymore of his strange dreams, Ishmael stays up all night.  Ishmael realizes that when there are no people filling a town, the town looks dead and somber, and even nature has no life to it when there are no people in it.  After many rumors about the rebel armies attacking Mattru Jong more days pass and the boys are safe with no interactions from the armies.  Later while Ishmael is cooking, the rebels attack the town and maddness fills the town.  People are running for their lives in mass chaos; the boys hop from bush to bush and eventually the rebels gave up on trying to capture them.  As the boys continue walking from their escape, they try to make food out of coconuts and fruit, but aren't satisfied with it.  They go to the market to buy food, but the market wasn't selling food because the market owners were saving the food for themselves.  While the boys are walking through grasslands, three rebels pop up and start harassing them and pointing their guns at them.  They then take them to a nearby village and start selecting people to recrute for the rebel army.  Ishmael's brother Junior was selected to be in the rebel army.  Ishmael and the other boys come into contact with other people throughout the next couple chapters and eventually ishmael ends up alone trying to find peace.  Ishmael is lost in a forest and is determined to find his way out.  He walks for days at a time and eventually comes into contact with an old man.  The old man is very selfless and is expecting death very soon.
I found these chapters very intreging and it kept me on my toes wondering what would happen next.  I thought it was very interesting how the rebels and other people were so fasinated by the boys' clothes and rap tapes.  I also felt bad for Ishmael because he eventually is all by himself trying to keep himself in mental order.  I can't imagine going through what he has to go through every day, being tortured mentally and physically from not eating or drinking or getting sleep.  I have to interact with people or else I would start loosing my mind, especially in the situation that Ishmael is put in. 

"A Long Way Gone" pages 1-14

The beginning of "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah, involves a few young boys who live in Mogbwemo and are very interested in the American rap culture. They started listening to American rap music and were blown away by it. They couldn’t believe that people could speak English so fast. Still amazed by it, they started trying to learn raps and sing them. Eventually they started dressing like the people who rap and talking like them too. They would say things like "Peace, son" or "I’m out," things they had heard the rappers say. One morning the four boys left for Mattu Jong, they packed their bags expecting to return the next day. The author adds foreshadowing that implies that they will never return back to their homeland. When they arrived in Mattu Jong, they met up with their friends who lived there. The next day the four boys waited for their friends to get home from school, when they heard the news that the rebels had attacked the mining areas, and an outburst of gunfire broke out. People were running around frantically looking for their loved ones and eventually running for their lives. They saw horrifying images of people covered in blood running scared for their lives. The four boys contemplated if they wanted to go back to their home to check on their families, or if it was too late.
I was very interested about the boys from Mogbwemo being so amazed by American rap. I thought that was interesting that they tried so hard to be like the people that are common here in the U.S. I was also interested in the fact that these young boys were allowed to walk sixteen miles by themselves to go visit their friends. People in this town don’t have a lot of material things, which helps them focus on the things that are really important, like family. They care so much about each other and don’t get caught up in material items. The foreshadowing that the author uses really interreges me to want to keep reading and figure out why the four boys won’t return to their home or ever get to see their families again.