Dreamer

This was one of those pictures that wasn't supposed to be 'nice'- it was just a snapshot of a friend that I fell in love with.

Doubts

It was a dark and stormy night... just kidding, it was actually a quiet and grey morning, and I was not happy. I was sad, lonely, and far from home. I wanted to be home, but I knew I wouldn't be for a week. I picked up my Bible, looking for comfort. I thought, In all the missionary biographies I have read, they just start reading and find exactly the strength they need. Do they just open to a random spot?

I asked God to please show me something comforting, but I still had doubts. After some weighing of ideas of where to read, I just decided to pick up where I had left off in the Psalms a few days ago. I was on the 13th.

I started reading, barely expecting anything.

But God still cared about me, even when I was doubting His love. That 13th psalm epitomized the feelings of loneliness I had that morning and gave me back the knowledge that God is always, always watching and caring for me.

I will sing to the LORD, because he had dealt bountifully with me. -Psalm 13:6

A dilemma

Have you ever been overwhelmed by books? You know, felt like there is so much to read, too much to read? That you should be reading the classics, like Dickens and Dostoyevsky, to improve your education, but you want to read some fantasy for fun? That's what I am feeling like today. The above picture is of all the library books I have out right now, their total number being 12. I have started five of them already, spastically reading one whenever I feel like it, along with the couple of books I have started here at home. So I probably have bookmarks in eight different books right now, not counting earlier today when I picked up The Outsiders to page through it and remind myself of the characters (I actually didn't put it down until chapter five or so).

Anyway, my point here is that sometimes reading loses it magic and becomes a hectic scheduling chore: Let's see here, if I read one chapter of Peter Pan, half a chapter of Gone With the Wind, five pages of Crime and Punishment, and several chapters of The Door Within, then I can count today as one that was profitable. Tomorrow I can do different books. Oh, and need to write some of my own book today, too. Maybe I can scribble something this evening.

I am tired of restricted reading! Today, I will read what I want to read, when I want to read it. Who's with me? :)

P.S.- If you have read any of the books in the picture and thought that they were really good or really bad, I would love to hear about it!

A fairy tale

Last Saturday, something happened: A wedding! Princess Victoria of Sweden married a commoner, Daniel Westing. Rather like a Cinderella story, isn't it? I am mostly Swedish in my heritage, and love European royals, so this was doubly exciting for me. It's truly a fairy tale. Congratulations, Victoria and Daniel!

Camp

Here I am, returned from camp! My duties, aside from being a cabin leader, were to lead crafts and nature expeditions. I had fun! Here are some samples of the week:

We went on a scavenger hunt.

I helped them make Popsicle stick boxes.


We did some watercolors.

We caught some bugs to look at. Isn't this Damsel fly pretty?

On the first day, a lady came with supplies to paint tote bags. The kids loved it!

Here is the lake, while it was rainy out. I love the grey and green. It rained all day Monday, but inside games and activities kept people happy. Every other day had splendid weather, though.

Being a leader was not always an easy job, but it was worth it when I saw improved behavior in some of the girls. It was incredible to see God work in them. The other cabin leaders were fantastic, too! I was so glad to have such great people working alongside with me and to meet new friends.

Leaving

Today I leave for my first week of being a camp counselor. I would totally love it if you would pray...

1. ...that the kids will be open and receptive to the Gospel.

2. ...that the other counselors and I will form a great team.

3. ...for good weather!

4. ...that God will be glorified. I know He will be. :)

But Jesus called to them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a small child shall not receive it. -Luke 18:16-17

I love this verse. It reminds me that I do not need to get all technical and picky about God and my faith. I just need to love and trust Him.

Templates and layouts and themes, oh my!

[Sorry, I just couldn't resist that title!] Wowza, hasn't this blog changed? I discovered the template designer thing and, after some apprehension, dived right in. To tell the truth, I rather missed my old template and Shabby Blogs theme, but I have warmed up to this very new one. Who knows, maybe I am not finished with it yet... What do you, as the people that will be looking at this page the most, think? Please tell me, as I L-O-V-E feedback.

This morning, at around 4:30 AM, a huge thunderstorm blew through my area. It was the perfect thunderstorm, as it: had a good balance of thunder and lightning (both very loud and bright), lasted for quite some time, poured rain, and wasn't destructive. Mmm, why can't there be more of those storms? Anyway, after it mostly blew over, the birds began their usual singing, only a little late. I thought that, although the storm delayed their singing and the morning, it did not terminate them completely. There were even some left-over rumbles of thunder and small flickers of lightning, but they sang as soon as they could. I liked that.

Well, I am off to the zoo for the morning with my mom and sister, and I hope that you have delightful day, too!

[I began this post with brackets, and I am ending it with them, too. I probably sacrificed some facts about birds in the paragraph about the storm, but I liked the idea of recovering after trauma too much to alter it.]

A higher calling? Oh yeah.

I love heroes. Stories like The Lord of the Rings infatuate me. In those stories, the good guys are fighting with they got against a great, dark, evil enemy. Their purpose is noble: keep the world free and peaceful. And when I read the trilogy or other books like it, I want so badly to somehow get into the story, like go through Lucy's wardrobe or something, and experience it for myself. But, as I far as I've experienced, that isn't possible. So I would get rather sad. I thought that I was doomed to a life of wishful thinking and empty dreams.

But I am not.

God has given me, and all Christians, a chance to do something nobler than the heroes and heroines in fiction get to do: I get to help fight His battles:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 6:12

God is allowing me to fight in a war which has an eternal outcome. We by ourselves are not strong enough to fight in this war, but God gives us the strength we need through the Bible and constant contact with Him. And this is not a war with a possibly hopeless and uncertain outcome; God is going to win this one.

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. -Revelation 17:14