Border-collie puppy
You have been warned.
With peace and love,
Sarah
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Whoa...
Today was an intense Sunday school class at my church. It was good. It was eye-opening. Here's what happened.
This girl who just recently has been baptized (last week, actually) brought some visitors to church today. They were different looking, which was fine. It didn't take long into the lesson, however, until we found out they weren't shy nor did they share our faith. One of the girls, who had short hair, at one point called a group of girls (of which I was a part of) out for giggling when someone halfway sarcastically threw out the idea of someone worshiping trees as an example for something. She kept emphasizing that people need to respect other people's religions, which is true. But she pointed us out kind of as an example of disrespect which was hard to not take offensively. It was rude, but you couldn't react negatively.
Then we got into understanding other religions, which in a way goes hand in hand with respecting them. If you expect non believers to listen to you about God, you need to be willing to listen to them about what they have to say. And it's important to be educated in the beliefs of other religions so that you know what you're up against and can know how to approach the topic of God without offending them. All of this was a big discussion the whole time between us students.
Of course, that brings me to my reflections on all of this. That whole thing made me realize how... how sheltered I am. You know? I live in this little bubble of Christian friends at a Christian school where I think that I am a good enough example of Christ when in reality... I've never experienced anything except people agreeing with my faith. I've never had to face any discrepancy when it comes to God. And when you're surrounded by Christians your whole life, it's easy to sit around and talk about being prepared to share your faith... theoretically. But that's all it is. Theory. It's like in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (here I go haha) when Umbridge is teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts yet never lets them practice it. She says "The Ministry believes that a theoretical understanding is enough to get you through your OWLS." It's the same thing. We private school kids have never had to worry about our faith at school. At church or in chapel, we may have a lesson on witnessing but nothing that is said in there is the same as actually doing it (which, of course, is hard for me to say since I've never actually done it. This is just what I feel from today).
Phew... anyway.... long story short, I learned a lot today. The whole hour of Sunday school was so intense because you could tell God was working something... yet the girls didn't seem convinced of anything. I hope they come back next week. I will surely be ready.
So pray. Pray for those girls, that they will come back and that God is whispering in their ear. Pray for a chance to show God to others (that is different than sharing God, mind you). And praise Him for today. It was good.
With love and peace,
Sarah
This girl who just recently has been baptized (last week, actually) brought some visitors to church today. They were different looking, which was fine. It didn't take long into the lesson, however, until we found out they weren't shy nor did they share our faith. One of the girls, who had short hair, at one point called a group of girls (of which I was a part of) out for giggling when someone halfway sarcastically threw out the idea of someone worshiping trees as an example for something. She kept emphasizing that people need to respect other people's religions, which is true. But she pointed us out kind of as an example of disrespect which was hard to not take offensively. It was rude, but you couldn't react negatively.
Then we got into understanding other religions, which in a way goes hand in hand with respecting them. If you expect non believers to listen to you about God, you need to be willing to listen to them about what they have to say. And it's important to be educated in the beliefs of other religions so that you know what you're up against and can know how to approach the topic of God without offending them. All of this was a big discussion the whole time between us students.
Of course, that brings me to my reflections on all of this. That whole thing made me realize how... how sheltered I am. You know? I live in this little bubble of Christian friends at a Christian school where I think that I am a good enough example of Christ when in reality... I've never experienced anything except people agreeing with my faith. I've never had to face any discrepancy when it comes to God. And when you're surrounded by Christians your whole life, it's easy to sit around and talk about being prepared to share your faith... theoretically. But that's all it is. Theory. It's like in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (here I go haha) when Umbridge is teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts yet never lets them practice it. She says "The Ministry believes that a theoretical understanding is enough to get you through your OWLS." It's the same thing. We private school kids have never had to worry about our faith at school. At church or in chapel, we may have a lesson on witnessing but nothing that is said in there is the same as actually doing it (which, of course, is hard for me to say since I've never actually done it. This is just what I feel from today).
Phew... anyway.... long story short, I learned a lot today. The whole hour of Sunday school was so intense because you could tell God was working something... yet the girls didn't seem convinced of anything. I hope they come back next week. I will surely be ready.
So pray. Pray for those girls, that they will come back and that God is whispering in their ear. Pray for a chance to show God to others (that is different than sharing God, mind you). And praise Him for today. It was good.
With love and peace,
Sarah
Thursday, November 17, 2011
I can't wait for a break. Even just one week off of school sounds like heaven. However our teachers obviously feel the need to load an unnecessary amount of work and tests on us the week before this break. I have a Spanish test tomorrow (that really needs to make up for the two quizzes I flunked along with the rest of the class) and a cumulative vocabulary test over six chapters (120 words). Fun, right?
Oh well, I'm just glad I won't have any real math homework for the rest of the semester. We're doing projects instead. My friend Emma and I are making a scaled down diorama of our dream treehouse. One half of it will be decorated by Emma and one half will be decorated by me. There will be a Jack-and-Jill bathroom and fireplace separating the two rooms. I plan to have a moose head above my fireplace. :) Anyway, it's going to be pretty fun.
More good news: I got a 104 on my latest biology test! This brought my average in that class back up to an A. Don't you hate when your grade is an 89?! It's like you're so close but so far away.
Anyway, all is well. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving break. We all have plenty to be thankful for.
With peace and love,
Sarah
Oh well, I'm just glad I won't have any real math homework for the rest of the semester. We're doing projects instead. My friend Emma and I are making a scaled down diorama of our dream treehouse. One half of it will be decorated by Emma and one half will be decorated by me. There will be a Jack-and-Jill bathroom and fireplace separating the two rooms. I plan to have a moose head above my fireplace. :) Anyway, it's going to be pretty fun.
More good news: I got a 104 on my latest biology test! This brought my average in that class back up to an A. Don't you hate when your grade is an 89?! It's like you're so close but so far away.
Anyway, all is well. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving break. We all have plenty to be thankful for.
With peace and love,
Sarah
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Life
I feel like I haven't given any indication of how my life is going lately so I felt like I should mention that everything is well. All I do is school, homework, church, eat and sleep. Every now and then I will babysit or have time for 30 minutes to and hour's reading. It's rather sad that I can't read with all the work I have. What's more sad is that I was actually inspired to write a story the other day but haven't had a moment's time to throw some words on the paper. However even school is going fairly well. I haven't run into anything too stressful or difficult yet. It all seems to be going to quickly. Time in general seems to have picked up its pace. Two weeks until Thanksgiving? When did that happen? Then Christmas and New Years and then the school year is over! I hardly had time to hate it...
Oh well, I suppose I should be thankful. Just in case you didn't know, here are a few petty updates:
New favorite band: Nana Grizol
New favorite movie: Peter Pan (2003 version)
New favorite song: Motion in the Ocean by Nana Grizol
New favorite quote: all of the ones on my Quotes page
New favorite website: Tumblr!
With love and peace,
Sarah
Oh well, I suppose I should be thankful. Just in case you didn't know, here are a few petty updates:
New favorite band: Nana Grizol
New favorite movie: Peter Pan (2003 version)
New favorite song: Motion in the Ocean by Nana Grizol
New favorite quote: all of the ones on my Quotes page
New favorite website: Tumblr!
With love and peace,
Sarah
Monday, November 7, 2011
Two sewing puns in a row? How unseamly...
Haha, that's punny. ;)
My sewing class is tonight! I'm excited. I hope I will learn to sew some of my own clothes (one of the things on my bucket list). I would love to make a cute skirt or blouse. Well, wish me luck. I need to go finish reading Book II of the Aeneid by Virgil. Ughhh :P
With love and peace,
Sarah
My sewing class is tonight! I'm excited. I hope I will learn to sew some of my own clothes (one of the things on my bucket list). I would love to make a cute skirt or blouse. Well, wish me luck. I need to go finish reading Book II of the Aeneid by Virgil. Ughhh :P
With love and peace,
Sarah
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