So Much More - The Good

In one of my literature classes, I heard that you should always point out what you agree with so that when you disagree with something the disagreement has more weight. I found that to be a good idea, so that is what I'm doing today.

So Much More was published in 2005 by the Botkin sisters, Anna Sophia and Elizabeth, through Vision Forum. We saw how well that ended. I did enjoy a lot of their stuff, both from the girls section and the boys section. Even though she dislikes it now, I still like Joyfully at Home by Jasmine Holmes, which was also published by Vision Forum.

SMM has caused a lot of stir in the Christian community. Normally I would tell you to read it for yourself, but there are a lot of good books out there and I want you to read those first. So I'm taking this bullet for you. 

I Guess That's Why They Call it "Amazing Grace"

I Guess That's Why They Call it Amazing Grace  

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now I’m found,

Was blind, but now I see!

Was blind to the things I needed to change. Was trying to save myself. Was trying to escape the darkness. That’s how I was when He found me. Since that day, He has given me light to see. Love to give to others and love for me. The love and grace I never would have deserved or earned on my own. I guess that’s why they call it, ‘Amazing Grace’.

‘Tis grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved!

How precious did that grace appear,

    The hour I first believed.

That grace grows more precious as time goes on, as I make more mistakes. As I fail, time and time again. That love that never leaves me, when I do or say something I never should have. Sometimes I feel like I am a waste of mercy, and that He will leave me. But He never does, and sometimes I don’t understand why. I guess that’s why they call it, ‘Amazing Grace’.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come!

‘Tis grace that has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

What I have come from, some could call a living hell. But God brought me through every time, every circumstance. I now can say, those times have made me stronger, because of the blood that came from my Savior, and because of the thing called, ‘Amazing Grace’.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun!

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise,

Than when we’ve first begun.   

But sometimes I feel like He doesn’t exist. Like He isn’t there. But when I look at a flower, a blade of grass, an ant, a thunderstorm, a sunrise, a sunset, my family, I realize He is. I think about the grace I really, really don’t deserve.

I guess that’s why they call it, ‘Amazing Grace.’

*Originally posted on my first (and now deleted) blog on 02/28/2013

15 Practical Ways You Know You're a LOTR fan

1. When someone calls you ‘Precious,’ you inwardly wince because you associate the word ‘precious’ with evil and the creepiness of Gollum.

2. The letters ‘dh’ makes the ‘th’ sound in Elvish. So when you read words like ‘adhere’, the word becomes ‘athere.’ You get bonus points when you’re reading out loud and the audience gives you a blank look.

3. When you’re talking about what you want in a future husband, the list becomes something like this: I want him to represent Jesus, be good with little kids, (insert the rest of your list here) and he has to look like (insert a LotR actor here)!

4. When you’re proud of the fact that you’ve lost track of how many times you have watched Fellowship, Two Towers, and Return. (I’ve lost track after twelve! :) )

5. When people ask which you would rather go to: Middle-earth or Narnia, and your response is this: “Let me put it this way – Narnia would be nice, Middle-earth is on my bucket list.”

6. When people say that the perfect couple doesn’t exist and you immediately think of Aragorn/Arwen, Faramir/Éowyn, Sam/Rosie, or Celeborn/Galadriel.

7. When you look outside, and you wonder if the woods you’re looking at would be a secret entrance into the Shire’s forest or to Fangorn forest.

8. It infuriates you beyond belief when people start to confuse characters and you have to refer to them by other characters the actors have portrayed; for example: Elrond as Agent Smith, Boromir as Ian from National Treasure, and Arwen as ‘That really sappy lady that hisses on that sappy version of Hulk.’

9. When you refuse to put your real state/country name on a piece of paper or your Facebook/Twitter page, and you put Minas Tirith , Rivendell, Rohan, or the Shire instead.

10. When you only want a copy of the One Ring for a present.

11. When you choose a theme song for yourself, you choose the song that plays when the Ringwraiths are riding to try and kill Frodo and capture the One Ring.

12. When you find a page on Tumblr that counts down to when the second Hobbit movie comes out – TO THE SECOND – and you sit there and just watch the clock run down. (I think the page is called ‘In a hole in the ground.’)

13. When someone mispronounces one of the LotR character’s name, you take it personally.

14. When you can hear the LotR characters talking – not in script – in your head.

15. When you’ve watched the movies so many times that you watch the scenery or background actors because you know what the main characters are doing every millisecond of the movies.

*Orignally posted on my first (and now deleted) blog on 07/10/2013