I am not going to lie for you.
Honesty is always the best thing.
If the truth makes us cry, then tears are what we need.
Truthful weeping always left one with a better feeling than lying smiles ever did.
When life is hard, I tell the truth.
I have always hoped you would do the same for me.
Because the truth is always good enough, even when it shatters our faith in this hollow world.
And when I am not worth trusting, it is because I am merely an acquaintance.
Fearless honesty is what defines friendship.
It is hard to bring the bitter truths in the caves of our heart to the dazzling brilliance of day.
But we can only see truth as a treasure when we see it in the light.

I Still Need to Be Saved

  Christ did not die so I can save myself. I still need to be saved. For some reason though, I find that thought uncomfortable. I will be the first to tell you that I am an imperfect person. At the same time, I do in some ways consider myself a good person. To a certain extent, that could be considered true. In many ways I am a stereo-typical southern Baptist girl. I do not smoke or drink or sleep around (but I am not really southern-Baptist and I do listen to rock and roll). But that is not what saves me. And that is frustrating sometimes.
  Part of my want to think the good things I do merit God's favor and He overlooks the bad. He does not though. He is too good and too holy for that. Because He knows I cannot live the perfect life, He sent His only son Jesus Christ to live it for me. Because He knows I deserve death, Christ died for me. And by His own death, Christ conquered death so I can live forever. In Christ I am a new person. The old me is passing away and all things are becoming new.
  I still fail though. The poison of my sinful humanity still drips in me veins. As long as I am living on this earth, I cannot conquer it on my own. But I do not have to. In me, Christ is destroying death with each rotation of the earth. Christ is still saving me everyday.

What I did this Week: The last Hobbit movie is coming!

  This past week has been a good one. I have been busy and have stayed out of trouble because of that. And here's what I did this week.

  Sunday, I finished reading Crime and Punishment which I really enjoyed. Though the story was painful at times, it hurt in the best way possible.

 

  I also babysat on Sunday and my brother Daniel and I made this pretty awesome egg and sausage and potato thing. It was a hit even if it is not the greatest looking food-stuff.

 

  As I blogged before, I went outside to take pictures of some birds on Monday. This is a robin and I named him Jason.

 

  If it has not already been made painfully obvious, I am crazy excited about The Battle of the Five Armies which is coming out in a couple of weeks. I have gone so far as to plan what I am wearing to go see the movie. Since my hair is too short to do an all out elf cosplay, I am just going to wear an elf inspired outfit. Monday, I made this hoodie and needle-felted leaves onto the sleeves.

 

  Skipping up a couple of days to Thursday, I made waffles for lunch just because.

 

  And all throughout the week I have been reading the wonderful weirdness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. 







 

  Then today, my brothers showed me what they did to Mater.

 
  Poor guy!

 

  And now I leave you with the song I am listening to right now.

 

 

That was my week!

Random 'Cooking Tutorial'

  So today, I had to make my brothers their afternoon snack. My little brother joined me in making these tasty little banana-wiches. Well, I did not actually eat any, but my brothers liked them. And here's how to make them.

  First, gather your supplies.

Peel your bananas.

Then, cut them into an even number of slices.

After that, smear peanut butter on half the banana slices.

Stick some chocolate chips in your peanut butter.

Then squish another banana slice on top.

And there you have it, brother-friendly banana-wiches.

"We're All Mad Here."

 

 

  Yesterday, I started reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. When I was younger, I tried to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and was frustrated by its lack of plot. Now that I have attained my twenties, Wonderland has been terribly funny. The same attributes that annoyed me at sixteen are now amusing. Its fun to read about Alice's strange encounters as she wanders about this odd little world. Maybe it satisfies the Bat-nerd in me to read the Mad Hatter's rendition of 'Twinkle, Twinkle little Star'. Or maybe its just that I now find the Cheshire-cat's description of Wonderland dangerously comparable to real life: "We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad."

beautiful age.

Why is youth the sign of ultimate beauty in society?

So often youth is spent trying to achieve the status of age.

Then when age does come in its own season, it is spent trying to reclaim a wasted youth.

Age means experience.

The dear little wrinkles that accentuate a smile had to be earned.

They are there because of years of smiling.

Years of toiling on when the road is rough.

Youth's face is smooth because so often it has no stories to tell.

Just a brave little face shinning on a new world.

Life leaves its mark on the face of the aged.

Life is often ugly, so not all scars can be pretty.

Foolishness is what makes age unattractive.

Why cover up a thing so beautiful as age?

Why elevate a thing so foolish as youth?

Birds and Cats

  I like birds. I am not overly fond of cats. Birds are pretty, they sing, and if you decide to let them stay out in nature, they usually do not have a big impact on your personal life. Cats are spoiled and selfish and lazy. And they eat birds. The cats my family owns kept the lovely songbirds in our area at bay. So here are some birds:

 

  And here's why the pictures of the birds I took were not super great:

 

 

 

  I do not care how cute those cats are. They kill birds! Okay, I do like them, but just a little bit.