Food For Thought #18

About The Impure

He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

"Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.

Acts 10: 11-15

I'm not going to make this post flowery, or very long, because honestly I'm really not feeling in a flowery mood. 

How many times have we done what Peter did? How many times would we not talk to someone because they were 'impure'? How many people would we not reach out to because they we to messy? 

Never reject people because they look impure. What God has made clean is clean. Weather they are unsaved, a criminal, or anything. God loves them, and we shouldn't turn them away.

-Mikayla-

My Life (In as many posts as it takes) #46

Micaiah from Adventures Beyond the Horizon tagged me in the Bookshelf tag. So here goes! Enjoy!

Describe your bookshelf (or wherever it is you keep your books-it doesn't actually have to be a shelf!) and where you got it from:

My bookshelf is two boards nailed to my wall. My dad built it for me and my sister to hold glass objects on when we were younger, but Rebekkah let me take it over in recent years because my Nancy Drew collection fits perfectly on it. =D

Do you have any special or different way of organizing your books?

Well, my Nancy Drew’s are all in order, then my others are done by all my mystery books, then by size.

What's the thickest (most amount of pages) book on your shelf?

A Chance To Die by Elizabeth Elliot.

What's the thinnest (least amount of pages) book on your shelf?

Now We Are Six.

Is there a book you received as a birthday gift?

Red Rain and Peters Angle were both birthday gifts from my sister Sarah. =)

What's the smallest (height and width wise) book on your shelf?

Herbie Rides Again.

What's the biggest (height and width wise) book on your shelf?

Peters Angle or Little Women.

Most expensive book?

Captive of Raven Castle. I think it was 10 dollars. I’m not a very expensive book buyer.

 The last book you read on your shelf?

Little Women.

Of all the books on your shelf, which was the first you read?

I think my whole Nancy Drew series.

Do you have more than one copy of a book?

Yes, I have multiple copies of some of my Nancy Drew’s because I’m collecting some of the other additions. =)

Do you have the complete series of any book series?

Yes, Nancy Drew series. I used to own the whole Juvenile Christy series but I got rid of the last book because I really disliked it.

What's the newest addition to your shelf?

The Princess Spy. Sarah gave it to me about a week ago and got it signed. Its awesome!!! =D

Me being goffy with my book. I was just a bit excited. ;D

What book has been on your shelf FOREVER?

The Secret of the Old Cock.

What's the most recently published book on your shelf?

The Princess Spy.

The oldest book on your shelf (as in, the actual copy is old)?

The Treasure in the Tower published 1927.

A book you won?

I don’t have any I won. But I do have several I’ve worked to earn! =D

A book you'd hate to let out of your sight (aka a book you never let someone borrow)?

Wren. Its signed and I would only let someone borrow it if I really trusted them.

Most beat-up book?

Little Women. It was my sister’s old copy and I read it so much as well that the cover literally fell off.

Most pristine book?

Probably Wren. I’ve only read the paperback once so it’s still in great shape.

A book from your childhood?

In Grandmas Attic.

A book that's not actually your book?

None. The only books on my self’s are mine!

A book with a special/different cover (e.g. leather bound, soft fuzzy cover etc.)?

Not really.

A book that is your favorite color?

The second Christy book is kind of pinkish purple.

Book that's been on your shelf the longest that you STILL haven't read?

None. I’ve read them all.

Any signed books?

Five actually. Wren, Red Rain, Peters Angel, The Princess Spy, and So You Don’t Want to go to Church Anymore.

There you go! Anyone who wants to do this is welcomed to! 

-Mikayla-

Food For Thought #17

My friend Lauren put this Libester Award up on her blog for anyone to do. Usually I don't do tags on my Friday posts but this one was so spiritually based, I thought it would make a good thought post. =)

1. What is your testimony?

When I was eight, we were about to host a baptism at our house and seeing everyone so excited about it made me feel left out. I saw how much it meant to them to be a Christian, so I thought about it for a while and wanted to be one as well. While that’s when I became a Christian, I feel like I started actually trying to be more Christ like after reading “Treasures of the Snow” for the first time. This book inspired me about overcoming the everyday problems that each child faces.

2. What is one circumstance God has used to draw you closer to Him?

In 2009 my family left the church we had been going to for quite a few years. It was a very painful experience but over the years that one event has thought me lessons in Forgiveness and that I don’t have to be in a church to draw near to him. It really gave me the grounding for developing my own relationship with God.

3. What are two ways God has blessed you in the past week?

He had me meet a girl at a conference who lives in Texas who really blessed me with her conversation. He also allowed me to meet some of my favorite authors.

4. What are some books that have helped you grow spiritually?

I assume you mean apart from the Bible so; Treasures of the Snow, Rainbow Garden, A Chance to Die and a biography on Eric Liddle. 

5. What are your standards for the books you read, movies you watch, etc.?

I really find this a very hard question to answer because some of it has to do with the book/movie. Mainly I get all my reading/watching material from my sister Sarah, so I don’t even have to worry about what I’m reading.  

6. What are some scriptures that have gotten you through hard times?

“The Sovern Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces.” And Romans 8:38-39

7. What advice would you give to someone who is looking up to you?

Learn from my mistakes, and don’t make them yourself. 

8. What are your standards for close friendships?

That we both know the Lord. I really can’t poor my heart out to someone who doesn’t, even though I do feel comfortable talking with non-believers. That they be willing to stick with me, no matter what. That we both give to the relationship. I can’t have a close relationship with anyone who doesn’t give some. And lastly that they understand we are both flawed and be willing to forgive and ask forgiveness alike.

9. What is some helpful advice someone's given you?

To not be intimidated about how many people are entering a contest, simply enter, and trust that God will do what is best.

10. What is something the Lord has been teaching you lately?

             That being “Me” isn’t nearly as important as being who he wants me to be. 

11. Do you like Oreos dipped in milk? (A lighter question, since the others were more serious and this is a silly post.)

Haha, actually I prefer putting the Oreo in my mouth and then taking a drink of milk. ;D

I tag Micaiah, Bethany, Ashley, Julia and Lauren for the above questions.

If you would like to do this tag, feel welcome to!

-Mikayla-

Writing Wednesday #9

Hello! Well, in my recent poll, I asked what y’all wanted to see in my posts and one of the most popular votes from Writing Wednesday was Character Interviews! So, I am going to attempt to do more of them for y’all! Not that it’s going to be hard, I adore getting to ‘talk’ to my characters. ;D

So, today I have a character from a book I just started. The book is “Just Your Ordinary Messenger” sequel to “Just Your Ordinary Girl”. I did an interview with the main character, Mandy, and you can view that here. Today I have one of the characters from this book, Brook.

Photo via Pintrest
I take no credit for this photo.

Mikayla: So Brook, what is this book about?

Brook: Well, without telling too much; this book is when Mandy is working for A.C.T. (American Crime Taskforce) as a messenger, and she picks up a very important lead and is on the way to tell it to me when she is intercepted. To tell much more would ruin the story, but it is much more emotionally charged than the last book.

Mikayla: What part do you play in this book?

Brook: At one part of story, Mandy has to get a series of shots, and she’s terrified of needles, so a good part of the book is my role as a comforter in Mandy’s life. She’s about ten years younger than me, and I pretty much think of her as a little sister.

Mikayla: Would you please tell my readers about David.

Brook: *Scowl* the creep. Sorry, David comes in this book as assistant to the bad guy (Nameless at this point). David basically is does everything he’s told by him, including kidnaping Mandy. So yeah, were not on good terms though he does end up playing a big role on the bad side in this book.

Mikayla: Do you want to share anything from this book?

Brook: You just can't resist showing off your writing can you?

Mikayla: *Cough* Do you want to share it Brook?

Brook: Fine, here is the opening. This book is from Mandy's point of view, just so y'all know.

I watched as Matt struggled in vain to free himself from his captors as the two men led me down the empty alley way. My heart thumped loudly as they led me to a waiting car. 

“Let her go!” Matt yelled, and I looked back with pleading eyes. Wishing her could get free and help me, and also wishing he wouldn't put himself in danger like that. 

I screamed as they shoved me into the car and I fell down on the seat. 

“We meet again Miss McMullen.” I shank back at a familiar voice. “Though I hope this time you will be on more agreeable terms.” 

I pulled my knees up between my chained arms, hopefully to give myself some protection from him.

“Tut tut, Mandy, I hope you know me better than that. I won’t hurt you, as long as you tell me what I want to know.”  The man tisked. 

“You’re not exactly my go to person to hang out with and tell my secrets to.” I said glaring at him. 

“Ether tell me what I want to know or I will be forced to use other means to get it out of you.” He growled. 

My heart pounded as he talked and tried to keep myself calm. It would be okay. Matt and Brook would find me. I would get out of this. I had to, or life was going to become a lot more complicated for more than one person. 

-Mikayla-

My Life (In as many posts as it takes) #45

So, I'm sitting here at 8:30 in the morning, I've been awake for over an hour and still my brain refuses to wake up. Thus, I apologize for any and all mistakes I have already made and may make in this post. If anyone is wondering about the somewhat formal tone of my post, that's cause I just watched Pride and Prejudice, and its rubbing off on my languge. ;D 

So, the object of this post is to share photos of nearly a month ago on my last day of co-op and meeting up with my friend, Lauren. I thought ya'll might like to see. =) 

I'm on the left and to the right is Tessa, the girl I did my favorite skit with. Shes a amazing actress and singer. Not to mention shes a blast to hang around. =D

Our leader surprised us all by on the ending day of co-op saying all us kids would be singing for the ending. The point of surprising us was probably not have a lot of comp outs. I'm directly in front of the guy in orange, and the little girl I'm holding is Teagen. =)

This is a reading from our Novel Writing class. =) 

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from my skits, only videos and I couldn't unload them =/

Below is from when I met up with Lauren. Shes moving away from Texas next month, so this was the last time we got to see each other. She blogs <Here> if you would like to cheack it out.

We stoped at our post office and far be it from me to enter a place without taking photos. ;D

Me and Lauren. =) Isn't she just gorgeous???

We also happen to be little kids and love swin sets. I wish I could have gotten a full on shot of her laughing because she has the most contagious smile/laugh ever.

I got to take some pictures of her. *Happy sigh*

And then she took some of me. Unfortunately I wasn't able to upload many because I was short of time or I would be able to show off her amazing talent to you all.

Not quite sure what happened here. ;D

Random. ;D

Thank you all for reading! If you haven't answered my poll on last weeks post please do so <Here>, it would really help me!

-Mikayla-

Food For Thought #16

In which I have no conclusion to this story.

With every new week seems to come another new thing I need to work on in my life. This week it was really hard. I snapped at one of my siblings, then realized it was becoming a habit. Then I kind of looked at my behavior in general and realized somewhere in the past month (maybe longer) I have slipped into a lot of bad habits. Habits that will just keep getting worse and worse if I don’t work on them. Looking back, I realize that the problems I’m having weren’t all started with one decision, I've made a lot of really little decisions that have kept getting bigger until I finally came to see them clearly this week. It wasn't that I wasn't aware that my self-control was not at its best, but it just hadn't registered what I was doing to myself until I saw some of the effects of it.

Last night I was almost in tears thinking of all the things I needed to work on in my life. Including, but not limited to; Self-control, honesty, patience, pride, and anger. So yeah, when I started thinking of all the stupid things I had done I got pretty overwhelmed. I have always known that I’m flawed, but being able to remember, in just the past few days, a slew of things I have done to prove each of the above faults was getting worse was hard. 

So I laid in my bed and prayed about each one of them. I cannot say I felt like they were all taken care of, but I did feel much more at peace about it. Today, I worked at doing better in each one. And tomorrow I will do the same, and I probably will continue for a good long time. 

So, yes, as you already know I’m very flawed. But for the first time in weeks I really feel like I’m doing something to work against the temptations. 

-Mikayla-

Make Someones Day Tag

Hello everyone, today I'm doing a tag started by Jessica of (Almost) Perfectly Pink. 

Here's what its all about;

So, if ya'll would all help me, I would like to make Lauren from Defying Depravity feel loved today! 

Lauren is an amazing girl, who always seems to have something new and funny to say and perk up my day. Her blog has some wonderfully deep thoughts on it. Every time I read it I get inspired and it really has helped me grow it my faith. I hope y'all with find the time to check out her blog, its worth the time.

-Mikayla-

My Life (In as many posts as it takes) #44

Hello everyone! I've just had a very busy week so its nice to be going into a slower one. =) Okay, so for the past two-three weeks I've felt very uninspired for blog posts so throughout this post there will be little polls. If you would comment with your responses I would be VERY VERY grateful. I'm a little desperate for post ideas. =P 

There are a lot of photos, so good luck with getting to the bottom! =D 

I was given a rose at the last day of co-op. =) (I also got a little obsessed with taking photos of it. ;D) 

BLUEBONETS!!! =D

My Life posts. 

What would you like to see more of?

A. Photos from around my house/land.

B. Less photos of things 

C. More writing about different things in my life 

D. Write your own answer 

E. Books/Media that I like.

(Your welcome to do D. along with another answer)

*Happy sigh* Green grass. =) 

My sister grew the little strawberry herself. =) 

Back to the rose. ;D

Writing Wednesday

What would you like to see more of in WW? 

A. Writing Advice 

B. Writing excerpts 

C. More Poems 

D. Character Interviews

E. Write in a subjection. 

My glitter gars. =D I had a lot more photos of them, but the lighting was really bad. =P 

A new doll dress I made. =) 

Loved this one. =) 

I know this one makes the rose look very dark but I ended up really liking it. =) 

My rose and typewriter!! 

Yes, I know, I got a lot of the rose and typewriter together. ;D

Food For Thought 

What would you like to see more of for FFT? 

A. Verses. 

B. Struggles I've had.

C. Guest Posts. 

D. Write your own suggestion.

Blurry, but Luke was so cute doing that cat pose. ;D

Sunstream. =) 

I was rather proud of my polyana. =) 

I was trying to catch my bow from the fround but obviasly I need help aiming the selfie setting. Oh well, it turned out alright anyway. =) 

The pound! =D

Sarah, the only one in our family who knows how to play piano. =) 

These are some quotes I made from a tutorial at Jessica Blog.

Thank you so much for reading. Please comment with your ansrews! 

-Mikayla-