Andrea's Star || Story Tidbits

I just finished writing my novella Andrea's Star, which I had started during NaNoWriMo. I would love to give y'all a synopsis, but so far what I've got is: "Its about a girl and her family." Yeah, still working on building those synopsis skills. I'll write one eventually. 

Anyway, here are some unedited pieces of the story:

"Katie, I tired, I really tried." 
But he should have tried harder. Andrea could have gotten hurt. I got hurt. Daddy should have been there. He should have kept me from those men, but he hadn’t. He had just sighed and let them take me, like it was no big deal.
Well, nothing like this was ever going to happen to Andrea. I would make sure of it. 

Daddy left. I watched Andrea play with my toys. I would protect her. She would never get hurt. 
But that keep I just kept staring at my pink cast, wondering if my arm would always be broken. 

“Katlin!” The pain in his eyes didn’t break through the fury inside me. 
“Just like all those years ago, you let us get hurt!” Images faded together, forming one fuel for the pain I was feeling. 
“Lower your voice.” His was authoritative, but I didn’t pay attention. He reached out twords me. 
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed “Just stay away. I never asked for you to come back in our lifes. Just stay away from both of us!” 

"Grandad would have known what to do." I whispered, holding the ring with both hands. 

He would have been so sad that I didn't talk to dad. He would have helped me find sense in all this mess. He would have known how to trust. 

I slipped the ring onto my thumb, letting it hang loosely, the string dangling into space. 

Granddad would have told me trust. 

I spun the ring slowly. It was so comforting in face of all the problems I could not touch.  

A World of Problems

We yell

We scream

We want to fix

A world of problems

We shake our fists

And argue

We want to lock up

Whoever did this

We try to grab attention

We want people to hear

Our opinions

We yell

We scream

All this time forgetting

That God never asked for rants 

He never asked for arguments

And the weight of this world

Isn’t ours to bear

Maybe we should replace yells with tears

Screams with helping hands

Arguments with encouragement

And opinions with prayer

Because in the end

I think you’ll see

That one tear was better

Then a flood of posts

And one word of encouragement

Is better than any argument you made

I'm praying for you, Florida. 

Savoring Single

Hey Everyone! I'm participating in Shelley Black's Savoring Singleness tour!

About the book:

Why savoring single? Because you were meant to enjoy it!

Finding purpose, knowing love, and experiencing adventure aren’t reserved solely for the married girls! You can enjoy a full and vibrant life even while being single. It’s also a perfect time to partner with what God wants to develop in you through this once-in-a-lifetime part of your journey! Girl, being single is okay. There is a purpose for it, and it won’t last forever. So savor it!

Amazon || Goodreads

My Review:

I’ll be honest here, singleness is not a topic I really dwell on much. I’m eighteen and very happily… me. I am very well aware this might change but until then, I’m pretty happy. 

So why did I pick up a book on singleness? Well, honestly I just enjoy most none fiction. 

And this one did not disappoint me. 

For the first few chapters, Miss Black did focus mainly on singleness and how to be content. She gave practical advice on how to rededicate that time to God. She showed how to use your singleness to pull your closer to God, and how the things you learn now will apply to your whole life.

My favorite part of the whole book was the section about purity. The author did it in such a way it really was not uncomfortable, and she really showed the reasons behind it. Also, she covered mental purity, which I appreciated so much. It really got me to thinking about way's I can work on making my thought patterns purer.

Overall, this was a very thought-provoking book on singleness.

I would not recommend this for anyone under 15 due to the mature themes discussed. 

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

About The Author:

Shelley Black has journeyed through being single longer than she expected and has since found joy, hope and purpose from a once begrudged season. She now challenges the status quo of what it means to be single as a modern-day Christian female, with a passion to infuse hope and restore joy to every single-girl heart. Shelley is a loving momma to her pup Lucy, is one proud “T” to six nieces and nephews and serves her local church in North Mississippi as the worship leader. Find her at SavoringSingle.com and across social media at SavoringSingle.

When Dreams Are Just Beyond Your Fingertips

I've been thinking a lot about dreams recently (Which explains last weeks post.) and I suddenly realized something. Sitting here, at eighteen years old, I am almost touching some dreams I had when I was younger.

Go to college. Learn to drive. Have a consistent job. Grow my blog. 

So maybe none of my dreams are huge, but they felt huge to me. They still do, in a way. 

I will be taking online college classes this year. Though I'm not going for a degree, I am looking forward to going back into school (Yes, I've missed it). 

This month I will be taking my first driving lessons. I might be a bit late jumping onto the bandwagon with this one, but that's because my siblings needed to learn first. I'm excited to finally get behind the driver seat. 

I'm am now working regularly as a babysitter. While babysitting is not my favorite thing to do, it has been great. Not only am I learning new skills, but I'm also earning money to pay for my college!

For two months now I have been working on a plan for my blog. I've realized some of the faults I have when it comes to blogging, and I'm working on ways to get better. I can't wait to see where the blog will go from here.

I've been dreaming about these things for years, and now they are close enough to feel. I am excited to see them unfold and see what God has in store. 

What are some dreams you are near to touching? 

The Dreams of a Thousand Nights

Here in this place 

Lays to rest

The dreams of a thousand nights 

The hopes of a thousand tomorrows 

The wishes of a hundred dandelions

And the longings of countless days 

Here in this place 

Lays to rest 

The dreams of a thousand dreamers 

Hundreds of fallen starts 

Here is laid to rest 

A million tears of pain 

The sadness of winter nights 

The anguish of summers crushed 

The bitterness of fall’s past 

And the depression of never sprouting spring 

Here in this place 

Is laid to rest 

Everything that we wanted 

Everything that we wished for 

Everything that should have come 

Here in this place 

Is laid to rest 

Every dream Good choose not to fulfill 

In the hope beyond hope 

That He will use these broken things 

To be soil for new plants

New dreams 

New hope and the promise 

Of countless tomorrows 

To be with Him 

January Highlights

I can't believe January is already over! Here are my highlights from the month!

I printed off my book Flight from Kelar using Lulu.com so I could read through it easier! It was awesome getting to hold my book like that for the first time. The cover turned out so much better then I expected.

I won a copy of Blossoms Gold by Hayden Wand and it was beautiful!

My sister and I roasted marshmallows in our little fireplace! It turned out surprisingly well. Before that I had only ever made them over a bonfire, so this was a new experience.

This is Luke with my gear from our walk.

I took a long walk with my dog Luke for company. We went for several miles and I just enjoyed getting to think. 

On a little back road behind our property I found an abandoned tractor. Obviously this meant I needed to take pictures with it, so I did.

I got a job! Okay, so its only one day a week for two hours, but its awesome. I'm helping babysit during a woman's bible study. It's been great!

This is the Super Blue Blood moon!

My family and I got up at six to watch the super blue blood moon. We had blankets and hot chocolate and a great view from our deck. Unfortunately just as it was covered clouds moved in. But we did get it see it up until then, so it was totally worth it!! 

Its that time of year again when things are frozen yet somehow Ceder lives on. I was down with a fever and burning eyes several times this month. Thankfully it hasn't been as bad lately!

One day I was hit with inspiration and I wrote a 1,800 word flash fiction called "Alice." Unfortunately, that was the only writing I got done all month long. =/

I took a lovely two week blogging break. It gave me some great time to just step away and reevaluate some things. I'm working on some new plans for the blog now!

I worked my first 1,000 piece puzzle with my sister Rebekkah. It was a Nancy Drew puzzle my mom got me, which was super cool!

Maybe Summer of 1999

The Purest Lauren Elizabeth 

Fly Bird Fly Letters to Jayna 

Five Ways to Grow This Year Audrey Caylin

When Books Become Movies Writing is Life

Autobiography of a Fantasy Character Adventures Awaits 

The Sun Will Rise and We Will Rise Again Totally Graced

Thoughts: Change and Two Years A Purpose and a Promise 

My January was not all I expected, but it was good! How about you?

What a Month Without Movies Taught Me

It's easy for me to get wrapped up in movies. I'm that person that could pretty much love any movie the first time. I get caught up in the emotions and characters. I love dramatic scenes and amazing endings. Once I start a series, I want to see the whole thing. I tend to overlook flaws in logic (because I really don't mind them in most shows) and minor bad content.

So while making my new years resolutions I decided that for one month, I would put aside all movies (including YouTube). I've done this multiple times before over the years, and I've always enjoyed it. Since I only average about two movies per week when I'm really into them, I didn't think it would be that bad. I didn't even think about evaluating my movie choice while I was away from them.

Let me tell you, when you completely step away from something, you start seeing it in a different light.

On January 7'th I was home alone and reading through Philippians. I stumbled on Philippians 4:8 again.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. -NLT-

Now I've read this verse a lot in my life. So I decided to play a little game with it that my mom taught me. I would see if the movies I loved could stand up to the test. I tried Star Trek first because I've watched hand picked episodes. It stood up to the honorable test. ... yup. that was about it. 

Then I got to thinking, you know, Star Trek is about the most worldly show I watch, so I decided to try something more neutral: Bionic Woman, the old 70's TV show. Its a pretty light, fun show with no objectionable content in the first season.  So... it stood up to pure and honorable. But when I thought about it there was nothing really good in that show ether. 

So tried one last one The Encounter. Its a Christian movie that has really blessed me. It past every single test. But I got cought up on the worthy of praise thing. What is worthy of praise, exactly? I decided to look it up in my concordance. 

Out of all the mentions of praise in the Bible, only a handful of them have to do with anything other then God. 

So it would stand to reason that since God is pretty much the only thing mentioned as worthy of praise that only movies that bring us closer to God are worthy of praise.

So all month long I've been thinking about that. I'll be honest, I don't like the idea of giving up all my non Christian movies. But here are some things I've realized now that I'm almost done.

1. I used my free time better. I got a lot more reading done this month, and I really got to thinking about how often I waste my time on movies and YouTube when I have work to do.

2. Most of the movies I am excited to get back to are Christian ones. Somehow a lot of the movies I was really itching for at the beginning of the month seem shallow.

3. It's been easier to push away fear. I've always had a bit of trouble with the unknowns of walking in the dark by myself. But without movies (good or bad) ringing in my ears, telling me what might be hiding out there, it's been easier to reason with myself how ridiculous I'm being.

4. Its hard to let go. In reading Philippians 4:8 I realize there are no exceptions. Period. God call's us to an incredibly high standard so that our life's will be a better quality. But letting go of the things I've loved and still love is hard.

I'm not promising that from now on I will never watch another show that isn't Christian. I have had some secular movies that have blessed be immensely. But what I am going to try to do is think before I sit down to watch something. God gave me the gift of free choice, and I want to use it wisely.

So what are your thoughts on this, do you agree, or disagree? I'd love to talk with you in the comment section below.