30 December 2009

summer cannot come too soon

Tricksie little hobbistsses, they have the precious!

Can you tell I've been reading Lord of The Rings? Those books are amazing! Love 'em. Speaking of Lord of The Rings, guess what I'm doing this summer? (This has absolutely nothing to do with Lord of The Rings, except that the author was British.) Now that I've given you that small hint *British* I will tell you. I'm going to go to England in late May, and stay until early August. Hopefully, that is. It's still up in the air a little, but it looks as if I'll be able to go visit some friends. Did I mention we used to live in England? While I'm there, I'll go back to the town I used to live in, and visit the house, and our old next-door-neighbors. Sometime during those three months, I'll go down to Wales to visit my cousins. I cannot wait. :)

hello hurricane

Well, that wasn't the brightest idea to post "Hello, blonde" right before "Hello Hurricane." Anyways, I did buy the CD. I. Love. It. It is amazing. The whole thing is really good, but my favorite would have to be "Yet". The whole album is incredible, and I absolutely love it.

28 December 2009

hello, blonde

Yesterday morning, I stepped into the shower and thought my feet felt funny. I looked down, and saw that my socks were still on my feet. I felt ridiculous.

27 December 2009

merry late christmas

Merry Christmas! Ok, so it's a few days late, but I've been busy. Kind of. Actually, not busy at all, just the kind of busy when you have nothing to do, and just lay around and hang out with the family. It snowed, and I was probably more excited about it than I should have been. I mean, it's just snow. We got a lot though, enough that me, my brother, and my sister went out sledding. It was amazing. Tomorrow, I plan on sleeping in, maybe reading a little, and playing outside in the snow. Good night! I hope you had an amazing Christmas!

19 December 2009

it's christmas time!

It finally snowed! I woke up this morning late and my little sister came to wake me up. I basically ignored her until she announced that it was snowing. Well, that got me up pretty quickly. It's been lightly snowing all day long, and hopefully it will continue through the night. Have I said that I love snow?

As much as the snow helps put me into the Christmas spirit, as well as the tree filling up with presents, and the baking stacked all around our kitchen, that really isn't the point. Remember when you were little, and your parents always had to remind you about the importance of Christmas, and how it wasn't all about the presents and the food? Now, they don't tell us that. We have to remind ourselves, take the responsibility. Sure, the presents and everything else are exciting parts of the holiday, but that's not what it's all about.

The lyrics from a Taylor Swift Christmas song sums it up nicely:

"Christmas Must Be Something More"

What if ribbons and bows didn't mean a thing
Would the song still survive without five golden rings
Would you still wanna kiss without mistletoe
What would happen if God never let it snow
What would happen if Christmas carols told a lie
Tell me what would you find

You'd see that today holds something special
Something holy, not superficial
So here's to the birthday boy who saved our lives
It's something we all try to ignore
And put a wreath up on your door
So here's something you should know that is for sure
Christmas must be something more

What if angels did not pay attention to
All the things that we wished they would always do
What if happiness came in a cardboard box
Then I think there is something we all forgot
What would happen if presents all went away
Tell me what would you find

You'd see that today holds something special
Something holy, not superficial
So here's to the birthday boy who saved our lives
It's something we all try to ignore
And put a wreath up on your door
So here's something you should know that is for sure
Christmas must be something more

We get so caught up in all of it
Business and relationships
Hundred mile an hour lives
And it's this time of year
And everybody's here
It seems the last thing on your mind

Is that the day holds something special
Something holy, not superficial
So here's to Jesus Christ who saved our lives
It's something we all try to ignore
And put a wreath up on your door
But here's something you should know that is for sure
Christmas must be something
Christmas must be something
Christmas must be something more

There's gotta be more
There's gotta be more


For me, it's about not just focusing on the presents, the music, the family, and the food. It's about a little baby boy born 2000 years ago in a stable. It's about the sacrifice that he gave. It's a celebration of his birth.

That's all I have. Merry Christmas!

14 December 2009

no words

I feel like writing something, and yet I have no words. I feel like there's something that I need to say, and yet I don't know how to say it. I feel like I have something to get off my chest, and yet I don't know what it is. hmmm, maybe it's just Monday.

11 December 2009

snow day

Not. I wish it were a snow day. Where I live, we've had snow all of two times, and a wimpy one inch both times. I just wish it would snow. My whole house is starting to look nice and Christmasy, but one look out the window, and nooo, no snow. The worst part? Its freezing cold. Now, I love snow, and I don't mind cold as long as snow comes with it, but when its miserably cold outside and there's no sign of snow, that's just ridiculous!

On the bright side of Christmas preparations, we put up our Christmas tree last week, and it's beautiful. I'm downloading the free iTunes Holiday Sampler, and I love it. There's just something about Christmas music by artists that are popular now, not fifty years ago. In addition to the iTunes Holiday Sampler, the Single of the Week is Joy to the World by David Archuleta, and it's worth listening too. On the subject of iTunes, I really need a gift card!!!! I downloaded iTunes 9 three days ago, and now my wish list is over $100. On the top of my list is the new Switchfoot CD. I previewed all the songs, and I can't wait until Christmas. My mom won't let me buy a gift card, because I'm asking for one for Christmas. But you can never have too much iTunes money, can you?

Check out The Inkwell to see what they're doing Christmas-wise!

22 November 2009

thanks...

family, for everything you do for me and put up with from me, and yet you still love me. :)

youth pastors, for being amazing, and always being there for me.

best friends, for never letting me down, loving me no matter what, and laughing like crazy.

God, for obvious reasons that I don't think I have enough words to describe.

21 November 2009

Do Hard Things



Do hard things. I'm currently reading this book, written by twin brothers Alex & Brett Harris when they were 18 years old. This is a hard book to read. It challenges you to pull out of your comfort zone and do things adults never dreamed teenagers can do. It challenges you to defy the low expectations of our culture, to rebel against our culture's ideal, to revolutionize our world, to become a "rebelutionary."

The website describes it: "Written by teens for teens, Do Hard Things is packed with humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life rebelutionaries in action. This rallying cry from the heart of revolution already in progress challenges the next generation to lay claim to a brighter future, starting today."

This is a really great book, and I would encourage everybody to read it, teenager or not!

20 November 2009

Saying goodbye

Recently, my best friends and I had one of our really close friends, almost like a big sister, start ignoring us. It was totally out of character, and we couldn't understand what was happening. She just stopped talking to us, and wouldn't ever answer if we tried to call her or anything. All four of us in our group of close friends had a hard time with that. Last year, our eighth grade year, we hung out all the time with this friend, and then this school year started, and it was like she wasn't even there anymore. It was really hard to try and deal with this, because she had become a big part of our lives, and then she was just gone. We're still trying to come to grips with the fact that she most likely won't be back, and if she is, then it won't be the same. Our relationship will never be the same after she hurt us like that. It's really difficult to let go of this relationship and move on, because she was such a big, influential part of our lives last year. I think that even though its been so hard, as friends we've grown closer because of how she left us, and its been good to talk about it and grow closer together. Its still hard and I'm not ready to tell her goodbye and let her move on with her life.

01 November 2009

Photography




Recently I've been taking a lot of pictures of the fall landscape. I just thought I'd share a few of my favorites.

07 August 2009

The Crazy Chicken Lady


Once upon a time, a crazy lady bought twenty-four chicks. The first time her daughter held one of them while they were still little and cute, it pooped on her and her backpack. That was only the beginning.

They got big and and very not-cute fast. Soon, they were too big for their little pen in her office, so she made another pen for them. Then, one died. There were still twenty-three chicks left, and all of them were growing fast.

Soon, they got too big for the two pens. So the crazy chicken lady moved them out into her covered porch where they had a lot of room. But they kept on growing. Before long, the pen was too small for twenty-three medium sized chicks.

The crazy chicken lady finally moved them out into their very own coop, where they could live happily ever after.

Or not. Before she knew what was happening, the coop grew too small for twenty-three largish sized chickens. Finally the day came when all of the roosters could be taken and killed. The crazy chicken lady had thirteen chickens in the freezer, and ten chickens in the coop. The coop wasn't crowded, and life was good.

The crazy chicken lady lived happily ever after.

The End

05 August 2009

On our way

A couple of times a year my family visits Colorado. This is a two-day long trip, usually with one stop in Illinois, then continuing on the next day for a fifteen-hour drive. The first day is usually enjoyable, but on the second day of driving, everyone is tired of driving, they want to get out of the car, headphones are broken, snacks are gone, the car is trashed, and even in our eight passenger suburban, everyone feels crowded, and we just want to get to grandma's house.

This year it seemed particularly stressful getting out the door. We were waiting to find out if we could get free tickets to an amusement park, we had to load the car, and on top of everything else, one of our kittens got hit by a car. I panicked when I saw it rolling over, and just when I was about to run and see if it was ok, it kept on running and ran straight back to our deck in the back of our house. Thankfully, it was fine, except for a sore back leg.

Even with all the stress and chaos of getting out of the house and the long days in the car, Colorado is worth it.

22 July 2009

Rain, rain, go away

In our family that rhyme is not often said. With the exception of maybe two, all of my family loves the rain.

And so, today was a happy day. We were planning to head into town earlier today, when the rain thundering down outside gave me an idea. Being outside in the rain is one of the best things to do, and being outside in the rain on a trampoline is even better. The only problem was, we were about to leave.

I found my mom and asked her what else needed to be done for us to go. She said that she needed to drink her tea and clean up and then we were going to leave. I asked her if we could go jump on the trampoline, and then, as she groaned out a maybe, I dashed upstairs to change clothes, grabbed a sister, and ran to the trampoline.

As soon as I bounced, I knew that it was going to be fun. Instead of the normal type of bounce, this first one was so much looser, more elastic. My little sister yelled at me to stop jumping while she was getting on, and I stopped. Barely. My other sister got on too, and all three of us jumped like crazy, occasionally slipping, occasionally falling, but having fun

I really love the rain.

13 July 2009

Don't forget to sign the door!

In our new house, we have started a new tradition in our family. We have a coat closet in our entryway with a plain white door. If you open the door and look inside the closet you will see a neat row of coats, and, to the left of the coats, a hanging row of cubbies holding mittens, gloves, and hats for winter. As far as you can see, it is a normal closet, with nothing special about it.

If you turn to the inside of the door you will see white paint, and a lot of signatures. With the exception of a few people, every single person who has ever slept in our house since we put that door up has signed the door. Some people try to come up with profound words, others try to outdo each other with elaborate drawings, and some simply sign their name. The only bad thing about this is that we, my family, will never get to sign the door, since we live here.

So the next time you look inside someone's coat closet, turn your head and see if maybe, just maybe, someone signed the door.

01 July 2009

What's not to love about moms?

My mom is an amazing person. Not only does she put up with all five of us kids on a daily basis, (as does my dad) she is really supportive of a lot of the things we do.

Earlier today, my parents called us into the family room. The announcement was: the older three of us could get Facebook accounts. Yes! We had been bothering our parents for a few months so we were super excited when they finally said yes. That part was both of my parents decision, so awesomeness points go to both of them!

Later on in the day, i was in the kitchen working on something, when my mother came in and asked me if I wanted her iPod. Hmm, that takes a lot of thought. Of course! I asked her if she was giving it to me, or if I needed to buy it. She said that she would give it to me because a friend of ours had just given us an iPhone! I'm super excited. I've had money to buy a nice iPod for a long time, but there have been things I wanted more, like my laptop. And then, to top it all off, my mom gave me her headphones. Thank God for moms.

28 June 2009

Wake-boarding is Amazing, and Sunburn is NOT

On last Saturday morning my brother, sister, and I went to spend the week with friends while our parents were gone at a conference in Georgia. For Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we went up to Crooked Lake up by Fort Wayne, IN.

I thought that we would spent the three-day weekend tubing behind our friends' boat, and maybe swimming a little bit. Instead, they purchased three wake-boards over the course of the weekends, and kept two.

On Saturday, we started to try. We didn't have instructions or anything, so we had to figure out how to do it on our own.

We ended up going back to the cottage with only one person successfully getting on top of the water: me!

On my second try, I managed to get on top of the water, even though I squatted the whole time and never actually stood up. But hey, I got on top of the water, and for that I am proud!

The next day the teenage guys looked up instructions for how to wake-board the real way, with much better results than before.

We stayed out on the water for most of the day, coming back in to eat a late lunch at 3:00, then we went back for more wake-boarding. This is where the sunburn comes in.

We thought that we put sunscreen on, we thought that we put it on good, but we didn't. The result being: we got burnt. Badly.

That night when we came in, we kept our legs as stiff and straight as we could, since they looked like lobsters and felt like they were on fire. Getting to sleep that night was NOT fun!

And now, nearly a week later, my sunburn is STILL peeling from when it started two days ago. I'm totally used to my shoulders and back peeling off a few days after I get burnt, but not my ears. Yes, my ears peeled. Gross! At this point, my legs have still not peeled, and are red and itchy.

Now, with my sunburn going away, I can't wait to go back on the wake-board and try to do some tricks!

12 June 2009

The Tractor and the Turtle

I just spent most of my day at my grandma's house with my dad, doing some of the work that comes with having a gorgeous pond in the spring, including wading into mud a foot deep, chopping off branches from trees, and pumping air into a hose underwater so that we could retrieve a sprinkler pole that was knocked down during an incident with my dad's kayak. All in all it was a good day, especially since I got to be in the water, which was surprisingly warm.

And then, to top it all off, Dad let me drive Grandma's little tractor-thing up to the barn. I love to drive. I love driving the riding mower, although last time I drove it I was this _______ close to hitting our car, I hit a post, I backed up into a bush, and I mowed half the lawn before I realized that the blade was off. I also really like driving my Grandma's little tractor. It goes faster than the mower, and it also stops faster, so there is no fear of backing up into a car with your foot jammed on the brake. Today was only the third time I had driven it, but I enjoyed it. I'm a little scared to drive a car, since I have mostly tried to steer from the passenger seat, and that normally results in me swerving all over the road, trying not to get too close to either edge. But like I said, I enjoy driving.

I was taking the little tractor up to the barn, glad that I had asked Dad about driving it for the third time, when I got up to the barn. Right next to the fake fire hydrant (that I had only just noticed today after going to Grandma's house for years) was a six inch round little painted turtle. I pushed in the brake, then turned the key. I lifted up my foot and the tractor lurched forward. Not a very dignified stop. Plus, I was six feet away from the barn. Dang.

I ran over to the turtle and picked it up. I ran to my dad and yelled, "Dad, look what I found!"
He looked at it and said," It's a little painted turtle! Where did you find it?"

As I opened my mouth to answer, I dropped the turtle. Poor turtle. I picked it up again.

And it peed all over my flip-flopped foot.

Poor me.

I set the turtle down, and went to rinse off my foot.

Never drop a turtle. Ever.

11 June 2009

"A lot" or "alot" ?

If you ask for my opinion, I think that the word[s] "a lot" should be spelled without a space between the "a" and the "l".

Why the space? It doesn't do anything for the word[s], it doesn't make it look better, all it does is take up extra space. No pun intended.

So, I think that since the space is superfluous, everyone should just write it without a space. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I always write it without the space, then as my laptops underlines it in red, hitting the delete key four times, then rewriting it the "right" way.

The space seems unnecessary. At least to me.

08 June 2009

Abigail's 4th tooth




My seven-year-old sister Abigail just lost her fourth tooth. The whole day, she's been trying to wiggle her tooth so that it would be looser. Finally, right before she went to bed, I pulled it for her. In the first picture she is looking down at the little case that the tooth is in. In the second picture, she is holding up the box and smiling big, showing off the space where her tooth used to be.

She was very excited.

07 June 2009

SERVE 2009

Every summer our church hosts an event called SERVE. During this event, the church sends out around a hundred teens and elementary kids. They go out into the city and do service projects around the community. The teenagers spent the whole week at the church and sleep in classrooms. The younger kids do service projects during the day and then spend the night at their houses. SERVE impacts people all over Muncie. it is really cool to see how appreciative people are of what you've done.

SERVE isn't all work. You normally get placed on a team with someone you requested. On Wednesday night, we have a party for the teenagers in SERVE, better known as "The hog roast," complete with slip'n'slide, pond, bonfire, and roasted hog. The hog's head is left displayed on a table so teenage boys can get their picture biting, kissing, or licking it.

On Friday night we host a Party in the Parking Lot of our church for the whole city. We have blowup games, a rock-climbing wall, free Hawaiian Shaved Ice, free Lemon Shake-ups, free hot-dogs and hamburgers, free lemonade, ect.

SERVE is the best week of my summer. I really enjoy being with all my friends and having fun while I help people in my city.

05 June 2009

School's out!!

Today is officially the last day of school. Officially. Since I go to a charter school where we only attend a brick-and-mortar school two days a week, yesterday was the last day of school. But not officially.

Ours is the only school in the surrounding area that is just now letting out. All the other schools got out several days ago, at least. I really like my school, but the beginning of June is too late to get out.

The lateness may have something to do with the fact that we started in September. That was because our building wasn't ready. Besides, I haven't done any work in two weeks. Oh well.

At least school is out for the summer and next year is high school.

03 June 2009

Baking with Powder

The worst things to eat are pancakes that have baking soda substituted for baking powder. Some of my most vivid memories of food include pancakes that my brother Joseph and my sister Anna made with baking soda, and pancakes that I have made with baking soda.

The first happened when we lived in Colorado several years ago. My older brother and my younger sister decided to get up early and make pancakes for the family. It was all a big secret and the rest of the family was not allowed to set food in the kitchen until they had finished. When they were finished, the family was ushered into the dinning room, where we were presented with a plate of steaming pancakes. They looked delicious and everyone quickly piled their plate full.

As we bit into our first bite of hot pancake dripping with melted butter and syrup, we caught Joseph and Anna exchanging worried looks as they chewed their first bites. I pushed the fork into my mouth, anticipating something that was not there. I choked a little bit, then swallowed the bite. I looked at my mom and asked "What's the matter with these pancakes? They don't taste like they do when you make them."

Mom ate her first bite, then asked Joseph and Anna what they put in the pancakes. They said that they had followed the recipe except for the baking powder. They told her that we were out of baking powder so they used baking soda instead.

"Isn't it the same thing?" Joseph asked.
"No!" Mom exclaimed. "Are you sure that we don't have any baking powder? I thought I just bought some. Why don't you check the shelves and make sure we're out."

Joseph went into the kitchen, and returned with two unopened cans.

We threw the pancakes out.

I made my pancakes last summer when all of my relatives were visiting us. We had sixteen people staying in our house, and breakfast was a big event. One morning I decided to make pancakes. I mixed up the batter fast, and then started to cook them. I set the first plate full on the table as people started filtering into the dining room. I tasted a little bit of the cooked batter that had fallen off the ladle. Baking soda.

We had cereal for breakfast that day.

The Cross

I love this picture.

It's a huge cross by the side of the road that we pass every time we go to Colorado. Every time we pass it we try to be the first person to spot it. I think that it is some sort of memorial, but I'm not for sure.

02 June 2009

Aren't they so....

...cute, all snuggled up together?

"The Motions”

While my family was in Louisville we went to some old friends’ church. Their worship leader played a song by Matthew West, called “The Motions.”

I really loved it and have been singing it in my head for the past few days.

The chorus of the song goes like this:


I don’t wanna go through the motions

I don’t wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything?

Instead of going through the motions


It makes me think about how that applies in my own life. How am I “going through the motions”? How am I putting on a show and covering up how I really feel? How am I just doing the Christian thing and not really putting God first in my life?

Thinking about this song, I realized that most, if not all, people have ways that they are “going through the motions” and not being real in their relationships. I don't want to be that person who is totally fake about their whole life and are just going through the motions of everything in their life.

28 May 2009

Battlefield of the Mind FOR TEENS



I just finished a book by Joyce Meyer called “Battlefield of the Mind FOR TEENS

This book talks about how we fight a battle with Satan over our thoughts. It tells that what people think about is how they live, with a Biblical perspective.

It offers Biblical references to help guard your thoughts and follow God in your thought life.

I really enjoyed this book because it offers clear, relevant points that are easy to understand. When I read it, I realized that a lot of it applies to my own life and that it has content that I use and learn from in my own life.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to get closer to God and knows that their thought life influences their physical life.

17 May 2009

"Our Father"

Have you ever seen a little kid do something so cute or funny that you want to tell everyone you know, and wish you had caught it on tape?

This little girl is exactly that moment, caught on tape. Although I don't know this girl, I have watched the video several times in a row just because she is SO cute, and can imagine my little sister or some friends' little girl doing something like that.

Enjoy the video!





15 May 2009

Sunsets


Sometimes you see an image or a place or a sunset or a waterfall or something that was so breathtakingly beautiful that you will never in your life forget.

For me, it was a sunset.

This sunset happened in October two years ago, right after the soy beans had been cut and the air was thick with dust and ladybugs. My dad was gone but the rest of the family had taken their customary places in our living room in front of the big picture window to watch the sunset. We waited, and our waiting paid off.

Even at the very start of the sunset, we could tell that it would be beautiful.

The sun was painting colors in the sky, at first, pale, rosy colors, but then deepening until the climax of the sunset.

As we looked out our picture window, the sky was lit on fire. You could see the flames reflect off the clouds and the smoke curl at the bottom off the ground. The trees were displayed out against the flame-filled sky, stark and black. If you looked closely, you could see, in the distance, the power lines standing out against the rich colors of the sunset.

I'm always going to remember that awe-inspiring sunset, the only time I have ever seen the sky on fire. Some things you can't forget, like a sunset on an October night

13 May 2009

Not Your Normal Transportation

When I was 6 years old, my parents, my 7 year-old brother, my 4 year-old sister, my other 2 year-old sister, and I moved across the ocean to live in a tiny country called Holland that is right next to Germany and Belgium. We lived in Europe for another 3 years, and moved once within the Netherlands, and once to England.

Having lived a large part of my childhood in a different culture, speaking a different language, eating different foods, and being with different people, it was somewhat of a counter-cultural experience when we moved back (with one more kid) when I was 8.

In Holland, the forms of transportation were more different from America’s than you might think. For the first six months we lived there, we didn’t own a car. We biked, rode the bus, walked, or, the one I remember most vividly, rode the train.

Riding on a train was an experience I’ll never forget. At one stop in Paris, we were crowded in so close that my little sister, on the floor, couldn’t breath. However, that wasn’t the norm. On most of the trips on trains, we would walk up to the counter, ask for 2 adult tickets, and 4 child tickets. The teller would hand my dad the tickets, along with 4 activity booklets that you would get with each ticket. These booklets contained mazes, games, punch-outs of trains, word finds (in Dutch) and things like that. These were the highlight of our train trips and would occupy us for at least five minutes after we boarded the train. Once we were on the train, it was a simple matter of sitting back and enjoying the ride, although when I was six enjoying the ride did not include sitting back.

One of the best parts about the train rides was when we got on a train with two levels. All of us kids would scramble up to get the best seats by the window. The worst time that I have ever been on a train was when we were riding from our own small town to another small town near us. I was crunched up near the door, and finally the train stopped. As the flood of people poured out the doors, I stepped out with them. I thought that that was our stop, but when I looked over my shoulder back at the train, and saw my family still inside, motioning frantically with their hands and calling me, I realized that I was wrong, and it wasn’t really our stop. I stepped back inside easily enough, but my heart was pounding and I never did that again.

However, for the most part, the trains were an enjoyable part of our life in Holland. The train stations were a different story.

In the train station that was near our house, there were elevators to get onto the different levels of the station. These elevators were not regularly cleaned and often when we rode in them, there would be old rotting food or puke on the floor. One time we were in a train station and there was stuff all over the floor of the elevator. I was six and didn’t think before I spoke. When we were going up in the elevator, I sniffed the air and then remarked, “It smells like a zoo. Are we in a zoo?”

My family never lets me forget that time in the elevator, and the only thing that was really important to me about that experience was that the elevator really did smell like a zoo, and elevators shouldn’t, in any country or place, smell like zoos!

Now, having lived in America for another 6 years, cars are the normal transportation, and trains are just a memory of a different place.

12 May 2009

Welcome to My New Blog

Hi!

My name is Katie and I am 14 years old. I love reading good books on a rainy day, swimming in my grandma’s pond, and eating mint chocolate chip ice-cream!

I have recently opened this blog and I think that it will be a good way to learn to write better and show people my writing.

I hope to learn about good writing and good writing techniques as I write. I want to be able to develop a writing skill that I will be able to use throughout the rest of my life. If I develop this skill now, it could prove valuable and important later on in my life.

I want people to read it because I want my posts to make an impression on the way people perceive things and affect them by my writing in ways that I wouldn’t be able to by speaking. I hope that when people read my posts they will think more deeply about things that they haven't really thought about before. I want to be able to use my writing to have an impact on people and cause them to reflect on what I wrote.

Here are a few of the areas that I would like to write about over the course of having this blog are:
Christian Faith- I would like to write some about what I believe and Christianity in the rest of the world; Literature- I would enjoy writing about some books that I’ve read and how they have affected my life; World View- Different countries I’ve either visited or want to visit and what they mean to me; America- How I feel about what’s going on in our country and what I think can be done.

Thank you for reading and I hope that this blog will be meaningful for you!