The hurt feelings that I muffle

~Saturday Stories~

The blue I see in the sky, Lord,
They say I have that in my eyes
But when I look into them, Lord,
I just see the pain and the hurt

The hurt feelings that I muffle
The broken stories I shuffle
Around so nobody will hear them
So nobody will see me torn

The "A"s in my GPA, Lord,
They say reflect my hard work
But when I look at my resume, Lord,
I just see useless unappreciated work

The hurt feelings that I muffle
The broken stories that I shuffle
Around so nobody will hear them
So nobody will see me torn

The time on that clock, Lord,
Says I run fast and can do much
But when I see that time, Lord,
I see the time that I waste beating myself up

The hurt feelings that I muffle
The broken stories that I shuffle
Around so nobody will hear them
So nobody will see me torn

Let me open up, Lord,
You know how hard it is
Where I am, Lord,
And everyone seems to have
Bigger problems than me, Lord,
So I shut my mouth up
And don't speak out loud, Lord

Let me open up, Lord,
You didn't make this path for me
To travel all alone, Lord,
You said You'd never leave me,
So just let me open up and be healed, Lord
There are people who would listen
But I bottle myself up, Lord
I say my problems don't matter
While I fail at solving them all, Lord

Lord, just let me open up
Heal me by Your grace
Let me taste Your love
Let me feel Your peace
I can't solve my problems,
I'm the epitome of weak
But You have my hand
And You can heal

You can heal

Where Hope Grows

~Monday Movies & Music~

Calvin Campbell could have made it big in baseball. Operative word - could have. After freezing up during an important game and being fired, he drinks to try to drown his despair. His daughter Katie despises his drinking and, in protest, dates a guy her father disapproves of. Colt isn't that bad, is he? But then things start going even farther down, with a friend constantly reminding Calvin of his failure and Colt pressuring Katie to have sex. How long will it be before one or both of them crack?

Where Hope Grows (trailer) is a movie full of both despair and hope, with hope coming triumphant in the end. Produce, a Christian man with Down Syndrome helps both Calvin and Katie realize that the way they're heading has nothing good in store. Though tragic, the ending brings father and daughter to new paths. The movie is not as Christian as some, but it does show the role the church has in transforming peoples' lives.

Talk to God about it!

~Tuesday Thoughts~

Family 

Friends 

School

Sports 

Theatre

Etc., etc., etc. 

These are pretty cool things. However, they can also cause us a lot of stress. It is really amazing that we can go to God with whatever happens to us, big or small. We can bemoan the next test, the nearing production day, or family relationships that seem to never have a breakthrough. God's Word says, 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

How about you? What (if anything) have you been stressing out about lately? Have you talked to God about it? 

Chokepoint by Jill Williamson

~Saturday Stories~

Typical Spencer: "I’d proven that I could do this spy thing. ... And the baddies? They could just bring it, because I’d be ready."

A couple of months after the Moscow trip, the Mission League people are still keeping an eye on Spencer. Seriously? Nothing's happened, no threats, no kidnappings, nothing. What's the big deal? But starting one-on-one training with Beth- now that's cool. Until it turns out that someone is looking to nap him. And he might have to move.

Chokepoint is an action-packed novella. It also has some truths about God, though not as much as I'd like. Spencer is a great character, who is fun to read about and very relatable. His voice, dripped with boyishness and quick wit and just plain freshness, was one of the best parts of the story.

Chokepoint is the 1.5 book in The Mission League series. The first one is The New Recruit; the others - Project Gemini, Ambushed (novella), Broken Trust, Lockstep (novella), and The Profile Match.

For more on Jill Williamson visit her website and Facebook page. She also blogs regularly at Go Teen Writers.

The New Recruit by Jill Williamson

Typical Spencer: "I used to like church. When I was a kid, I looked forward to Sunday school, bringing my quarters for starving children in Africa, making cross crafts out of popsicle sticks, memorizing Bible verses, singing songs with hand motions, and showing Grandma the cartoon story in the take-home paper. Somewhere along the way I just lost interest. But I’m glad, you know? Because when I look at the people who are my age— those churcher teens— I don’t want to be one of those people. Those happy, peppy, “Yay, God!” types. I’ve got my friends. I don’t need all that… joy."

Spencer Garmond thought he was an ordinary kid who lived with an ordinary grandma and who went to an ordinary (though boring) Christian school. And then he gets an opportunity to join the Mission League. A bunch of Christian spies? What a joke. But threatened with military school and intrigued by his family history, he joins them. Now this better not be a waste of what might have been a great basketball conditioning summer. And they better not preach at him.

I seriously loved The New Recruit with its action-packed story that was also full of truths about God. Jill Williamson did a great job of making Christianity something very real and applicable to teens. At first, Spencer doesn't want anything to do with the "churchers", but later he comes to realize that maybe God really does care.

Spencer is a great character, who is fun to read about and very relatable. His voice, dripped with boyishness and quick wit and just plain freshness, was one of the best parts of the story.

The New Recruit is the first book in The Mission League series. The others are Chokepoint (novella), Project Gemini, Ambushed (novella), Broken Trust, Lockstep (novella), and The Profile Match.

For more on Jill Williamson visit her website and Facebook page. She also blogs regularly at Go Teen Writers.

My Monday Minute Challenge entry

~Saturday Stories~

I haven’t yet finished reading the pretty long (and interesting) Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin. So, the review will be up next week hopefully. For now, I want to share one of my own writings. Here is what I wrote for the Monday Minute Challenge at Christiswrite.blogspot.ru this week. First time I ever joined in that, by the way.  The prompt sentence was “Everyone told me not to blame myself but I knew, deep down, that I could have prevented it.” I changed it to present tense and here’s what I got (with a small change later): 

Everyone tells me not to blame myself but I know, deep down, that I could have prevented it. I had Mom video tape the game and after watching the last few plays before getting on the bus I can recite every wrong move and turn I made. I needed to pass to Kelley, not Anna. I needed to turn right, not left. I needed to hit that ball with my head instead of waiting for it to reach my thigh. If I could just throw my life in reverse and go and change all that. We would have won those finals. But now all we have is this – driving home with the team in silence. Complete silence. For all forty five minutes of the way. I glance around at the faces I love. Kelley, the swift and energetic forward turning to the window so we won’t see the tears. Anna, the strategy-loving midfielder with the most beautiful smile which she tries to muster. Andria, the always watchful goalie with her head bent somewhat. I know she’s also reciting to herself what she did wrong. But that’s just the thing. Everyone did just what was needed with the right passes and the quick moves. If only I had been…. And to think I was the team captain. The captain that let them all down. “I’m sorry” I whisper into the silence. I close my eyes and can feel the tears rolling down. And then I hear it. “We all make mistakes, girl. It’ll be OK.” I know it’s my coach and he’s talking about the game, but I have a feeling that this could apply to all my life, to all those times I’m beating myself up for not being perfect. And maybe Someone else wants me to hear that too. I wipe my tears and slowly nod. 

What do you think of it? Any suggestions to make it better? Have you ever participated in the challenge? 

Breaking the Ice by Anne LeBold Douglas

~Saturday Stories~

Typical Carly: Hockey is the only thing that makes sense to me. There’s no feeling like it. It fills me and drains me, and I always want more.

Typical Samantha: There’s this new band playing at our church, and Jay wants me to go with him tonight. I want to, partly to see the band but mostly to be with Jay. We’ve been dating for two years but I still can’t believe he wants to be with me.

They are two very different girls: Carly, with her hockey-driven life, who cares little about anything else and Samantha, whose whole existence is wrapped around her boyfriend Jay. But they become friends. They complement each other. Until both their worlds crash and they don’t know who to trust. 

This was a really interesting book. It was probably the first book I ever read with hockey and it almost made me wish I could play it too. I liked that it was from two points-of-view though at times I wished we had the boys’ points-of-view too. Breaking the Ice deals with serious issues many teens face: hypocrisy, unfaithfulness in marriages, dating non-Christians, sex before marriage (nothing at all graphic), and the Church’s ministry.

I recommend Breaking the Ice to girls 16-19 years old. 

For more on Anne LeBold Doulgas, visit her website and facebook page.

Tournaments, Cocoa and One Wrong Move by Nancy Rue

 I've recently read a great book by Nancy Rue - Tournaments,Cocoa and One Wrong Move. It was an amazing story. Here's a review of it.

 Typical Cassidy- "See , I think that's a weird question. I think the question should be 'Why doesn't EVERYBODY want to win? Why would you want to put yourself out there without wanting to be the best?"

 Basketball. It’s her passion. It’s her love. It’s the only time she doesn't feel scared of anything. And it all goes down with one fall…

 Cassidy Brewster, whose love and skill for basketball seem immeasurable, feels lost when a fall on the court leaves her knee swelling to three times its size. Will she ever be able to play again? And when a med student offers her supplements in secret should she take them?

 Cassidy certainly is “real” in this third book of the Real Life series. Her perfectionism and longing to be the best are something many girls can relate to. But as she is rid of the thing she loves most Cassidy learns lessons she couldn't have learned always being the star.

 I certainly recommend this book to all girls who think they have to be "perfect" (I'm there too). God loves us all just the way we are. :)

For more on Nancy Rue, visit her website and facebook page.