The book that made my head spin

Okay, I just got done reading "The Shack" a few days ago, and man am I dizzy!!! That thing turned every little thing I know about religion upside down! My world is all topsy-turvy right now. I'm not sure which way is up when it comes to religion. Some of the ideas they mention in that book are just...crazy...but they make so much sense. I'm still trying to figure out how, though. And I can't seem to come up with anything...I don't know, but I definitely know it changed my life for the better. I recommend this book to anyone who's looking for something to do during winter break. It will change your life...and that is not an exageration!
Besides everyone acting a little strange Sunday, nothin much has been goin on. Oh well, guess I'll talk to y'all later!!!

~Rachel

My List

Just bloggin to tell ya 'bout mah life cause I iz extremely bored right now...so, yeah...I'll tell you in a list, 'cause I just feel like makin a list of things...I'll even organize 'em for ya!!

Family
1.ugh...don't ask

Church:
1. The duet with my dad went great!! I've never gotten so many complements in my entire life!! But, of course, it was all for God, so its all good!!
2. Caroling last night was awesomeness!!! and FREEZING!! but still FUN!!!!
3. We had a party afterwards and I pretty much went off into my own little world, people worried about me, asked what was wrong, I told them I was fine, and, like everytime someone asked me this in the past...I was not fine...look at number 2 on previous post if you're curious
4. We have a Christmas Eve service at the church on Wednesday and Sara will not be there...*sigh*...I'll take it as it comes

God:
1. I just realized that something I did in the past without even knowing it has become routine and quite possibly made my future more difficult...greeeeaaaaaat
2. I'm getting baptized on January 11th and I finally told my parents about it...yay-ness!!
3. I'm working on getting my prayer back to the level it should be at. I'm not talking to God nearly as much as I should these days
4. His miracles know no bounds!! I have written a new chapter in my story titled "God's Promises", which, in the process of writing, discovered a connection I thought I had lost...GO GOD!!

School:
1. There is none!!! Christmas Break saves the day!!!
2. Grades are...not so good...I'll have to work on that double time when I get back to school

Boys:
1. Well, you all know about Prince Matthew? He is officially in my story as of a couple weeks ago...sorry, forgot to mention that.
2. Sara and Andrew are doing well, as I am constantly spying on them, and have concluded that they are THE cutest couple in the world!!
3. The very next time I see Matt *cough cough* January 5th *cough cough*, I'm going to invite him to my church...if he says yes, I'll see him every four days, at least!!!! eeeeeeeep!!!!

Dancing:
1. Next dance class is Jan. 5th, meaning I can tell Matt about the baptism before it happens
2. I absolutely cannot wait to do the pretzel again with Matt...it's so FUN!!!!!

Writing:
1. In my story, I'm having a terrible time thinking of Ali's favorite dance. When she's dancing with Matthew, she likes the Swing, anyone else, the Waltz. Make up your mind, Ali!
2. I am almost to 100 pages of story and although I am bored out of my mind, I cannot think of a single word to put down on the peice of paper. Darn Writer's block.
3. I have a new blog for anyone who thinks they can write...I post parts of stories on the blog and you come up with your own ending and post it as a comment on the blog. The address is what-happens-next-you-decide.blogspot.com
4. I have only 9 days of NaNoFiMo left, meaning I need to write at least 4,000 words a night

Other:
1. Rough night last night...pray for me
2. If anyone has any idea how I can be scared of something that might not even happen, please let me know.
3. I'm bored...other than that, my life is as normal as it can be

~Rachel

P.S. Leave me comments!! I'm bored, so your comments are one of my few sources of entertainment.

It'll take a miracle...

Hey ya'll...haven't been bloggin much lately, cause I haven't been online much...I need to be more like Megs and post almost every day, but unfortunately, my life is not that interesting...so here's what's new, in order of whats on the front of my mind...

1. I am singing a duet with my dad in front the entire church tomorrow...pray for me there

2. I have some scary stuff goin on with my mom right now that's a little too personal to say here...I really need some prayer on this...for wisdom and for strength.

3. Matt was at the Snowflake ball, contrary to former belief. I danced with him 3 times and of course the best part?? We did the pretzel!!! For any of you who don't know what that is, it's the awesomest move in the swing ever invented!!

4. I am relentlessly teasing Sara about her boyfriend calling her several nicknames, and being threatened with slapping for every one of them...this is fun for me...for her, not so much..but I think if she minded I would've been slapped long ago

Oops...I have to go...BYL (Blog Ya Later)

Princes, Castles, and Balls...and no, it's not a fairytale...it's a LOVE STORY!!

Okay, I know I haven't gotten a chance to blog a lot lately, but nothin really new has been happenin to me lately...I'm almost to the halfway point on my frantic novel, and to be quite honest, I am having great difficulty getting that last couple thousand words in...no that is not sarcasm...normally I can write about 2,ooo words a day...don't laugh...that's just me...

Anyway, I'm sure you're just dying to know what this post is really about...^^see above title^^...so here it is..I was at a ball on Friday...no, I'm not kidding, I really was...and I met a prince...again..not kidding...his name is Matthew...but I just call him Matt...and he really is a prince...he has rule over a little seperate kingdom of my heart where we own a castle and live happily ever after...so, as you can so obviously see, I'm on cloud nine right now, so if you'd like to speak to me, you'll have to shout, or else there's no way I'll here you from all the way up here....

So anyway...we danced all night and once, when the instructor said to find different partners, he put his arm around me as though he was not leaving...I think I went up to cloud 10 on that one...sadly, the instructor made him leave and take a different partner...like I said, sad...however, he did dance the next dance with me.

We met up again after the intermission and went to our favorite corner of the dance floor, which he so greatly named "Matt and Rachel's corner"...I like to change the 'corner' part to 'castle', but I was happy just the same. shortly after that...and this was my FAVORITE PART...we were about to dance and one of Matt's companions came over to speak with him. He immediately threw his arms around me and said something very closely along the lines of "Get away, she's mine! You wanna dance with her, you know you do." His friend just smiled and walked away, but I was probably glowing and was turning the color of a ripe strawberry at the very same time...check the cloud-meter...yepp...just as I suspected....it broke...

I was, to quote Pride and Prejudice "completely, and perfectly, and incandescently happy"...I shall aslo steal another quote from the wonderful movie...*talking to myself*..."he danced with you half the night and stared at you for the rest of it."...it was amazing to say the least, and...good news...I'll be going to yet another ball this Friday, and his attendence has been confirmed!!!!! I shall be utterly delighted to see him again, and hopefully this time, our conversation in the back room will not be inturrupted by the arrival of my father...

Until next time, I wish you all a pleasant day and delightful friends like the ones I have come to know and love so very much

~Rachel...or MiniMeg for all of you Pirate Ninja's out there

{(:-D<<):

(********)9...oh, look...a poofy little cloud nine...with me layin on top!!!! Hi, me!!!!....I even have a little crown...and a pretty dress...and cute little glass slippers!!!!!...I'm a REAL PRINCESS!!!!!!!

I JUST WANT TO BE WITH MY FAMILY!!!!

Okay, from now on, when I talk about my family, I'm talking about my real family, my church. If I'm reffering to my biological family, I'll call them my parents or my brother. I refuse to call them a family.

That being said, I need to spend some time with my family. I'm going to see some of them tomorrow, which I'm sooooo grateful for, but I need to think of a way to get all of our family back together. The church is my family. It's the only place I feel like I belong, and I know it is where I belong. But this mess of seperating it as much as they possibly can is just stupid!! And then with Huffmans leaving the church, we've lost not just Megen, and not just Renee, and not just Hannah, and not just Ms. Tara...but we lost all of them. Four members of our family, gone...all because somebody decided that a divided church is a better church. I don't agree with that logic, and I never will.

Also, change has become my mortal enemy. I hate it. If something isn't broke, don't fix it, but people always think it's neccesary to change things. Like our classes. We could've had combined classes one Sunday, and kept the Wednes day class like it was...but no, they had to go and screw up the Wednesday night classes, and cancel the Sunday classes all together. It's dispicible! And then they have the nerve to say that it was our choice, and that we wanted that. All they are is liars and I won't stand for it.

Oh well, I'm too upset to blog anymore...anyway, I'm looking forward to talking to Megan personally tomorrow anyway. Until then, dear sisters.

Heart Vs. Mind

My mind and my heart a having an epic war against one another. I continuously watch them battle day after day, coming no closer to agreement. I picture this scene in my head. (note: this scene, if read in a heroic-sounding declaration, may frighten small children)


Heart: (lost in poetic thoughts, as my heart so often is) Her true love, Her prince, coming to sweep her off her feet…her first love…(sighs)
Mind: (rudely interrupting my hearts poetic thoughts) She doesn’t need a majestic prince to come and sweep her off her feet. She needs to focus on the other parts of her life, mainly school and church. He says ‘Majestic Prince’ as though it’s a bad thing
Heart: But does not she need some kind of protection from the world, someone to hold her close, and make her feel like all the world is right?
Mind: She has no time for such things. She is far too busy. A boyfriend would only distract her. Even a slight crush would be absolutely unacceptable.
Heart: On the contrary, she needs just that. Something to distract her, to take her mind off of her studies…eyes that she could easily get lost in, a tender touch equal to that of a story book prin-
Mind: (losing patience) Love, shmove! There is not a man in the world that could live up to the expectations of such a fairytale.
Heart: Ah, but it is your own selfish reasoning that is keeping her from finding such a man. How on earth is she ever to ‘fall’ in love if one half of her refuses to let her fall?
Mind: My selfish reasonings?!?! (appalled) I am doing this for her own good!! If you, singularly, were to govern her life, who knows how many times she would’ve fallen with no one to catch her…how many times she would’ve gotten hurt.
Heart: You are overprotecting her. You must let her fall, or she has no way of ever knowing how to pick herself up. What is to happen if she does fall in love? It will pull her in directions she has no knowledge of. And then, God forbid, he is to leave her alone…heartbroken. How is she to cope then? If we do not let her fall now, she will only be hurt more when future instances occur! Now what have you to say??
Mind: We will be there to help her if she should fall, but I for one, am sure she can handle her life as it is now. How are we to know how she will do if she is to fall under the influence of love? She may not be able to handle the stress.
Heart: Coward!! She is a strong girl. If not for your protection, she could’ve bounced back many times by now, and been used to it.
Mind: If not for my protection, she would’ve become emotionless by now. She would’ve fallen so many times, she would be uncertain as to whether real love was out there, or if only temporary infatuation remained. She has thanked me for my services in the past, she will be equally grateful now, and in the future.
Heart: She has never wanted such things. But now she is different. She will blame you. A man cannot love a woman that refuses to let herself love. If she loses love for lack of trying, she will turn to you. She will know that you are to blame for her hesitation to love.
Mind: Do not insult me that she would ever turn away from me!!! I have been her trusted resource from day one!!! You are but a mere aquaintance to her. She has only started to realize in the past few months true matters of the heart.
Heart: But even when she has only known me for a short time, she still will trust my judgment over yours. There is one reason. It is what she wants. She agrees with me, even when everything you are telling her contradicts it. She has not one reason, in her own thoughts, that she should be loath to listen to my teachings. She is intrigued by my expressive ways, and daring thoughts. I have captured her in a way that you, nor her, understand. A girl her age cannot possibly forsake matters of the heart to listen to her mind. She is growing tired of your ‘wise’ advice. She desires a chance to live on the edge. To do what she wants, because she wants to do it. As you are holding her back from that, she despises you

At this point in the scene, Mind grows overly angry and lunges at Heart. It is at this point also that I cannot bear to watch any longer, and so turn away.





And so you see my dilemma? As Heart said, I want love. But as Mind said, I don’t need it. It is all a matter of what I want to do, and I what I should do. The kind of decisions I’ve never been very good at, to be honest. Hopefully, putting my thoughts down on paper will help decide which path to follow. Ah, well.


This is First Mate MiniMeg, wishing you fair winds and a following sea. (and far less confusion than I am enduring right now)

"How I Feel" THE MUSICAL

Well, I am much happier after my prayer session with Meggie, and my thought session with Daddy...I'm not sure how to explain just how I feel with words, so I guess I'll just have to find a song that wraps it all up...hmmmmmmmm....*thinking*.............................*more thinking*.............................*Frustrated thinking*..............................*DING!!!*...

*GASP!!*...I've got it!!!


Bring on the Rain: JoDee Messina

Bring On The Rain Lyrics

OOOOHHHHHHH!!...one more

Happy Girl: Martina McBride

Happy Girl Lyrics

Captain's Not Gone

I was sitting on my bed thinking of the tragedy our family has dealt with the past few weeks. Something I had never thought of before occured to me, in these words exactly..."A friendship interrupted, but never broken." These hope-filled words are no doubt the work of my Father. His wisdom compares to none, and only he could've possibly come up with such a wonderous phrase for what I and many others are going through at the present time. I do hope, dear Captain, that, reading these words, you shall find in them the same comfort that I did whilst I sat contemplating. I do wish for you to be back with us, but even if it is not included within our Father's great storyline, I pray that you will find happiness whenever the need arises, and that God will keep his hand upon you in this confusing and conflicting time. Where ever you go, know that I will always be there for you...the bond that has formed between us can not be severed by even the sharpest of swords. Remember this...always.

Missin' Meggie

Right now I am missing my dear captain. It seems to be all I can do not to burst into tears at the thought of her. I have on occasion done this, which is why I mentioned it. Luckily, she will be with us tonight in class, but 'tis just not the same. I understand now why she left, what with all the confusion and conflict with big-head. I will not honor him so as to capitalize his well deserved nickname. I write this with haste, seeing as I will soon be leaving my room and returning once again to my safe haven. It begins to seem a scarier place without my beloved Captain, and sister there with me. I will try my best to make it through, for her sake. She has told me multiple times that she does not wish emotional suffering on anyone. My heart goes out tonight to our fearless leader, Mrs. Brown. She seems the only one right now, realizing the intensity of the situation...and the pain it has caused. I fear I am soon to be on silent terms with big-head, if he keeps up the way is doing now. However, it will be very hard to sever all aquaintance, as I could not possibly think of not speaking to his daughter, the woderful Sara. I speak very highly of her, because she saved me when I was at the deepest darkest part of my life. She has taught me so many valuble things...mainly this..."Hugs don't stop the tears...they just change the reason for them." Alas I must go, for my father is standing in the doorway looking down upon me. I beleive it is time to return for the church. I have only one last question.

How can someone hurt another human being, and then look you in the eyes and deny it the very next day?

Until our paths cross again,
First Mate MiniMeg

~Big-Head ye be warned...

Alas, I shall write this in the most Piratey-Ninja terms I can think of given the state of my depression. Fearless Captain, if you happen to be reading this, let it be known that from this hour, on this day, I shall cast my worries aside and stick up courageously for my captain and her home clan as well. Together, we shall defeateth the infamous Big-Head and foil his plans to ruin our family forever. I can't go losing three of my sisters, now, can I? The church is the best family I have, and here lately seems to be the only one. Mark my words...I shall fight for as long as it takes to end this mess. I submit that here now, that is what we all must do. I say again, to my brave captain, and her fearless followers...Hoist the colors!...We are poised for battle and we WILL NOT abandon hope. No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it. We are not fools. But be warned. We will fight!!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


And we will win.

Big-Head...ye be warned!!!


This is First Mate MiniMeg wishing you fair winds and a followin' sea