Paper Memories

Hello, all!!!

Welcome back! Thanks for continuing to read. I hope and pray that all of you are enjoying it. I'm thinking of posting a story series in a little while, but we'll have to see; Life is moving at the speed of lightening right now, and it doesn't seem to show signs of stopping anytime soon. But then, as far as writing goes, to quote Marion Dane Bauer, "You can't wait for the mythical day when you will have nothing to do." I'll be working on it.

I spent the majority of this afternoon going through my room and packing away my old dolls so that I could put my outflow of books on them.

It's always amazing how many memories can come up from old books; even that old book smell can have an effect on you. Looking through my old books, many of them favorites from years ago, and some more recent, it conjures up memories of years past, and of the journeys that they have taken me on; the time spent with the characters, learning from them and about them, whether loving or hating them, and about the world around me and the character of the human heart, if only subconsciously.

It is precious the recollections of many a sunny afternoon spent with a stack of books, like "Harry the Dirty Dog" or Golden Books, mingling halted reading with such mischief making as only the regular seven year old could conceive of. It is afternoons like these that teach a young heart to start to think, to consider the more serious issues in life (which is how I got saved, by the way).

That time spent with a book in hand is a time of preparation, preparation for the days later in their youth, when they will also have books in hand, but books quite different than "Angelina Ballerina" or "Eloise." It is teaching them to know the power of words, that one day they may learn to use them wisely. (Who knew that the girl who used to kick and scream at having to learn her phonics would one day aspire to be a writer?)

It is teaching a little heart to love the gift of words, to love the simple beauty that I spoke of in my first post, the beauty and magic that a single word can have, the knowledge, the wisdom, that a book can contain. And it is preparing them for the day that they will one day be lead to look into the greatest and most powerful book of all time: God's Word.

And isn't it a testimony to the blessing of the book, for all ages, that it is the very form into which the good Lord chose to put His holy Word?

I hope to one day share this blessing with my own family the way God has blessed me with a family that did.


I'll probably be spouting off on various things throughout this next week and a half, especially with the election around the corner. God bless you! You guys are always in my prayers.


Sincerely,
Buried in books,

Julia 

Be Still.....

Hello, all!!!

Welcome back!!! I hope you enjoyed my last post, and that you'll continue to enjoy the rest of my blog as time goes on. When one's first starting at something, it always takes a little while to get into the swing of things. I hope, after a while, to be able to start posting things like stories, poems, and various others things, and to, once I have more readers, have a contest or so every once in a while. That's a little ways off, though. I'm an interesting character, I know, but I hope that my eccentricities will be more of a help than a hindrance. : )

It's always amazing how busy the school year can be, especially after the serenity of the summer. Or at least, the relative serenity of the summer. It's hard to tell sometimes. It seems, often, that the summer can be busier than the school year, yet each new school year is busier than the preceding one. It seems to be an epidemic that effects every one these days.
It never ceases to amaze me how we live our lives sometimes, running like chickens with our heads cut off, going from place to place, activity to activity, barely even stopping to catch our breath.

This one of the reasons that America has risen to the point that it has, all of the people who have put in all of those endless nights of sweat and labouring, working to be the best that they could possibly be. We are over achievers. But often, as we try to be our best, and get as high on the totem pole as possible, we in the American church forget the one thing that is absolutely necessary to our being truly successful. Time with Our Lord.

It says in Joshua 1:8 that if we meditate in the Word 'day and night,' that 'then we shall prosper, and then we shall have great success.'

Why then do we not? The simple answer is that  "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." (Galatians 5:17)

It says in Proverbs 3:5-6, that if we "Trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean not on our own understandings" and "in all our ways acknowledge Him," that "He shall make our paths straight." It also says in the book of Proverbs that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." If we don't know Him we have no wisdom, and it is partially by the wisdom that He gives that He imparts to us prosperity.

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

For what is, indeed, true prosperity? There are many people in the world, who live in the largest mansions, and have large amounts of wealth, yet are the poorest of the poor, for they lack one thing that some of those in Asia that are deemed "untouchable," those that are in the very slums: Hope.

The Lord said in the book of Matthew not to "lay up treasures for ourselves on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal." These things are temporary. And indeed, what hope can one find in the idea that life merely lasts til death, and then there is nothing after? It is hope that feeds our life, and hope that is true prosperity, for it is that hope that causes us to push to be at the top of the totem pole, that God might be glorified.

And it is this Hope that we work for and towards.

So, in during the next couple of days, why not stop, and focus on the Hope that we are working towards, and make sure that that indeed is what you are doing? For if that is what you are working for, "Then thou shalt prosper, and then thou shalt have good success."


Thank you for reading!!!!!!!!! I'll try to post again in the next day or so.
God bless you!!!!!!!! You guys are in my prayers.


Sincerely,
A Servant of that Hope,

Julia

The End of One Journey Marks the Beginning of another: The First Book End

Hello, My dear friends, my readers!

Welcome to my new blog, With Pen and Ink. This the second blog I have ever had. Thusly I pray that you would have mercy on me. : )

I have always loved reading, as well as writing. With each you take a journey: one takes a journey with the characters. You can travel to anywhere, whether to the farest breaches of the earth and the edges of the universe, or merely a trip down the street. Or anywhere inbetween. It's magic the beauty that can be procured by even but a few short moments with a book in hand or infront of a keyboard. I hope to be able to share a little bit of that magical beauty with you, friend.

It's most appropriate that I'm beginning this blog, this new journey of words, just as I have finished a journey of my own. My mom, brother, Michael, and I got home from Boston on Sunday night. My family and I have good friends that live in a suburb just outside the city, and it is such a blessing to be able to visit them every year.

This past trip was quite different than the past two times that we've been. We had always gone in the summer before, and decided to go in the fall this time so that my brother and I could see seasons.

It was the first time I'd ever seen fall leaves. Not all of the trees had turned yet, but we got to experience fall weather and the leaves that had turned were absolutely beautiful.

I've always loved cities. All of the hustle and bustle and excitement. There's always something happening, something going on. I can't help but think of all of the souls that are gathered there, all in one place; A jungle of pavement, a garden of cement, an endless plain of opportunity. I can't help but think of all of the people that are all gathered there in that one place that have yet to meet Jesus. It is indeed a garden, the city simply the soil that is housing the seeds, which merely needs the Living Water in order to sprout and grow into a faith that can move mountains. When I look at high rises, I see potential. I see a garden freshly planted, and the sweet rain is about to come. Anyhow...

Thank you for reading this first post of mine! I shall try to post as much as I can. I'm taking a writing class at the Landry Academy this year (which I'm absolutely LOVING), and I'm hoping that this blog will give me more opportunity for practice (and likewise more potential for high grades. But don't tell Mrs. Mendoza that!). ; )

God bless you!!!! I'll be praying for you guys.


Sincerely,
a lover of words,

Julia