Black is the Day

But white is the light that "shineth in the darkness," though "the darkness comprehendeth it not." (John 1:5)

Well, I finally got to cross off one of the things on my bucket list: I got to go shopping on Black Friday. (!!!)

Firstly, let it be stated that my Black Friday experience was doubtless a little bit different than the majority of Black Friday shoppers, in that I went shopping in the afternoon rather than early in the morning (a smart move; we didn't have to brave any lines hardly at all), and that I only got to go to the fabric store of all places. But if shopping is involved, count me in. Spending money is one of my favorite pass times. Doubtless why I have none. : ) I'm joking, of course. (not)
(Probably something that will have to change if I'm going to be a journalist; money is not often a thing of abundance)

It's no secret that many of the bargain hunters that were out this Friday were doing early Christmas shopping (you know who you are).
But it does seem that we live a culture where the gifts and the shopping is made out as more important than the people that are giving or receiving them. Just take a look at the self-gifters
(I mean, an awesome concept, but come on). 

We take great pains to find just the perfect thing for that special someone, and spend a boat load on it, and then the next moment we are on Facebook while they sit there ignored.
Parents spend hundreds of dollars on presents every year for their children, yet they don't take the time to teach their children why they are receiving them. Perhaps they were never taught themselves.

We live in a very materialistic culture, where often among the younger generations the clothes you're wearing can matter more than who you are, and your cell phone more than what you stand for.

Thus I pray that this year (though it is already past) and the next that the Lord's light would shine through Black Friday and show the people of this nation who their true master should be, "for you cannot serve both God and money." (Matt. 6:24)


I'll try to post a story or a poem sometime soon. I have some ideas for some advent serial stories, so we shall have to see.
I have a draft due for my writing class, so I'll be scrambling til Wednesday. Time management is NOT one of my fortes (another thing I'll have to work on).

You guys are always in my prayers.

A servant of His,

Julia

A Day of Thanks

"Happy Thanksgiving!!" That is the greeting that can be heard everywhere one goes on this day. Families gather together from far and wide for fun, fellowship, and to devour vast amounts of bird. There are endless quantities of food, from pies to cakes to side-dishes, the aforementioned star of the dinner table, and then of course the football game afterwards.

Indeed, whether it is the bird or the black Friday shopping that piques your interest, it is a day that is dedicated completely and utterly to thing that matter most in the world, second only to the Lord: to family.

And not just to family, it is a day of rest to be dedicated to a certain thing that many of us (and yes, that does include me, too) often forget: Thankfulness.

It seems that often we tend to become focused on the things that maybe aren't as perfect in our lives as we would like them to be. Perhaps there are times that maybe we weren't as appreciated as perhaps we think we should have been, or maybe our team didn't win in that one football game (WAR EAGLE!!), or maybe we just don't have as many things as we want.

Sometimes we tend to forget what charmed lives we have in this nation. Even if we don't have things we have the opportunity to work for them.

And, more often than not, sometimes we (I know I do) forget the very reason that we are here, that the world was ever put into being, and man ever given the breath of life: The Lord God Almighty.

I want to challenge you and your family this day and in this coming week to look over all of the things that you have, get out a piece of paper even, and write down all of the things in your life, whether good things or bad things, on that piece of paper. And then take it out every night before bed (it will probably be a pretty big list I know, but humor me), and look it over. As you do so, thank the Lord for all of the people and things that He has blessed you with, the roof over your head, your parents, your spouse (if you have one), your friends. And pray also over the things that maybe it is hard to see as a blessing, like that pink slip you got six months ago, that friend of yours that lost his house, or that college opportunity that went caput. Pray over these things, and ask that the Lord would take them use them to be a blessing for you or that person. Maybe there is a person at work that is giving you fits. Perhaps that person is a blessing in the rough.

And when you are praying over those things, and on this day, always remember to thank the Father for the reason we are here: His son.   

God bless you!!

A servant of His,

Julia

Lights, Camera,........

Well, this is it. The day before the election: The day before the day it all happens.

The media is scrambling, preparing for the all day coverage that will be provided during the day and on election night, when the winner will be announced.

The campaign workers are still hard at work making calls, mailing out flyers, and putting up signs. In fact, it seems like they're working even faster and harder than they were before. I've gotten at least nine calls today alone, and about six different political flyers and pamphlets in the mail.

The last sprint to the finish, I suppose.

I've always been a lover of politics; there is nothing better in my mind than a breaking story or a new controversy or scandal. Thus I've always loved the excitement of election day.  The voting, the waiting, and finally the big reveal on election night.

If your candidate wins, well, there's an excuse for a party. And if your candidate loses, well there's an excuse for another of my favorite things: a debate.

This particular election, however, has more excitement tied to it than any of the others before it; the stakes are higher.

I won't endorse either of the candidates (on here, at least), since I know that my view would doubtless be rather different than some of you, my readers, but I think that, regardless of their politics, most people here in this nation know that something has got to change. Things aren't going to be getting cheaper anytime soon, and jobs don't come out of thin air.

I think that, where ever your politics lie, people are realizing that things are not always as they seem. In fact, they are often not. It is no secret that rhetoric has grown deceitful, among politicians and media alike. I could cite at least a dozen examples.

I know that people always say that "More rides on this election than ever." But this time they're right. There is a lot of legislation that has been signed in the past that is beginning to trickle through the system, and it sure isn't going to be making anything better. Not to mention the things that very well may be passed.

I think that I feel how many Americans are beginning to feel: I don't care whether you have an (R) or a (D) next to your name, what I care about is whether or not you will defend the constitution and have my best interest at heart. Because the two go hand in hand.

So, however you choose to vote tomorrow, vote for the person you feel is best equipped to deal with these things, and pray that you made the right decision. For my generations sake. 

See you tomorrow,

 Julia

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