Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Remember that one entry I had, "I LOVE HAWK NELSON!!!!!!!!!!"? Well, Hawk Nelson was my favorite band.... then. But now, my favorite band is....
And if you want to know practically EVERYTHING about the band... here is a fan site. It tells basically everything about the band! You don't have to see it all in one day though... I still haven't explored the whole site yet.... lol. Ok.... here is the site: Land of Broken Hearts (click here)
So if you check out that site, I am sure you will at least get an appreciation for the band. They are AWESOME!!!
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
I am so happy for my youth leaders, Obie and Heather! They have been praying to have a baby for about 4 or 5 months now, that I know of. Heather just found out that she is going to have a baby! I found out today at church.
I think that if Obie and Heather can be such great friends as they are, they will be wonderful parents. I am just so happy for them!
Obie says that he really wants a boy! He wants a little Obie running around lol. But, we'll see! Heather can't really choose which it will be.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Wow. I can't believe that it is already 2009. I remember events that happened at like the beginning and middle of 2008, and it seems like they were all just yesterday. Time flies. I wish it would all slow down for a little while. Let me catch up in my life. It seems like I am running behind, and not able to catch up.
Talking about slowing things down, I also wish that some moments could be here forever. There are some moments with people that I love so much, and it seems like those moments are all just too short. I wish they could last forever. Or at least a little longer.
Things in this life might start to get scary, but with Jesus we can make it through. That is what I need to remember in this life; that we can make it with God's help. God always offers his help to us, but much to often we refuse it because we think we can do it on our own. I think something that we all need to remember is that we can't do anything without Jesus.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
There is just so much snow latley. This morning it was 7 inches! The most we usually get is like one or two inches, so seven was A LOT for us. Here are some pictures of our snow day today:
Our dog Spunky:
My brother Samuel, me, Frosty the Snowman (just kidding), and my little sister Danielle:
Our bush gave up. It dropped its branches and said, "I can't take all this snow anymore!" (not literally lol):
So as you can see, we had fun in the snow. And we will probably not be able to drive anywhere for the rest of the week lol. Well maybe.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
For me, it is so much fun to look back on memories of youth group trips. One year, the youth group went to one of our friend's houses, and we camped out in their back yard because close to their house, there was a big lake. We spent the whole day at the lake, swimming, playing, and having loads of fun. My youth pastor almost lost his shoe lol. It fell in the water while he was walking on a bridge that went over the lake. I had to toss it back up to him so he wouldn't lose it lol. We also brought a watermelon to eat, but we forgot a knife. So we threw it on the ground and ate whatever looked clean!
Three years in a row, the youth group went to Creation Fest. Creation Fest is a three day music concert with camping, games, concerts almost all day long, and all the music there is Christian music, because it is a Christian festival. In 2007, the whole place ran out of water because so many people were using it for like water guns and stuff like that. When they got the water back, we had to use it only for drinking, and we all knew not to waste the water next year lol. I also got Switchfoot's autograph this year at Creation Fest (and Hawk Nelson's and Jeremy Camp's autographs)!
Then, there are also a lot of happy memories just being with the youth group. We always have fun together, no matter if we are going on a trip or not.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
There is a Switchfoot song that I listen to alot, called "On Fire". In part of the song, it says, "I've been standing on the edge of me,....". That is kinda how I have been feeling latley. I was standing on the edge, overwhelmed with thoughts, emotions, and worries. Now, I have fallen off the edge. I am falling deeper and deeper into a pit.... when I go to the youth group, it feels as if I manage to grab onto a ledge and get my footing, starting to climb back up again. But then like the next day, I lose my footing and start falling again, and I know I am getting closer and closer to the bottom of that pit. I just am in a state where I really need some prayer. I need to be able to grab onto the edge, pull myself up, and get out of the pit. Please pray for me.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
I just finished my Historical Narrative. Here it is:
The First Kentucky Derby
My name is Oliver Lewis. I was born in 1856 in Fayette County, Kentucky. All through my childhood, I had loved horses. Even though I wanted one, my mother and father did not have enough money to get me one.
Around the age of 15, I met a man named McGrath. He owned a stud farm in Kentucky. Two of his horses, Aristides and Chesapeake, he was planning to race. He was sure Chesapeake would win, for he was larger then Aristides, who was a small horse.
Both horses were beautiful. Aristides was chestnut-colored with a white star on his face and two white socks on his hind legs. Chesapeake was a bay horse, much bigger than Aristides was. McGrath thought Chesapeake was much stronger because of his size.
Mc Grath trained me for four years, teaching me how to ride, control, and race a horse. It was a lot of work, but I was enjoyed it. I was with horses more than I ever thought I would be.
When I was 19, there was a new race in Churchill Downs called the “Kentucky Derby”. McGrath said I could ride Aristides, and another jockey, Bobby Swim, would ride Chesapeake.
When it was race day, I was quite nervous. About 10,000 people came to watch the race. There were 15 horses racing, including Aristides and Chesapeake.
The race started and we were off. Chesapeake was struggling in the pack, trying to catch up. Aristides was closer to the front of the pack, gaining speed, catching up with the leading horse, Volcano.
Soon, the race was mainly between Aristides and Volcano. I looked back to see where Chesapeake was, because I knew that he was supposed to win, not me. Then I saw McGrath waving me on, so I concentrated on the race again.
Volcano soon fell behind Aristides, and whenever he or some of the other faster horses tried to catch up with Aristides, it seemed as if Aristides always had more speed in him. Volcano kept trying to take the lead again, but Aristides was keeping his lead.
The race was almost over. Just a few more paces ahead! Zip! Aristides ran under the finish wire with Volcano two lengths behind and Chesapeake in eighth. It had been such a great race that I went on to do more races, not just the Kentucky Derby. Aristides might have been small, but he was a very fast horse.
What did you like about my narrative? What did you dislike about it? What is something I should watch for on my next piece of writing?
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
I just finished my phase Autobiography. It is titled, "The Right Love". Here it is:
The Right Love
As I was looking through my personal diary, to look back in my life, I ran across this date: March 30, 2008. Shocked at what I was reading, I almost burst into tears.
You see, I had just figured out, from reading what I had written in my diary five months before, that I had now had a crush on my pastor, Joel Kirtley, for almost five months now. I had been trying for a few weeks to get rid of this crush. Never did I realize, though, that I had this crush for so long. Joel was married and had five children, so I had to get rid of this crush.
Nothing seemed to be working. I talked to my Mom, and to one of my youth leaders, Heather. Heather had said that I should give it to God, and start reading his word, the Bible, more often. So I prayed about it, asking God to take this crush away from me, and I started reading the Bible daily. Finally, the crush was gone. Yet, I still felt that I needed to talk to Joel about it.
All too soon, it was Sunday. My heart wanted to explode out of my chest as I walked over to the sanctuary to talk to Joel. Feeling like making excuses not to talk to him about it, I was convinced my stomach was doing summersaults, my heart was an execution drum, and there was a lump in my throat. I was scared, because even though my crush on Joel was gone, I still had a feeling that I should ask him for forgiveness. Terrified, I was worried that he would be enraged at me.
Joel saw me and said, “You look like you feel absolutely horrible.” Nodding my head, I knew I had to do this, but I also knew it would be very hard. Would he be angry? Would we be friends anymore? Those were the questions, racing through my head, making me feel like running away.
“You were talking about forgiveness in your sermon today,” I said as I sat down next to Joel, trembling. “That made me realize I need to ask you for forgiveness. Now, I don’t have this anymore, because I prayed to God and He helped me get rid of it, but I had…” All of a sudden, the words would not come out of my mouth. It felt like they were stuck in my throat. This conversation was so much harder than I thought it would be!
“Let me guess,” said Joel. “You had a crush on me.” At that, I cringed, and wanted to disappear. I was thinking how horrible having a crush on him was, because he was married and had children. Thinking he was going to be furious with me, I felt like getting up and running away.
What he said next amazed and relieved me. “It’s okay,” he said. “Actually, I’m flattered! I am also proud of you for being brave enough to ask me for forgiveness. Most people probably wouldn’t be able to have done that.”
Wow, I thought. He is not mad at me! I walked away from that discussion feeling much better than I had before.
The next Sunday, as I watched and listened to Joel teaching, it felt so good not to have a crush on him anymore. I learned two things from my crush on Joel. It is so much better to have the right kind of love for each person, and it feels so good to be forgiven. It is a good thing I was looking in my journal, so I would grasp that it had been that long and that I needed to get rid of my crush. From now on, I will try my hardest not to let something nonsensical like a crush get between Joel and me again.
So, what did you think of my autobiography? What did you like about it? What did you dislike about it? What is something I should be careful of in my next piece of writing?
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
You never know how much you care for someone until something happens to them, or you are afraid something might happen to them. I found this out two times in a row. First with my youth pastor Obie. He recently got a new motorcycle. On Wednesday, he didn't show up at Bible study, and he didn't answer his phone when I called him. I thought something might have happened with his motorcycle while he was driving. It turns out that Obie is fine.
But today, I just found out something about my pastor, Joel. My Mom got this in her email:
Please pray for Joel. He went to have a cat scan today because he's had a cough for quite a long time.
It showed that he has a spot on each of his lungs, and another abnormality on his thyroid. This is all the information he has at this time. Things need to be cleared by his insurance. He will keep us updated.
He is a very blessed man, used by God to reach the hearts of people all around him, and tell them about Jesus. Please pray a hedge of protection around Joel and his entire family. The enemy is out to seek and destroy, but we're stronger than him through the power of Jesus living in us and in Jesus name.
I would just like to ask you all to pray for Joel. He is a wonderful man, and I love him (as one of my best friends, and a brother in Christ).
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
School has started again. I have been busy for the past few weeks, that is why I have not been on here. I have these classes:
number of things:subject
1:Bible
2:French
1:Math
3:Language Arts
1:History
1:Geography
I get up at 6:00 AM, take a shower, and start school. That way, I get done around 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Except on Tuesdays. On Tuesday, I do some of my school in the morning, but then I leave with mom around 9:30 AM to help her clean houses. That is her (and my) job.
Soon, I will be getting a digital camera. I am saving money (about $300) to buy one. It is a Kodak. It is also the same as my mom's, so I will have to put a sticker on mine or something like that, so we don't mix them up. I can't wait! After I get it, I will be able to put my pet entry on here, because I will be able to take pictures of all my pets. I am thinking I will also get some good pictures of my family.
This Wednesday, I am going to be singing on stage for the worship, just like I did before. My Grandma is also coming! :-D But then, I will have to make a choice.
I can stay for Joel's sermon, or I can go with the youth group to yipi bubble tea. I want to go with the youth group, but at the same time, I want to listen to Joel's sermon. At first, I thought, "I could just listen to it online," because on the church website there are the sermons. But the person who is supposed to put them on hasn't put them on for a while. The last chapter Joel did was Acts 28. But the last one on the website is Acts 22, and that might have been up to 3 months ago, because Joel doesn't even cover a whole chapter each Sunday! I don't know what I am going to do yet. I am thinking I might go with the youth group, becasue the sermon will be on the website some time (maybe).
John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I am so glad that he forgave me! I can't really find a way to explain this except to show you our conversation. Just to let you know, my name is Eliana, and my pastor's name is Joel. Here is the conversation we had:
*Joel: "You look like you feel absolutely horrible."
~Eliana: "I do. You were talking about forgiveness in your sermon today, and that made me realize I need to ask you for forgiveness. Now I don't have it anymore, because I prayed to God, asked him to forgive me, and he helped me get rid of it, so I don't have it anymore..."
*Joel: "Let me guess. You had a crush on me."
~Eliana: cringe
*Joel: "Of course I forgive you! In fact, I'm flattered."
~Eliana: looks totally surprised
*Joel: "And I'm very proud of you for getting enough corage to tell me. Most people probably wouldn't have done what you did."
~Eliana: "Thank you so much for forgiving me!"
*Joel: "No problem!"
~*Eliana and Joel: hug
I was just so suprised that Joel wasn't mad! I mean, he is married, has four children, and I had a crush on him!! But now, I don't have the crush anymore, and I am very glad of that.
John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I just got back from Creation Fest 08!! I went with my youth group. It was AWESOME!!!! And, my dream finally came true!!! I met Jon Foreman:
Hawk Nelson:
And Jeremy Camp:
On Sunday, we started heading back to the church so our parents could come, pick us up, and bring us back home. But on the way driving back, one of our tires went flat and my youth pastor had to change it. It was a good thing we had a spare tire with us! If we hadn't, then we would have gotten back even later than we did (8:30)!
Also, when we were at Creation Fest, I went with my friends Noah and Scott to a Paul Baloche concert. Here is Paul Baloche: Paul Baloche is a worship singer. When I was listening to him worship, I didn't really think of him as someone special. I mean, we all are special, but what I mean is like, I just thought of him as someone who was worshiping the Lord right along with us. I felt so close to God, and I am sure that can happen again. But I don't have to have another person to lead me. All I need is God.
John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Sorry I haven't blogged for so long. Things have just been piling up for a while, well, kinda. I am just so excited that summer is almost here! I will still have to do school for like, the end of this month and part way into July though, because I got a little behind in my schoolwork. I forgot about my blog for a little...
Now, I am back into blogging, and I will probably have more entries on here soon. So how have all of you been doing? I have been good for the most part. I still have bla bla algebra, like usual... I don't like all the x's, y's, and z's.... and I sure don't hope I have to do three dimensional coordinate planes...
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Please pray for Steven Curtis Chapman. He recently lost one of his daughters. Her teenage brother accidentallykilled her. Please pray for him and his family.
Incase you don't know who he is, here is a video with his song:
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Wow. I was at my church today, in my youth group, and my youth pastor (Robbie) told us a little about his childhood first. I heard most of it before, but then he told us something I had not heard.
He was talking about how he was a P.K. (Pastor's Kid) growing up, and how he used to take God for granted, because he had just been told about God since he was born. His father was a new pastor at a church, and he told them that some of the things the people were doing were wrong. The people didn't like that, and they held a "meeting". But then, the church told the pastor that he could either retire, or they would fire him. He decided to retire.
By now, Robbie (Remember, the youth pastor) was wondering whether God was really there. He had been taught that God was wonderful, merciful, all powerful,... and then his father had to stop teaching the church because the people didn't like him. The church didn't like Robbie either.
Robbie's brother, Kevin, was his hero. Robbie wanted to be just like Kevin when he grew up. Kevin was a champion at lots of sports. He played many sports too. Robbie looked up to Kevin, and sometimes, he would be the annoying little brother that wanted to do Everything his brothers did.
When Kevin was only 15, he kept feeling like he broke his leg when he fell down. The doctors kept saying that he had just sprained it, and it would be okay. It happened again, and the doctors said the same thing. Keven's parents were starting to wonder whether the doctors were right. They took him to a different doctor, and sure enough, the other doctors had been wrong. Kevin had a tumor in his leg, which was now to large to control.
The doctors told Kevin that he could either have his leg amputated, or he could die. But Kevin was too devestated to make a choice. So he told his parents to make the choice for him. Of course, they had his leg amputated, instead of him dyeing. But now, he could not play any of the sports that he had played before. He couldn't even stand (which many of us take for granted) without crutches.
Now, Robbie told us how he had told God, "I don't want you anymore. At first, I thought you were what my parents said you were. But now, I don't know if you are. I don't want anything to do with you, and I also don't want the pain that is in this world." Really, he thought that his parents hated him too.
Ok, here is the part of the story that I had never heard before.
Robbie was feeling so bad, and not wanting any more pain and suffering, that he went and got his Dad's gun, went in his room, and was ready to take his life. But somehow, God made him fall asleep. He had a dream, of him in his grave, and his mother, crying over him, desperately wanting Robbie back. When Robbie woke up, that simple picture of his mother crying about him, for him, changed his whole mindset. He is now a strong Christian, and he now knows that God is really there, and God really does love him.
When I heard Robbie tell us that, I just cried. It's amazing what God can do, if we let him.
(Note for in the story: My name is Eliana.) This is my most favorite story that I have written so far. I think I am going to call it 'Sea of Tears' but I am not sure about the name of it yet. Anywho, here is my story:
Ahh, morning. Time to greet the nice, warm, beautiful… rain? As I looked out side, I saw it was raining… again. It had been raining on and off all week. I was getting tired of the rain.
As I got out of bed, I heard the ferry horn, letting everyone know it was almost here. I got dressed, and went and had breakfast. Then I decided to go outside. I put on my raincoat and my rain boots, got everything ready to go outside, but as I opened the door, I saw that it was not raining anymore. The sun was shining bright, warming me up and making me feel happier. I decided I did not need my rain gear.
I ran outside and felt the wet grass under my bare feet. “Eliana!” I heard my Dad say. “Come back inside and get some shoes on!” I went back inside and slipped some shoes on my feet. Then I ran back out and started to run off to my secret place.
I walked into the woods, and it was so peaceful. The birds were singing, and I could smell the scent of pine trees surrounding me. This was my favorite place.
I lay down in the soft grass, and felt the softness against my cheek. Suddenly, there was a crackling of branches in the woods. I raised my head slowly, and saw a beautiful sight. There was a mother deer and its fawn. I wished I could go up and pet the fawn’s soft brown fur. However, when I moved the slightest bit, they ran away, leaving only some small hoof prints in the soft grass.
I knew it was time to go home, but I did not want to leave. It was so peaceful here, and so warm because of the sun. Then, I heard small pattering. It got louder and louder. A branch overhead broke, and rain poured down on me, getting me soaked! I ran for the house, trying to cover my head with my hands.
As you can imagine, my parents were a little upset at me for getting all wet. They made me go and put dry clothes on, and then start school. I noticed that it was still raining heavily outside. I saw a rabbit, running for shelter, and a squirrel, running up into its big oak tree.
The rain poured down. As I did my work, I wondered how much longer this rain would last. I wanted it to be sunny, like it had been earlier that morning. I was getting so tired of all this rain.
That evening, I listened to the coyotes howl, and the rain pouring down. Suddenly, the rain started getting quieter and quieter, and then it stopped altogether. All was quiet. No coyotes were howling, no rain coming down, and all I could hear was my own breathing.
I walked to the window and looked outside. There was a coyote, standing in front of my house! I turned to get my camera, but when I looked again, he was gone. I heard the ferry horn again, and remembered that my friend was coming this evening, expecting me to meet him at the ferry dock.
I had told my parents earlier that he was coming, so they new I was going. I got a little snack to bring with me, and then ran outside. I ran off as fast as I could, but I had forgotten to take some kind of light with me. The sun was starting to go down, and it was getting dark.
When I got to the dock, my friend, Jon, was waiting for me. He had sure changed since the last time I had seen him. He had been only six years old. Now, he was fifteen. He did not have that childish, mischievous look anymore. He actually looked quite handsome. He had blonde hair, and the most beautiful blue eyes you ever saw. “What took you so long?” he said.
“Sorry,” I replied, “I had forgotten you were coming. I wouldn’t have come if I hadn’t heard the ferry horn.” I looked at the ground, embarrassed, but he told me not to be, and I felt better.
“Well Jon,” I said, “What did you plan to do while you were here?”
He did not reply for some time. He just looked around, staring at things, with an amazed look on his face. “What’s so surprising?” I said.
“I didn’t expect all these trees to be so tall, and so many. I know that you told me there would be many trees, but I did not expect this. The trees seem like they go on forever, and they are so tall.” After a few moments of silence he said, “Why don’t we go closer to the trees. I want to see them up close. I have never seen so many before.”
We walked towards the trees, and listened to the coyotes howling again. “What is that?” he said, trying not to sound scared.
“The howling?” I said. He nodded his head, looking a little worried. “Don’t be scared Jon, they are just coyotes. They look like wolves…”
“Wolves!” he exclaimed, looking scared now. “Jon,” I said, “they might look and sound like wolves, but they are a lot smaller and very scared of humans. There is nothing to worry about unless you are a young child.” At that, he looked somewhat relieved, but he still was a little scared.
“Why don’t we go to your house now?” he said, his voice a bit shaky. “Of course, Jon,” I said. “We can go now. I’m sorry if you got kind of scared.”
When we got to my house, my parents looked a bit worried. “Eliana, don’t stay out after dark next time. We knew you were going, but next time, start going a little bit sooner so you don’t have to be out after dark.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to stay out that late. Really, I did not even notice it was dark. There are lights by the dock, so it didn’t look as dark as it really was.”
“Alright, it’s okay this time. Now where is your friend…”
“My name’s Jon.” my friend said, extending out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, truly.”
“Pleasure to meet you too, Jon. Now Eliana,” my Dad said, “where is Jon going to sleep?” I thought about that for a minute. I had not considered where Jon was going to spend the night.
“Oh, it’s fine,” said Jon. “I can sleep on the floor, or on the couch, if that’s alright.” My parents agreed, so it was settled. Jon was sleeping in the living room tonight.
I said goodnight to everyone and went to my room. However, I could not fall asleep. I was too busy thinking about what Jon and I were going to do tomorrow. Tomorrow was Monday, and I did not have any school on Mondays. I did not really think Jon would have any school, because he came from far away.
The next morning, I slept in late because I had hardly gotten any sleep last night. Finally, around ten o’clock, my brother and sister ran into the room, shouting, “Eliana! It is time to wake up! It is time to wake up! Eliana!”
“Alright, alright,” I said. “You don’t have to wake up the whole world!” I groaned as I saw how late it was. “Eliana is a sleepy head,” whispered my brother. “I heard that!” I said back. My siblings ran out of the room laughing.
“There are pancakes for you,” said my mom, looking in the room. “Oh!” I said, almost forgetting it was time to get up. I practically jumped out of bed, got ready for the day, and went to the table in a few seconds.
I ran into Jon as I was walking into the kitchen, because he had been going to see if something was wrong. “Sorry,” I said.
“Don’t be,” said Jon. “Its alright.” he said, looking deep into my eyes. I smiled, gave him a hug and walked into the kitchen. I was not really that hungry though, because I was just too busy thinking. I managed to eat one pancake, but I had to force myself a little.
A little after breakfast, instead of going and getting coffee from the coffee pot as I usually did, I asked Jon if he wanted to go to a coffee shop with me. “Sure,” he said, “but don’t you have to see if your parents will let you first?”
“Oh, yes. I almost forgot about that,” I said. “Mom, Dad, can me and Jon go to the coffee shop?”
“Yes,” they said. “In fact, you can stay out for a while. Your curfew is seven o’clock. Just be careful.”
“Thanks!” I said. As we walked out of the door, I said, “We will probably come back before then, though.” My parents nodded, but Dad said, “Oh, I don’t know about that.” I was a little confused now, but then off we went.
When we got to the coffee shop, Jon looked a little bit surprised as he looked around. “What’s wrong?” I said.
“Nothing’s wrong, but why are so many people wearing socks and sandals? People almost never do that back where I live, and if they do, everybody thinks they’re weird.”
“Oh, it’s normal around here. Many people wear socks and sandals. The reason why, well my theory why, is that they want to wear sandals, but it is usually too cold to do that. So they just wear socks with their sandals.”
After Jon seemed to understand, at least somewhat, we went up to get our order. We both got espressos, and we drank them slowly. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see that Jon kept looking at me. Sometimes he would look out the window, looking as if he was deep in thought.
After we finished our coffee, I said, “Jon, I want to show you something. It’s really cool. I don’t think you will be disappointed.”
Jon followed me out of the shop, and we walked down to a place called Country Corners. I pointed, and Jon followed my gaze. “Wow!” he said. “Look at those carvings! They’re awesome!”
“That is what I was going to show you.” I said. “Look at all of them. There are two men, two gnomes, seals, a mermaid, a bear, an eagle, and even a fish man.”
“Fish man?” he said. “What’s a fish man?” I showed him what I was talking about. It was a fish, but he had legs instead of a tail. Jon laughed a little as he looked at it.
“Come,” I said. “I want to show you something else too.” We walked over to a house close by. In the front yard, there was a man, carving a big piece of wood with a chain saw. At first, we did not know what it was, but as we watched, we started to be able to make out two figures. We did not know what they were yet. However, we started to make out flowing tails, and we could tell now that they were four legged creatures. After a long while, we could make out a head with pointy ears, a long muzzle, and a flowing mane.
“I am guessing they are two horses,” said Jon. “It sure looks like it. I am starting to see what looks like two horses, rearing up in a battle.”
After a little bit longer, we left. “Wow,” I said, as I looked at my watch. “It is already six thirty. We don’t have that much longer.” Therefore, we started heading back home. I did not want to make my parents worried again.
“Even though we are heading home, I want to show you one more place before we actually go inside.”
“That’s fine,” said Jon. “I like the things you are showing me; I just wish we had more time.” It seemed like there was a meaning in those last words he had said, but I didn’t ask what the meaning was.
The last place I took him that day was my secret place. “Now you have to promise me that you won’t tell my brother and sister about this,” I said. “It is the only place I have, at home, where I can get away from everything, and sometimes it feels good to be able to get away for a while.”
“I promise,” said Jon, “I won’t tell anyone. You do not have to worry about it. Unless someone else tells them, your siblings will never find out.”
I took him into the woods, in my place that no one knew about except me. It was so peaceful and quiet here. No cars zooming past, and no one except Jon and I. I slowly started to rest my head on his shoulder, wishing this would never end. He put his arm around me, and we both stood like that for a while, looking past the trees, across the field, and in the sky.
“How much time do we have left?” Jon whispered to me, not wanting to disturb the peacefulness. I looked at my watch and sighed. “We should probably start heading back now. We only have three minutes left.”
Jon sighed as we started back across the field. Our time alone together was almost up, and we wanted to make it last for as long as we could. He held my hand, and I held his, helping each other if we stumbled.
When we got back to the house, there was dinner on the table. We walked slowly to the kitchen, but soon, our gazing into each other’s eyes was interrupted by my brother and sister, zooming past us, almost crashing into us, saying, “Yahoo! Dinner!” Jon and I both laughed and sat down at the table.
After dinner, it was late. In fact, it was time for us to go to bed. Jon slept on the couch again and I went into my room. I thought of what I wanted to do with Jon tomorrow. I was just so glad he was here.
The next morning, we went to church. Jon watched me as I sang for the little children in children’s worship, and he kept smiling. I could not help but smile back. After the children went to their classes, we stayed for youth group. First, I introduced Jon to everyone. They all greeted him warmly, and he seemed to be starting to feel at home here.
When we went back home, I took Jon to my special place again. Suddenly, he started to look sad. “What’s wrong?” I asked. He almost looked like he was going to cry. I was getting worried. “Am I doing something wrong?”
“No,” he replied, “You are not doing anything wrong. Do not think that you are. The reason I am sad is that I am going to have to leave on Tuesday. I have to leave early too. So we only have today and Monday left.”
Tears came to my eyes as I said, “Well then, we should try to make it last as long as we can.” We spent the rest of the day with each other, sometimes going back to the places in the town that Jon had enjoyed very much.
Near the end of the day, we decided to go back to the place where we had seen the man carving the two horses. They were really starting to look like horses now. The man was making his final touches carving them. When he was done carving, we really liked it. It was of two horses, one a strong and furious stallion, and the other a bit smaller, and it had a carefully shaped head, like an Arabian stallion. It was almost dark, so the man went back into his house for the night. Before he did that though, he closed and locked the door of his shed, so no one could steal the carving.
We slowly started back home, Jon’s arm over my shoulder and mine around his waist. I rested my head on him, and he slowly stroked my hair, with the gentlest touch. We never wanted this to end. If we could have, we would have stayed out all night, maybe sleeping on a bench in the park. However, we knew we had to get home, and anyway, it was going to be very cold.
When we finally got back, we sat on the couch for a while. My parents had already gone to bed, knowing we would come back. They knew we would have to come in sometime, because it was going to be freezing tonight. I had even seen it on the news that we should be careful not to stay out too long.
When I started to think I should go to bed, I started to stand up. Jon stopped me, and pulled me back down on the couch. He looked deep into my eyes, tears threatening to fall. I was not as strong as Jon was, because my eyes were already overflowing with tears.
“Good night, Eliana.” said Jon. Finally, I could not stand it anymore. I flung myself into Jon’s arms, crying heavily, my head on his shoulder. “You’re making me cry now.” he said. “We don’t want to wake up your parents either. Do not worry, we still have one more day. However, if we want to spend tomorrow together, we better go to sleep now.” I nodded, wiping my eyes.
“You’re right,” I said. “So I better be getting to bed.” I gave him one long hug, sobbing softly. I finally managed to get up and go into my room. As I got into my bed for the night, a little sad, I wondered how me and Jon were going to spend our last day.
The next day, my Dad prepared a wonderful breakfast. He knew that today was Jon’s last day here, so all of my family wanted to make it a happy day. Even my brother and sister tried to be nicer than usual. As for Jon and I, we were trying to make this day as long as it could be.
After breakfast, Jon and I went to a grocery store close to my home. My parents had sent us there to buy bread, rice, beans, chicken, and pasta. The only reason they had sent us there was so we could spend some more time with each other before Jon had to leave tomorrow.
As Jon and I walked through the aisles, we stayed close together. We got everything together; we did not go our separate ways to make it faster. We could have, so that we could spend some time alone, but we did not want to separate.
When Jon and I got home, we went to my secret place in the woods. We laid down in the soft grass and listened to the birds singing, the squirrels chattering, and we even saw a coyote, standing with his pack, watching over his pups as they played.
I took Jon to town again, and he said, “Before I… leave, I want to see the carving again. I want to see how far it comes along before I… go away.” So we went to see the carving, and by now, the man was painting it; he was almost done. The Arabian horse was pure black, with shining eyes. We could not tell what kind of horse the other one was, but we knew that it was a reddish brown color. Also, its eyes looked as if they would catch on fire.
The day went very quickly. It seemed as if the day had only been a few hours before we had to head back home. However, even though we were going home for the night, Jon and I decided to get back out of our beds and stay with each other until the last minute, when Jon had to leave.
After all of us had gone to bed, and the rest of my family had fallen asleep, I went and got Jon. We got a flashlight, put on our shoes and coats and went outside. We quickly but quietly ran out far out in the field. We did not go in the woods this time, because it would be very dark and we might not know what was coming.
The moon was shining bright, and the stars were looking down at us. Jon and I laid down in the field, looking at each other, but not saying anything. We did not know what to say. We just looked deep into each other’s eyes, wondering what to say. Before we knew it though, we were fast asleep.
I woke up, at first not knowing where I was. It was cold, and wet, because the dew had started to fall on everything. I woke up Jon, and we decided to go inside. It was getting very cold.
When we got back inside, I looked up at the clock. It was four o’clock. “When do you have to leave?” I whispered. Jon looked too, and sighed. “I have to leave at five,” Jon said, “only an hour away.”
We sat on the couch, staying close together. I rested my head on Jon’s shoulder, tears building up in my eyes. I suddenly felt a drop fall on my face, and looked up at Jon. This time, he was the one who was crying, instead of me. I wrapped my arms around him, trying to comfort him.
Before we knew it, the hour was gone, and it was five o’clock. I wrote a note for my parents, telling them that I would be back soon. Then we left, going to catch Jon’s ferry.
When we got to the ferry, we cried, and said goodbye. “I’ll never forget you, Eliana.” said Jon. I tried to say something back, but no words came. He looked into my eyes, and we said our last farewells.
As Jon walked away, tears were flowing freely from my eyes. Suddenly, I could not stand it anymore. “Jon, wait!” I cried, running to him. I wrapped my arms around him, not wanting to let him go. He hugged me back, crying. Then he put his hand on my cheek, and wiped away my tears. Before he walked away, he placed a kiss on my cheek. That only made me cry more. We gave each other a final hug, and then he walked away.
When I got home, I noticed that Jon had left a note on my desk. It read, ‘Dear Eliana, even though we will be apart, I plan to come back someday. I just know that someday, we will see each other again my love.’
As I helped Dad with his garden, I noticed a tiny sprout that had been stepped on over and over again. I carefully lifted its tiny leaves, and put it upright, and watered it carefully. “Eliana,” said my Dad, “it is just one sprout, and there will be many more.” As I carefully tended it, I replied, “No, it is special, and unique just like everything.” My dad smiled, and agreed.
I was getting a little too.... advanced with some quizzes, so I am not going to be taking as many quizzes. Infact, not any for a long time. I asked for this one first:
Take the What animal are you? Quiz Myspace Quizzes!!
Please pray for my Grandfather, Philip. He had a black dog, her name was Molly. She was like one of his best friends. She was there for as long as I can remember.
Molly died today. She had a seizer/stroke yesterday. I was so sad when I heard the news. And my Grandfather cried. He never, ever cries. He is very sad. He needs to find Jesus. Jesus could help him. Please pray that he will get comfort, and also that he will find Jesus.
The blog of a girl who loves Jesus, Switchfoot, Jon Foreman, Hawk Nelson, horses, reading, drawing, dogs, cats, all other animals, telling stories to my younger brother and sister, hanging out with friends, and many other things.
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You are a nice blend of cat and dog.
You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful.
And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.
Paul Baloche is a worship singer. When I was listening to him worship, I didn't really think of him as someone special. I mean, we all are special, but what I mean is like, I just thought of him as someone who was worshiping the Lord right along with us. I felt so close to God, and I am sure that can happen again. But I don't have to have another person to lead me. All I need is God.
