What Is Love?

What is love? A lot of people think they have a great definition of it. Love is what you feel when you eat pizza, right? We love pizza! No. We do not love pizza. We love people. We like pizza.

So what is love – really? How do you know if you love someone? What about if someone loves you? I think my parents have a wonderful idea about what love is. They have been married for thirty five years if my math is correct. (Correct me if I am wrong there!) They are in love. How do I know? Because: they give everything to each other. They always seek to please each other. They help each other. They make sacrifices for each other. I think that is love.

Love is what God has shown the world. Love is sending Your only Son to die to save the lost. Love is giving up everything to reach someone. Love is risking the world’s hate and anger to break the boundaries. Love is telling someone – in this case the world – that they are sinful, wrong, stupid and have no hope to get anywhere close to God on their own. That is love. Love is blunt. Love is truthful. Love doesn’t sugarcoat, or pretend it is okay. God doesn’t. And God is love.

^“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” – John 15:13. Love is being willing to die for someone. And this doesn’t count if you say, “Yeah, I’d die for them as long as it is a painless death.” I mean, you have to be willing to DIE for them, no matter how painful, how hard, how horrible that death is. That is love.

Jesus died for us. Jesus is love.

“And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” – Romans 15:14. Love is telling someone they are sinning, that they are wrong. That is love. Love is going to someone when it is awkward and hard and giving them the facts, even if it will make them hate you.

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” – 1 Timothy 1:5. Love is pure. You can’t call anything sinful ‘love’. That is something else.

Love is courageous, because love is pure and love is being willing to die, and love is being truthful – all of which take courage. Love, therefore, is courageous.

Love is hard. It is hard to be pure. It is hard to be willing to die. It is hard to be truthful.

Love is a choice. You can choose whether or not to love someone. It is a conscious or subconscious decision. You don’t ‘fall in love’; you make a choice to be in love and to stay there. God decided to love us enough to send Jesus. He didn’t have to. Maybe as Christians we forget that. “He had to because He loved us. He wouldn’t have been able to live with Himself if He hadn’t.” No, God chose to love us and to save us. It was His own, conscious decision. It was His choice. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8.) God sent us His love when we were nothing more than sinful waste, broken things that, if we’d been in procession of ourselves, we likely would have thrown in the trash for our malfunctions.

Love is kind. It is hard to understand how this works, since love is also truthful. But when you love someone, you desire to make them happy. You are kind to them, because you love them. Love is giving someone half of your chocolate bar when you have been CRAVING it all day. Love is giving someone you love the last bit of the ice cream. Love is putting yourself at the very end of the line, and putting everyone else – even the people you don’t like – first. Love is caring. Love is generous.

And love is faithful. When you love someone – really, truly love them – you won’t ever leave them. You won’t get ‘bored’ with them or their habits or ways. When you really love someone, you stick with them. You never let them go. You get into their lives, invade their personal ‘space bubble’ and you look out for them even if they hate you for it. You do everything you can to make sure they are happy. And you never, ever leave them alone – even when they want to be. Why? Love is faithful. Love doesn’t leave people to themselves when they need help.

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19)  

Love is what God is, what He has shown and what He has done. It is his being, his actions, and his words. Everything that God does radiates his love. If we strive to be like God, we will learn to love like God.

I have a whole lot to learn. I don’t always love like I should. It’s hard. It’s painful. I still get a million and two things wrong every day. I can’t love like God. On my own, it is impossible. But I am not on my own. God lives IN me. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25) I live in Him and He lives in me. That is the only way I can please Him and I can live like He wants me to live. Otherwise, I fail, all the time, over and over.

Mandy

P.S. I’d like to let people know: if you have anything to add to my articles or saw something wrong and would like to let me know, you can always use the comments place below. I am always willing to learn!

My Wonderful Mommy

My mommy is the best mother in the whole world, in my opinion. She is talented, kind, loving, and yet willing to correct where needed. I smile ruefully as I look back at the years when I hated the idea of a spanking, and realize how it shaped me into the person I am. I look at all the teenagers of my time, and know that this world needs more mothers who are willing to spank their children, to discipline, to teach right from wrong. And because she was willing to do that, I am the person I am. Thank you, Mommy.

My mommy passed down to me her love of arts and crafts. When I see a blank paper, I have to put a pencil or pen to it; otherwise it sits there and calls to me. I get my abilities to actually do well at it from her, too. She has taught me how to sew, to knit, to draw. She showed us how to cook, to clean, to do everything to the best of our abilities. She taught us of God’s will, His love, and His work. Thank you, Mommy.

But in the last seven years, since an accident, she has been almost completely disabled. Tremors racked her body, making her unable to hold a fork, a spoon, or a glass. Dressing herself became impossible and her balance was so far gone she could not stand properly. Talking was hard and took all her energy – energy she simply did not have while she tried to calm the tremors. All the crafts she had once loved so much were gone. But, yet, she never once gave up. She never blamed God. She never let it define her. She was still Cheryl Eggers. She was still God’s child. She was still MY mommy.

And we loved her, all through the years, even as we fed her, we took over all the house work, and we found small ways to help. Her face lost all emotion. However, we kids never realized, in our hearts, that it was hard. If Mommy needed the help, then it was our job to help her. Because: we love her. She is our mommy. “It is Essential Tremor,” the doctors told us. They tried medication after medication, nothing worked. Herbs, minerals, vitamins – all of them tried, all of them failed. More doctors. “It is Essential Tremor, there is nothing we can do. Not unless you want to try this expensive, experimental surgery.

And suddenly, seven years after all this began, a miracle happened. Not the type that happen with a bolt of lightening, a huge bang. It was the type that cost $18.00 at a pharmacy, and a movement disorder specialist. When mom saw there was a specialist in town, she called to get an appointment. Several months latter, she got in. The doctor looked at her, did a couple simple tests and told my mom, “You have Parkinson’s. Take this pill and come back in a month. We’ll see how you progress.”

She took the pill. She is playing the piano again, dressing herself, standing in place without problems, drinking tea without a straw – and holding the cup herself! She is signing her own name, helping chop pears for canning, cleaning the house, and driving the van. Her face is showing emotion again (at first it looked really funny) and she is practically floating about the house, proclaiming triumphantly, “I can do this again! I can do this! Did you see that?” We loved her when she could do almost nothing. She is our mommy. We love her now, when she can do almost everything again. She is still our mommy. She will ALWAYS be our mommy.

God gave us a miracle. Not the fancy, suddenly nothing is wrong type. But the type you go to your local pharmacy and buy a month’s supply of pills for $18.00. It is, as my Aunt Miriam put it, our $18.00 miracle.
Thank you, Lord.

Mandy

My People

It is different for me, as an author, I see things that my readers can simply never see – I feel things that they cannot understand. My characters are a part of me, each and every one holding a place in my heart, and each one having one of my faults, my characteristics, and my hopes. It is even different for me concerning my bad guys. My readers might feel the satisfaction of seeing them fall to good and right, but I feel something else, because I understand, they’re gone, they cannot be saved. They weren’t the good guys, but they were my people. I could have saved them, but I didn’t. It is always for a reason, but it still hurts to see them go. Is that how God feels when the unsaved die? Mandy

Wild Horses or Tamed Kittens?

My pastor gave a wonderful sermon a couple weeks ago that I wanted to share. Thank you, Pastor Nick.

2 Corinthians 5:11-21:

"11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. 12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. 13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold , all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

As Christians, we should be like wild horses for God, not tamed kittens that just anyone can stick in a box and make silent.

What is the goal of missions? To proclaim Jesus to the world, to shout it from the roof tops, to tell it in the streets, to whisper it to our children as they fall asleep. "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (Matthew 16:15) We are supposed to tell them of Jesus - of his life, of his death, of his resurrection.

Why? Why do we tell them? Why do we bother to throw ourselves into awkward postions, hard places, just to tell others? because we know the fear of God. The unsaved will die an eternal death and be seperated from Our Lord and Savior forever. There will be a day of judgement. So we tell them! We don't tell them for some self gain. We tell them, to save them.

And, yes, by doing this, we are going to appear utterly crazy to the world. They are going to think our cheese has slipped off our cracker, that our happy meal is a few fries too short (thanks to all my friends for the sayings.) To the world, we're crazy. And if we're not, there is a problem. Christians should disregard every part of self preservation. Christians should be the first ones to dive into the banged up lives, the dying people, the run-down, rat-infested places of the world. Why? To help them, to tell them! We should jump into angry, infuriated mobs! Why? To help them, to tell them! We should welcome dangerous people into our homes! Why? To help them, to tell them! We should give to others even if we have nothing! Why? To help them, to tell them. Our job in life isn't to protect ourselves. It is to show others, no matter the personal hardships it might cause, the Love we have found, the Hope that we now have as our own. It is to go to the worst in this world and to tell them about the Best that our world has ever known.

This is crazy. A sane person would not give away their food if they don't have enough to feed themselves. A sane person wouldn't dive into the world's worst places to tend to their poor. A sane person wouldn't give up luxury for pain, suffering, illness, hurt. They wouldn't be willing to risk the emotional pain to become attached to a bad, sure-to-disappoint person so they could tell them of God's love for them. Sane people, don't do such things. Sane people stay home. Sane people see the worst of this world and quickly walk the other way. Sane people do not willingly risk illness or death to go to the people in jungles or swamps.

Sane people do not see a drunk and go over to talk to him and tell him of Christ. Sane people don't invite the homeless into their homes to have a hot meal - or go farther and help them find a place to stay, a job. Sane people don't get involved. Sane people stay away.

But Christians aren't supposed to. Christians are supposed to look at the worst and see a price tag on their clothes saying, "God's Blood." That is their worth to God. That is what He has given. We are supposed to give with everything we have. Why? For Jesus. For Jesus.

Love hurts. Love is stepping between the guns, the fights, the hurt, the greed, the sticks and stones, and the harsh words. Love is telling a sinner he is wrong. Love is getting into someone's life, invaiding their space with every ounce of your power, and learning what is happening in their hearts, even if it breaks your own. Love is telling someone about God, even if they will hate you for it.

That is the love Christ has for us. That is the love we are supposed to have for everyone else. That is the love we are supposed to display towards everyone, even the people that we hate, that annoy us, that have hurt us. It is not our job to judge them. It is our job, our life, our gift, to love them - as Jesus loves them, as he loves us.

Are you willing to be a wild horse, that will always do what God wants, no matter the risk? Or are you going to be a tamed kitten, locked in a box, silent, sane, preserving yourself from harm?

Mandy

Don't Judge - Speak Up!

Today, many people are saying, "Shh! Don't say anything, don't judge!" Christians look at Romans 14 and immediately assume this is correct, proper and right. God does say not to judge. We should work hard to not look down our noses at our family and our friends. But is that whole sentence true? Lets take a moment to look deeper.

Don't you just love the Greek and Hebrew langauges? Each word has several very special meanings so you can know exactly what they mean! The particular "judge" used here means: to decide mentally, or judicially, to try, to condemn, conclude, damn, decree, and sentence. Basically what you think when you see the word but so far as I saw, there was absolutely nothing about being silent when you see someone sinning!

Now, lets look at a new passage - just a chapter over! Romans 15:14 says, "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with knowledge, able also to admonish one another."

Lets take a look at "admonish" and see what this word has to tell us. This word in particular means, "To put in mind, to caution or rebuke gently. Admonish, warn."

What does all this mean? God is not saying, "Hush!" when He says "Judge not!" Paul, and God, expect us to tell others when they are doing something wrong. They may not be aware of it, or they may just need someone to help them hear their conscious again. What it does say, however, is that we should reprove, or admonish, gently. Yelling at them isn't the right way to go about it. It probably won't get you anywhere anyway.

I don't know about you, but this is extremely helpful for me. There are times when we have to put this to use. I know first hand that it is painful and hard to tell someone you love that they are sinning.

I hope this helps you! Thanks for stopping in!

Mandy

Chicks and God's Plans

A couple weeks again one of our chickens showed back up with five cute little balls of fluff following her. The chicks are absolutely adorable! We fixed up the pen (as I explained in an earlier post, I think...) and put them in there. Well, even though we tried our very hardest to get it chick proff, I am convinced there is no such thing! They can fit through the chicken wire! Yes, that are that small! They are always getting out but, luckily, none have yet died. YAY! This morning I headed out to check on them and feed them and stuff. I feed the other chickens first (because they mobbed me) and then headed over to check on them. Two chicks and one chicken. I felt the panic start up as I imagined little dead babies. I went hesitantly towards the house part of their pen and peered in, asking myself why on earth I wasn't getting Jon to look instead. No chicks in there. So now I started wondering if something had stolen them and eaten them.

I don't remember just how I saw them, maybe it was movement out of the corner of my eye or something, but I did. about ten feel away, weaving through the foot-tall grass were the babies. They were enjoying the freedom and eating the bugs around them. Exasperated, I shooed them back towards the house, trying to grab them so I could put them back. They did not want to be grabbed! They wanted to go back through the holes they had escaped from. They did not fit through the holes anymore! If they would only hold still, I could complete my plan to get them back in and it wouldn't take more than a few moments! But, of course, that was too easy!

It made me think, "Is this how God sometimes feels? When we are all dashing around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to fix something and not taking long enough to just let God fix it?" I wondered how many things God could have fixed long before us that we hendered by our mad dashes and dives. God has perfect plans for us and he can complete them without us getting flustered. He has everything under control. So next time you need to complete something, need to find a way into someone's life or heart, take a few moments to pray and let God work. He is so much bigger and more capable than we are.

Mandy

What Will You Say?

This morning I turned the computer on and went to facebook and was pleased to find on of the 'Christian post thingies' I enjoy. This one said: Ten Things God Wants You To Remember, which encluded 'He loves you' and 'He protects you'. They were all very true and I enjoyed it very much, even shared it. And then I clicked the 'read comments' button. I enjoy reading the comments as much as I enjoy reading the pictures and sayings. It is nice to see what the Christians around the world have to say but also for another reason. There are always those couple people who get one and say things like, "God isn't real." When I see those comments, I hover over the name and click the 'message' button and write this person, sharing my faith and hope. I don't know if I've ever made a impact on any of them, but it is something I enjoy doing. Sometimes there are even those few people who say, "I'm feeling overwhelmed, God help me," or such things as that.

Today the comments loaded and right away, the very first one, was a very long, almost blog size comment. "Christians are stupid and ignoriant. You are all brainwashed, crazy people who don't know anything. I was a Christian once but science proved to me that I was wrong." He went on and on, over and over, telling the whole world that Christian were stupid people who needed to go to church EVERY SUNDAY to be told what to do because they couldn't think for themselves. It made me sad. I hovered over the name in the hopes I could tell him some of our truth, God's love, the hope we have, the science that DOES prove us right. But it wasn't to be. There was only a 'like' button, no 'message' button. I even went to his page but found none. "Is He not one of your chosen, Lord?" I asked. "Or is it just not your time for him yet?"

I did not have the oppertunity to talk to him, to help him but what if you had the chance? What if someone came up to you, no warning, and said these things to you? You have no time to look anything up, no time to find verses, no time to think on how to answer - only time to pray and do? Would you have the answers you need? Would you be able to show them the science that DOES show the Bible is real? There is science out there that proves it. Look at the gospels for example. Have you noticed the disruptancies, the small changes in the stories? A man did quite a bit of research into it and found that, according to high athorities, that these disruptencies actually prove that the Bible was really written by different people that did not conspire to just write it up to confuse or brainwash people. People see things differently and therefore would tell it differently, imphasizing things that others leave completely out because they simply see it as 'unimportant'. I'm sure the police have noticed it - have you? Have five people tell you the same story (they all have to have been there) and listen for those small changes. It will happen unless they rehearsed it!

Another thing: if the people that wrote the New Testament just made it up, would they have been willing to be STONED, HUNG, and PROSICUTED for their lie? Would YOU die for a lie? No, they had to have REALLY, HONESTY believed it and remember, they are eye wittnesses. They couldn't have just been mis-led! They have SEEN with their own eyes the miracles not only done by Jesus but by those who believed him!

Did you know those things? They are out there to be found! God WANTS to use you, is willing to make his Word understandable to you! Get INTO it and LIVE it and USE it. Could YOU answer these questions? Could you help this person if he asked you these things? Do you have facts and verses to help?

You thought I was done? Wrong. He said one more thing that I think we need to face. It is one of those things no one likes to think about and I can tell you why: it is gross! It is sinful! It is wrong! Nowadays we call it 'gay'. I know, you winced, didn't you? This man said he was gay. "I can't help it, it is just natural, but because of it, you say I am sinful," he said. What would you have said? Maybe it is natural to him but you know what? SIN comes naturally to ALL OF US. We are sinful, broken human beings. Stealing may come easily to some, even murder is fairly easy to some people - does that make it right, does it make it okay? NO! It is still wrong. We will face these questions and we have to be ready for them. God gives us verses on this in Romans. Romans 1:21, 22, 24-28 and 32.

The next question is: what are you going to do? Some people say, "But I don't have oppertunities to tell people!" Do you have facebook, twitter, both? Then get on it and USE it for God. Sure, its purpose is to keep in touch with friends but God can use facebook, too! When you see someone say, "I don't believe in God," or other things like it, don't just shake your head sadly - DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! You have the tools you need, you CLEARLY have the time. So take a few moments to tell these people about God. Some of them are just waiting for someone to tell them, to let them know they are loved. Who cares if you don't know much! The Bible promises that God will give you the words. SO DO SOMETHING!

And for all of my wonderful, lovely, protective relatives, yes, my parents have given me permission to tell these people. :) I love you all.

Mandy

Enough - By My Mommy

This morning I lay in bed, trying to get up the courage to get up. I was feeling sorry for myself and began to think of all the things I had lost and the every day activities that are now so difficult, if not impossible, to do. I dreaded finding clothes for today, I could tell my arms would be too weak to pull up the loosest of pants and my fingers too shaky to button or zip. I thought about how I used to sew, knit and design clothing, things I now struggle to teach my children. I began to remember me, as I used to be.

I used to be an artist, drawing, painting, creating, now I have to try to find the words to tell others how to do the simplest of crafts. I was the “Craft Lady”; I loved showing others how to make something beautiful. Now I may be able to prepare but must rely on others to teach and help with the projects. The tremor has taken my talent.

I used to be proud of my handwriting; forming letters was a joy and an expression of beauty. Now neither the paper nor the pen will hold still and the words are barely legible, and writing a check or signing the receipt in a store is embarrassing. The tremor has taken both my words and my pride.

I used to be a long distance runner. I loved to hike and explore. I dreamed of the day we could go exploring as a family. Now I think about each step, telling my left leg to pick up and put down, pick up, put down, making even the briefest of walks mentally and physically exhausting. The tremor has taken my mobility and sense of adventure.

I used to make music, playing the piano and organ for church, and singing for the Lord. Now my hands hit all the wrong notes and singing causes such violent tremors my muscles cramp and I am in agony. The tremor has taken my song.

I used to be able to lift 90-pound bales of hay, work beside my husband and pull a kid, the goat kind. Now carrying a water glass or lifting a shovel full of dirt is a struggle. The tremor has taken my strength.

I used to be a teacher and I enjoyed talking with friends for hours (and we had the phone bills to prove it). Now I shake so violently that carrying on the simplest conversation is difficult, just holding still requires all my concentration so the words don‘t come, and my daughter must hold the phone for me. The tremor has taken my voice.

I used to be self-sufficient, independent, and opinionated (ok, I am still opinionated). I could drive a semi-truck, carry my own plate and go where I pleased, when I wanted, and hit a target dead on. Now I drive only on good days, others fetch what they think I would like to eat, and would you want to go target shooting with me? The tremor has robbed my independence.

And in that moment, as I lay there feeling discouraged and alone, I cried out, “Father, What do I have left?”

Softly came the answer, “My child, You have Me.

My strength is made perfect in your weakness.
My song is made new every morning, listen to it in the voices of your children.
My words are eternal and yours.
My grace IS sufficient for even your darkest days.
My love surrounds you, feel it in the love of your family.
You have Me.”

Then my heart cried out, “Abba, YOU are enough.”

Cheryl Eggers
July 2010


I got a lot of my writing talent from my mommy. She is one of the most amazing people I've ever known. She can laugh about her trimor with ease most of the time. She takes lifein stride. There are days for all of us where we wonder about these things but, unlike some, my mom listened for God's answer - and heard it. If you're struggling, don't just get upset, tell God and then not listen for what he says to you! He is always telling us things. This is something I need to learn as much as anyone else.

Mandy

Camp!

My sisters just left for the first week of camp. Usually I would go too to help out with crafts and setting and cleaning tables but this year there will be no crafts. My mom's shaking is too bad for her to go this year as the 'Craft Lady'. So, my brother and I will be staying home with her for the first week and my little sister Julie will be with her for the second week. So...

170 hours and two minutes until camp (for me)!!!!!!

Mandy

Hot!

My cousins are out again, this time their whole family. From the title, you might have thought of the weather. While, its a good thing you did! It is HOT! It is the season to go creek walking! But that isn't what this article is about.

My sisters, Missy and Rose, our two youngest cousins, Kate (5years old) and Nate (3 years old), and I were in the kitchen, preparing lunch for are roaming family who would soon arrive looking for lunch. I had found, quite to my pleasure, that the chips were Gluten Free. Our aunt had brought two types: spicy and not-as-spicy. Those of us in the kitchen had been (of course) eating the not-so-spicy ones. Nate came up and said, "I want this kind." He reached into the spicy bag and pulled one out, walking away with it. Within moments he arrived back, and said, "Hot! I need water!" He shoved the offensive chip back into the bag (don't weary, Missy took it back out and threw it away). We all found it very funny.

Missy decided it would be funny to see if he could tell the difference between the two. She placed a couple spicy ones in the not-as-spicy bag and set it up. Nate came up and took one and then started off. He took one bite and stopped short. "This is a spicy one! What is it doing in this bag?" he asked.

Don't you just love little kids? They are so cute and honest.

Another time Rose found Nate eating her 'hidden' chocolate. She brought him downstairs and sat him on the couch. She looked at him seriously and said, "Did you eat my chocolate?"

"Yes," he said, very calmly.

"Are you sorry?" she asked him.

"No," he replied.

Well, I did say they were honest, didn't I? I am dedicating this to all the mothers that read my blog. I bet you know how this goes! :)

Mandy

Have Faith, and an Umbrella!

One time our pastor told us a story about a small church family made up of mostly farmers (I'm telling this by memory, so I may or may not have it word perfect). It was the middle of a drought and all of their crops were dying off. "Come next Sunday and we will pray for rain together! Have faith and God will give us the rain we need!"

The next Sunday rolled around and everyone began showing up. "Where is your faith?" asked the pastor to his church family. "Why don't you have faith that God can make it rain?"

"We have faith!" they told him, confused.

"Then where is your umbrellas?" he asked them, shaking his head.



Today we got ready to walk to the post office and, as we were preparing to go, Missy picked up our blue, slightly beat up umbrella. It was sunny and extremely hot when we left. I took a big blue hat. I don't think either of us expected it to do what it did. It began sprinkling as we reached the main road and we both began laughing as we realized the connection with the story. We got to the post office and began mailing our things off. As we were almost done, the mailman looked at his window and said in surprise, "Is it raining?"

"It is. It is a good thing we brough our umbrella," Missy told him.

We left the post office and got part way down the road when our mother and brother showed up with the van. "We had an umbrella," I told them.

"I told her that," Peter said.

It was nice that they came anyway, however! So, if you need rain, I suggest you go for a walk and bring your umbrellas.

Mandy

Frog Hunting!

I know, isn’t the title awesome? I LOVE frogs! They are...well, they’re...just...ah... Hmm. It seems frogs are so amazing it is hard to even explain it! They are just...well...WONDERFUL! I would say ‘cute’ but I think some people would then beg to differ (but I still think they are!) I don’t know exactly what it is about frogs that is so attracting for me but they ARE. I find them absolutely fascinating. Maybe it is the way they live in water like fish but you can hold them and squeeze them and call them George with out accidentally suffocating them (well, sometimes.) I’m not sure why, but I like frogs.

So, naturally, I went frog hunting when three of my male cousins, my brother, younger sister and I went to the creek. It all started with cleaning the yard. I guess that sounds slightly strange in a ‘Frog Hunting’ blog but it is true! Before we could go to the creek my cousins (Cousin A, Cousin B #1, and Cousin B #2,), my sister (Jules) and my brother (Peter) had to do some yard work for my mom. You know: mow the lawn, move some wood, pick up trash...so on and so on and so on and so forth. When Jules and cousin B #2 (who is Jules’ age) claimed to be ‘done’, I was sent to inspect. I’m very good at inspecting. In fact, I’m so good at it that my siblings came up with a saying: ‘WWMS’ which, being translated is ‘What Would Mandy See?’ I’m not sure what planet my dear sister and Cousin B #2 were on but it wasn’t the same one I was on! I quickly put them back in order and gave directions to the moving of various pieces of wood and trash pieces.

And that is where the mention of the creek comes into play. Mom had already told them they could go when they were done. Everyone else had already finished their chores and were waiting on Cousin B #2 and Jules, both of which were giving me murderous glances and complaining of the heat as they did the chores I set forth for them to do. To tell you the truth, I felt sorry for them and would have gladly let them go but for the fact that it really did need done – desperately. There was nothing for it! They would have to clean it.

But, FINALLY, they were done and we all dashed inside to...eat lunch. Nope, still no creek. Food had to be eaten first (but I notice that no one was giving me evil glares when I told them to eat!) And THEN we were off to the creek! Our swimming holes aren’t far from the house (half a mile at the most) and when you ride bikes it takes no time at all. The first thing we did was get wet and swim for awhile, look at the creek bottom with goggles and such (we even dunked each other a bit) and then Cousin A (who is my age) told me to go hunt frogs with him. We were off. We found some right away, the place being crawling with them, but catching them was going to prove not to be easy! Oh no, definitely not. Frogs are slippery, cunning...and GREAT swimmers. Your only hope is to get one on the land. Cousin A spotted one and crouched down very slowly. Slowly, slowly, slowly....DIVE! GRAB! And he had it. And then... he didn’t have it. Gone, slipped right out of his fingers. Gone forever into the water and mud and grass (which, you may be interested to know, was above our heads it was so tall).

Oh well, time to try again! Up and down and around we went. Sometimes we’d see them go under rocks and think we’d have them, just to find they’d escaped by means unknown to anyone but the frog kind! And there was the dog, running up and down, making enough noise to scare away a herd of elephants. My bare feet (yes, indeed, they were bare) dug delightfully into the mud. It really is a very good feeling. I know, some of you are now screaming, “EWWWW!” but you really should try it!

I was the first to catch one, but I also have years of experience in frog hunting. It was a rather small frog and I decided to call it Buddy, because I could. A little while later Cousin A caught one, which he gave to me to hold (he is always passing me things to hold for reasons unknown to me.) So there I was, a frog in each hand, walking up and down and up and down and over and under the whole creek with one frog in each hand and likely smiling a little crazily. It really was very fun!

Then I got lost from my group of cousins and siblings. I was told by one set that another set was farther up creek (yes, creek, not river) and so I headed that way on the path (thinking to myself, “It is easier to travel by path than creek,”) and somehow managed to go AROUND my cousins and get too far up creek. So, this time I thought, “Well, they surely can’t be very far down river and I’ll just go that way this time.” BIG mistake. There was a huge fallen tree (yes, it was a TREE not a LOG) and it had dead branches sticking up everywhere all poky and stuff. So, I decided to myself to just climb up on the bank and go around it. NOT a good plan! The bank was on a very steep hill that was covered in trees and scratchy grass and ROSE BUSHES. Have you ever seen a rose bush? Spikes, thorns, things that scrap your legs and cut your bare feet (actually, my feet did not get cut, I have very tough ones) and are very terrible to walk through. And you must keep in mind that I had a frog in each hand that were squeaking at me in the most betrayed, injured squeaks imaginable!

But, finally, after much maneuvering, I found my way back to the creek and, finally, to my cousins who were playing with their frogs in the creek. All in all, it was a pretty good day! :)

Kids Against Hunger Event Update

Well, our packaging event went WONDERFULLY. We had eleven more people than we needed so we opened another line so more people could get involved. :) Thirty six people in all arrived and everyone said they had a good time. One of my dear cousins (Will, age 9) commented, "Who knew saving lives could be so easy?" And it really was easy!

If you'd live more information on them you can visit their site at: kidsagainsthunger.org.

Mandy

My Brother

Last night we were out watering plants for people. It is a great way of making money if it stops raining and the grass dries out and no longer needs cut! It is dry, so let it be know you are willing to water flowers! :) Anyway, we were just coming up on the last place (a rental house with a small flower bed). There were three men there, siting in lawn chairs inside the open, drive in garage. My brother said, "Okay, I'm going home," and started off.

"But what if we need you?" I called.

He did not pay any attention. We told the men what we were doing and did our job, finishing by putting the hose up. As we were leaving the drive way, I saw Jon, sitting beside the road, watching the house intently. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"If they'd done anything, I would have made my move."

I have an amazing brother. :)

God's Creation

"And God said, Let there be light and there was light" (Genisis 1:3.)

Have you ever really thought about creation? Maybe some of you have but it didn't hit me until today what really happened that day. I mean, I understood that God breathed out light, he molded a earth out of nothing but... It didn't click how huge it was until I got this strange picture as I memorized this verse for my camp. In my mind I saw God floating around over the vast expanse of waters (as in the verses before the one above) and God thought to himself in my picture, "Hmm, today I should make something. Light sounds like a good name. What will light be? Particals and waves of some kind. And what if there are many kinds and some go into some things and some are reflected and it makes things different colors? Yes, I like the idea of colors, too."

I mean...can you think of how incredable a mind it would take to think of the idea of particles and colors and light and waves and...all those other things? How do you come up with that? How could you possibly think of atoms and minerals? It goes on and on! I mean, just think of it. Did He plan it out first? Did He just decide to make something and did it? Did He want someplace to go on vacation and decided sunlight would make it look cheery? It is so hard to comprehend.

God is beyond our comprehension. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts," (Isaiah 55:8-9.) God tells us that we can't understand Him completely. He is so much bigger than we are.

Still, I think that it would make a wonderful dinner topic in Heaven someday. "Hay, God, how did you come to think of light?" God is so wonderful, so big, so amazing. I think it is enough to know Him and to stand in awe of Him.

I hope you all still feel small when you think of God. I hope you all still feel awed by His magesty. I hope you are brought to earth by His glory every time you start to think of yourself as big. And I hope the same for myself. My biggest fear is to become vain or prideful. I am small. He choose me because He could, not because of how important I am. I am nothing in comparison...and yet, He loves me.

Mandy

Kids Against Hunger Event

My church and I are doing a Kids Against Hunger Packageing event on the 23 of June. I've done it once before and it has amazed me how much you can do in such a short time. In one and a half hours, thirty of us packaged 4,356 meals! That means that 4,356 people were fed by our efforts! It doesn't take long to help, people, and ANYONE can do it. My church raised the money in three weeks ($1,150) just by taking personal donations! Then I got in contact with our local 'satilite' and set up an event. If you are interested in doing the same, you can go to their website: kidsagainsthunger,org and learn what 'satellite' is closest to you. You can just donate or you can ask about putting together an event of your own! 20% of your proceeds will stay here in America. 80% will go to countries all over the world! You can make a difference. The more money you raise, the more meals you can package and the more kids you can save! I have learned that by summer their packaging events slow down because schools go out of session and are no longer contributing! That shouldn't happen with so many of us with free time on our hands! Two hours, three hours, it isn't that much to sacrifice for such a good cause. I am still in my teens yet and I cordinated an event! If I can do it, you can do it too! You can make a difference!

Mandy

Conversations with the Characters #2

I wrote this for a friend and decided after a little thought that I wanted to post it. I wrote three 'conversations' prior to this. These are what I would say to my characters if I were to meet them (well, maybe.) They are funny anyway. So here you go.

Conversation #4:

Cherish: *knocks the sword out of Sam’s hands and sends him to the ground.* “Beat you…again.”
Me: *Falls out of nowhere* “You’re pretty good.”
Cherish: *Turns towards me, having not seen that I dropped out of thin air* “Thanks.”
Me: “You’re welcome. Hello, Sam.”
Sam: *gets up and looks at me closely* “Do I know you?”
Me: “No, but I know you.”
Cherish: “Isn’t that what the evil person always says in books before killing you?”
Me: *Frowns and thinks about it* “On second thought, I’ll take that back.”
Sam: “So I don’t know you?”
Me: “No. Maybe I should introduce myself. Hello, I’m Mandy, your author.”
Cherish: “Our what? Oh, I get it; Tess put you up to this.”
Me: “No, I was going to go see her and Jamie next.”
Sam: “Why?”
Me: *Thinks about it a moment then shrugs* “Because I can.”
Cherish: “You still haven’t told us who you are.”
Me: “Yes I did. I’m your author.”
Sam: “Sure.”
Me: “You can think I’m crazy if you like.”
Sam: “Deal.”
Cherish: “Sam, be nice.”
Sam: *Blushes* “Sorry.”
Me: “That’s okay. I’m just leaving. You can say I had an ODD episode if you like.”
Sam: “Odd? What is that?”
Me: “Overly Dramatic Departure, of course. Bye.” *Literally goes up in a poof of smoke*
Two minutes later: Me: *Smiles to herself* “I bet they believe me now.”

A Crazy Drive

A nice quiet drive through the nice quiet city with a nice quiet navigator and a nice quiet driver… No. Not even close.

“Turn!” screams the navigator.
*Driver screeches around the corner.*
“Stop!” she yells.
*Driver slams on the break.*
“That was our turn!” she cries.
*Driver swivels into the parking lot to turn around.*

This was how my day went. My mom, the navigator, trying to give directions to our neighbor, the driver, as me and Melissa sit in the back in a state of near panic. (Near panic isn’t quite the same as panic but something between panic and excitement. If you’ve ever gone on an amusement park ride, you know what I’m talking about. It was something like that, only a little more dangerous.)

It all started with a trip to the chiropractor and ended with a very car-sick person (namely: Me.) The trip to town wasn’t so bad because our neighbor didn’t need directions. Once we got into town was when the trouble started. The trouble really had nothing at all to do with their lack of driving and navigating skills, it had to do with their talking skills. The whole trip they talked to one another and the whole trip my mom forgot to give the directions to our neighbor until we got to our turn. The dialogue went something like this:

Mom: “The small tiller might not work so well because… Turn!”
Neighbor: “Here?”
Mom: “There! Turn, now!”
Neighbor: “Why wouldn’t the tiller work?”
Mom: “You could use it but it would till in all the grass seeds on those plants…Stop! That’s our stop!”
Neighbor: “You should tell me before hand, honey!”
Mom: “And you don’t want all those grass seeds where you plant your garden.”
Neighbor: “I hadn’t thought of that. This lane?”
Mom: “No, the next one… Wait! That was it.”
Neighbor: “What…?”
Mom: “Turn in there! Turn around and go back.”
Neighbor: “Okay.”
Mom: “No, never mind, that wasn’t it.”

And then there was the left and right issue. My mother, who can’t tell the two apart, kept saying ‘left’ for ‘right’ and ‘right’ for ‘left’ which only caused more confusion!

This might sound fun to all those like my younger siblings but by the end of the day I was wondering whether the chiropractor had done any good! Needless to say, it was interesting. I’m not sure you could call a single moment boring!

Mandy

God Knows

Why do we accuse God of not knowing or understanding what we are going through? When we are hurting we forget how much he hurt for us. How can we say he doesn’t understand when we are scared when he had to face the cross? How can we say he doesn’t understand when we are betrayed when one of his friends turned him over to be murdered? How can we claim he doesn’t get it when we feel alone when he was hung on a cross being beaten to death and his Father turned away? How can we say he doesn’t know how we feel when we are left to deal with something by ourselves when his own friends ran in fear as the soldiers took him? How can we say he doesn’t know what it is like to be hated when he faced a crowd of people screaming for his death? He had done nothing to them but kindness! How can we say he doesn’t know what it is like to go through physical pain? He was beaten, forced to carry his cross and then hung on it to be beaten some more. It is US who don’t understand what it is like to hurt! How can we say he doesn’t understand what it is like to have everything he cares about ripped away and ruined when his beautiful creation was snatched out of his hands?

And we dare to say he doesn’t know. We bend as low as to blame him for our troubles when he has given his ALL to get us back. In our pain we forget to remember just how much he gave, how much he cares, how much he understands! Anything we have gone through or are going through, he has experienced. Loss, pain, fear…

Stop forgetting. Start remembering.

Mandy

My Birthday

Today is a special day. It is my Birthday. I slept in late (7:15am if you can believe it! WOW! No, I am not joking, that is late for me), ate the very last bit of cereal (which happened to be my favorite kind...Chex! I won't mention how it is one of the only kinds I can have. It is still my FAVORITE cereal, still not kidding), and came on the computer to learn my Aunts and pastor have already wished me happy Birthday! Then, my seven double cousins called to sing a rather discordenated, very sweet happy birthday via the phone. And I can't forget to mention one of the best parts of the day so far - my mom gave me a hug. I love you, Mom! So, fifteen minutes in, and my Birthday is already so good!

Yet, I still have to mention someone I could not have made it this far and been the person I am without - God. Thank you, Lord, for the lessons that helped me grow (even if some of them were painful) and for the family and friends you gave me. I could never have gotten here without You.

Mom, Dad, I love you so much. You are always there, always special. Mom, I don't care if you shake. I love you now and just the way you are. You can shake for the rest of your life and I won't mind. You are MY MOM. Nothing will ever change that. I will never stop loving you. Dad, there isn't even words. I love you so much. You are my Daddy and I want nothing more than to make you proud of me. I love you, I love you, I love you. And when an author finds herself speechless and unable to describe how much someone means to her that is a HUGE sign! Thank you for loving me.

Aunt Miriam, you have been one of my biggest heroes my whole life! You have encouraged me, loved me, cared for me. I love the silly books you always read us and I don't ever want that to stop. I love the laughter your presence always brings. You mean more to me than words can describe. Thank you for always saying 'it just hasn't clicked yet' when I had trouble reading. That meant so much. I love you.

Aunt Vonda, thank you for just being you. I miss you so much. You have always meant fun, laughter and excitment. And not ust because of the gifts! I love you.

Aunt Cindy, our silly conversations via Messanger mean so much. Every time I'm around you, I keep thinking, "I want to be as patient and kind as her." I have never met someone as patient as you are. You are special, funny, and kind unlike anyone I've ever know. I love you, so very much. I always look forward to seeing you.

Aunt Chari, thank you for inviting me into your boat. Literally (three days ago) and metaporically (my entire life). I couldn't have been blessed with a more wonderful family. I love you, Aunt Chari.

Missy, Rose, Peter, Jules, I love you guys. Maybe I don't say it a lot, but I think it all the time. I know I don't say much besides books scenes and ideas, but that is my way of talking. Every time you help me, it means the world to me. My life would be dull and boring without you. I love you. You are my family and therefore my most special friends.

Pastor Nick, maybe you only count as family through Christ, but you have inspired me. Thank you for always being there and praying. It means so much. Thank you for everything!

My friends, I have too many of you to count, but I love you all so much it hurts! Thank you for everything!

And thank You, God, for them all.

God bless you on my special day!

Mandy

P.S. Guess what type of cake I get? PINEAPPLE CAKE! YAY!

Kids Against Hunger

This is something I've done and really enjoyed. I'm going to try to get my church to do it, too. Thought some of you might like to help, too. : )

Founder: Richard Proudfit founded the Kids Against Hunger Organization in 1999 to feed starving children.

Goal: To significantly reduce hungry children in the U.S. and feed starving children around the world.

How big is the need? Over 1.02 billion people do not have enough to eat and are starving. That is more then the populations of the U.S.A., Canada and the European Union! (Source: FAO news release, 19 June 2009.) Every six seconds a child dies of hunger and related causes! (Source: FAO, 2004.) 10.9 million Children under the age of five die per year and 60 percent of those are from malnutrition.

How do they know their food has everything it needs in it? The Kids Against Hunger organization have worked with scientist to learn what the starving children around the world need in their diets, not only to fill them with little, but to actually start reversing the effects of long term hunger.

What is in their food packages? The packages include four dry ingredients that are specially prepared and researched to help heal. They include rice, vitamin-fortified, crushed soy (for protein), a dehydrated blend of six vegetables, and chicken flavored, vegetarian, vitamin and mineral powder. They are simple to prepare: just boil the amount of water the package calls for, for twenty minutes (which is important to get rid of anything bad in the water) and add the package. Each package can feed six people.

How much does it cost? Each package (six servings) costs $0.23. Each 32lb. box of food holds 36 bags of food (216 meals) and costs $50.00. Each 40 foot container load of food includes 285, 120 meals at a program cost of approximately $65,000.

Where do they get the money? The money comes from donations from individuals, corporations, churches, and other organizations.

How is it distributed? They work closely with their distribution partners – churches, missionaries and other nonprofit organizations, and U.S. government agencies operating in foreign countries - to manage the distribution of Kids Against Hunger’s meals. Accountability is essential. They seek out organizations that have a proven track record of successfully getting the food to the children, distributing it properly, and being able to handle the responsibilities of a feeding program. We require our feeding partners to document how they distribute the food and to provide us with testimonials and pictures of the children who receive the meals whenever possible.
Also, since it is just rice, vitamins, minerals and vegetables almost every country will allow it across their borders.

What happens after they get the food? Kids Against Hunger has realized it isn’t enough to simply feed people. They work with programs that are working to teach stability to the recipients. They are building schools, showing them farming, teaching them proper hygiene, basic first aid and helping them learn other necessary tools for life. Their food is often used to ‘jumpstart’ a community that is then taught to help themselves.

How do they package their food? One of the Kids Against Hunger organization’s problems is that they don’t have the people to package their food. They struggled with this for quite awhile before someone came up with the suggestion. Why not use volunteers? They now have almost 100, non-profit ‘satellites’ throughout the U.S. and Canada.

How much food do they send out? Last year alone they packaged forty million meals for the children and their families. Since its launch it has sent our over 200 million meals.

How can we help? They need people to package their food. If one person packages food for two hours it is enough to feed one child for a year. They also ask that we make a small donation because of the cost of the food.

Website: www.kidsagainsthunger.org

Sayings of the Day...

"I need to think of something less complicated than a marshmellow." (Jules)

"A Bible that is falling apart, is a sign of someone who isn't."

"Don't drip on their carpet!" Mom says to Missy and I.
"We won't, we're experts..." Missy begins. I step off the stool and into the paint. "...Ish."

"Rock, Paper, scissors...dynamite! Dynamite blows up everything!"

"Sin will keep you from this Book (the Bible) or this Book will keep you from sin."

"Moms have eyes in the backs of their heads...dads need spy equipment!" (Mandy)

"Did the Micronesians invent the microwave?"

"Breakfast is my absolute favorite meal, rivaled only by lunch and supper."

"Who wants a name like Tom Dulneschanter?"
"The third," added his companion.
"First, second or third, it is a bad name!"

"Quick getaways can be badly interrupted if you forget where you put your horse."

Person #1: "I'm good at this game!"
Person #2: "Aye, but only as good as the girl with her head stuck in a book, which, sadly, says something."

Mandy

Conversations with the Characters

If I were to meet my characters, something like this would happen:

Conversation #1:
Me: "Hello, I'm your author."
Random Character: "You're...oh, hi."
Me: "What do you think of the last couple chapters?"
Random Character: "Um...they were okay, I guess."
Me: "Only okay? Why is it everyone says that?"
Random Character: "It would have been better if you hadn't...(whatever I'd done)."
Me: *wince* "Yeah, that was necessary for your growth."
Random Character: "I don't see how."
Me: "You don't need to...OH!"
Random Character: "Tell me that isn't what I think it is."
Me: "I just thought of a book scene!"
Random Character: "Tell me it doesn't involve more 'growth'."
Me: *Looks sheepish* "Sorry."
Random Character: "Oh no, here we go again."



This is made very true because almost everything I see and every conversation I have helps in the making of a book scene. Sadly, if I talked to my characters, they might just trigger a book scene! And they would probably be in it! That would be a bit strange!




Conversation #2:
Me: “Hello, Chester, I’m your author.”
Chester: “Good morning.”
Me: “How are you?”
Chester: *Looks distracted* “Okay. You?”
Me: “Fine. Something wrong?”
Chester: *Smiles* “My voices of reason are telling me you are bad luck.”
Me: *Grinning* “Tell them they wouldn’t exist without me.”
Chester: “I already did.”
Me: “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
Chester: “I never would have guessed from my life.”
Me: *Looking downhearted* “The worse your life, the more you can know I love you.”
Chester: “That is very discouraging, and confusing.”
Me: “Write a book and you’ll understand.”
Chester: “You talk in too many riddles.”
Me: *Smiling* “I know, isn’t it cool!”
Chester: *Shakes his head and smiles*



It would be a little hard to explain what it is like to be an author - especially to my characters! But that is the truth. The more I like a character, the worse their life is! This is simply true because I give them more attention. But it also means they get a good ending, nice marraige and plenty of kids! (And they usually don't die!)



Conversation #3:

Me: “Hello, Alonzo.”
Alonzo: *Stands up* “Who let this peasant in here?”
Me: “I have my own key.”
Alonzo: *Looks shocked* “You dare speak to me in that tone?”
Me: “Someone certainly needs to.”
Alonzo: “You can’t…how dare… I am going to be king!”
Me: “That can change.”
Alonzo: *Mouth drops open* “You wouldn’t!”
Me: *Shrugs* “If your attitude doesn’t change…”
Alonzo: *Chin rises* “There is nothing wrong with my attitude.”
Me: *Shakes head sympathetically*
Alonzo: “I’m going to call the guards!” *Storms away*
Me: “I tried. I guess I’ll have to send someone to straighten him out. Or maybe a near death experience! That would work.” *Disappears*

Sadly, a lot of the time I have no control over my characters and they end up nothing like I thought they would. But God always seems to have something in store that I never even thought of and in order for it to happen; my characters need to be different than I thought. It is like writing yet you have no idea why or what you’re doing! Yet, God always shows me in the end. God doesn't just guide me in life, He guides me in writing, as well.

And I am SOOO thankful that He does because I have no idea what I'm doing half the time!

Mandy

Why Does God Love us?

As most of you know, I write books. If you’ve never written a book you don’t know how it feels, how amazing it is. I love to watch my very own world come to life as I write. I love to see my people and places come into existence before me. I love the people, long to return to the mountains and hold my breath until the time I can go back again. And you know what? I wouldn’t even care if no one ever saw my work, ever opened my books, and never visited my creek and mountains. Why? Because when I write, I feel something few people have.

Through writing I’ve gotten a glimpse of God’s heart. He made the world. He watched as it came to life before him. He gave it life and meaning and love. He loved it, like I love my world, and I can understand why He’d want it back. If someone stole my world, my books, I’d want them back too. They are mine and I love them. When I think of someone stealing them, I get sick inside and my heart aches. It would be like someone stealing part of me.

People ask all too often, “Why would God want us back when we are so evil?” That question isn’t even true. God wants us back from this evil. He doesn’t want us back with the evil. The evil in us is what stole us from Him. What He buys us back from the evil and unto righteousness.

Too many people think, “God must be evil because the world is evil. He can’t really love the world if He made it like this.” If you think that, you don’t understand. God didn’t make the world evil! He made it perfect. He made it wonderful. No creator would willingly make something wrong.

Say you’re the manufacturer and your company makes cars. You aren’t going to look at the plans and say, “I know, let’s make this engine so it doesn’t work. And down here, make these wheels flat so they can’t drive and are handicap.” Why would you do that? You wouldn’t! God didn’t make the world an evil and terrible place either. Sin did that.

“But if God made everything He made sin, too, now didn’t He?” you think. Wrong. God did not make sin.

“So God didn’t make everything,” you exclaim. Wrong. God did make everything. There is no such thing as sin. There is a famous argument between Albert Einstein and his teacher in which he tells the teacher that there is no such thing as darkness or cold or sin. He was very right. Just think about this a moment. Is there such a thing as darkness? No! You can’t have darkness by itself. If there was, you could make darkness darker or lighter. You can’t! Darkness is simply the lack of light.

What about cold? No, there is no such thing as cold. If there was, you could make cold. Cold is only the lack of heat. So, cold does not exist.

What about sin? No, there is no such thing as sin. Sin is only the lack of righteousness. It isn’t a thing. It isn’t made. It is simply the complete lack of godliness. God did not make sin because sin can not be made. Albert Einstein did an excellent job of explaining that.

“Alright, so God didn’t make the world with sin but now that it has sin in it, why doesn’t He just get rid of it if He is so powerful?” you think next. God doesn’t take away sin because He wants to be loved.

“What?” you ask. “Everyone would love Him if He took away sin!” That is not true. Love is something you give freely. If we no longer had the choice to not love Him, it wouldn’t be love. God gave us free will for that very reason. He wants to be loved. It is the very reason He made the world, isn’t it? He made us for Himself to be His and to walk with Him and be His companions.

“So, how did He buy us back?”

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”(Romans 6:23.) Death is the price sin demands. Death is the price God’s righteousness demands but He doesn’t want us to die.

Let’s go back just a second and discuss what I mean by ‘death’. We all die physically. All of you who aren’t Christians can vogue that we Christians die, too, right? When I say ‘death’, I’m not talking about physical death. Our bodies here are already marred by sin. By ‘death’ I mean spiritually. You will never get to be with God. You will be tossed into a lack of fire to stay there for all eternity. Eternity means forever, means that it will NEVER end. There will be no relief. There will be no time for repentance. You will be dead to God. You won’t ever get a chance again. That is what I mean by ‘dead’.

But you don’t have to die. God loves you! He wants you to be His again. He is just waiting for you to see that He is there.

“What do I have to do?” you ask. All you have to do is believe. To confess that you are a sinner and tell God you want to be forgiven. You don’t ‘do’ anything. Jesus does it. He died for you, took all your sin on Himself so you could be free. You’ve just got to accept it.

And the best part? You can never lose your salvation. No matter what you do, you will still be forgiven. All of your sins are forgiven, for past and for present. We all sin, even after we are saved but God doesn’t see our sin anymore. He only sees Jesus’ righteousness which covers them. In His eyes, we are perfect.

Faith is hard, yes, but it is worth it! Walk with God,

Mandy

Only Seven Animals? Why Not A Hundred?

When we first started getting pets Mom gave us this rule, "We can have as many animals as there are main characters on Gillian's Island." Basically, that meant seven. We stuck to that rule for awhile. We even named some of our animals after the characters. There were Mr. and Mrs. Howl (is that how you spell their name?), the two parakeets. We had Gillian, the cat and Skipper, the fish. We even had two dogs that were named Ginger and Maryanne but they got mean and we had to send them away. The others slowly followed. Skipper, my fish, died after an…accident. We were going to camp and I didn’t want him to die of hunger so I gave him the whole bottle of food. Needless to say, when my dad got home, the fish was dead. He got flushed. As for the Howls (I’m pretty sure I’m spelling this wrong, let me look it up… Ha ha! I was right that I was wrong! It is spelled ‘Howell’!), they left with our aunt when she moved to town. Gillian died after many happy years of scratching at our ankles. : )

The rule eventually went out the window. It started with three mangy chickens and one small, ‘A’ shaped house. The chickens were called Rose, fluffy and…I can’t remember the other one. It might have been Lily or something but I’m not sure. These chickens were soon followed by about a hundred more which we shared joint ownership of with our neighbors. We kids went wild with excitement! One hundred cute little balls of fluff just for us to ‘play with’ (which basically means torture, in this case.) We dressed them up in who knows what and took one along with us just about everywhere we could get away with. We could not get away with it when going to church. Evidentially, cute balls of fluff did not have a place there.

We got the goats, of course, and three small, cute goslings. First they lived inside but that didn’t last very long. They soon went out with the chickens. It was the barnyard for them! Every year they attempted to have babies and every year they just failed! We finally learned the reason. You won’t believe this but we didn’t have a male! Now why didn’t we think of that? Who knows!

We kept a few of the chickens (round thirty or so) but the rest were chicken dinner! No, we did not eat seventy chickens. Half of them went to our neighbors (who owned part them). First came the killing. At that age we didn’t think nothing of it. The neighbor girl came over and we had an awesome time watching them run about with their heads chopped off. Well, we had a fun time until one chased us across the yard! No, I’m not kidding, it did!

You should have seen Jules! She was probably three at the time. Dressed in a pink to-to, cute as could be and running around picking up the chicken heads to throw away. Of all the strange things!

After we got done we had lots of hens and something like ten roosters. I’ll tell you right now, ten is too many roosters. They will fight and crow none stop! Did you know that a rooster crows to tell people that it is his territory? They don’t just crow at dawn, that is a myth! And if you have ten roosters all claiming your yard as its territory, the others are going to crow back their objections. This makes for one noisy yard! Our main problem, though, was the Big Bad Rooster. Yes, we actually called it that. We also called a different one Butterfly, so in comparison, Big Bad Rooster isn’t so bad. The Big Bad Rooster really was big and bad. He didn’t mind attacking you, even looked like he enjoyed it! If you ask me, he was rude. He steered clear of two people: Peter and Jules. Peter he steered clear of because if he dared attack him he’d get a beak full of stick or rock. Peter, even at his young age, would not put up with a rooster attacking him.

Jules on the other hand was a totally different matter! You all remember Thelma, the goat? (Or should I say the watch dog?) One day Jules was out in the yard. Now, the Big Bad Rooster loved to sneak up on people and attack them from behind. He was doing just that when Thelma came charging at him. He went flying through the air to never again return to stock Jules! No, I’m not kidding! Honest! This really happened. I think God used that goat, as strange and fairy-tale as that sounds!

We had all kind of other times with the animals but I’ll let you all go for now.

Yours truly,

Mandy

Goats Think They Are...But They Aren't!

I mentioned in my last artical on goats that most goats won't act like dogs. But that is only some goats. We had a goat named Thelma and Thema thought she was a dog. She loved attention and people. So much so that she about drove us all crazy! She'd stand below the window in the lower pen and Maa at us until we came out and gave her attention. She'd break loose and come up to the porch! She also got very protective of us. When Jules was really little she was playing outside with some of us older kids. While, we had gotten permission to ride down the hill below our house and back again but she was too small to ride a bike. Jules, as anyone who knows her will tell you, loves to talk to anyone who will listen. While we were gone (you can see the entire house from the hill we were riding down) some people on four wheelers came by the house and stopped when they saw her. She just talked away to them and since we were riding away from her, we did not see it.

Thelma saw it though! She got up to the porch and made such a noise about it Mom came out to see what was wrong with her! Thelma was not pleased with the strangers sitting in the driveway (there is a road up into the forest by our driveway, see). Jules, though I'm sure I need not say it, learned a lesson in not talking to strangers.

Goats think they are many things that they are not. Dogs, indoor pets, birds... They also think they are smaller than they are. They just love sticking their heads through things! All goats have horns, girls and boys alike. These horns curve back over their heads. This means that they can stick their heads through the holes in the fence but they can't get them out again. You won't believe the hours we spent getting their heads out!

Goats also think they are fashion models. We had a bottle baby named Frosty. Since her mother wouldn't take her, I got to bottle feed her from birth. She was the sweetest goat you could ever meet and loved us kids, though not in the slightly annoying manner of Thelma. Frosty, believe it or not, loved to play dress up. She, like me, loved the hats best. And she looked pretty good in them too!

Girl goats think they are boy goats!

Goats think they are LOTS of things. Most the time, they aren't any of those things. Berating them won't help your case, they'll just chew their cud and ignore you. Smart as they are, they don't understand what you're saying!

Hope you all enjoyed!

Mandy

Magic Carpets and The Sport of Car Petting

One thing I learned this summer while we remodeled an entire house is this: you can make lots of words sound like different things if you stress them enough! I also learned that magic carpets aren't even magic carpets! They should be called magic rugs! I mean, think about it, a carpet covers an entire room's floor! A rug covers a small part of the floor! Therefore, you can't really have a magic carpet, only a magic rug, unless you want to get an actual carpet which would be far to big and balky! (I will not deal with how a rug is unlikely to be magic today.)

I came to this conclusion on magic rugs while we discussed the sport of Car Petting. This sport is usually practiced by the younger generation of men but can also be agreeable to older men, most the time when they cannot afford the said car. We gave great thought to the subject of Car Petting while doing the not so agreeable job of carpeting. Remarkable how they sound alike, huh? Well, guess what? They're not! Car Petting is fun, soothing (well, that's what I've heard, though I'm not a big fan of it), while carpeting is hard and sweaty work in which you cut and measure (hopefully not in that order) a LOT. Yet, they sound remarkably simular! DO NOT MIX THESE UP!

Yours truly and all that!

Mandy

Trusting God To Be God

When I woke up today, something had changed. My heart felt…lighter. And I remembered my conversation the night before. Many times I had given God my heart and many times I had told Him I loved Him. And I did love Him. I still love Him. But last night’s conversation had made me ready for a few changes.

Best Friends. I was reading a book where the girl referred to God as her best friend. Best friends are special, unique and you tell them everything. I don’t tell God everything. I tell Him when I’m tired, hurting, lonely…I tell Him when I need Him. But that isn’t everything. Everything is when you’re happy, too, and what you like and…those things, small things and big things and stories. And I had never told God any of those before. He already knew them all, He’d made me.

I was scared. I’ve been scared for years. I’ve told many people about my fear of illness. Most the time, they laugh at me or they make me feel like it is a sin to be scared of it. But I had a vicious circle I could not get out of. I was scared of being ill, so I prayed to be better but not for the fear to leave. I wanted that fear because if I wasn’t scared, I wouldn’t pray to be okay, and I would get ill and I was scared of being ill. I still am. When they laughed or gave me the look that said, “Grow up,” I wanted to hide. I wasn’t kidding. I am so scared of illness I get paralyzed with fear.

When I pray, I get so overwhelmed sometimes. There are a million and two people who need prayer and I just couldn’t get them all. When I went to town, I’d see the cars passing by and would start praying for the people inside, the people in the park, the kids and mom at the store, the people in the store, the people driving by the store, the people in the city… And it got so over whelming. I couldn’t pray for them all, I couldn’t help them all.

Last night, I was done. I was sick and tired of being scared and feeling like I couldn’t please God. I was sick and tired of feeling overwhelmed when I prayed.

I couldn’t pray in my head because when I do, my thoughts always try to wonder and it makes me even more overwhelmed. So, I lay on my back on my bed, the room pitch black except the sticky, glowing stars on our ceiling, and I prayed. I told Him everything. I didn’t pray to stay well, I didn’t pray for anyone else, all I did was talk to God. “All I want, Lord, is a friendship. I want to be able to tell you my favorite color and stories and if I like turnips or carrots.” I told Him about the verses I’d found in the last week that I loved because it felt like He was really talking to me. “For I am the Lord that healeth thee,” (Exodus 15:26b.) and “Be still, and know that I am God,” (Psalms 46:10a.) When I read those verses, it was personal. And that was what I wanted, so I told God.

And when I was done, He told me something too. “You can trust Me with your health just as you trusted Me with your heart. Those people in town, I already love them and you can trust Me to save them without having to tell Me to get My attention. I already see them, I see everything. You don’t need to nag me every time you pray to make sure I remember your friends that are hurting. You don’t nag your friends to pray for each other, do you? You can trust Me to remember. Trust Me, I have a good memory. I’m God, remember? And you can always tell Me about your days, the good and bad things. I love to hear about them from you. I love you, remember? I’ve always wanted to be friends, it was you who didn’t seek it. And as for My Book, when you feel overwhelmed, it’s okay. Tell Me about it and I’ll help you out. Promise.”

I found something I didn’t have before. I found more than just God and His immense love that before had left me so awed I got overwhelmed with it all. I found a friend. I’m still scared of being ill, but no longer paralyzed with it. He is worth my trust, He more than just loves me, He likes me. And for the first time in awhile, I have peace. I hadn’t even known I was missing something until finally, I did. He likes me. It is a wonderful feeling to know I can just quietly trust and He can be God. I don’t need to help Him and that is a big relief. He has been God forever, you know. He doesn’t need my help to get it right.

My love for Him hasn’t changed, my awe for Him is still there, but now I can just let Him be God. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Some of the most precious words I have ever heard. I finally learned that I need not be chaotic but can simply rest in Him.

Mandy

When Raising Goats, Don't...

I may not know anything about horses, even though I live in a town packed full of them (there are more horses than people sometimes!) I may not know anything about cows. You can’t ask me about donkeys and expect me to know anything but how to draw them. But if there is one thing I know about, it is goats.

The first time we got goats we only got two - a momma and a baby (though they weren’t related). The momma hated us, the baby was the most skittish thing you ever did see! To bottle feed this thing you had to run around the pen for twenty minutes to catch it! The whole time it was screaming bloody murder! “MAAAAAAA!!!! MAAAAAAA!” ‘Ma’ is what baby goats say, unless you get an odd ball, and then it might just say anything. But this baby goat was mine, my first pet. I loved it dearly and it was going to love me, if it was the last thing it did! I named it Snowflake because it was white-ish (at first, anyway.)

The momma goat we had gotten because it had milk. Well, if that is what you’d call half a cup a day. We spent more time chasing her and trying to get the milk out of her than you can shake a stick at! (I wonder why they say ‘shake a stick at’?)

Eventually, we got rid of the momma because she hated us so much. We got a different goat to take her place. We got (or did we make it?) a stanchion. The second goat did better than the first but I’m tell you, unless you’ve got the best milk goat in the world you will not get enough milk out of it to keep you supplied.

We eventually got more and more goats and started breeding out own. Snowflake, who finally liked me, we found was our best mother ever. She always had two (as far as I remember). I’m going to tell you right now, if anyone has EVER told you goats aren’t cute, you’ve been lied to! As soon as they get cleaned off they have the softest fur and the cutest little cries. They’ll sit in your lap (if you are very careful not to scare them) and sleep. Their moms, if they like you, might even try to clean you, too (I know this because one year Snowflake seemed sure I was one of her babies.)

But goats aren’t all cute little balls of fluff. One, you’ve got to clean up after them. Two, good luck keeping them in! Goats are smart and stupid all at the same time. You might say that they are smart at being stupid. The grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence and if they have a mind for it, they WILL get out! Over, under, through, around! They can even figure out how to open gates if they are simple enough. (Snowflake figured it out for one of our gates and that was a pain.)

We learned this the hard way. We spent an entire summer putting that fence up, six feet tall, all the way around the property! We let the goats out in it; they took one look and disappeared under the bottom! Bye, bye goats. There is no way to keep them in unless you put up electric fence. You can stake the fence to the ground, it won’t work, trust me. If you like you can tie drier sheets on the fence but they aren’t like deer so that won’t work either. You can try to be Heidi and herd them but they’ll get away from you, we tried that tactic too. Eventually, we said, “Enough is enough,” and up went the electric fence. My dad turned it on and we released the goats. You won’t believe how it happened. All the goats were lined up to go under the fence, just like always, so they were all touching, and when the first went to go under, she was shocked and the one behind her was shocked, and the whole line got shocked! My dad was grinning ear to ear, happy as a bear with honey.

We eventually got to be really good with goats. We learned that they prefer to have babies in the middle of the night during snowfall. And guess what else? Goats won’t eat anything! After watching all that TV, you’d figure they would, but trust me, they don’t. They are picky when it comes to their food. Sure, a baby might eat you clothing or your hair (I’m going to save the hair story for a different time, but you will enjoy it) but they won’t eat cans or even naw on buckets like dogs do!

We learned that you should never, ever as long as you live chase a goat and expect to get anywhere (unless you have fainting goats, yes there is such a thing!) If you want to catch a goat, you’ll need to walk up very slowly and talk to it. I know it may sound silly but it is the only thing that’ll work. If the goat don’t know you, when you get a couple feet away, kneeling and holding out your hand helps. No, it will not come to you to lick your hand. It probably won’t even look at you. Goats don’t act like dog in most cases (but we did have two that did, but I’ll tell you about that a different time). But if you do this you can usually carefully move over to it and pet it (or hook on its rope, which is usually the case).

I hope you all enjoyed!

Mandy

"Be still, and know that I am God."

Rowing out to sea,
Can't see far ahead,
Afraid to lose my bearings,
Can't remember what the map said.

Waves come up to swallow me,
My boat rocks to and fro,
Crying, I crouch in the bottom,
Trying to stay very low.

I don't want to look up,
The rain beats down on me,
No one is near to help,
There is no where to flee.

Then a light breaks through the clouds,
And I hear a voice calling,
'When ever have I failed to catch you,
As downwards you were falling?'

A single word I could not hear,
Calms the stormy waves,
Someone lifts me from the boat,
And me He gently saves.

Embarrassed I remember,
That He had said,
'Stay right beside me,
And I'll keep you safe and fed.'

Gently He hugs me,
Saying it's alright,
He still loves me even now,
And I'm back in His light.



Often, we forget to follow the map and listen to the guide. Life is a trip leading to a city and Jesus is our guide. When we look to change things, we are at a turning. And when God closes that door to that change, He is saying, "In order to get to the right place at the right time, you need to stay to the straight path a while longer."

There are also times when we want to stay to the straight path when we need to turn. When we don't listen to His gentle probing, sometimes he has to shoe in the right direction. Sometimes He has to send stormy seas in order to make us remember to listen.

And then there are times when He says, "Be still."

"Be still, and know that I am God," Psalms 46:10a. In life, we rush and we need to be reminded to slow down and remember what God did. He lived. He died. He rose again. Be still, and know that He is God. I challenge you to stop moving, stop thinking about everything else for a moment, stop trying to cope with the turmoil and simply be still. He is bigger than all our problems and if we slow down, take a deep breath and listen, we can hear His love.

When we are hurting, it is hard to remember to stay on the path. Or sometimes, we just freeze and don't go anywhere. We hide. We don't remember that God can heal. We ask, "Where are you, God? Don't you see I'm hurting?" But God has said, "I am the Lord that healeth thee," Exodus 15:26b. He made this promise to the Isrealites but He makes it to us too. He loves us, and if we let Him, He will heal us.

Mandy

Things That Happened In General

Lots has happened and lots hasn't happened. So I guess you could say that life has gone on! (Which it has.) I've started a new book (this is the eighth). Out of those eight, five are done (I think). This one isn't in my series The Chronicles of Christorn but has to do with getting lost in books (opps). I came up with this idea when I wrote an artical type thing on authors getting 'lost' in our work. The ending of this artical went like this: "We get lost in our worlds and if you want to find us you'll just have to come in, too. But I warn you, if you come in, it is very likely that you'll get lost as well.
I've already lost my two older sisters. They came in to stop me from drowning and have yet to step back out. I'm very glad they're here for I not only almost drowned once or twice (or thrice) more but I also jumped off a cliff, ran head long into a couple enemy camps and accidently lost a war. (No, seriously, it was an accident.) So if you ever feel like getting lost with us, you're quite welcome to."

So, of course, this artical made me think of a whole new book to get lost in!

I have also sent the first book in The Chronicles of Christorn to the publisher. They have not yet replied back but I trust God. If this is His time, it will happen. And if it doesn't? Well, then it obviously wasn't His time yet, now was it? I've figured something out. God's path is the path we're happiest on! Why did this realization take so long?

I haven't made any more hair dryer thawed stuff but we did use hair dryers to warm Mom up once (she was VERY cold). Today I made a 'list of things we forgot to put on the list', which just sounds cool!

Other than all that, life has simply gone on. (In other words everything else isn't worth mentioning at the moment. :) )

Yours Truly,

Mandy

I Need Him

I’ve found that I need God every day for very reason. I need Him when I’m scared, when I sit down to eat and wonder if it will make my stomach upset again. I need Him when I lie down in my bed and wonder if I’ll wake up in the night alone, when feeling bad and not wanting to wake anyone up but wanting someone with me. I find I need Him when I’m sitting in the living room and see an actor I like and know they are probably on their way to hell. I need Him when I write. I need Him when I stare at the paper and wonder how I can possibly make a drawing pop forth. I need Him when I read. I need Him when I do my school. I need Him when I knit or crochet. I need Him when I slip on the ice. I need Him when I’m just feeling overwhelmed. I need His comfort. I need His love. I need to know I’m forgiven. I need to remember His presence. I just need Him.

I guess that is why it is so hard for me to understand why people would fall away from Him. Because I need Him every moment and if there was a single minute a day that I had to go on radio silence with Him I don’t think I could. Every single day a million and two things happen to me and for all of them I need Him. I want Him. I want to be with Him. I want to feel the comfort His presence brings. I guess the more we need Him, the closer we are to Him. We just have to remember because so often we forget and then we fall away. And if we fall away…we find ourselves drowning.

To find myself alone,
I can’t remember that I’ve flown,
I feel my wings give way,
And I fall from the light of day.

As the darkness sinks in,
I remember there is more than sin,
But I can’t remember how,
To find your throne or bow.

And then I see Your light,
As You reach through the dark,
As if You don’t remember,
How I failed to stay on mark.

I know then that You love me,
That You always, always will,
That no matter what You’ll be here,
Just like I know you climbed the hill.

You put your arms around me,
Tell me its okay,
I know that I’m forgiven,
And I need You every day.

So when I start to sink,
I’ll remember to look up,
For You’ll be standing there,
In perfect, wonderful love.



Don’t sink, remember Him always.

Mandy

When Was Last?

When was last you stood in awe?
When was last the mountians you saw?
When was last God's power you felt?
When was last in prayer you knelt?
When was last you felt so small?
When was last you heard the ocean lull?
When was last you knew, you knew,
Jesus died, He died for you?
When was last you understood?
When was last something amazing you did?
When was last you put yourself at the end?
When was last you had a smile to lend?
When was last you attempted to mend,
A broken heart, some laughter to send?

Mandy

Spring?

You'll never believe this but it is seventy degrees here!!! South Dakota on January fifth is seventy degrees! Where did winter go? We walked to the post office and were sloshing through mud and wearing no coats!!! It is apsolutely gorgeous. My only objection to this weather will be if I have to start mowing in March! :o)

But, then again, tomorrow it could be blizzarding. Did you know that South Dakota won the most changable weather? Once it was eighty degrees and dropped to in the teens within a couple hours! And then it came back up to eighty again! So, who knows? If you've ever wondered why we carry snow suits in our cars on seventy degree days, now you know!

God bless you all!

Mandy