Mission, Haircuts, Camp, and just about everything else I forgot to blog about

Sorry, peoples.  Have no idea why, but I have not blogged in quite some time.  So I feel like I owe ya.  Lots of stuff has happened in my life.

Number 1. I got a haircut.  It's not short enough.  As of now, even though I just showered yesterday, it's filthy and hanging on my head like a rag.  Am going to go sit in the tub with a book after this- that's what I do to get clean in the summer.  Call me weird.  anyway, my hair was down just past my shoulders.  It's hanging at my shoulders now.  I think I want it more towards my chin.  I just have too much hair.  It's not long enough to pull back, but it's not short enough NOT to pull back.  *sigh*


Number 2. Just got back from a mission trip in... North Dakota!  My friend Mia of Aperture Mittens is off overseas in Ukraine or France or something, and my friend Amy, who does not blog, is probably in Mexico or something.  She usually is.  Still, I loved North Dakota.  The weather was nice, the people spoke English, the mission was only like $250 to go on, and the kids really needed it.  We ran a residential camp for 1st and 2nd graders in the area. We were always with them.  We never got a break.  It was always "I want a piggy back!" "Can you give me a shoulder ride!"  "I don't like vegetables!" "I want to go home!"  "She's calling names!"  (There was a lot of major fighting going on with a lot of the girls, even I got in on it the first night when my fellow counselors left me alone in the dorm full of little girls who decided to torment me and put me in "jail".  Anyway, I usually ended up helping diffuse these fights.  Surprisingly enough, that gave me great satisfaction when they all apologized.)  I prayed with the kids when they hurt themselves, and taught this one little girl, Kateri, who kept falling and hurting the same knee, to pray for her guardian angel to protect her.  Imagine my joy when she comes running up to me, saying, "Guess what? I almost fell, but my guardian angel stopped me!"

The kids are so open to God's love there.  There was a Pieta statue near the game field (for those of you who don't know what that is, this is what it looks like)

And the kids would just stand there and look at it.  They'd ask questions about why Jesus died, and I'd get to answer them.  They asked so many questions-they were so hungry for God- I really felt like I was on mission.  I've only been on one other mission our church offers (my church does like 5- most in the North Dakota area- I've been on the one in Missouri.) Anyway, during some of the fights, the kids would bring up that they learned it from their parents.  A dad tosses his three year old son on to the couch, a 4 year old little brother cusses up a storm, moms are drinking, dads don't care- these kids are in desperate need of love.  And being that our theme was "Love Never Fails" well... I hope we showed them.

Needless to say, I'm going back next year.  It was my first time on this mission, which we call CLC, and I loved it.  It was the hardest work I've ever done, I lost half my voice, but it was great.

Number 3. Camp NaNoWriMo.  *sigh* I hit 47 pages.  My telling my parents I would fail somehow triggered a series of events that set of a whole bunch of steam and resulted in a huge fight.  Not anything I did- it would've happened later, they assured me, but I just started it earlier by crying.  My dad tried to leave to give me some space, but my mom sat him back down in his chair (we were about to eat dinner, so my timing was bad) like a  2 year old.  Anyway, I was really upset for most of the night, especially since this happened the night before I had to leave for missions.  However, I discovered a happy place- the last scene of Beauty and the Beast (yes, with the Mob Song, Gaston and Adam/Beast's confrontation, and -eek- Adam's transformation and the happy ending- of course) I watched that and suddenly felt so much better.  Thanks, Disney. :D

But you know what I discovered?  Most people, when they write a screenplay, even if it's for a musical, don't write the lyrics or the music.  I took on 3 times the job of a normal screenwriter, and I finished half of it in the time allotted.  I'm pretty darn proud of myself, I am.  I'm going to give it a rest in July, and finish it during August.  And come November- it's BEAUTY IS BLIND TIME!!!!
Yes, I am happy about that story.  Though it requires some serious thought.  I have to work out a lot of stuff.

Also, I am Catholic, (in case you didn't know) and since there's not a ton of Catholic fiction out there (at least not as much as Christian fiction- Ted Dekker, Left Behind... you know what I'm talking about) I like to put some Catholic touches in my stories.  I was trying to work out a way for Beauty and the Beast to work without magic- just curses and blessings (there are legit curses- but no one calls them that anymore.  Ever notice how some families always seem to get divorced or a certain disease... my mom says that's a curse.  Or something.  she wouldn't really talk more about it.  Praying seems to get rid of 'em.) I'm having a hard time, since I want her stillborn twin Gabriel to play the "enchantress" character, as an angel, but since he's human, he can't be an angel and God wouldn't send him- he'd send an angel... and there was a bit with a demon I'm having issues with.  Both Calista (Belle) and Damien (Beast) are cursed- Calista, with blindness because of a deal her mother Elani made so that Elani's father would let her marry Flavian, since Flavian was a shepherd and Elani's father was a merchant, and Elani his only child. Calista's curse was Elani's price- maybe for not upholding her part of the bargain... hmm...

Anyway, someone has just pointed me in the direction of The Shadow of the Bear series.  They are Catholic Retold Fairy tales.  Am kicking myself for not discovering sooner.

Can't think of anything else right now- I'm hungry (there's no food in our house- I mean, I kept complaining and my mom's like "you have pancakes, beans, and bread"  What?  Yeah.  Oh, and protein bars.  Yum! Not.)
I have an eye appointment tomorrow- I think I need stronger glasses, so this'll be fun. whohoo.

Holy Week and Prom

Bought a prom dress yesterday at Goodwill for $18.99.  Wasn't planning to go to prom, but I guess I kinda have to now.  I'll post pictures of it later- it's black and hot pink, colors I definitely would not have chosen, but I like them just the same.  Anyway, the real reason I'm blogging is that I wanted to share a Holy Thursday story I wrote several years ago, called Agony. It's my experiment in second person.  Hope you like it.

AGONY

      You open your eyes.  It’s pitch black.  You see the earthen ceiling of your Jerusalem home near the Mount of Olives.

      There’s no way you’ll fall asleep now.  You get up and go for a walk.

      You go up to the Mount of Olives and walk to a ledge near the Garden of Gethsemane.  You hear a man praying, crying.  You’re cold in only a linen cloth, and wet, but you can’t leave.  It’s dark and you’re tired.  You might be able to get back to sleep now if you got back in your own bed.  But no.  The man’s haunting prayer imprisons you behind the ledge.

      “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.”

      You peer up and over the side of the ledge and see a man in his early 30’s praying so hard he’s sweating.  No wait- that’s not sweat running down his face, you realize in horror, fighting an urge to hurl- it’s blood.  You can find no wound.  This man must be praying so hard he’s sweating blood.

      “Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.”

      The man pauses, and then leaves the rock he’s been praying at.  You scramble up the rocks of the ledge and follow him at a safe distance.  The rock, you see, has splatters of blood on it from the man’s sweating.  You hear him from behind some olive trees near your ledge waking up three other men.

      He says loudly, disappointed, “Simon, are you asleep?”  Immediately, all three men wake with a start, embarrassed, ashamed.  “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?”

      Simon tries to offer some lame excuses, but the man cuts him off, repeating an apparent earlier command, “Watch and pray.  Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.”

      “But Lord…”Simon begins.

      The man again interrupts, simply saying, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  The man’s coming this way again.  Quickly you run to your ledge and jump down just in time, scraping your knees in the process.

      You hear him again say, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; still not my will but yours be done,” he cried.  You see a blinding light suddenly brighten up the dark place, but think nothing of it.  The man continues to pray.  You continue to watch.

      Suddenly, the light leaves, the man stops, discouraged.  Shoulders slumped; he again dejectedly begins to wake his disciples.  “Peter, James, John, the hour has come.”

      Whatever happened to Simon?  You wonder, but before you can figure it out, you see torches light up the night.  Soldiers.  They are lead by a man dressed similarly to Peter, James, and John.  He walks up the man, says “Rabbi,” and kisses him.

      The man pulls away, with a look that drives shame into the other man’s face.

      “Judas,” he begins.  “You betray the Son of Man with a kiss.”

      You can’t tell if it’s a statement or a question, but you don’t want to stick around.  Bright torches and soldiers can only mean one thing- Romans.  And where there are Romans, trouble follows.  And a betrayal meant there would be an arrest.

      “Who are you looking for?” the man asks.

      “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answer.

      “I AM,” said the man.

      You’re right about the arrest, but you’re surprised.  This has got to be the strangest arrest you’ve ever seen.  The man- Jesus- goes willingly.  The man you believe to be Simon/Peter won’t let him go that willingly.  He draws his sword.  You shut your eyes.  A scream of pain reaches your ears.  You peek your eyes open and see of the Romans clutching his head, blood gushing from the hand covering the space where an ear used to be.  You might throw up.  The sight of blood makes you squeamish.

      “Put the sword away, Simon Peter,” Jesus commands.  So Simon was Peter, he just had two names. 

Then you see Jesus walk up to the Roman, touch his hear, and heal him.

Suddenly you get the urge to help this man.  For once in your life you’re making something count.  You won’t be a coward!  No, not anymore!  You are not afraid!  You crawl up the ledge, your skinned knees smarting the whole time, and stand near the bloodstained rock as you watch Simon put his sword away. 

You rush in, you don’t think.  You must be getting hypothermia from the cold; you can’t think straight.  There’s no way you stand a chance against those Romans!  If Jesus could heal a severed ear surely he’d save himself.  He doesn’t need you!

You realize your cowardly fear too late, and a Roman soldier grabs you by the cloak.  You don’t want to be associated with this man.  If he were to be jailed or killed, the same might happen to you. They’d never believe your story in a million years. 

You have a family to take care of; this can’t happen to you!  You run, ripping your cloak, leaving the soldier with just an empty cloth.  An empty shell that used to shelter your now-naked body.  Feeling ashamed and exposed, you run across the rocks barefoot back home, crying.

In the distance, a cock crows once.  

By: Haili G

based off of the gospel of Matthew

Creationism v. Big Bang

Something very interesting I just learned about in my astronomy class.

A lot of people think that the Big Bang Theory describes how the universe was formed, which is why Christians give it such a bad rap, thinking that it disputes or contradicts the creation story.  In reality, the Big Bang describes what happened after the universe was created.  Basically, the universe was super hot and super dense and full of energy when it formed (or God created it) but it was expanding and cooling (the more dense something is, the hotter it gets).  Matter was trying to form, but every time a proton tried to form, a photon (light particle) would blast it into oblivion.  After about 3 seconds, the universe cooled enough for protons, neutrons, and electrons to form, joining the photons.  After 5 minutes, the protons and neutrons were able to stick together and form nuclei.  It took (according to scientists) about 400,000 (some big number- don't remember) years before the universe was cool enough for electrons to be able to stick on and form atoms (it doesn't take much energy to blast an electron off of an nucleus) and anyway, that's how they say matter was formed.

big sciency speech...sorry.  I didn't even get into antimatter and matter...that's strange.  Anyway, who's to say that God didn't cause that to happen?  A lot of science stuff that people think contradict what the Bible says can have some sense of truth to it if you look deep enough.  If God created the universe, who's to say that he didn't use something like this to form the Earth and stars?  the Bible never says how God created the universe, only that he did.  And with evolution, (I did a paper on this last year) There was this thing called the "Cambrian Explosion" where all of a sudden, a whole bunch of new species appeared out of nowhere, with no evolutionary ancestors or relationships to anything that already existed (I'm looking at you, turtles!)  Now science puts these time periods into big fancy numbers..."The universe formed 13.7 plus or minus .02 million years ago..." blah blah blah.  The Bible says that God formed the earth and all the creatures on it in 6 days.

• Day 1 - God created light and separated the light from the darkness, calling light "day" and darkness "night."
• Day 2 - God created an expanse to separate the waters and called it "sky."
• Day 3 - God created the dry ground and gathered the waters, calling the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters "seas." On day three, God also created vegetation (plants and trees).
• Day 4 - God created the sun, moon, and the stars to give light to the earth and to govern and separate the day and the night. These would also serve as signs to mark seasons, days, and years.

• Day 5 - God created every living creature of the seas and every winged bird, blessing them to multiply and fill the waters and the sky with life.
• Day 6 - God created the animals to fill the earth. On day six, God also created man and woman (Adam and Eve) in his own image to commune with him. He blessed them and gave them every creature and the whole earth to rule over, care for, and cultivate.
• Day 7 - God had finished his work of creation and so he rested on the seventh day, blessing it and making it holy.

So if God created light (photons) first, that matches up with what scientists say about the Big Bang.  Next comes the sky, or "atmosphere" you could say in sciency terms.  Next comes water, which is H2O molecules... formed by atoms (first come protons, neutrons, and electrons, then nuclei, then atoms, then molecules) and I don't know what dirt is made of, but probably more molecules.  If I'm remembering my evolution right (it's been a year- feel free to correct me) plants and other growing things were the first life forms... seaweed, algae... all of that.  Okay, Day 4 has me a little stumped, but maybe this is when God put the Earth into the solar system.  Theoretically, the sun should form around the same time as the earth... you need sun for plants.  The moon makes sense, and the stars would form the same time as the sun... I'll have to learn a little more about this before I can be sure about that.  Next come the animals, and this is the period scientists call the Cambrian Explosion (in my opinion)  And then human life.

Now the Bible says that God created this in 6 "days"  But I seriously doubt that God's days are 24 hours long.  Time is a funny thing like that and seems relative.  If you're having fun, the time flies.  If you're bored and you don't like whatever it is you're doing, it seems to drag.  We've all experienced it- the faster you want it to go, the slower it seems and visa versa.  God's days could be millions of years long to us, which could explain all the science numbers...

When I first got my Astronomy book and saw the chapter titled "Big Bang" I got a bit wary, knowing that I am a strong Christian (and Catholic- I won't hide it).  But I kept an open mind.  You can't shelter yourself from the world forever, you have to learn how to live in the world without becoming part of it.  If you want to argue your opponent, you have to be informed.  I've always approached things like this, evolution, astronomy, and the big bang, in the same way.  Purely informational.  They're just what science accepts as "facts"  I will memorize them for a test and remember them, learn them, and study them, but not necessarily believe them.  I can look at them and decide how much of it I want to believe and how much I think is garbage.  And I love it when I can say, hey... it's the same no matter how you tell it... as I've just spent the last 20 minutes doing...

anyway, I thought it was very interesting and had the insane urge to blog even though I've already done so today... and I've just remembered I'm meeting a friend... so I'm going to have to go now, but I hope you've enjoyed this... and sorry for the crazy science.  I just got really excited.

Adios
Haili