Oh the things you find on myspace! The following is a poem I wrote for my sophomore year honors english class. My older sister posted it on her blog, and we happed to stumble across it yesterday, so I thought I would share it with the rest of the world! Remember, I was only 14.
Enjoy!
Woosh-Wash-Wish
by Rachel B.
This spot looks cozy.
To there I flit
And quickly settle
As I sit.
The pages ruffle.
The wind feels fair.
I sit down,
And then I'm there.
Woosh-wash-wish
I'm in the castle.
I see the king.
As he bestows
A Diamond ring,
To the Lady
Who won his heart,
She says "Yes!"
My favorite part!
Woosh-wash-wish
Now they stand
To be wed
'Till she falls
and holds her head.
"The Witch!" she cries,
"Has cast a spell!
Her vicious evil
We see befell!"
Woosh-wash-wish
Now let me say,
That evil Witch,
Who has a strange,
And ugly twitch,
Claims that she
Should hold the throne.
And she whimpers,
Like a dog for bone.
Woosh-wash-wish
She owns a dragon
Who is barely tame.
But to save the queen
He must be slain!
A knight is sought
To kill the beast.
Win or not,
There'll be a feast!
Woosh-wash-wish
The scaley brute,
he then attacks!
But our brave knight
just says "Relax!"
Fire and brimstone
Our knight has braved.
Before we know it
the Queen is saved!
Woosh-wash-wish
The King and Queen
are awfully happy.
And now our story,
Gets quite sappy.
They kiss and hug,
And hug and kiss.
And forget the world,
They'll never miss.
Woosh-wash-wish
"The End" it says.
I close the book.
And shortly leave
My sunny nook.
The story's done
Just like the breeze,
That ruffled the pages
With a gentle ease.
Woosh-wash-wish
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
A Depressing Blog
Have you ever read those blogs by people who always talk about how much their lives suck, and give you a horribly depressed feeling after the first three, long winded, sentences that do not actually say anything about what is really going on in the author's life? I have; and I always told myself that I was not going to be one of those bloggers. Instead, I would write about encouraging things, all the good stuff that happens in my life and the lives of the people around me. But tonight I remembered something some wise person some where once said: without the bad stuff, we would not know what "good" is.
Growing up, everything was good. A loving family, great friends, lots of interesting books to read, and many days filled with the backyard play set and glorious sunshine and ridiculous games and delicious home-cooked meals. Sure, my Dad lost his job a few times and, with a stay-at-home Mom, we had no income. We rarely went to restaurants, wore hand-me-down clothes and most vacations consisted of camping trips with other families from the church. It was my job to go to school, do my chores, and get along with my sisters. All fairly easy and entirely uncomplicated tasks. Life was simple. Life was good.
So when did that change? Why did things become so much more complicated? Why does the "good life" now require a cute hair cut, a sexy body, stylish clothes, and constant fun and smiles?
I put to the court that my life is good. Yes, I have a full time job this summer and I have limited fun time. Yes, academic scholarships are essential to making it through college and demand an intense amount of studying. Yes, I cannot afford a car and have to take the bus everywhere. Yes, my Grandma is sick with a disease that cannot be cured and my family is hurting. My life is still good.
At the rate I am going with the money God is providing, I will graduate college debt free. I will owe zip, nada, nothing. I get to read for hours on the bus, every single day and save a mammoth on gas and car insurance; or I catch rides and have insightful conversations with friends on the drive home. And as much as my family is hurting, we are growing stronger. God is doing things in us and through us and for us and around us, because of what my Grandma is going through.
My Mom and Dad still have a strong marriage. My sisters and I are still very close. God is still taking care of me, and talks to me all the time. The sun still shines, the stars still glow, and I still eat good food. Life is good.
Yes, you must have bad in order to see good. But let bad things (human trafficking, starvation, thirst, crime, hate, abuse, drugs, natural disasters, terrorist attacks) be bad things and let good things (family, love, caring, sunshine, cookies, ice cream, pets, Jesus, books, mattress to sleep on) be good things.
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
With all the good stuff to think about in the world, why would anyone write a depressing blog? I promise, life does not suck nearly as much as your veiled complaints and ambiguous statements make it seem.
Growing up, everything was good. A loving family, great friends, lots of interesting books to read, and many days filled with the backyard play set and glorious sunshine and ridiculous games and delicious home-cooked meals. Sure, my Dad lost his job a few times and, with a stay-at-home Mom, we had no income. We rarely went to restaurants, wore hand-me-down clothes and most vacations consisted of camping trips with other families from the church. It was my job to go to school, do my chores, and get along with my sisters. All fairly easy and entirely uncomplicated tasks. Life was simple. Life was good.
So when did that change? Why did things become so much more complicated? Why does the "good life" now require a cute hair cut, a sexy body, stylish clothes, and constant fun and smiles?
I put to the court that my life is good. Yes, I have a full time job this summer and I have limited fun time. Yes, academic scholarships are essential to making it through college and demand an intense amount of studying. Yes, I cannot afford a car and have to take the bus everywhere. Yes, my Grandma is sick with a disease that cannot be cured and my family is hurting. My life is still good.
At the rate I am going with the money God is providing, I will graduate college debt free. I will owe zip, nada, nothing. I get to read for hours on the bus, every single day and save a mammoth on gas and car insurance; or I catch rides and have insightful conversations with friends on the drive home. And as much as my family is hurting, we are growing stronger. God is doing things in us and through us and for us and around us, because of what my Grandma is going through.
My Mom and Dad still have a strong marriage. My sisters and I are still very close. God is still taking care of me, and talks to me all the time. The sun still shines, the stars still glow, and I still eat good food. Life is good.
Yes, you must have bad in order to see good. But let bad things (human trafficking, starvation, thirst, crime, hate, abuse, drugs, natural disasters, terrorist attacks) be bad things and let good things (family, love, caring, sunshine, cookies, ice cream, pets, Jesus, books, mattress to sleep on) be good things.
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
With all the good stuff to think about in the world, why would anyone write a depressing blog? I promise, life does not suck nearly as much as your veiled complaints and ambiguous statements make it seem.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Sleep and Summer Camp
It has been scientifically demonstrated (I'd say proven, but whether science can "prove" something is debatable in some circles) that a human being should average 8-9 hours of sleep a night. It has also been shown that many college students are able to stay up until the wee hours of the morning every night of the week, sleep away half the weekend, and repeat the process the following Monday with very little difficulty. It is a tactic often employed for finals cramming, paper writing, girl's night outs, and very late movies. No sleep? No problem!
I am not one of these college students.
I am the type who needs at least 6 hours-preferably more-every night of the week. If this pattern is interrupted, I spend the next day, potentially two, bleary eyed and with my arms stretched forward in a zombie-like manner. Paired with the fact that I find coffee bitter beyond consumption, there is no cure except for more sleep.
When I decided to be an over-night camp counselor for a week, I anticipated a damaging lack of sleep. I expected my 8-11 year old girls to be snoring, falling out of bed, crying from homesickness, crying from stomach aches, being afraid of the dark, screaming in their sleep, and sleep walking into a busy road, probably in front of a semi, or even a train. All of this would occur at least every half hour and require my immediate assistance every single time. I imagined that the the 8-11 year old girls would be awfully disturbed, if not down right terrified, by my zombie behavior prevelant by the third day of camp.
Luckily for me, I did the thing every Christian is supposed to do whenever something is concerning them. I talked to God about it. I said, "Jesus, I'M GONNA NEED SO MUCH HELP! I'll be exhausted, cranky, and rude the whole time! I want to be at camp and give to my girls, but I don't want my gifts to be coated in a poopy attitude! Help me!" And you know what Jesus did? He said, "...if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have." 2 Corinthians 8:12. He explained, "Rachel, you want to go to this camp. You want to help these girls. You are willing. What you do will be good enough. Who you are is good enough. There will always be enough." I said, "In that case, I want enough sleep, enough food, enough patience, enough nice words, enough discipline, enough smiles, and enough tooth paste." And God said, "Stay willing, and you got it!"
Camp week rolled around, and guess what? I always had enough. I got six hours of sleep every night (only interrupted once by some one falling out of bed, but she did not cry), was never hungry until we were lining up for food, never ran out of patience, never ran out of toothpaste, and even had enough foam star stickers to decorate each and every pine wood derby car in my cabin. It was a fantastic week! God did wonderful things for all of my girls, and took the time to share a lesson with me.
Lesson learned? If I am doing what God wants me to do, I just need to do it. There is no need to worry about money or food or sleep; God will always give me enough.
I am not one of these college students.
I am the type who needs at least 6 hours-preferably more-every night of the week. If this pattern is interrupted, I spend the next day, potentially two, bleary eyed and with my arms stretched forward in a zombie-like manner. Paired with the fact that I find coffee bitter beyond consumption, there is no cure except for more sleep.
When I decided to be an over-night camp counselor for a week, I anticipated a damaging lack of sleep. I expected my 8-11 year old girls to be snoring, falling out of bed, crying from homesickness, crying from stomach aches, being afraid of the dark, screaming in their sleep, and sleep walking into a busy road, probably in front of a semi, or even a train. All of this would occur at least every half hour and require my immediate assistance every single time. I imagined that the the 8-11 year old girls would be awfully disturbed, if not down right terrified, by my zombie behavior prevelant by the third day of camp.
Luckily for me, I did the thing every Christian is supposed to do whenever something is concerning them. I talked to God about it. I said, "Jesus, I'M GONNA NEED SO MUCH HELP! I'll be exhausted, cranky, and rude the whole time! I want to be at camp and give to my girls, but I don't want my gifts to be coated in a poopy attitude! Help me!" And you know what Jesus did? He said, "...if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have." 2 Corinthians 8:12. He explained, "Rachel, you want to go to this camp. You want to help these girls. You are willing. What you do will be good enough. Who you are is good enough. There will always be enough." I said, "In that case, I want enough sleep, enough food, enough patience, enough nice words, enough discipline, enough smiles, and enough tooth paste." And God said, "Stay willing, and you got it!"
Camp week rolled around, and guess what? I always had enough. I got six hours of sleep every night (only interrupted once by some one falling out of bed, but she did not cry), was never hungry until we were lining up for food, never ran out of patience, never ran out of toothpaste, and even had enough foam star stickers to decorate each and every pine wood derby car in my cabin. It was a fantastic week! God did wonderful things for all of my girls, and took the time to share a lesson with me.
Lesson learned? If I am doing what God wants me to do, I just need to do it. There is no need to worry about money or food or sleep; God will always give me enough.
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