God is Good

I have a favorite Psalm that I would like to share with you. I t is Psalm number 40 and has a message about how God saves us when we cry for him.

Psalm 4o

Verses 1-5

1

I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

2

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire;

he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

3

He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

4

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look

to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.

5

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done.

The things you planned for us no one can recount to you;

were I to speak and tell of them,

they would be too many to declare.

What I have been doing lately

What a long and busy time these last eight months have been for me! I wrote a novel in a month, sewwed a skirt, started playing my tuba in a new band, had friends from half way around the world come and stay at our house, went on a church youth retreat and saw God in a new and wonderful way, and made it into the youth Honor band. I have been naglecting my blog through it all and now feel compelled to do something about it.

For starters I think I will go a little more into the subject of my novel. Yes! I have writen a novel, and I did it in a month. November was National Novel Writing Month, which is shortend into NaNoWriMo. thousands of people are involved in NaNoWriMo every year and most of them use the NaNoWriMo website to talk to other NaNo writers and update their word count. They encourage each other and inspire each other to keep writing and not give up. Most people set their goal for 50,ooo words from the beginning of November to the end of November. 50,000 words is considered the size of a novel. That was my goal and I barely made it. I stayed up writing on the last day to midnight with my siblings and finished it as the clock chimed twelve. My word count added up to 50,006 words! But my novel needs alot of work still and it will take a lot, I mean A TON of editing! I am working on that now. My dream is to get it in publishing shape by the end of this year, but that is a bit of a high goal for a year. We'll see.

And that is the highlight of 2008 for me.

Productivity Challenge!

I just got another idea! I am going to start a challenge called the productivity challenge। I am so exited about this i can't wait to tell you. This is a challenge to go a whole day with out watching any tv or using the computer for no reason at all, and no video games either. (Some times that is a big challenge for me.) And if you want, you can make it last a whole week for more of a challenge. I think I was not realizing that I was wasting my life when I would tell my mother that I would do my math and then plunk myself down on the couch until supper. So I would tee myself; "God gave you your life so you can spread his glory and bring others his light, not so you get to rap yourself up in a video game with your friends all Saturday. But there is hope for you yet." these Ideas help me when I am bored:

* Try and keep your room clean (that one is hard for me)
* Ask your family about what you can do to help them.
* Start some kind of a project (sewing, writing, building)
* Go for a whole day with out watching tv, and spend the day outside.
* Memorize Bible verses (that is probably the best one yet)

You can do so much in your life if you only try, spend every moment as if it were your last. There are so many things that I want to do in my life and I am going to try and find time for them all. Please come back with your Productivity Challenge results!

An interesting quote

This is a quote from a book called The Basket of Flowers. I just started reading this book and I am already really into it. It is an old book about a young girl and her father, who are both devoted christians. The quote is taken from the very first chapter which is more like an introduction really. Anyway, I found it quite interesting, and I hope you do too.
"Human nature is the same in all countries; on the one hand we find the human heart, sinful,producing a life apart from God which leads to total misery and sorrow; and on the other hand, the remedy for this despair, is the work of the Holy Spirit of God, producing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ which leads us to a life of purpose and peace. 'For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.' (Romans 10:13). The whole book is full of interest, and of the most valuable moral and biblical instruction; and we are persuaded that young people and old alike, will peruse it with pleasure, and reap from it many great advantages."
I hope you find that just as interesting as I do. the author of this book is named, Christoph Von Schmid. He wrote lots of Christ-centered books and novels. If you have any good God-centered books that you think others might enjoy, please tell me about them. I would love to hear about them.