The Thing Abot Boys

 There are complicated things in the world. Some kinds of math. Science. How our culture views genres of music, calling some music 'country' when it's obviously pop!

But to girls, one of the most complicated things in our life are none other than the opposite gender. When we were little, we saw them as just... weird. We didn't understand them. They were annoying and even disgusting. Maybe they were our playmates and friends, but even then we didn't understand them.

Later in life, maybe as early as your preteen years, something happened. You start to see them as... more. Not as annoying. In fact, they're funny, a little more likable, and even, cute. It's weird to go through this change. I have and it's... strange. Because the same guys you used to see as annoying, weird, and at best, funny, you see as something different. You start to like them. They make you go against your better judgment and make you feel things you never imagined you'd want to feel. But at the same time, you like the change.

At first, this change might just be the weirdest thing you've never experienced. As time passes by, you start to like the feeling. But the problem is that guys are complicated. Sometimes you think this one guy is perfect, but then you figure out some things and you wonder if he's who you think is. Stuff like that is confusing.

Girls and guys being attracted to each other is a gift from God. Even the kind where even though a certain guy makes you mad, you still like him. I mean, think about it. If we weren't attracted to guys like that, we would run away from them when they hurt us. No one would ever get married!

But instead He gave guys and girls a kind of love for each other than can tolerate those kind of things. You know the kind of thing that when someone drives you crazy sometimes, but you still love them no matter what. You do it for more than just because you're attached to their outward appearance. That's the gift God gave us. If we didn't love like it, no one would get married and any of kind of romantic relationships wouldn't last long.

There is a such a thing as taking it too far. Maybe when you're thinking about a guy too much or avoiding them at all cost. No matter what the case, I urge to give it to God. Give your desires to God. If you feel like you shouldn't have them, but you do anyway, ask God to take the desire away. The point is, let God write your love story. Rely on his guidance, not on your own or your friends. Remember that He has a plan for you that He made because he loves you.

No matter what the fairy tales say, love isn't perfect. We hurt guys and they hurt us. Remember, God will never hurt us. Our loves ones may fail us, but He never will. He is the only one that will do that for us. He is always there for us. Unlike most people, He understands us. He will never let us down.

Please listen to this song. Jamie Grace just came out with a new album.

Hey Everybody!! Please go and follow this lovely girl Michelle! She just got a new blog! It called A Songwriters Journey. Thanks!

TTYLXOX,
                  Ellie:)

Book Review: The Unlikely Debut of Ellie Sweet

Genre: Young Adult Christian Fiction
The Second Book in the Ellie Sweet Series
Author: Stephanie Morrill

Book plot: Things are going great for Ellie Sweet. Her book is coming out soon, her hair finally curls, and she has won over her best friend/boyfriend, Chase. But that doesn't mean her life is perfect. When her grandmother breaks her hip, she must visit her at a nursing home where,  as she discovers, her cheating ex-boyfriend, Palmer is working. Her ex-best friend, Lucy, comes into town after dumping her wanting to make amends. On top of that, her writing mentor hold a grudge on her. Usually, she can make sense of the real world by using her fiction. But, as trouble comes her way, a writer's block overcomes her love for writing. Not everything ends in a happily ever after as she struggles to make things right with the people she loves. As she races to edit her book, can she balance her writing life and her personal life in the right way?

What I liked: Being a writer myself, I instantly felt like I could relate to Ellie from a personal aspect. More than that, though, the emotion and the way the author presented her, made me feel like I was her. I had to remind myself that this isn't real life! Though the plot twists frustrated me, it was awesome and kept me on the edge of my seat. The character development was awesome too. Ellie used to be a little shy and insecure, but I felt like she learned to stand up for herself in this book. In the end, it had a good lesson about revenge and anger, something that I didn't see coming.

What could've been better: The author, Stephanie Morrill  is really great. Her books are so interesting, but I felt like the whole spiritual part of the book lacked. Because other than quickly praying a few times, Ellie never consoled God about anything. Now this book still promoted good Christian values, like purity, forgiveness, and humbleness. But other than that, I couldn't see a personal relationship with God with any of the characters. I mean, if she had listened to God, some of the bad things that happened to her could have been avoided. On top of that, the two guys Ellie dated in the books weren't Christians. That doesn't mean that she wasn't, but because of it all, I question her faith.

Content: There were a few kisses that went too far. Sex is mentioned what not described and seen before marriage as a sin.

Overall, I liked this book. The plot twists kept you on the edge of your seat. It was very interesting. I rate 4.5 stars out of five. Still, I question whether is book is entirely Christian. Other than that, it was great.

10 things to do when your bored

So I'm bored... and I haven't posted in a while... so I'm gonna post something that relates to me right now. Here is 10 things to do when your bored.

1. Do what I'm doing: post on your blog or make a blog or talk to a friend.
2. Eat (it's always something you can do)
3. be weird and crazy and do crazy and weird things.
4. do a craft
5. sleep
6. write a story that is funny or serious
7. try things you've never done before
8. blast your music really loud and dance :)
9. paint your fingernails (if your a girl)
10. go outside and run
 Those are 10 things to do when your bored. Here are 10 things to do that make you bored.

1. sit down and scream I"M BORED
2. look at something for a really long time
3. tie your shoe and then untie it and tie it again
4. turn in circles and get dizzy
5. jump in the air 5 times and then do a cartwheel
6. count the cars
7. continuously looking at your email to see if you've got any emails
8. typing in random  numbers or letters and seeing how long you can go
9. doing school
10. going up stairs and going back down

If your ever bored share this and make your own answers. Thanks for listening!

Ellie;)

Lessons from The Hunger Games

If you guys haven’t figured it out by now, I only really love two particular things in the culture. I don’t agree with everything they might say, but I can honestly say it’s worth it. Those things are Taylor Swift (shocker, I know) and The Hunger Games Series.

I read the Hunger Games last year. At first, I was unsure about them. After reading the whole thing, I loved them. The emotion and excitement was just amazing. Okay, there will a few things that I felt could have been better. It wasn't completely clean. The violent was extreme. Overall, the books were worth reading. In fact, they were one of those kinds of books that you can go back to and read over again. You would never get tired of them either.

I have to confess though; I am not a huge fan of Katniss. I liked her a lot. She was a good main character and definitely put the reader on 'fire.' My favorite character was Peeta. I've always been into the nicer guys, guys that have more knowledge than physical strength. I like the guys who are sensible. Naturally, I liked Peeta. I loved how he never stopped loving Katniss, even when she was mean to him. Maybe he didn't love her the entire time, but the real him did. 

Honestly, Katniss didn't strike me as a likable character. She was unstable and mean. Half the time she 'loved' Peeta she was being influenced by something else, like hatred for the government.

Other times, though, she was very kind and caring. It was when she was caring for Prim and Rue, or risking her life to save Peeta did I really see her sensitive and loving side. Overall, as I read Mocking Jay again, I saw what a hateful person she was. My favorite scene in the book is when she saves Peeta from being killed by the mutts. Even then though, she was influenced because she didn't want President Snow to win!

Yesterday, I realized how Katniss relates to me. Throughout the story, like other characters, she killed people. She did it to protect herself and other people. Still, she could have avoided ending life sometimes. When Katniss did murder, however, she was haunted by the memories, flashbacks, and dreams. Even if she did it because her enemies were trying to harm her or her friends, she regretted taking out people. She wasn't like her best friend, Gale, who slaughtered mercilessly. Throughout the book, she lived in the times where she murdered or blamed herself for the death of someone. It definitely made her unstable. The blood was on her hands. It made her dreams horrible.

I've never murdered anyone, though I have murdered in the heart. But I do sin. The 'blood' is on my hands. It haunts me. I can't count how many times I've beat myself over the head because of my sins. Not all of them are recent sins either. A lot of them are stuff I did years ago! 

The point is, like Katniss, my sins haunt me. Why? Because I have a conscience. At the end of the book, it is clear that she had a scar that wouldn't be healed.

There is something the book lacked.

Forgiveness. Now forgiveness wasn’t completely out of the picture. She forgave Peeta and Peeta forgave her repeatedly. But there were some people she never forgave. In the end, she held a grudge against her betrayers and deceased enemies, like Gale and President Snow. Now it was understandable. But no matter what happened, she was angry at people for hurting her. She was trapped and didn’t realize it.

Early in the book, she admitted she wasn’t the forgiving type. In the series, no one knew the true meaning of forgiveness because no one had experienced it for themselves. That’s why the memories of murders and innocent people being killed would haunt her forever. It was made known in the end that they would never stop. She didn’t know what it meant to be truly forgiven or what it meant to truly forgive.

It’s not something I expected from the books because it was secular. But again, I am like Katniss. I am unlikeable. I am hateful. Sometimes when I do try to love someone, I am influenced by something else. My sins are a part of my flesh. They adore tormenting me. Unlike her, though, I know something she didn’t.

I know the true meaning of forgiveness.

Jesus died for my sins. He paid the final price. During the series, you could understand a part of her character well. She hated owning someone for something. The truth is, I don’t have to live with that burden. I don’t have to obsess over the fact that He suffered because of me and I have to pay him back. He wants me to live for Him, but not because I want to stop owning him. Wanting me to dedicate our lives to Him, He desires our lives because He wants us to love adoring Him. It’s not about debts. Instead, it’s about a debt that was paid.

That’s how I relate to Katniss. The blood was on my hands, but Jesus washed it away.

Francesca Battistelli's NEW SONG (and album info)

Hey! I just wanted to share the awesome news that Francesca Battistelli is releasing her new album!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the lead single, 'Write Your Story'!!!!!

You download this song and preorder her new album on January 14!

If you can't tell, I AM SO EXCITED!!!

A New Semester

Dear Fellow Bloggers and Readers,

Hello! It's been awhile since I've posted. In fact, I haven't posted since last year, which was only a few weeks ago.

I'm, sorry for not keeping on my usual blogging schedule. To be honest, the only thing I can think of is that I have a writer's block. (You know, the thing where you have time to blog. You open up the page and get a snack to eat while you write. But then... nothing comes out on the pages. Either you get distracted or lack ideas. It takes awhile to realize your post can't write itself. Maybe that's why it's been twenty minutes you're still staring at a blank 'new post'.)

I have posted, but it's been awhile since I wrote a music review. But seriously, even I don't know what's up with that. There have been some songs I wanted to review, but haven't. I feel like I need to take time to rethink the music review thing. Lately, I've been feeling like I need to rethink the whole music thing in general. Honestly, there have been some times where I listen to music that isn't good,  music I even criticize on this blog. Not all the time, but every once in awhile. I can only think that is because I listen to too much secular music in general. Leading up to: Until I get my priorities straight, I feel like I shouldn't post a music review. I am sorry for everything about that.

Today is the first day of school for me. So I would like to give you some encouragement from and inspired by the Bible.

Since the new semester is starting, things have changed. You might be happy about it or you might be slamming your hand on the 'off' button of your alarm, screaming, "SHUT UP!"

Maybe you had a good semester last year. You learned lots of new things. For the most part, you got good grades. You met new friends. It was cool. Or maybe you didn't good grades and you didn't have a good time. One of hardest things to experience is when you are smart, but you have a lot of responsibilities, due papers, and projects. It's a stressful time.

Whatever you're experiencing while starting the new semester, I want you to know that God has a plan for you. Everything you learn is something that He designed. You might not understand why you're learning it. Math frustrates me. It makes me want to pull my hair out. But I'm learning every day that God made math for a reason.

Why? To teach us character. Like God, math is consistent. It never changes. In that way, it teaches us about Him. Okay, it is complicated. It makes us want to pull our hair out when we spend so much time on it and we fail. Or failing in general makes us mad. (By failing, I don't mean actually getting a F, just not getting a good grade.) By that, it teaches us perseverance and patience.

If you just get one step wrong in math, you get the whole problem wrong. Sometimes you don't even realize it. Either way, it results to a do over. We have to be patience and not rush to get everything done. Because if we did that, we risk getting everything wrong.

One more thing. You might think some things that you learn are boring. But just remember that these things that God thought of. He created the weird things that you learn about in biology. He made algebra. Everything he thought of was for us. It was made to help us.

"Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

In Christ,
Sarah