Why He Seems Far Away

Hey everyone! I'm happy to have my blogging friend, Lauren, guest posting today. She is an awesome writer and has a thoughtful Christ-centered blog that you must check out. 

I am so thrilled to be guest posting on Sarah’s blog today, and I blog over at Loving Our Creator! I am so honored to be able to post here today, and I hope this post encourages you in your faith! 

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Do you ever feel like you don’t want to read your Bible…or that something doesn't seem right when you try to talk to God? Do you ever just want to not work on your relationship with Jesus anymore, but you still want to keep living as a Christian?

Yeah, I’ve been feeling like that too, for about the past week or so. 

 I don’t know what makes us decide that we don’t want to spend time with God, but usually this is the reason that we feel stuck in our relationship with God.

To be quite honest with you, the week I didn’t want to read my Bible. I think it was because I just wanted to fit in with the crowd: I wanted everyone to like me. I was influenced by a particular person that God has put in my life who has taught me so many lessons. Over the summer, I learned some lessons about relationships with guys from him and yet again I wanted to be the person that he would want to be friends with. God has been using him in huge ways to open my eyes to the selfishness that is buried deep in my thoughts and actions that I need God to take away.

I was sitting listening to the youth group lesson last night, and then my eyes were opened to my blindness. I had been feeling so uptight and stubborn and just wanted to do what I wanted to do. Somehow I had convinced myself that doing these things would make these cool people (who by the way are two years older than me), including my friend, accept me.

I didn’t literally hear a voice, but I could feel something saying, You don’t need to be accepted by anyone. You can be who you want to be, and live your life for Christ, because that is the best life to live.

You honestly don’t know how relieved I felt. I felt free to be able to do what I want, and yet it was my own sin that was holding me captive.

Is there something holding you back from God…something that you are refused to let go of? I realized I had to refuse my desires to want to be accepted by other people in order to have the same relationship with Christ as I had before. It was sin that was separating me from the love and comfort that I knew comes from Christ.

 So, if you feel like God isn’t there, or you want nothing to do with God right now in this season of your life, it’s probably a specific sin separating you from God because God hates sin, and won’t tolerate it.

When we don’t read God’s Word (and a lot of people who call themselves Christians don’t, and is one of the reasons why the Christian Church in America is lukewarm!) it is a huge problem. Time with God is a critical part of living a Christian life.

Matthew 4:4 says, “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” 

We can’t live without God, and when we don’t read from his word, we start to become distracted on our purpose here on earth (and in my case, it led to wanting to be accepted by others this past week). We can also become more prone to temptation, and in my case, I was tempted by my selfish desires.

Isn’t it amazing how God uses the times when we don’t want to read from His word to teach us how important it is to read from His word?

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Thank you so much for reading, and thank you again, Sarah, for allowing me to guest post!  

The House of Hades Review

Hello, book lovers! If you've followed my blog for a significant amount of time, you know that I have an obsession with Percy Jackson. Though I am not a huge fan of the continuing series, The Heroes of Olympus, I was super excited to get back into it by reading The House of Hades.

Like the last two books have been, this book surprised me. I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I did. The new characters finally grew on me. In fact, it might have been my favorite book in the series, if it didn't have a certain something, which I will mention later.

What I loved: In the past few books, it's taken me quite some time to get attached to the characters. Hazel and Leo won me over instantly, but guys like Piper, Jason and Frank seemed distant towards me. At the end, I ended up loving Frank and Piper. They turned out to be more stronger than I ever thought they would be. Mr. Riordan did an excellent job with their character development , giving the little time he had with each of them.

Oh, Percy and Annabeth. They went through so much together. Even in Tartarus, Percy still made me laugh. As much as I hated seeing them suffer, I was glad the author decided to put so much of their perspective in the story. I thought that Percy had learned enough, but he ended up making mistakes, just like the others did. I adored their optimism. Even though they were in Tartarus, whenever everything was trying to kill them, they still focused on the fact that they were together.

Among the few new characters, Bob was definitely my favorite. I never thought I'd get attached to a Titan. He reminded me a lot of Tyson. He had a heart and forgave Percy. Like all of Mr. Riordan books, he promoted sacrifice, love, and forgiveness. And Leo... He was amazing, as always. But I especially cared about Leo and              I heard that they get together, but I was expecting them to act like they did. They were adorable together. (Don't want to say the name. No spoilers:)

What I really didn't care for:
Let's save the main problem for last, shall we? Okay, so there were seven perspectives. That's cool, but... still. The author only have them 3-6 chapters each, (excluding Percy and Annabeth), but it was only every 150 pages. So I would get done with one character's perspective and be like, "Oh, he's so awesome!" But when I come back to him, usually after Mr. Riordan left me on a huge cliffhanger, I'd be like, "I like you. But I haven't heard from you in so long."

No more stalling. Nico, the son of Hades and an old character from the original series, admits to Jason that he's gay. Not only that, but he used to have a crush on Percy. Personally, I cannot support homosexuality. I believe that God made us a certain way and we shouldn't try to pretend that he didn't. But this doesn't mean I hate gays or anything close to that.

I really can't say it didn't make sense, because it did. Greek mythology does have homosexuality in it, as Rick shows us right before Nico admits to this. But all the moments after this was just... awkward. But I wish it didn't happen because it would've made Nico much more relatable. Even I can relate to his introvert-ness. If he wasn't gay, he could relate to everyone who feels lonely and rejected.  And why Percy? Percy and Nico are just cool being friends, but now, the whole thing is awkward. Not to mention the fact that back when Nico is a new character, he hates Percy. How could he go from wishing him dead to.... this? Doesn't make sense.

To make things worse, right before Nico confesses, we meet a homosexual character from actual, real Greek mythology. This was a nice warning, but the guy was like, "I'm gay. Deal with it." For fans who have conservative views, this only made things worse. I was not a fan of Nico's character change. Everyone else was becoming stronger and wiser. Basically, Nico went from being cold and antisocial to being colder and even more antisocial. And why was he so mad at Percy? Percy had no idea about anything.

Conclusion:
Despite the fact that I knew about Nico, I was overjoyed to pick up this book just so I could go back to the world of Percy Jackson. This book was much better than I thought it would be. As always, it promoted great traits---bravery, love, sacrifice and friendship. You don't see that shown so boldly in many books.


I did disagree with Nico's thing, but I'm sure that in the end, Riordan will promote this message. We should accept everybody, especially our friends. Even though I don't agree with homosexuality, I think  part of the message is right. You don't have to agree with someone to love them. But, I'm also sure, that in the end, Riodarian will promote homosexuality. Still, you can't hate Nico because you feel so bad for him.

But what concerns me the most is that this book is not in the teen section. Of course, a lot of the fans are teens, but this book is being promoted with people my brother's age. I think it's sad. Kids that age shouldn't have to deal with things like this. I could totally see it in a teen book, not in a junior high book.
Overall, this book was great. If you don't mind the things I mentioned, you should read it. I'll have to think before I read The Blood of Olympus. but it's something to look forward to.

(Note: The Greek mythology version of hell is much different from the actual Biblical hell.)
Listening to: Speak Now, Taylor Swift
Reading: The Selection Stories: The Prince and The Guard
Watching: Taylor Swift Speak Now World Tour Live

When Things Don't Work Out

When I was younger, I never believed in bad endings.

Of course, I knew they happened to some people, but I didn't consider them. At the time, I lived in a story world, where bad things happen, but good always wins out in the end. I always had some kind of blind hope. No matter how bad the situation was, a voice in the back of my mind would say things like, "It will work out. Time will fix it. They'll forgive each other."

But as I got older, I started to see the truth, that things don't always work out. Friends left. People died. Forgiveness was gone. Still, I held on to the movies, to the stories. But this time, I thought, "Maybe it will work out. Maybe time will fix it. Maybe he will get better."

Over the past years, friends have said goodbye. Family members have died. People I care about have fallen apart. This year, I realized the truth. It is by God's grace that anything works out. As much as I pray that it will be fine and work out, it doesn't. And it's sad. Sometimes it almost kills me.

It's sad how things have changed. We used to think that bad was easy to spot. Bad people are the evil witches and steal from the good guys. They work with dark magic, cast spells, and have a black crow  sitting on their shoulders. Sooner or later, we figure out that the successful bad guys don't dress up in black. They look like us. They smile and make us laugh. They make sure that the only time we see their real selves is when it's too late.

Lies are deceiving like that. When we were little kids, everything was black and white. You choose your path. The evil path is lonely and haunting. The good path is nice and appealing. But now, there are more shades of gray than they are wide and narrow paths.

Through everything I've seen this year, good and bad, I still find myself believing in love and happy endings. It's definitely not like stories, but it does exist. It's hard to find and you have to stick to it, but it is real. And, by God's grace, I hope to find it someday. If it wasn't real, God wouldn't have given us books like "Songs of Solomon" and chapters like 1st Corinations 13.

Right now, I can't help but doubt love. But God has reminded me that there is love. He loves us even we sin. He forgave us even when we rebelled against him. If he did that, I can too.

Top 10 Favorite Male Characters

Hello, friends! How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was great. We went up to my family's for Christmas, people we don't see on a regular basic. I don't plan to talk about it here, but Bernie wrote a wonderful post about it, if you would like to know.

In other news, I've just finished The House of Hades, finally. Wow, that book blew my mind in little pieces, kind of like what Luke did to Kronos. I plan to post a review of it somewhere down the road:) I certainly have a lot to say about it.

Like I promised, this is my top 10 Favorite Fictional Male Characters. Surprisingly, I found myself naming more favorite guys than I did girls. But guys in fiction are amazing. Maybe it's because a lot of them are written by females who made up their dream guys. Either way, this is my list.

10. Aragon (The Lord of the Rings)
What makes any kind of character memorable to me is their character development over the story. Aragon's definitely stuck out to me. When we meet him, we find out that he is hiding because of his ancestors' mistakes, unwilling to take his rightful place on the throne. But when he finds people worth fighting for, he emerges from the shadows, He sees that he does not have to let his the mistakes of his fathers define him. He is an excellent leader and a great friend.

9. Luke Sullivan (The Charmed Life Series)
Oh, Luke. From the beginning of The Charmed Life Series, Luke had my attention and never let it go. He was just arrogant enough to be interesting. In the end, he found that the thing he wanted most was the person who made him swallow his pride. Bella and him make a great time. I loved them together. He's the perfect mixture of geeky and awesomeness. I reread those books every now and then.

8. Leo (The Heroes of Olympus Series)
Out of all of the new characters in Percy Jackson's world, Leo is my favorite. While the other character's perspectives were too similar, I could hear Leo's voice anywhere and be able to recognize it. No matter how terrible the situation it is, no matter how much tension is in the air, I can't help but giggle to myself at one of his hilarious comments. It was amazing that, after all he'd been through, he could still be as funny as he is. I liked him in The House of Hades best of all. Leo and                    are so cute together.

7. Ky Markham (Matched Series)
Recently, I finished the Matched trilogy. It wasn't the most exciting set of books ever, but Ky definitely stuck out. I liked him even before Mrs. Reyes brought in his perspective. He's so poetic. The poems were beautiful. Through the whole thing, he was always creating, always writing. He did forgive people and let go of the hate he carried. His voice was so unique and beautiful.

6. Day (Legend)
Unlike all these other guys, I've only seen Day in one book. Half of the reason was because of Day. Day handled everything so coolly, pretending like he had everything under control. His past was intriguing. His voice was the best though. Even when he got caught and was about to be executed, he didn't think about the fact that he would die. He focused on saving his brothers. In fact, I don't even remember that thought crossing his mind. Under all of that slyness, he really did have a heart. Maybe someday I'll try Prodigy again when I'm older. But it might be because of him.

5. Maxon (The Selection)
Maxon redefined a prince. When you think prince, you might think of one of those distant Disney princes who you didn't know that well. When I first saw Maxon, I was like, "Oh, I like Aspen much better." He made me do something I usually don't do when I'm reading a book. He made me change my mind. Even at the beginning, during their first argument, I began to see that Maxon had potential. Yes, there were a few times that I couldn't believe what a jerk he was, but in the end, he not only made up for his mistakes, but forgave America for hers.

4. Finnick Odair (The Hunger Games)
Oh, Finnick! I remember my friends having a conversation about him when I had only read the first Hunger Game book. Who are they talking about? I remember thinking. By the time I had read Mocking Jay, I realized that Finnick is the best recurring male character in the history of the world. HE starts off as this cool character that everything thinks they know, but they don't. Finnick and Annie.... Please excuse me while I drowns in my own pool of tears. He was handsome and charming enough to have any pretty woman, but the fact that he loved an insane girl just blows my mind.

3. Four (Divergent Series)
Once again, the word is character development. I couldn't believe it when I started the Four collection. This is the bold man in the beginning of Divergent? He not only proved himself in Dauntless, but he was willing to go against them when they were doing wrong. After becoming a new person and hiding his scars, he met Tris and realized he didn't have to. It was Tris that gave him the bravery to confront his father if it meant protecting others. Watching him change like that was amazing.

2. Percy Jackson
Percy proved that weaknesses can be your strength. His character wasn't confusing. All he was a courageous kid who wanted to sa

ve the world. Many times he was tempted to change sides. Why fight for people who were complete jerks half the time? But he moved past that and saw that it was the right thing to do for the sake of everyone. His voice is sarcastic and but I adore a sarcastic voice. Percy made me laugh countless times. He was brave beyond belief. I will always love him.

1. Peeta Mellark
What else did you expect me to do? I guess it's no secret I adore the boy with the bread. Maybe it's because Peeta is a slightly altered character that I created, but maybe not. Peeta is unbelievable because of his love for Katniss. At first, when he confesses his love, she calls him a jerk. But he didn't stop loving her. In the final chapters, he saves Katniss one last time. Like Katniss said, he's a picture of hope. His family was dead. The girl he loved was broken beyond repair. He had done things that he never would have done in his right mind. Yet, when he got back to his old home, the first thing he did was dig up flowers to plant for her. If that isn't the picture of hope, I don't know what is. He defines unconditional love. If you don't have that, relationships will fail sooner or later.

I hope you like the list. How was your Thanksgiving? You might have noticed I finally figured out how to put music on my blog! I'm especially excited about that. Do you like it? Inside, I'm doing a happy dance because I just received Jill William's copy of Replication free in the mail. And it's signed!

Happy Holidays! Who is your favorite male character? Why do you like him? Comment below and tell me. Fiction is one of my favorite things to chat about.

Oh, and has anyone seen MockingJay Part 1 yet?