Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, backyard adventures, Bible, challenges, do hard things, faith, Home, I was thinking..., Living for God, me, memorys, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#14- Hard Things of the Heart

Hard things can be actions you do, decisions you make, initiative you take or they can be hard heart things. Hard heart things is looking at your heart, going ‘no that is not right’ then changing. I had one of those hard heart moments recently. It was about contentment. I have always loved farming, the outdoors and gardening. Sometimes I wish that I could live on a farm out in the middle of nowhere, instead of on a 1/2 acre in a small town. That is not good. That is not being content. Discontentment can easily be turned into jealousy. So this weekend I looked at my heart and changed my attitude. Instead of looking at what I didn’t have I looked at what I did have. I have a 1/2 acre to live on in a small, small town neighborhood! That is much more than some people who have tiny little backyards in developments. I am a part of 4H and have many opportunities to participate with those in the agricultural community. I have good friends who live on lots of acreage and I have plenty of memories of romping in the woods, fishing, feeding their goats and chickens, helping in their big garden and more! I have lots of opportunity to farm on 1/2 an acre. We already have a pretty nice garden and we are going to get chickens soon. I am looking into starting a mini farm which is basically using your space wisely and harvesting much more in your garden, to the point of selling fruits and vegetables to others and making a profit off of it. I have so much! And I was discontent?!? God has been working a lot in my heart recently on this matter. This is where God has me now, why not make the most of it?

Priscilla

“Keep your life free from love of money and be content with whatever you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear, what can man do to me?”

Hebrews 13:5-6

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, Bible, challenges, do hard things, faith, Home, Living for God, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution, words

#13- Started Taking Sermon Notes

For the longest time I didn’t take notes. It was too much of a hassle getting a notebook and a pen that actually worked! Much easier to just sit and listen and take home a phrase that stuck out to me. No. That’s not good. How about actually writing the information down and reviewing it later in the week. Taking notes, a rather simple thing can be quite helpful in your Christian walk. It helps you glean from others wisdom and be able to take home their wisdom and live it out in your daily life. Sermon notes are not just for old people or little children who are bored, so they color in the service. When we were young, our parents would have us sit in the service with them and also draw a picture about what we were hearing. If the sermon was on Abraham then we would draw a picture of Abraham. When we are older we can start taking notes about what we were learning. My hard thing was starting back up on this habit of taking notes in Sunday service. Oh how much we can learn by doing simple things like this!

Priscilla

“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and forsake not your mother’s teachings, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.”

Proverbs 1:8-9

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, challenges, Family, Friendship, Home, Living for God, me, memorys, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#12- Started Teaching Geography to my Siblings

I took some initiative and asked my mom if while she and my brother Jace are at the abortion clinic on Thursday mornings, I could give my younger siblings their geography lesson. We are learning about Africa and we had a great first lesson today. We learned about African animals, African language and the country of South Africa. We read books, watched some videos and listened to some audio stuff. We had a lot of fun! If you are an older sibling you have wonderful opportunity to help with younger siblings and teach and spend time with them. At least once a week I am home with a younger sibling while my mom is usually taking my older brother somewhere. Although I do miss having my mom there it is nice to be able to spend time with my siblings. Siblings use this time wisely! Too much time now siblings are looked it as noisy, annoying and not friends. How backwards is that! I have great relationships with them and I am with them a lot. In fact this week I stayed home by myself for the first time in a while. It was weird (but also a little nice..). The point is your siblings can be very good friends. Make them your friends!

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in Books to Read, character, Home

What Can I Learn From King Arthur?

This was actually supposed to be a history assignment but I thought it would be a great blog post too!

King Arthur was a partly “mythological” character probably based on a real British king who drove the barbarians out of Britain and so then became a hero and over time a character in the partly true/partly fictional story of Camelot. I was supposed to write something on what I can learn from King Arthur and after reading and studying him I saw so many good traits of a leader. Here are my findings:

Good Leaders Are Not Tyrants or Dictators

This is pretty simple. Look back at history. Was Adolf Hitler a good leader, loved by his people?… My point exactly. In the books I read, Arthur has a genuine love for his people, his knights and his queen. He ruled with a just but compassionate hand and he didn’t make his people slave away for him.

Always Show Compassion to Your Fellow Man

In “The Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” by Mark Twain there was a point where the king and the yankee dress as peasants and go see what life is like for the more poor in the country. Along the way we see the King showing much compassion and learning quite a bit about another kind of life. See the next point for more details on this one….

Never Be Afraid to Stoop Down In the Dust to Care for Someone

At one point of the book as the king and yankee travel the countryside they come across a small hut. Inside they find a woman with the small pox very sick and about to die. Her dying wish is to see her daughter, who is also weak and dying, but she is in a hayloft and the woman is too weak to climb up to her. The king goes up the ladder, picks up the poor, sick, (CONTAGIOUS!!!) girl and brings her to her mother. The king in this chapter weeps when he sees this family, showing once again his compassion for his people. It was a very touching thing to read.

Be Humble

When Arthur first gets the sword he showed humility. He did not get puffed up with pride when he found he was the true king. As king he also admitted to mistakes. With his knights he taught humility too. The round table is an example of this. No one knight (not even the king) could sit at the head of the table with all the power.

When Power Comes Your Way, Don’t Misuse It

When Arthur heard that he was king, he thanked his foster father for all he had done and promised to give his half brother Sir Kay a seat at the round table. He successfully set up his court and ruled the land (he wasn’t even a knight yet when he pulled the sword from the stone!) at a young age. He didn’t take advantage of his new power.

As you can probably tell, the story of King Arthur isn’t entirely true. There probably wasn’t the sword in the stone or Excalibur. But historians believe that King Arthur was based on a true character. There is still good character traits that can be learned from him. From the stories we can see that his people and knights truly loved him and mourned when he died. He was the pillar of the country. Arthur will always live on not only in stories but in character too! Hope you enjoyed!

Priscilla

The books I read to study King Arthur:

The Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
A few different retellings at our library

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, challenges, do hard things, faith, Family, Home, I was thinking..., Living for God, me, music, myth of adolescence, songs, stuff to do, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#11- Started Playing More Worship Music on the Piano

I have been playing the piano about 5 years. My skills are far from perfected but I have in the past few years started playing more complex pieces. I enjoy the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit music and I played that music last year and started playing music from the Narnia movies this year. I did play some worship songs, even performing at one of our community group Christmas parties. However, after attending a bible study (and worship time) with some friends I felt compelled to buy a piano book with worshipful songs in it and start playing worship music even more. I purchased the ‘Best of Hillsong’ piano book which has over 25 worship songs. I really enjoy Hillsong music and it would be a good challenge for me to start learning how to play and have people sing along. I just received the book I ordered today and started playing the song ‘Came to my rescue’. I loved that I could play songs that glorified God. I still enjoy playing my other music too but now I am grateful that I can start playing music that could be used for broader purposes (ex. family worship time, playing at nursing homes, etc.). Music is a really beautiful thing, there are all sorts of styles and music can be uplifting and joyful to show glory to God. The first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is:

Q. What is mans primary purpose?
A. Mans primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

One way we can glorify and enjoy God is by praising him through our music. We hear about Miriam, David and others who sang praise songs to their God! In fact the entire book of Psalms is a lot of praise songs. The Song of Ascent psalms are songs that the people of God would sing when on their way to the temple (church). Many times now, music is focused on the singers voice and looks instead of praise to God. So let us glorify God by the music we play, sing and listen too. Here are the lyrics to the Hillsong song I am playing now:

“Came To My Rescue”

Falling on my knees in worship
Giving all I am to seek your face
Lord all I am is yours

My whole life
I place in your hands
God of Mercy
Humbled I bow down
In your presence at your throne

I called you answered
And you came to my rescue and I
I wanna be where you are

My whole life
I place in your hands
God of Mercy
Humbled I bow down
In your presence at your throne

I called you answered
And you came to my rescue and I
I wanna be where you are
[x2]

In my life be lifted high
In our world be lifted high
In our love be lifted high
[x3]

I called you answered
And you came to my rescue and I
I wanna be where you are

Praise be to the Lord!

Priscilla