Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Whose Idea Was It to Play Tag Over Cyberspace, Anyway?

I've been tagged. Here are some things about me:

I am: eccentric.

I know: that I am made the way I am for a purpose.

I have: always loved chocolate.

I wish: it wasn't overcast.

I hate: being looked down on.

I miss: almost every ball I'm supposed to hit. :)

I fear: messing everything up.

I feel: like singing.

I hear: very little. My brothers are napping, so I'm supposed to be quiet.

I smell: lunch.

I crave: peanut butter sometimes.

I search: my brain, trying to find where I left that verse.

I wonder: where the phrase 'in a pickle' comes from. (I've been told that it maybe has to do with baseball, but I'm not sure yet)

I regret: as little as possible.

I love: Jesus!

I am not: an angry person.

I believe: there is someone who loves me more than life itself who stands waiting in the heavens.

I dance: a very, very, very little bit.

I sing: in harmony! (and often)

I cry: when something touches my heart (which is also often)

I don't always: clean my room (sorry, Mom. I did this morning)

I fight: not against flesh and blood, but against that which is unseen.

I write: all the time.

I win: at Speed!

I lose: my mind sometimes.

I never: eat caramel with braces like some (ahem) other people I know.

I always: smile when I see people.

I confuse: other people when I use strange words (like effervescent, pulchritudinous, chintzy, splendiferous, or chimaera... all of which are real words, by the way)

I listen: to Christian music, as a general rule.

I can usually be found: at church more than once a week.

I am scared: of making a fool of myself (which is why I end up doing that as often as I do)

I need: to do Chemistry homework.

I am happy about: just about everything. (All of you who don't know me in person, I'm just about always happy)

I imagine: what I will be like when I am older.


I look forward to seeing what everyone else writes. I tag my mom and Aunty Shirin and AAAH!!! Judi! I think you tagged every single person who has a blog in the entire world! Well, since Judi took all the other people, Mom and Aunty, consider yourself next. :)

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

A Much-Needed Blog Update

Sorry for my failure to update. My aunt is staying with us and I sort of forgot about blogging. Here's a short story I wrote a while back that I think you might enjoy:

“That’s not possible.” Samuel looked up at his mother. This couldn’t be happening.
Elana was dying.
Samuel’s adored big sister was only seventeen. Out of the seven kids in the family, he and Elana were closest in age, only two years apart. The other kids were brats. His mom and Elana probably wouldn’t agree, but he couldn’t stand them. Collectively, Nina, Mia, Leslie and Izzy-belle were the four meanest people he could think of. Only he and Paul and Elana were the normal kids of the family. Technically, Paul and Elana weren’t normal, but they were nice. Even when Paul was being disassociative (which wasn’t a word unless you were Paul) or Elana got into one of her “Mother Theresa” moods, they were never mean.
“It’s possible.” Samuel’s mother drew him back into the present. “Elana is sick. She’s going to die.”
“Does she know that?” Samuel jumped out of the hospital chair, slamming his palm down onto the plastic table. “Did you tell her she’s dying?”
“Of course she knows!” His mother’s voice also escalated in volume, but not in anger.
“What did she say?”
“She wanted to pray about it.”
“Pray about whether or not she is going to die?” What was Elana thinking? You didn’t pray about something like that. You prayed about solutions. You asked for help. At least, that was how Samuel thought of it.
Maybe Samuel just didn’t understand God well enough.
-
Samuel refused to wait one second longer. He charged down the hall to Elana’s hospital room.
She sat on the bed, her peridot eyes focused on something Samuel couldn’t see, searchingly.
“Elana?”
She turned toward him. Her face was thinner than he remembered.
“Samuel! How did you know I wanted to see you?”
“Paul.” Samuel sunk heavily into a folding chair. “Paul always knows what people need.”
“Paul’s special that way. I was much like him when I was five.” Drawn into her memories, she continued in a dreamy voice, “You are special too. I think you have yet to discover your talent.”
“I don’t have one. I’m not ‘special’ like you or Paul, and I can’t do anything cool like the sisters. What’s my talent?”
She hesitated. “It wouldn’t be fair to God if I told you.”
“How can someone be unfair to God? Aren’t you always telling me that he’s in control of everything?”
“Of course.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“I’m sorry. I just see that you have a lot to learn.” She paused, but before she could continue, the rest of the family came in.
Elana exclaimed, “How did you know I wanted to see you all?”
“I don’t know.” Paul said. “I just thought you would.” His cornflower blue eyes shone.
“Just ‘cause you saw Samuel go in, Bug-Brain.” Leslie said.
Samuel ignored Elana’s sympathetic look. “Shut up, Leslie!”
Elana’s face fell. Why did it bother her when he wasn’t the perfect big brother?
She whipped the curtain shut. “I’m tired. I’m glad I got to see you before I go to sleep. Can someone come by to see me tomorrow? Samuel and Paul don’t have anything to do.”
Samuel’s mother hesitated. “Maybe.”
As the family exited, Elana caught Samuel and whispered in his ear, “God’s ready for you. Are you ready for him?” He started to ignore her, but she continued. “Show me how much you love Mama and those little ones. See you in the morning.”
-
Samuel flopped into a chair beside the hospital bed. It was not quite 3 am. He and Paul were up in the middle of the night, Samuel with questions, Paul with answers.
Paul had tried to explain what he called “sovereignty” to Samuel, but try as he might, it still didn’t make sense. All Samuel could think of to say was, “If God is a loving God, he wouldn’t do this. I need Elana.”
After Samuel had said this about three times, Paul gave up on him. “You know, if I’m the next best thing to Elana when it comes to explaining stuff to you, I’ve got a lot to learn. This is going right over your head. Let’s go see Elana.”
Samuel had protested, though that was really what he wanted. If Paul thought it was a good idea to visit her, he was probably right.
Elana looked over the edge of the bed at Samuel. “I thought you might visit tonight. Samuel needed someone to talk to. I’m glad you were awake, Paul.”
“I do a pretty miserable job at explaining to Samuel.”
“You’ll learn. What did you want to ask me?”
Samuel had a thousand questions before. Now only one came to mind. “Why is God doing this?”
Elana’s forehead creased. “Don’t know. Maybe my work’s done here and God’s ready for me to come home. Maybe it’s for Paul’s sake, so that he has a chance to use his gift without me getting in the way. Maybe it’s for you. Your faith and love, they’ve never really been real to you. This trial is going to make or break you. Do you understand?”
Samuel understood all too well. Faith and love were everything. He didn’t have either. Elana and Paul did, and you could see it in everything they did. The girls didn’t have that love either, and that was why they were so mean.
“Samuel,” Paul said, “Don’t cry on me. There’s a lot more than just that. Take my Bible for a second.” He handed a black book to Samuel from his coat pocket. “Look up 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 and verse 13.”
“Love always protects, always hopes, always trusts, always perseveres. Love never fails. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
“So, even if I do die, my love lives on. It never fails. Three things remain, Samuel. Faith, hope and love. Faith is your trust in God. Hope is the expectancy that things will get better than this. And love is the greatest thing in the world. And that’s what binds me to you, Samuel. And nothing can ever break that. Nothing in the world. And, if I do die, you’re going to be big brother to all these kids. Your love needs to spill over to them. Can you do that?” Elana gazed down at him.
Paul crawled up on the chair behind him. “I’m always there for you too. I’m only five, I’ve got a lot to learn, but, I’m always there to pray for you.”
“I can do that.”
-
It had been a week since Samuel learned the power of love. Elana was still going to die, but somehow it was better.
Love never fails. .
That was what was getting him through.
He still wasn’t completely at peace with Elana’s impending death, but he knew God would get him through it. Love would prevail.
He sat down on the sofa. The cushion Samuel was on dipped. Paul crawled up behind, and wrapped an arm around Samuel’s shoulder.
And in that moment, Samuel felt love pouring down on him. A voice whispered, “I love you, Samuel. Nothing can separate us.”
He smiled. “Nothing in the world.”
-