SunnyDayz

Procrastination In Progress: Pandora Opens Boxes

Everything I have been thinking about and questioning in my own mind for the past year! Thank you whoever put it in words! ~Heather

amrush92:

I received permission from a friend of mine to repost this. Incredible thoughts, and something I’ve been really thinking about lately. It’s a lengthy read, but she puts it so eloquently.

If you aren’t familiar with the Greek myth of Pandora the curious who out of curiosity opened the box the…

(Source: pleonast.com)

How To Calm A Sea.: Emotional Virginity: There's more to staying pure.

whyonlythree:

“Do not awaken or arouse love until it so desires.” Song of Songs

As a Christian teenager who attends church and grew up in a stable home, one of the most common things I hear from adults is to save sex for marriage. When I went through the little purity course, I made up my mind to save my first…

False Compliments: Lying for the Sake of Making Someone Feel Better?

A lie is a lie is a lie isn’t it? I suppose there are some uses of deception which some would argue as permissible. I am not writing to address the rightness or wrongness of deceiving the enemy to protect the country. I am not writing to address Rahab’s lie to protect the spies. Although these are admirable subjects to contemplate, It is beyond my ability to comprehend what all is fully right or wrong, in such situations, or in many others that a person may come up with. What I am writing to address is of a different nature.

There are some who would say that it is okay to lie to someone, so as not to step on their toes or hurt their feelings. There are others, with whom I would agree, who say we shouldn’t lie for such a trivial matter as hurt feelings. This type of lie runs very close to that of flattery and false compliments, which is the real subject I wish to address. I think we can conclude from Psalm 12:1-4, that flattery is an art practiced by the ungodly; why then, do we flatter?

Psalm 12:1-4-

 ¹ Help, LORD, for the godly are no more;
       the faithful have vanished from among men.

 ² Everyone lies to his neighbor;
       their flattering lips speak with deception.

 ³ May the LORD cut off all flattering lips
       and every boastful tongue

 ⁴ that says, “We will triumph with our tongues;
       we own our lips —who is our master?”

And, from personal experience, I can say with confidence that, while a genuine compliment is very encouraging, a false one has no depth. It means nothing. Not only does it mean nothing, but it is demeaning. I know when I have done something well or if I need to improve. I am not so dense that I do not realize when I have done something poorly. I would appreciate instruction far more than false compliments. With instruction I can improve. With a false compliment, I go nowhere. Please, do me the favor of being honest with me. What else can I say; I am a die-hard perfectionist. I like few things less than stagnation. I desire to always be improving.

Proverbs 28:23-

He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor
       than he who has a flattering tongue.

Freshmen Year gone like that

It is so hard to believe that this school year is almost over. Today is the last day of classes. Next week is finals week. The Tuesday after next I head to New Zealand. I have twelve days left on Campus and then I will be gone for the summer. After spending so long here at Freed and adjusting to such a different life, it will be a little different to go home. I am ready to see my family again. It will still be another four weeks before I get to see them, but I am excited all the same. I will miss the friends I have made here. It will be really weird to not see them every day. It is funny what we get used to. We get used to always having our friends within walking distance. We get used to the atmosphere of campus life. We get used to nightly devotionals. We get used to the late nights of studying, working, and goofing off. We get used to Gano food, even if we don’t like it. We get used to classes. We get used to the small dorm rooms and for those of us who didn’t share a room at home with siblings, we get used to living with a roommate or suite mates if you have them. You get used to a busy schedule and you get used to the empty campus on the weekends. You have to adjust to college life. It took me a while to fully adjust. There were off and on times. I still can’t believe I have been here at Freed for a full school year already. Only a year ago it I was graduating from High school. I feel like I have been here forever, but I am still shocked by the passage of time. 

Lazarus: by Leonid Andreyev

Lazarus is another short story I had to read in English class. It was a rather strange story. It was written by Leonid Andreyev, a Russian author. This story contemplates what it would be like to have been raised from the dead. What would it be like to have died and gone to heaven or paradise and then to have returned to earth? What would it have been like to see the goodness and light and glory of God and then to have to return? Would it be possible to look at the world and see anything good ever again? The author describes Lazarus’ change (obviously he takes many artistic liberties in his description). He describes Lazarus as still looking somewhat dead. He is quieter than he used to be and cannot even describe his experience to his friends and those who out of curiosity come to meet him. All those who look into his eyes are changed forever. They seem loose hope and die as they are living.  What ever they see seems to affect them so negatively, but there seem to be hints of beauty in the descriptions of what they see. There are so many ideas about what this means. I personally think that the people that look into Lazarus’ eyes see part of the glory of heaven that he saw and they see the pointlessness of life on this earth, at least from their perspective. They realize how short time on earth is and they see that nothing here is eternal. They loose hope and forget to live. 

The Other Side of the Hedge

The other side of the Hedge is a very interesting short story and was by far my favorite of the short stories I was assigned to read for my English Comp. II Class.  If you have not read this little story, I would highly recommend it. It is the type of story that makes you think, but it does not blow your mind.  In the story there are two worlds connected by two gates and separated by the hedge. On the outside of the hedge is a road that winds around and around, progressing ever on ward, or at least that is what those that travel it assume. On the inside of the Hedge is a green and bright land of beauty and enjoyment. The travelers on the road walk all day, progressing. They are competitive and ambitions. They are achievement and goal oriented. The People on the other side of the hedge enjoy life. They care about others. They do things for enjoyment rather than competition or achievement. The story focuses on the experience of one man who while resting on the roadside one day crosses through the hedge to the other side. He does not understand the purpose of life on this side of the hedge. He has been so achievement and progress oriented his whole life that he cannot do anything that does not achieve some advancement. The two worlds may contrast life and death. It may be that the road represents life on earth and the other side of the hedge represents heaven. It could also be that the road represents the world and the other side of the hedge represents a new birth and living with a Christian mindset.

The Hum of Conversation and the Clarity of Prayer

With so many people in the commons today, the buzzing hum of conversation never dies down. It is constantly there. It makes me think about God and how he can hear all of our prayers. I am only human, so I can’t truly grasp the infinite, but it amazes me because when you are around a large group of people, you can’t pick out a single conversation. You just hear that Hum. Every now and then you catch a few wisps of one conversation or another, but nothing whole. And yet, God some how hears us all, our whole, even when we aren’t speaking out loud, even though there are so many people. I am curious to know how that works, how God does that. I know that it is something I will perhaps never understand, at least not fully, and definitely not in life here on earth. I suppose that the only way to explain it is that God is all knowing, all powerful, all seeing, but I want more details. I want to know more. I want to know everything, but I can’t. Perhaps one day I will know much more than I do now, but for now I will just have to hold onto my curiosity. I will have to listen to the hum of conversation and wonder how God hears all. I will listen, catching only a few wisps of the conversations. I enjoy the hum, but it just made me think about what God hears. It made me curious.