Estoy en Casa

Hello friends....or should I say, hola amigos!  I just wanted to write a quick post to say that I am home again safe and sound and had a wonderful, incredible, amazing week in Honduras!  there is so much to say and so many pictures to share!  But right now I am so tired but I'll probably start posting stuff tomorrow.
Oh yeah, and MAMA stands for Mujeres (women) Amigas (friends) Miles Apart.

Wanting To Be Her

Body Image Secrets Victoria Won't Tell You

By Michelle Graham

Have you ever looked around at other girls and wished you looked like they did?  Or have you envied talents or abilities?  I'm sure all of us have.  We just don't seem satisfied with ourselves the way we are.  Wanting To Be Her addresses all this and more.

The book opens up by introducing the lies of the barbie doll and how, if Barbie was magically blown up to human size, she would be extremely deformed because of her body proportions.  But Barbie brings a message of beauty to young girls that isn't true.  Girls with Barbie dolls perceive that their dolls are perfect and that is they don't look like Barbie, they are ugly.

Graham tells how even beauty models aren't satisfied with their looks.  She relates the story of how one model looking through a magazine saw a picture of a beautiful girl and complained that she wished she looked like the girl in the picture.  It turned out that the girl in the picture was her.  Super models on magazine covers are not perfect.  Computers are used to give them flawless skin and hid wrinkles and extra fat.

Song of Songs describes the love story between Solomon and his wife.  The book is filled with their praises of each other and mostly Solomon complimenting his wife's beauty.  Never does he criticize her looks even though she herself says she looks different than the other 'girls'.

"We have forgotten that the body God chose for us--our eyes, our hair, our chest our calves--is actually not ours.  It is a tool for the kingdom." (p. 50)  God created each one of us perfect in His sight and God's creation is never a mistake.  He chose your hair color, calculated your height, picked the color of your eyes, molded your nose and shaped your figure.  Criticizing your body is criticizing God's creation.  

Victory!

Haha, I guess that wasn't my last post.

Shaun White was amazing the other night.  I can't imagine what he must have been feeling when he did his victory ride.  I love to watch people perform skills and talents that they love and enjoy.  Especially when they can do them well and just for fun.  Which was certainly what Shaun White did.  Congrats to all the medalists!

Adios Amigos!

This is going to be my last post for a while because today I leave for Honduras!  Well, today I start my trip but I don't really fly out until tomorrow morning.  Still, it's quite exciting!  I'm not sure how I'll ever get through today.  I still have some packing that needs to get done, those sections of the research paper to finish and my room to clean.  But still, this day is going to go by so slowly!


I just got a new camera so you can expect lots of pictures when I get back and I'm sure I will have tons of stories.  I am just so excited to see how God works and what He does.  This whole trip is for Him and His glory and it will be so interesting to see what He does through us.


Anyway, Friends, farewell!  I shall certainly miss blogging while I'm away and it will be very strange to have a week off from school, but I will absolutely enjoy the break.  Good bye and God bless!

Honduras!!!

So, I've mentioned that I'm going to Honduras numerous times but never really explained it.  On Saturday, a group from my youth group (haha, that sounds funny!), 13 youth, 5 leaders and the son of one of the leaders, are flying down to Honduras for a week.  We are going as part of the MAMA project (sorry, I don't recall what MAMA stands for) and will be stationed in the MAMA house.  Each day we will take a vehicle of some sorts to a different village and set a clinic for the local people.  I think there will be a dentist, general medical care and some sort of eye doctor.  We will also be making cement floors for people out of sand and dirt and whatever else you use.  We're also brings tons of stuff to give away too so we'll also be doing that in each village.


We're leaving tomorrow evening, driving to Newark and staying overnight in a hotel right near the airport.  Then our flight leaves at 8:50am Saturday morning so I'm guessing we're not going to get a whole lot of sleep.  We fly home Saturday the 27th and basically do the reverse, stay in the same hotel that night and drive home Sunday.


I'm so excited because I've never been on a missions trip before and it will be so eyeopening to see how these people live.  It will be a completely different culture, warm weather, Spanish instead of English and I hope a really good bonding time for our youth group.  And flying and leaving the country is just fun.  And I'm excited to see how God uses us and excited to be His hands and feet and show other His love (not that I can't do that everyday, but not everyday in Honduras!)

Final Thoughts (blog assignment for week 24 #5)

One more post!


The logical thing would be to dedicate my final post to the thoughts I had on whatever book I finished reading, either Blue Like Jazz or The Reason For God.  But...I didn't finished reading a book yet.  I'm planning on finishing Blue Like Jazz because I found it so much more interesting and I plan to read it on the plane on Saturday when I fly to Honduras!!!! (I'm soooo excited!!)


Well, this goes a long with what I was saying earlier and is kind of a repeat from the questions we had to answer before about the books.  Anyway, I was totally more into BLJ (Blue Like Jazz) than TRFG (The Reason For God).  BLJ is much more of a story about the author's life than TRFG is.  And once again, I liked the simplicity of the writing.  Not to say that the writer didn't make good points or didn't have a good writing style, but he used down to earth language that the ordinary person can understand.  TRFG was more like The God Delusion, I had to really focus to understand it and even when I did, it didn't always stick.  Now I'm sure some people really like that kind of style and can understand it no problem; but that's not me.  And we are all different and have different tastes and likes and dislikes.


What I learned the most from having to read all these different books and excerpts it that one type of writing style will not appeal to everyone and everyone will not find the same writing interesting.  It's not wrong to not understand something, it's not wrong to find a book way over your head and it's not wrong that you don't get it and other people do.  I think the problem comes when we compare ourselves to others.  We look around and see people who are so much better than ourselves and come to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with who we are.  But there's not.  This is something I've really been thinking about a lot recently and it has come up in conversations and youth group too, so I think God is trying to tell me something.  But each one of us was made unique and special just the way we are, so how can we criticize God's creation?  He created humans and said this is good.  Don't get caught in the lie that others are better than you.  There will always be people who are more talented than you whatever you do; whether it's school or sports or cooking or dancing or music or anything. But it's up to you what you do with the abilities you do have and whether you will use them, or find yourself inadequate because you compare yourself to others.

Crystals, Aliens and Lies (blog assignment for week 24 #4)

I saw the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed when it came out in theaters about 2? years ago.  I thought it would be really boring but it was actually quite good.

Ben Stein interviews Richard Dawkins and many more evolutionists.  I found it interesting that they really weren't sure how life came about.  One guys was talking about cells forming on the back of crystals and someone else even implied that life was brought here from another source (basically aliens).  I liked what Ben Stein said after that: "Crystals?  Aliens?  I thought we were talking about science, not science fiction."  These guys seem so unsure of what they believe, they seem to be grasping at straws for something that is remotely possible.  I think they just don't want to admit to a Creator or higher level of intelligence that created life on purpose and are rummaging around for something they can convince themselves and other of.  

I am completely positive that God created life as the account in Genesis describes.  I am sure.  I know it is true.  You cannot change my mind.  I find it fascinating that I can be so sure of creation, that I can be completely confident in what I believe about the origin of life, and these scientists who have studied biology, studied life, researched different theories and spent hours and hours trying to find the answer can still not be sure and not know how life was created.  And me, little me with not college degree yet and not even out of high school, I hold the answer in my heart while these big scientists bumble around still looking for it and refusing to see the truth.

Man Watcha Doin? - FM Static

I heard this guy say once:

If I had the money than I’d,
Buy all the happiness that money could buy,
I’d have 10 stretch limos like a movie star,
And a room in my house just for my guitar
And if I had money than I’d,
Only wear Sean John,
Eat my cereal with Grey Poupon,
In a swimming pool about one mile long,
With speakers underwater,
Playing this song

Man, whatcha doin?
Don’t ya know that, money can’t
Buy you love? It can’t make you happy,
Happy like, havin’ someone to laugh with
Man whatcha doin?
Don’t cha know that, money can’t make it right,
You need to love yourself my man,
Before you love somebody else

Man, sit down, and listen to me for a second,
I’m not tryin’ to be the sound of a broken record,
But every day you live your life, thinkin’ this is
All there is, your cheatin’ yourself outta
Somethin’ special….no doubt...

He said:

If I had the money than I’d,
Buy all the happiness that money could buy,
I’d have 10 stretch limos like a movie star,
And a room in my house just for my guitar
And if I had money than I’d,
Only wear Sean John,
Eat my cereal with Louie Vuitton,
In a swimming pool about one mile long,
With speakers underwater,
Playing this song

Man, whatcha doin?
Don’t ya know that, money can’t
Buy you love? It can’t make you happy,
Happy like, havin’ someone to laugh with
Man whatcha doin?
Don’t cha know that, money can’t make it right,
You need to love yourself my man,
Before you love somebody else

Over My Head (blog assignment for week 24 #3)

So...5 reflective blog posts in response to our reading and thinking.  Well, I'm not sure if this is exactly what Mrs. Bell meant, but this is a response to my reading.


I read the excerpt from the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and I did not understand remember half of it.  I thought the beginning was good; the stuff with the boy was interesting and a good way to get started.  But ya know, when these writer's start using all these big words and long sentences it kind goes in one ear and out the other: "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."  Uhhh...can you repeat that?  OK, so I like simplicity, in writing at least.  That's why I write my blog as if I was talking to someone.  I like reading stuff like that, it's easy to understand.  So yeah, I would never be able to read this God Delusion book.  I wouldn't understand it and it would be so boring.  


There were a few parts I found interesting.  Like when Carl Sagan was quoted talking about his 'little god'.  Oh, and I never knew Einstein was an atheist before I read this passage.  I thought that was strange.  How could a guy as bright as Einstein who understood science so well not see the evidence of a god?  How could he look at all the complicated science stuff and not recognize that it was created by a higher being?  But anyway, that's not really the point.
Yeah, that's all I have to say about that.


So, my whole point is that I dislike these books and such that seem to address more 'sophisticated' people and that if you want to capture my interest, keep it fairly simple.  I'm not sure if this is rally what I was supposed to do, but this is what I had to think about this passage.

2010 Winter Olympics Vancouver

I don't know who any of these people are.

Except that this is the lady who won the free-style women's mogul skiing thing. 

And Apolo Anton Ohno and JR Celski are in this picture.

And this is the Chinese couple who did really well and have been skating together for 18 years.

P.S. Mr. Harris... (blog assignment for week 24 #2)(take 2)

Continuing from my previous post about Sam Harris' book Letter to a Christian Nation and branching off with a different line of thoughts.

Okay, so Mr. Harris says that any cell in your body has the potential of becoming a human and that when you scratch your nose, you have "committed a holocaust of potential human beings."  Well, I say that there is a major difference between the cells that make up your body and a human blastocyst.  First of all, a normal body cell must be tampered with before it actually has the potential to become a human.  A cell on you nose will just sit there until you scratch it off or it dies or whatever.  A blastocyst on the other hand will grow on it's own and, unless something goes wrong, it will become a human being.  It doesn't need any help, other than what it naturally receives from it's mother.  This is the way God designed humans.  It's natural.  It's normal.  It will happen with being tampered with.  Therefore, a human blastocyst has so much more potential of becoming a living being than a cell on your nose for instance.

Also, Mr. Harris address the fact that there are more cells in a fly's brain than there are in a human blastocyst and that therefore, we should be more concerned with killing a fly than a blastocyst.  Well, I say that since a blastocyst has the potential of becoming a living, breathing human being, it should be valued so much more than a fly.  Living, breathing human being have souls, flies do not.  If a blastocyst is going to become a human, it is going to have a soul.  Whether is has a soul already, I don't know (only God really does know) but what I know is that is will have a soul.  To kill it is destroying it's chance to have life, not only in this life, but also the next life.  After a fly dies, it does not achieve eternal life (either in heaven of hell) so why would anyone care whether they killed it or not?  A blastocyst will have a soul, therefore, it should be allowed the chance to live.

Hey Devil - tobyMac

She dialed him about 6:00 pm
She checked her hair in the mirror
And she stepped through the door like this
Three flights down
And she's out on the streets
Walking brick sidewalks lined in grey concrete

He saw her coming from a few blocks away
Red scarf in the wind as it started to rain a bit
Shuffled down the boulevard
Cut me like a deck of cards
I thought you had me
You thought that you had me

But hey, Devil, go on
Get your junk out of here
I don't need you
I don't need you
Hey, Devil, go on
Get your junk out of here
I don't need you
So move on

I stepped to it like I knew what I was doing
I'm a moth
You're the flame
Never knew you'd be my ruin
In the blink of an eye
Element of surprise
Got my feet on the earth
But my face to the sky

Shuffled down the boulevard
Cut me like a deck of cards
I thought you had me
You thought you had me
Now the plot is thickening
Pushing deep under my skin
I thought you had me
You that that you had me 


But hey, Devil, go on
Get your junk out of here
I don't need you
I don't need you
Hey, Devil, go on
Get your junk out of here
I don't need you
So move on 


But hey, Devil, go on
Get your junk out of here
I don't need you
I don't need you
Hey, Devil, go on
Get your junk out of here
I don't need you
So move on

You're a beauty and A beast
You're the pressure never cease
You're the straight other side
And they say you never sleep


But hey, Devil, go on
Get your junk out of here
I don't need you
I don't need you
Hey, Devil, go on
Get your junk out of here
I don't need you
So move on 

P.S. Mr. Harris... (blog assignment for week 24 #2)

Here's the beginning to my next post about the audio excerpt from Sam Harris' book Letter to a Christian Nation.

But I'll finish it later because I really should work on my research paper.

Letter to Mr. Harris (blog assignment for week 24 #1)

Wow, we're finally assigned to blog again for AP English!  I'm doing next week's work this week because I will be on a missions trip in Honduras with my youth group next week.  I'm sure I'll have tons of stories and lots of pictures!  So you can expect a few posts when I get back. :)


Anyway,  Mr. Harris...I listened to your clip from Letter to a Christian Nation and had a few thoughts.  First of all, the way you addressed your audience (which was Christians in the United States) was very straight forward.  It was almost like the you was talking to me directly and accusing me personally of disrupting stem cell research.  You made assumptions when talking to  'me': "Your beliefs about the human soul are, at this very moment, prolonging the scarcely endurable misery of tens of millions of human beings."  I personally never stated my beliefs to anyone.  By addressing Christians in general, you placed me in a category that I'm not even a part of.  "You believe that life starts at the moment of conception."  I don't think all Christians believe this; I'm sure that they all don't.  I'm not even sure what I believe--I haven't really thought about it before.  "You believe that there are souls in each of these blastocysts and the interests of one soul...cannot trump the interests of another soul."  Once again, this is an assumption.  Mr. Harris, you are assuming that since 'we' don't support stem cell research, 'we' believe once soul can't trump another.  But I think there are exceptions.  "We should throw immense resources into stem cell research and we should do so immediately."  Well, that's your opinion, Mr. Harris; I want to see your credibility.  So far you have just stated your views and beliefs.  I want to know that you are supported in this idea and it isn't just you who's saying this.  "Because of what Christians like yourself believe about souls, we are not doing this."  This made me feel like, "oh yeah! Christians do have some authority after all!"  'Cause so often it feels like Christians are the minority and the government makes decisions without us and throws aside our opinions.  But now Christian's are the majority and 'we're' stopping stem cell research.  (Does anyone else think that's kinda cool?)


So, Mr. Harris, I disagree with the assumptions you make and how you generalize what Christians believe about stem cell research.  However, I will address the claims you made about stem cell research later.

Ohno Takes the Silver!

Wow, what a great race!  Apolo Anton Ohno won silver in the 1500m men's speed skating race on Saturday.  It was a very exciting race that wasn't decided until the final lap.  Very surprising.  This is Ohno's 6th Olympic medal--and there's something special about that...he's now one of the winter Olympians with the most medals...?  Or something like that.  Google isn't very helpful sometimes and I'm too tired to keep looking.  Anyway...congrats Apolo, keep up the good work and I'll keep watching.

Snowboarding Once Again

Guess what I did again today?  Snowboarding!  I tried a different hill that was much less steep and it worked a lot better--as in I fell down less.  I felt like I had gone from a black diamond to the bunny slopes!  It was fun to try different techniques and experiment with steering and stopping.  I'm excited to watch snowboarding in the Olympics.  Go USA!!!

What Clothes Really Are Modest?

Warning! Guys, guard your eyes!  In trying to determine what clothes are really and truly modest, I've provided pictures of some outfits and some pictures are of immodest clothes.  So beware when reading.  I am not trying to cause you to stumble, far from that; this discussion is aimed at girls so we can discover what is modest and will help you not stumble.  If you have any input, feel free to speak up.  Anything you have to say on this matter is much appreciated.

With that being said...girls, what clothes are modest?  I see girls all the time trying to get away with as much as they can while still dressing 'modestly'.  Well, does it mean to dress modestly?  Think about this.  I don't think I can define this for you, you have to decide for yourself.  You could wear something and think it's fine, but for me it could be revealing too much.  Consider this outfit: 

Is there anything wrong with it?  Is it immodest?  Is it modest?  The jeans don't seem too tight and the layered white shirt hides any straps that might show.  But is the shirt worn as the base layer too low?  Really, is it?  The outfit looks really nice, but would you wear it?  Could you wear it and still say you are being modest?  Personally, I would not wear that top without something under it or simply not wear it at all.  Personally, I think it's so low.  But because I think it's too low, does that mean it's immodest?  I don't know the answer, that's why I'm asking.


Now look at this outfit:

Very nice, right?  The skirt's not too short, the neck isn't too low...or at least, I don't think so.  I would wear this dress, would you?
But because I would wear it, does that make it modest?






What about these two outfits?  







I think everyone would agree that they are modest.  Not every girl would wear these outfits because they're not everyone's style, but I think most girls would say that these outfits are modest as well as attractive.

Now how about these 4 outfits?  

I would say that the two on the left are modest, although I would never wear the outfit on the far left because it just isn't my style.  But are the skirt on the other two too short?  Are the tights on the outfit on the far right stereotypical of prostitutes?  Would you wear any of these outfits?


Is this shirt too tight?

Girls in my youth group wear this kind of stuff to church.  Is that wrong?  Is it a distraction to the guys in my youth group?  Does it cause them to stumble?  I don't know, 'cause I've never asked them.  I do know that I would be very uncomfortable showing up at church in this top.  
I think girls who wear this kind of stuff get more attention.  And I think they like attention.  Seriously, what teenage girl wouldn't want teenage guys to talk to her and pay attention to her?  So, girls wear these kinds of clothes, get attention, so they wear them again.  Mean while, us 'good' girls wear modest clothes but sometime never get noticed for how hard we try to protect our Christian brother.  This can be really frustrating and is something I've been thinking about and struggling with.

Is this shirt too low?

Once again, I see Christian girls wearing things like this, and often in the youth group setting.  Alright, maybe not quite this low, but I've seen shirt like this with camisoles under them.  And if I notice these low cut shirts, you can be sure the guys do.

Now say we give this girl a camisole, does that make it any better?  Camis don't really come up much higher, believe me, I've tried it and it doesn't really work.  So, her shirt is still really low and that cami didn't really help.  But girls dress like this on a Sunday morning.

Are her jeans too tight?  

The sleeves on her top too wide?  

From the right angle they could show a lot.

I think the whole thing about immodest/modest clothes comes down to this: when you're getting dressed before school, before church, before a date, before going to a movie or the mall or a party or just a day at home, think about this, would you wear that outfit for Jesus?  As Christians, pleasing Jesus should be more important than pleasing anyone else on earth.  If you can look at one of your outfits and know you would never wear that for Jesus, but your boyfriend will love it or it will turn a few heads, then don't wear it.  If you couldn't wear something in front of Jesus and still feel modest, then it isn't modest.  When considering this, think of Jesus as your brother, your friend, your father or your fiance, and think about if you could actually wear that outfit with dignity in front of any of those people.

Ultimately, modesty is between you and God, but it effects so many other people.  Not just guys who already have it tough trying to guard their eyes and their minds, but also younger girls look up to you and want to be like you and dress like you.  You may not realize it, but they are watching are.

Tonight

TobyMac's new album, Tonight, came out yesterday.  I've been listening to it and it is quite good.  TobyMac has such an original sound and (like BlueTree) all his songs are seek to glorify God and give Him the praise.  You just can't go wrong with TobyMac.

My Fiancé

I'm getting married.  My Fiancé is strong and kind, he's loving and so caring, he's compassionate and merciful, he is creative and has a brilliant imagination, he has a great sense of humor, he's extremely handsome, he is a servant but also a prince, I can go to him about anything and he will listen, he loves me and desires me, and I am so in love with him.  His name is Jesus.

Yes, I am in love with Jesus and He is my Fiancé.  If I do not get married in this life, I will be married in the next.  Ultimately Jesus is my bridegroom.  I don't need a boyfriend; I don't need a husband.  I only want them.  But Jesus loves me more than a man ever could.  Being married should not be my life goal.  I don't need to be married to be happy and satisfied.  I feel a hole inside me sometimes, like something is missing.  No matter how many times I get told the lie that a man will fill that hole, it's not true.  Only Jesus can complete me.

So now I am engaged to Christ.  I am His future bride.  I wear a diamond ring and my wedding finger just like I would if I had become engaged to a man here on earth.  My hope is that people will see my ring and ask me questions--that it will spark conversations in which I can share my love of Christ with others.  And it already has.

I think Christians need to stop being ashamed of their relationship with Christ.  Had I become engaged to a man, I would tell everyone I knew the good news.  Why should it be different with Jesus?  Why keep my love for Him to myself?  I want everyone to know that I love the Lord.  The ring I wear is an outward sign of my love and is an opportunity to tell others about that love.

Snowboarding

We got about 6-7 inches of snow here in central PA last night, so this afternoon, my siblings and I went outside and enjoyed it.  I tried snowboarding.  It was pretty fun.  Where my family lives, our backyard is one big hill.  I've never skied and never snowboarded before (okay, I may have tried it once or twice previous years) so I didn't quite know what I was doing.  My brother recently got into skiing and snowboarding so I saw a few youtube videos on how to do it.  I guess I was okay at it.  I fell down a lot and got snow down my coat more than once.  But it was fun to try something new.  Each time I started down the hill, it was like starting an adventure (a very short one sometimes) because I didn't know how far I would make it and if I would possibly hurt myself.  But it was really fun and I'm really glad I tried it. 


And by the way, the above picture is nothing like what I was doing.  More like this.  But I wasn't quite that epic.

BlueTree

Secular music is filled with wrong messages, subtle hints and bad language.  Trying to keep your mind pure can be hard when it comes to music.  That's where Christian music comes in.  There are so many varieties of Christian music, it's easy to find your style.

BlueTree is an Irish, Christian rock group from Belfast, Ireland.  They have their own, unique sound (complete with Irish accents) and each song is filled with worship for God.  Currently they only have one CD, God Of This City, but they are in the process of working on a second.

The name BlueTree probably strikes you as odd, but it actually means something.  The lead singer, Aaron tells it like this: "The whole idea of 'bluetree" is that if you're in a forest...and you're walking along and boom, there's this tree.  Everything about it is blue leaves, bark, just everything that exsists on this tree is blue.  It would stand out and it would be different.  And that's the simple message of what I believe as Christians we're called to be something like and to stand out and be different.  Not be different for differents sake, but to be different with the right motives and the right attitude.  So that's what a blue tree is."

Runelords

I recently started reading the Runelords books and they are really good.  The books are in the same genre as LOTR or Eragon, with mythical creatures and magic, swords and bows, princes and princesses.

In book one, The Sum of All Men, "Young Prince Gaborn Val Orden of Mystarria is traveling in disguise on a journey to ask for the hand of the lovely Princess Iome of Sylvarresta. Armed with his gifts of strength and perception, Prince Gaborn and his warrior bodyguard stop in a local tavern along the way. Immediately, they spot a pair of assassins who have their sights set on Princess Iome's father. As the prince and his bodyguard race to warn the king of this impending danger, they realize that more than the royal family is at risk, the very fate of the Earth is in jeopardy."

From there the adventure continues, but I won't spoil the story for you. :)

The only thing I could complain about these books is that although the story is compelling, the writing could be a bit better and there are times when I'm a little confused about what's going on.  But still, these books are very good.  Runelords is right up there with Eragon; and if you know how much I like Eragon, then you know that's saying a lot.