Dragon Treasure

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. Oh boy.

I know this verse well. I've heard it my entire life. But when Mom read it to us yesterday morning, she brought up a new connection. Dragons.

Now, I love fantasy stories, and especially fantasy allegories, so I love finding ways to express Scriptural ideas in a way more easily understood, specifically through fantasy. Like dragons.

Mom pointed out that dragons typically have a hoard of treasure. And they guard it. Sleep on it. Fight for it. A dragon's heart is with its treasure. Think Smaug. (Or for you poor people who have no acquaintance with The Hobbit, think about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader--Eustace turned into a dragon because of his desire for the dragon's treasure. If you haven't read that book, I'm sorry I ruined it, but you'll have to come up with your own example.)

A good way to find out where your heart is, is to look at what you're fighting for. In other words, what turns you into a dragon? I know for me, it's often not what it should be. I can tend to pile up earthly treasure instead of heavenly treasure. But that's not how it should be.

Now, how do we store up treasure in heaven? If that's what we're supposed to do, we should find out how, right?

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' " Matthew 25:34-40

Do you understand what I'm trying to say? 

I think there is certainly more than one way to store up treasure in heaven, but the one I thought of first is giving up our earthly treasure. Of course, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy our privilege of having plenty, but we definitely shouldn't hoard stuff like a dragon! The treasure we gather here has no value outside of this life, and though it doesn't always feel like it, time is such a small part of eternity! If we're willing to let go of our treasure, will God not bless us with even more? Even if we don't see a direct compensation, we will be rewarded with treasure in heaven. It is our inheritance. 

When we give of ourselves and our resources to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the sick, we are following in the footsteps of Jesus. He gave up everything to give us life. He associated with us when, in an eternal view, such association would be shameful. He is holy; we are far from it! Our goal in life should be to be like Jesus. How can we do that if we're acting like dragons, hoarding our treasure and fighting to protect it from everyone else? It doesn't work. To receive treasure in heaven, we must give up our treasure here. 

I was reading a book called Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court, the second in The Knights of Arrethtrae series. It's about a knight who gave up his wealth and standing to live as a peasant and help people in need. The village he's living in is led by a nobleman completely consumed with greed and love of stuff. It's his downfall. He's so busy guarding his treasure that he never recognizes the desperate need of people around him. I don't want to be like that. Ever. But at the same time, it's so much easier to take care of yourself than to help others. To guard your treasure instead of using it for good. 

Another thing I've been thinking about is making habits. I've seen and heard it all over the place recently, and judging from my own failure in setting a writing habit, I know any good habit will take time and hard work to establish (unfortunately, the bad ones seem to just fall into place). I want to make a habit of giving my heart to Jesus, and letting my treasure be with Him. It's not going to be easy. I'll probably fail at different times along the way. But I think it's an adventure worth pursuing. I'd love company, if you want to come along. 

Where's your treasure? 

 Or

With the King of Kings?

Randomness and The Hobbit

I feel like posting something fun. I haven't done that in a while. Unfortunately, most of what I can think of to post is more on the serious side. I'd thought about doing a review on The Hobbit (yes, I went to see it! Saturday! :D) but all I really have to say is "I loved it, I certainly recommend it, it's not exactly like the book, but I don't care and I can't wait for the next one to come out!" So, yeah. That wouldn't make much of a review. I could rant about all the parts I loved though, if anyone wanted to hear it.

Umm... that's pretty much the exciting thing of the week. I have a really awesome piano song that makes practicing slightly more enjoyable (it's from the Kingdom Series & Knights of Arrethtrae song book-- I love it!) but The Hobbit is still the highlight of the past week. I think. I don't really remember everything that happened. Avery and I watched Iron Man 2 last night, it was OK, The Hobbit is way better :). And we did some fun things with friends this week. That was nice :).

Sooo... I suppose I should collect my thoughts a little and post something slightly comprehensible.

Gah, forget it, it's been five minutes and nothing better has come to mind, so I'm just going to tell you all about what I liked in The Hobbit :D. Before I start, I apologize to all you poor people who have never experienced the awesomeness of the book, because I'm not going to explain the entire plot, I'm just going to talk about what I liked. But if after this you consider watching the movie (for those who haven't) READ THE BOOK FIRST!!!

:D Anyway, there were some parts that were almost exactly like the book (up to the lines and everything--it made me very happy ^_^) Namely, the beginning up until the trolls and 'riddles in the dark'. The troll scene wasn't exactly like the book, but it was SO hilarious and it really helped build Bilbo's character. I also liked some of the history they added at the beginning, but what made it really awesome was that they never showed the whole Smaug! Now whenever Bilbo first sees him in the next one (I think) it's going to be so cool! :D 

Before I get carried away, I'll tell you about some of my favorite characters. I liked Bilbo, of course, and Gandalf and Thorin (who is an awesome character, by the way-- I like complicated characters). My favorite dwarves (besides Thorin) were Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Balin. The first three had great senses of humor :) and Balin is just really wise and he knows all about the history and stuff. And he's nice. 

I've heard a lot of people complaining about how they added stuff and changed stuff (mostly from The Silmarillion or the appendices of LOTR). I personally like having an idea of what else is going on at the same time (actually I went and read it in the Silmarillion when we were reading The Hobbit). No, it's not exactly like the book. Yes, the Pale Orc is supposed to be dead (he's Thorin's main enemy in the movie). But I don't really care. I'm not expecting any movie made off of a good book to be anywhere as good as the book (although The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe came close). There's just so much stuff in a book (especially a Tolkien book) that you just can't put in a movie. So to me, the added stuff was kind of like how it was for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I like the movie, I like the book better, but I don't think the added/changed stuff took away from the story (and you know me, the story is the important part :) ) even if it did make it different. Basically, it didn't bother me that much. 

Ok, one last thing, I LOVED the scene where the dwarves are all singing (at Bag End, before they leave)!!!! It was incredible! I had chills all over! SO cool! 

So, like I said before, I highly recommend it. Some of the action might be a little scary, but it's not too bad. If for some reason you watch it and hate it, I don't want to hear about it, because you won't be able to make me agree with you. I can't wait for part 2! :D

Oh, and here's a link to the trailers. Just 'cause :). 

http://www.thehobbit.com/#content=video&section=moment&media=trailer_1 

Time

This is officially my first post in the year 2013. (Cool, huh?) But time goes so quickly! I can't believe 2012 has already come and gone. Time really does get faster as you get older. Seriously, when I was ten a week felt like FOREVER, but now it's just like, 'wait, what happened to my whole week?!' *Sigh* Oh well.

I was going to go somewhere else with this, but I think I'll stay focused on time for a little longer here. Yesterday, our pastor preached on Ephesians 5:15-17 (which I am not going to post here, so you'll have to look it up yourself). It talks about 'making the most of your time' or 'making the most of every opportunity' (depending on the version). I think for me that means taking time to develop my relationships with family and friends, but also being attentive to the opportunities God gives me to help anyone around me, including people I don't know. I need to be 'interruptible'. Part of my personality is very appreciative of structure and schedule, so I am not always (*cough*often*cough*) open to stopping in the middle of my school day to help one of my siblings with something. I want to change that, to be ready for the opportunities, waiting for them to come and recognizing them when they do. Yes, it'll take time and practice, but I don't want to waste my life. I was thinking this morning about what I would what it might look like if I lived each day as if it were my last. How would I treat people? What would I do differently? What would I focus on? I think I'm far too often focused on what I want and what I need to get done, but I'm afraid I often miss opportunities to help and encourage my siblings and friends. Most days I'm so focused on getting everything done that it would never occur to me to take a few minutes to e-mail a note of encouragement to someone or ask my sisters or brother if they need help with anything. I'd like to adjust my priorities. Make the most of my time.

But school is important too. I can't just drop everything even if it's with good intentions or for a good reason. Every day is not necessarily my last, and school is part of God's plan for me right now. However, maybe I could let go of finishing 'early' every day and give some of my time to, say, playing with my siblings and spending time with them. Isn't it interesting that we value time so much, but are so rarely generous with it?

One more thing, related to (can you guess?) writing. I believe God has called me to something with writing stories, and yet I spend so little time on it. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but one thing I decided I want to do this year/semester is get into a more consistent habit of writing. It's been pretty pathetic so far. But I'm working on it. It's hard not to fall back into the old and easy habits, but I want to make an effort. I know stories impact people, and if I never write mine down, they can't do that. Back to that 'if this were my last day' thing, if I know today were my last day, I would spend a huge chunk of time writing down my stories, because I think God's given them to me for a reason and I want to share them. Of course, I can't spend the whole day writing (even if I wanted to) but I can make it a goal to write something every day. I'm going to try. If y'all wouldn't mind cheering me on and getting on my nerves until I do it, I'd appreciate it :).

Pocket-Watch

I did a photo shoot of my new pocket-watch just for you. It was fun! Here are the best pictures:

I like taking pictures. I should do this more often! Maybe I'll come up with some interesting backgrounds and take tons of pictures of my pocket-watch! :)

It's the day after Christmas, and all through the house...

:)

We were actually supposed to be driving to Texas today, but the bad weather through Oklahoma delayed us for a day :(. But that means I have a chance to tell you about my Christmas day!

My youngest siblings were up at 6:40 in the Christmas morning excitement. They weren't allowed to go into my parents' room until seven (the door was actually locked). I didn't get up till around 7:30 and it was about 8 by the time we all gathered around the tree. Before breakfast, we did the first part of our gift exchange. Every year we draw names and get presents for the one person we drew. Mom and Dad get presents for the kids too, but it is so much fun to just have one person to focus on and find something you know they'll like. I had Olivia and got her the whole Chronicles of Narnia series, since they're the first books she's actually enjoyed reading. Avery got me a really awesome pocket-watch necklace that I'd seen before and loved, so that was exciting. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it, so you'll have to wait to see it till I do. Unless I wear it somewhere before then (which is very possible...)

Anyway, after that, we had a wonderful breakfast of Dad's homemade cinnamon rolls. YUM! Then before we dove into the rest of the gifts, we took some time to act out the Christmas Story, one of our few traditions. I memorized Luke's account of the Jesus' birth over the past two weeks, so I was nominated as narrator. Dad was Joseph, Mom was Mary, a baby-doll was baby Jesus, Sam and Olivia were shepherds, Jake was a sheep (sort of...) and Avery was an angel. It was a rather rowdy reenactment, partially from the 'sheep' barking at the shepherds and partially from the shepherds' excitement about the presents to come after, but it was still good. At least, I enjoyed thinking about Jesus' birth again. I always do. Mom also read a passage from Romans about God's love (I think it was from chapter 5...?)

When we finished, we opened the rest of the presents. My biggest (and probably most exciting) present came from my parents.

I am so excited!!!! I've been wanting to do this ever since we finished OYAN and I finally can! I'm not sure if I'll start when school picks up again or if I'll try to get farther on the other novel I've started. Oh, I suppose I should explain what Other Worlds is :). It's a follow-up curriculum to One Year Adventure Novel. It builds on the ideas taught in OYAN but is specifically focused on how to write Sci-fi and Fantasy :D. 

Another exciting present is this:

The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson. I've read the books before and I have them all on my kindle, but I thought it would be neat to have hard copies of all my favorite books (so I could annotate them if I wanted to). So that's what I asked for for Christmas (yes, all my favorite books.) The Wingfeather Saga is one of my favorite series one, because it's fantasy, two, because it's a good story, and three, because the author's voice is so fun to read. He develops the plot at a good pace, the characters are likable and yet still flawed, and his fantasy world is also well-developed. His writing is often very humorous (for example, the introductions at the beginning of the first book--hilarious!) but he still conveys dread at the moments it's needed and the bad guys are bad. The flow of the words is very easy to read and understand and it does an amazing job of creating a 'movie' in your head. There are sweet parts, scary parts, sad parts, moving parts, funny parts. I don't feel like I'm doing an adequate job of describing them. Andrew Peterson is one of my favorite authors. Yes, I'm re-reading these books (if you look closely, you can see the top of my bookmark in On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness). No, you can't borrow them till I'm finished. Lucky for you, the Manhattan Public Library has all three. Except they're all checked out right now by one of my friends to whom I recommended them. 

In the evening, we went to our 'Kansas family''s house and enjoyed a night full of good food, great friends, and fun games. A highlight to remember for many, many years!

Well, I have lots of reading and writing to do in the near future! I hope you all had Christmases as merry as mine. God bless you in this coming year!  

Now, GO READ THE WINGFEATHER SAGA!!!!! ;D 

How I Deal with Imperfection in My Stories

Ignore it.

You may be noticing that many of my posts involve my lack of motivation to work on my stories. I've been thinking a lot about my novel from last year (and not a lot about the new one I'm supposed to be working on). I'd really like to do more with, well, any of my stories, but whenever I heave free time, I tend to use it on something like reading books or looking at stuff online. Yes, some of that is researching stuff for my new novel, but no, most of it not productive. I think one thing that was discouraging about Aubrinn's story (for lack of a better title) was that I had (and still have) so many problems that it doesn't feel like it will ever be finished. I'll just keep finding new problems. And I'm not even to the nit-picky stuff yet!

But like I said, I'd like to get it as finished as I can. And not doing anything with it is not going to help. I guess I just know it's going to be hard and I don't want to have to figure all the problems out. It's easier to just ignore them. But that only works for so long.

I think my fear of problems is also a factor in my hesitation in working on any new stories. As a perfectionist, I don't enjoy doing things I can't do really well the on first try. And editing shows me that my writing ISN'T perfect. I don't really expect it to be perfect, but I don't like seeing how far it has to go either! And I'd love to have people read it and help me edit, but seriously, the document is so full of notes to myself, holes, and highlights marking what I need to change, I think it would be hard to decipher the story!

Well, for now you'll have to settle for my synopsis. I just typed it up for someone else, so I figured I might as well put it here too. At least you'll get an idea of what it's about (or supposed to be about)!

"Princess Aubrinn is heir to the throne of her father’s kingdom, Alendais. At 16 years of age, Aubrinn believes she is old enough to take on more responsibility in helping her parents rule. The king and queen think otherwise. Aubrinn loves to lead and help people, but she despises etiquette and lessons in protocol, and her mother is determined to improve Aubrinn’s ladylike skills before the princess becomes queen. Aubrinn prefers adventure. Or so she thinks.

Another person in Alendais desires the throne: Aubrinn’s treacherous cousin, Tynon. Tynon and his surreptitious plans prove a threat not just to Aubrinn’s position but also to her entire kingdom. Will Aubrinn learn what she truly needs to lead her people in time to stop Tynon? What will she have to give up to keep Alendais out of Tynon’s selfish hands?" 

Now you finally get to read this!

Luke is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I love the way Luke, the author, tells the stories and includes details about people. Yesterday morning, Mom read us part of the first chapter of Luke, the beginning of the Christmas story. At the very beginning, though, Luke gives an introduction to his book:

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."

At another point yesterday morning, Mom had pointed out to me that I'm a researcher. I like taking the time to look stuff up and really understand and think about what I'm writing or talking about. She's absolutely right. But after reading these verses, I understand better why I like Luke--he researched it, made sure he knew what he was talking about, and he wrote it as a letter, which is an awesome way to tell a story! 

Well, now that you know I like the book of Luke and a few reasons why, I'll get on with the story. So, Luke 1 is about the angel Gabriel's appearances to both the priest Zechariah and Mary, the future mother of Jesus. This is what Luke says about Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth:

"In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years."

Basically, they followed all of God's commands, yet he had not blessed them with what was considered one of the greatest in that day: children. 

The story continues, and Zechariah, as a priest is selected to enter the Holy Place in the Temple to burn incense before the Lord. As he was performing his duty, an angel appeared to him and told him that his wife Elizabeth would become pregnant and give birth to a son, who was to be named John. The angel told Zechariah that his son would "be great in the sight of the Lord", that he would "be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth", and that he would "go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Zechariah was obviously surprised, but he didn't necessarily believe this message, as we see from his reply:

"Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.'" (Notice he didn't call her "old" also ;))

"The angel answered, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.'"

And so it happened. Everything the Gabriel said would happen did. Six months later, Gabriel went to Nazareth, in Galilee, "to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." Listen to this greeting:

"The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.'"

Now, compare Mary's reaction with Zechariah's:

Zechariah: "When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear."
Mary: "Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be."

Gabriel gave Mary this message: 

"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

(You're probably noticing that I'm doing less paraphrasing now and more quoting. That's because it's just that good the way it is.)

What an incredible message! As well as confusing and somewhat frightening, I would think. This is what Mary said:

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

Very logical. Now, look at the differences between Zechariah's "How?" and Mary's "How?" Zechariah asked, "How do I know this will happen?" Mary asked, "How is that possible?" Mary didn't question whether or not it would happen, she was just wondering how. Zechariah had pretty much given up hope that he would ever have children and honestly didn't really think what the angel said would come true. Maybe that's why children believe things so easily--they haven't seen their hopes destroyed as much as adults have.

Anyway, I'll conclude the story:

"The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.'"

Nothing is impossible with God. Absolutely true, incredibly comforting. Now for Mary's response:

"'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May it be to me as you have said.'" 

I honestly don't think I would have responded like that. I mean, what the angel said would happen would probably ruin her reputation. It would almost certainly change her plans for her life! But she still accepted God's plan and accepted it graciously. What an incredible girl. 

There is obviously more to the story, but with as long as I've taken with this part, I think that should be saved for another day (or several other days). Or you could read it yourself. I'd love to hear other people's insights on one of my favorite stories!