The Assassin Cicada

Over the past few weeks something, or someone has been haunting me.
I have come to call it the Assassin Cicada.
I think I must put off funky cicada smells or something.
You see, every night I have to go outside after dark and close a door in order to keep the cat in and raccoons out.
Well, this used to be only somewhat hard because the door is always very difficult to close.
Recently it has become extra somewhat hard.
The reason being the Assassin Cicada.
It started one night when I was naively closing the door and didn't realize I was being watched.
Then all of a sudden out of no where came a buzzing and then a crash.
The assassin had arrived.
He started chasing me and I could barely get the door closed in time to escape him.
I know it sounds silly but he is not a normal cicada.
You're thinking he's a bug.
You're wrong.
He's a monster.
I used to play with cicadas when I was younger and have never really had a fear of bugs, until now.
Now I am scared of him.
He chases me and then guards the door so that I can't get back in.
Then when I go in he lurks by the windows and hisses and screeches at me.
He is huge and he runs into things including me.
He comes from no where every time I go out there.
I look around and he's no where to be found and then I open the door and he comes flying from across the porch.
After me at full speed.
I'm not kidding.
One time Joey caught him and he made the loudest unearthly sounds that all of us on the other side of the window were freaking out.
Well he has haunted successfully until last night.
Molly, my dog, bravely joined me to close the door.
When the assassin came up behind me in attack mode, she grabbed him in her teeth!
She grabbed him and ran out into the grass and set him down.
I ran after her and called her back because I didn't want her to eat him.
She has a sensitive stomach and I didn't want that coming up on my carpet.
Anyway, she saved my life.
I really didn't know if I would have survived another encounter.
I don't know if he's dead, in fact I'm quite sure he survived the attack by Molly.
But hopefully he'll consider it a warning if nothing else.
Hopefully this is the end of the Assassin Cicada attacks.

Maybe love doesn't ever cease, it only changes directions?

Say you have so much love for someone and you then decide, for whatever reason, to love them less. You have redirected that love away from that person towards something else, usually this something else is yourself. Therefor, the more a person decides not to love others, the more they love themselves. I'm not talking about liking someone. This changes with the day. Loving someone is different. We are called to love everyone though all too often we love ourselves more than we love anyone else. Each person we meet we either love a little or hate a little. God gives us love and gives us the freedom to use it as we choose. Use it wisely.

Christian Music

I love music, and I'm very into it. I love finding new artists, whether that means actually new or just new to me. Though one thing I keep noticing is how few Christian artists I like.
I thought for a while that I just wasn't looking into Christian music hard enough and once I was into it I would find a lot more artists that I liked. Well this is only partially true. Yes, there are some good ones out there if you look really hard. But a big part of why I don't like it is the same reason the rest of the world doesn't like it. Ever notice that it's only played on Christian stations? I understand that even if it was really good there would be a lot of people who wouldn't like it for the sole reason that it is Christian. But there are a lot of Christians who listen to secular radio and would like to hear a Christian song if it was really good. I didn't like most of it because most of it wasn't as good as the secular stuff. It lacked creativity, originality. It sounded like the Contemporary Christian from the 80's and we haven't been there for a long time.
I understand that some people really like the mainstream Christian music right now and to you I say, that's wonderful. I'm happy for you. But there are also a lot of people who listen to it just because it's Christian. This was me for a while. I listened to stuff that wasn't very good because I couldn't find anything better. So I convinced myself that it was good. And it usually wasn't. This makes me sad because there are so many talented musicians and it just seems like if you combined talent with passion for Christ, it would be something really good.
Well for one thing, I started noticing that there are really good talented Christian artists, who just aren't usually as popular as the very mainstream noncreative artists. And I think the reason for this is that if you're going to be a Christian artist and do well on Christian radio, you are being put in a very specific catagory. Reaching a very specific crowd. And this is fine. But for the rest of us we may want something else, something different. And this is a very difficult area to do well in.
I also realized that God might like some music that isn't praise music. This was sort of revolutionary. I realized that all talent comes from God. If I'm a Christian and my talent is music and I live to glorify God with my life, if I sing a song that is about my friend instead of a praise song to God, does this glorify Him? I say, absolutely. He gave us that talent and He gave us that friend. When we use our talent to make beautiful noise for Him even if the words are about something else, I believe they indirectly glorify God. Just like the song of solomon is God glorifying even though it's about love between a man and a woman. Now this is not to say that ALL music glorifies God even though it showcases talent that God gave us. Because we can sing things that go against God. We can sing about induldgence in sins and this does not glorify God. It's kind of weird though because we are using what God gave us and yet we are sinning against Him. But this is true in all parts of life. We take a beautiful thing and use it wrongly.
I think one problem is there are a lot of talented Christians who think that they have to fit into the Christian radio catagory and they just don't. And if they don't they either try really hard their whole life to fit into it or they change to secular music that has no trace of Christianity. This is wrong too.
So, I realized several things.
1. Most of the popular Christian stuff is popular because the crowd they are reaching like it but it's not very creative and a lot of Christians would like something else.
2. There is something else out there but it's not extremely popular. It doesn't do really well on Christian radio because it doesn't fit that very specific catagory and it doesn't do well other places I guess becaue people just don't think Christian music can do well other places.
3. Some music is God glorifying without being Christian music. As in, if you're a Christian there's really not such a thing as secular. Everything you do is for Him.
4. The bands that are Christian and do well are either a) a perfect fit for Christian radio. Or b) they sing some stuff that isn't Christian. Example: U2, The Fray, Jonny Lang, etc.
I believe that you can be a Christian, be creative, do your own thing, still sing about Jesus, sing about other stuff that still glorifies God and still be really good!!

I MISS RITA!!!!!!!!!

In fact we all do...

We'll be crying until you return.

Come back soon Dear!!

Fun times..

Things to do if you're bored:

Canoe in a dry creek bed.

Float in a canoe in the middle of a pond while reading.

Dig holes. Deep ones.

Make your own slip n slide out of trash bags, water and dish soap.

Find a creek, find the steepest bank, and climb it.

Ride your bike to the nearest sonic or dollar store.

Have a silly string fight with as many people as possible.

Do the same with water baloons. Invite the neighbors.

Sleep in a tent in your back yard.

Make s'mores. You can do this with a fire place, bon fire, microwave, gas stove, candle, or any other form of heat.

Read a funny book aloud with friends.

Dye your hair with the cheapest hair dye you can find.

Rent a super hero movie.

Rent an indie film and watch it with a friend really late at night with lots of sugar and caffine. Redbull is good for this.

Make a desert out of anything and everything sweet in your house.

Turn on music really loud in the middle of the house and dance with any family members who pass by.

Go on really, really, long walks.

Sit in a hot tub with coffee, music and awesome people.

I have tested all of these boredom sollutions personally and find them all quite satisfactory.

Alas, I have been tagged!

What I was doing 10 years ago: I was 8 years old, living in an old victorian house in Hallettsville. I was mostly swimming in our pool, playing barbies, and visiting Mema and Papa.
Five things on my To Do List today:
1. Water my garden
2. Cut Molly's hair
3. Give Molly a bath
4. Listen to a Mark Driscoll sermon (Faith and Works)
5. Finish planning my awesome birthday!
Snacks I enjoy:
1. Peanut butter fold-overs
2. Red Pears
3. Chips and home-made salsa
4. Chocolate
5. Kashi bars
(sorry Ev, we just have similar taste!)
What I would do if I were a billionaire:
Hmm, I would give some to all of these people I know who are waiting to do awesome things but are halted by funds, that would include myself.
Five places I have lived:
1. Petionville, Haiti
2. Pelerin, Haiti
3. Manchester, CT
4. Halletsville, Tx
5. Bryan, Tx
Five jobs I have had:
1. Orphanage worker
2. Baby-sitter
3. Cook
4. Housekeeper
5. Hole Digger... :)

The Best song for when:

You're riding in the car at night: The Scientist---Coldplay

You wanna dance: Love Today---- Mika

You wanna sing: Hey Jude--- The Beatles

You wanna cry: Goodbye My Lover---James Blunt

You're doing yard work: Susie Q---- CCR

You're riding in the car anytime with the windows down: Bohemian Rhapsody--- Queen

You wanna belt it out with your mom: Girls just wanna have fun--- Cyndi Lauper

You're working out: China Grove---The Doobie Brothers

You're eating hamburgers outside: Monkeys Theme song---- The Monkeys

That's it for now!

Flowers in my hair...

I like this song.

Even though it makes it sound like punk rockers and hippies were one and the same..

which is a little weird.. I still like the message.

Although, I don't think it's actually too late, or that everyone in the 60's and 70's had it all right, sometimes it seems that way.

I wish I was a punk rocker (with flowers in my hair)

By Sandi Thom

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

In '77 and '69 revolution was in the air

I was born too late into a world that doesn't care

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When the head of state didn't play guitar

Not everybody drove a car

When music really mattered and when radio was king

When accountants didn't have control

And the media couldn't buy your soul

And computers were still scary and we didn't know everything

[Chorus]

When pop stars still remained a myth

And ignorance could still be bliss

And when god saved the queen she turned a whiter shade of pale

My mom and dad were in their teens

And anarchy was still a dream

And the only way to stay in touch was a letter in the mail

[Chorus]

When record shops were still on top

And vinyl was all that they stocked

And the super info highway was still drifting out in space

Kids were wearing hand me downs

And playing games meant kick arounds

And footballers still had long hair and dirt across their face

[Chorus]

I was born too late into a world that doesn't care

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

(Thanks Everly! :)

Feist and money. :)......:(

Attention everyone awesome:

Feist will be at Stubb's BBQ on April 15th.

We should go.

Also:

Money is stinky.

(Literally, have you smelled it lately?)

I don't like it one bit.

I think we should start a new country,

where everyone is just nice enough to share.

And no one needs money.

Nobody would have money problems if there was no money.

Or, I guess you could say that everyone would have money problems..

But it wouldn't matter!

Here are some Feist lyrics for your enjoyment.

"How My Heart Behaves"

What grew

What grew

What grew and inside who

First so simple was the vow

Then the chorus sang about

Your shoulder

The mooring for me

Like water lost in the sea

The cold heart will burs

tIf mistrusted first

And a calm heart will break

When given a shake

I'm a stem now

Pushing the drought aside

Opening up

Fanning my yellow eye

On the ferry

That's making the waves wave

Illumination

This is how my heart behaves

The cold heart will burst

If mistrusted first

And a calm heart will break

When given a shake

(How her heart behaves)

The rain rain making me cry

(How her heart behaves)

Then the wind comes

Fanning my yellow eye

(How her heart behaves)

The waves wave the waves wave

This is how my heart behaves

A cold heart will burst

If mistrusted first

And a calm heart will break

When given a shake

The cold heart will burst

If mistrusted first

And a calm heart will break

When given a shake

What grew

What grew

What grew and inside who

Quotes from Jim Elliot

Thanks to Rita I'm reading Jim Elliot's Journals and I'm loving them!
They're so insightful yet simple, convicting yet encouraging, and beautiful.
It's such a bessing to have people like him to look to as examples and it's a real blessing to have their actual journals to go to in order to find out what they were really like. I'm thankful that I can read his journal but I'm embarressed to think of someone reading mine.
He was by no means a perfect person but he was an example of trying to be where God wanted him, doing what God wanted him to be doing. That's as much as any of us can do. It's just encouraging to see how it has happened in someone elses life before you.
Another thing that I've been convicted of while reading is that he strove so hard to be in the word constantly. And not only that but to really understand it and love it. He didn't always understand it or love it judging by his journals but he continually reminded himself to try.
I frequently forget how closely related people are to eachother in their thoughts and feelings. I don't forget that other people suffer or struggle but I forget that they do it in much the same way I do. I foolishly and selfishly start thinking that these thoughts or feelings are new ones. I'm completely wrong. By reading his journals I've already discovered many things he says that I've thought about myself.
He was a young man writing these things in 1948 and I shouldn't have anything in common with him, right? And yet I do. I'm not trying to compare myself to him or belittle what he did or who he was but sometimes, I think, we forget how simular we all are to one another in or innermost areas of our minds and hearts.
Anyway enough ramblings. I've only just begun to read the book and have a long way to go. I know I'll have lots more thoughts and quotes from it later on but I leave you with some quotes that I've come accross already.

"God, I pray, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn up for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life but a full one like Your's, Lord Jesus."

"O God, save me from a life of barrenness, following a formal pattern of ethics called Theism and give instead that vital contact of the soul with Thy divine life that fruit may be produced and Life-abudant living may be known again as the final proof for Christ's message and work!"

"Yes, send persecution to me, Lord, that my life might bring forth much fruit."

"As the bush burned and was not consumed, so God enters a man and peforms a miracle. God is an eternal burning and when He makes His abode with a man, He allows that man to become a witness to His power without being consumed by His person."

"Mark my ear, Lord, that it might respond only to Thy voice."

Late at night...

We are amazed by Everly.

And our mother is a ghost.

That is all.

My Beautiful Sisters

Jubilee, bright Jubilee,

Leave room in your big, bright heart for me.

When time has passed

And we've moved on

To be who we

Were made to be

Leave room in your big, bright heart for me.

Jeweliet, lovely Jeweliet,

Leave room in your big, lovely heart for me.

When time has passed

And we've moved on

To be who we

Were made to be

Leave room in your big, lovely heart for me.

Salou, sweet Salou,

Leave room in your big, sweet heart for me.

When time has passed

And we've moved on

To be who we

Were made to be

Leave room in your big, sweet heart for me.

Rose, brilliant Rose,

Leave room in your big, brilliant heart for me.

When time has passed

And we've moved on

To be who we

Were made to be

Leave room in your big, brilliant heart for me.

When time has passed

And we've moved on

To be who we were made to be

Each of you will have plenty of room

Within the heart

That's within me.

By, Caitlin