Question Marathon #6

Do you all remember the Question Marathon? Yes, it has been quite a while since I’ve had time to answer any of the remaining question that I was asked.  Today, though, I’m going to answer three more questions from Courtney and Hannah. 

Courtney’s question was:

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Okay, I think in answer to this question I would say, I’d like to have better conversational skills.  I’ve always been the shy one in my family…I’ve been the child who would stand completely silent at church and was too scared to even answer questions when someone was talking to me, the one who would start crying if put on the spot and asked a question to which I couldn’t remember the answer.  Now, I think I’m a little better at this than I used to be…if you ask me a question you don’t need to fear that I’ll start crying because I don’t know the answer and if you visit our home congregation some Sunday night, I’ll be sure to greet you.  It’s still something I’m always trying to improve in though :)

Then Hannah asked…

How long have you played the violin?

Let’s see…I started taking lessons in May of 2008, so it’s been just over 2 and 1/2 years.  For years I had dreams of learning to play, and it’s been so much fun.  Oh, and by the way, my friend Laura is a great teacher!

Where is one place that you would love to visit?

Hmm…there’s a lot of places that sound nice to visit (apart from the fact that I’d have to leave home to visit them…I like traveling, but in the end I prefer being at home more).  But I’ve always thought it would be fun to visit Ireland.  Perhaps it has to do with the fact that pictures of Ireland are always so pretty.  Perhaps it has to do with the fact that my great-grandfather came to the US from Ireland.  Perhaps that has to do with the fact that my first book I ever tried writing was set in Ireland (a very unrealistic fiction book about a girl growing up during the Irish Potato Famine).    I’m not really sure..

Question Marathon #5

I can’t believe how long it’s been since my last question marathon post!  Please forgive me for taking so very long to answer you all’s comments! Today I’m going to answer two questions…they’re kind of similar so I’m going to answer them together.  The first question is from Courtney and the other one is by Meggie. 

“What are your life goals?”

“What do you feel is God’s will for the rest of your life?”

When I saw these questions, I wondered for a while how I would answer them.  When I finally came up with my answer, someone from my church posted almost the same thing on their blog!  

What are my life goals?  What’s God’s will for my life?  What am I going to do in the future?  More specifically what am I going to do once I graduate from highschool (only a number of months away now! =).  At first I didn’t have much of an answer - I still don’t have answers for the latter two questions.  But then I began to realize that I know what God’s will is for my life and what my life goals are –  it’s all contained in God’s Word. 

So, what are my life goals?  Well, here’s some of them:

• Live my life for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)
• Seek the Kingdom of God above all else (Matthew 6:33)
• Present myself to God as an instrument of righteousness and live out who I truly am in Christ (Romans 6:11-13)
• Encourage other believers daily (Hebrews 3:13)
• Love the family of God – Christ’s body, the church (John 13:34)

Those are some of my life goals and that is some of God’s will for my life.  The Bible is full of clear direction regarding what to do with my life. 

Beyond all of these things, I do have dreams about my life…I want to live purely in the years before marriage, and one day walk down the aisle and be united in marriage with the man God has prepared for me.  I want to marry a Godly man who is passionate about following God – and together be willing to follow the Lord wherever He may lead us.  I want to have children and alongside my husband train them up in the ways of the Lord.  In the end, however, I don’t really know what God has in store for me yet.  But I know whatever it is, I want to spend my life serving Him, loving Him, seeking Him, and knowing Him.

Does that answer your questions?  =)

Question Marathon #4

I’m going to be answering one of Meggie’s questions this afternoon…

What do you do when you’re seriously doubting God, and what would you say to someone who is?

Quite honestly, for a while I didn’t really know how to answer this question, but I talked with my dad about it, and he gave some very helpful thoughts on this.  So I’m going to share with you all the three things that we discussed. 

” ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:13-14a)

This was a promise made by God to Israel in the Old Testament, yet, as my dad was telling me, it still applies to us today.  This verse brings up the first two things we discussed:

1) Diligently seek the Lord through His Word

“So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17).  One of the ways we gain faith is through the Word of God.  If you’re doubting God, spend all the time you can in His word.  Pray diligently that through the time you spend the Lord would give you faith to truly believe the things that He says about Himself. 

2) Diligently seek the Lord through prayer

“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13)  One of the ways that we seek the Lord is through prayer…through crying out to Him, pleading with Him to reveal Himself to us, waiting patiently before Him, and earnestly seeking Him. 

In addition to seeking the Lord in these two ways, I have one last suggestion…

3) Look for things in your life that show God’s existence. 

Be intentional about looking for evidences of the Lord around you.  Go outside and look around creation just to see the  Lord’s work.  Take time to consider your own life and look for evidences of God’s work in you.  Perhaps you could even write these things down as you see them, so that you can look back and remember them. 

I hope that these thoughts are helpful to you! 

Question Marathon #3

Time for another question marathon post.  Today I’m going to answer Laura’s three questions. 

If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one ability or quality, what would it be?

Since we’re talking about waking up, wouldn’t it be fun if my answer went right along those lines?  Actually, it will :P.  It’s always hard for me to choose just one answer to questions like this, but since this is a hypothetical situation, I won’t stress too much over coming up with the one just perfect ability.  But here’s what I think at the moment…

It would be quite nice to wake up in the morning and not feel like I wanted to go back to sleep.  Sound odd?  I generally like to stay up late and sleep in; however, I’m trying to change that habit, and get up early.   It’s been going pretty well, but…let’s just say, it would be kind of nice to not have to drag myself out of bed every morning in order to accomplish this changing of habits. :)

Do you have any specific long-term goals? What is one and how do you plan on reaching it?

Uh, yes!  I most definitely do, as a matter of fact!  One of the recent goals I’ve been trying to reach is being comfortable talking with people.  I don’t know if any of you have ever had this same problem, but starting conversations with people, talking on the phone, etc. have always been very hard for me. 

So, some ways I’m going about reaching this goal…calling someone everyday to encourage them, making a point to participate in weekly Bible studies I attend, coming up ahead of time with different conversation topics to discuss with people when I’m see them, and having practice conversations with myself…to name a few. :)

Would you enjoy spending a month of solitude in a beautiful natural setting? Food and shelter would be provided but you would not see another person.

How about this…Could I take the beautiful, natural setting but keep my family, church, and everyone else with me? :) 

My answer would be, no, I don’t think I’d enjoy that. 

Of course, the beautiful natural setting sounds just wonderful.  I greatly enjoy being outside alone where I can look around at all God’s creation and just marvel at how great He is. 

But an entire month just by myself wouldn’t be very enjoyable.  I love my family and really enjoy spending time with them.  I love my church family.  All of these people are such an encouragement to me in my life.  I definitely wouldn’t just want to choose to live a month without them. :)

Question Marathon #2

Wow!!  I said that you all could ask me anything that you wanted to…and you took me up on it.  But I’m excited about it.  Please realize that it may take me a little while to get your questions answered, but I am looking forward to doing so! 

Today I’m going to answer another of Eldarwen’s questions:

Why did you start blogging?

Good question!  I’ve actually been intending, for quite a while, to post about why I blog, but never got around to doing so.  Now, since you asked, I’m more than happy to answer! 

I began blogging near the end of 2007.  A number of my friends had recently gotten blogs, and I thought that blogging looked pretty fun.  Plus, it would be a great way to stay in touch with friends who we didn’t see very often.   My first blog (yes, this is my third personal blog!) was basically a place where I posted pictures of my family and updates on what we were doing.     

However, since then my reasons for blogging have grown.  For one, I’ve discovered that I quite enjoy writing, and my blog provides a great way to practice writing. 

Another reason I blog is to encourage others in their walk with the Lord.   I enjoy blogging, because this is a way where I can share with others things that have been helpful, encouraging, or convicting to me.  My great desire is that the things I post will be edifying to you and cause you to grow even closer to the Lord. 

Another reason I blog is to “Let My Life be a Light”.  Matthew 5:16 says “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  As Christians we are lights in a dark world, and we have been instructed to let our light shine.  I desire to blog, as a way to let my light shine in the world around me, and so that the Lord will be glorified. 

And that’s my ultimate purpose for blogging – to glorify God through the things that I write!!  God’s glory is the chief purpose of all things, and so, even when we’re speaking of blogging, that must be my main motivation!

So what about the rest of you?  If you interested in sharing, I’d like to hear you all’s reasons for blogging!!

Question Marathon #1

Thanks for all the questions that I’ve received so far for my question marathon!  I’ve enjoyed seeing the questions that you have for me, and I’m looking forward to answering them for you!  So here we go…I hope you enjoy these posts!! 

Eldarwen asked: How old are you? 

And the answer is…

16

Hannah asked me the following questions:

What is your favorite hobby? 

To choose just one of the things I enjoy doing as my favorite is pretty tough for me.  [Hold on a moment while I think this one through :)] 

I think I’d have to say that playing music is my favorite thing to do (although several other hobbies would closely tie that). I really, really enjoy practicing music, and I think it would be so neat to write some of my own music one day.  What would be even more fun, I think, is to write my own poetry and put it to music.  On the violin I like playing classical music best (Bach and Vivaldi wrote some pretty amazing music as did many, many other composers!).  Chords are basically all I can play on the guitar, but it’s a ton of fun to play and sing!  On piano…I play classical and am working on chords and trying to play by ear. 

What do you enjoy doing with your siblings?

That varies, depending on which siblings I”m with.  When we’re all together we really enjoy playing Dutch Blitz and ping-pong.  Dutch Blitz is a very fast-paced card game that has been a family favorite since…before I was born! My dad is AMAZING at ping-pong and we’ve all had a lot of fun learning to play! 

When it’s just one-on-one time with my siblings we have different things we enjoy doing.  Here are a few of the things we like… Daniel and I like playing music together (guitar & violin) or sometimes just singing (especially songs from our English Renaissance choir last summer).  Bethany, Carissa, and I have a lot of fun making handmade cards together or playing music…and of course talking – we’re sisters, you know.  David likes to draw and Ellie thinks Candy Land is so much fun.   So those are a few of the things we enjoy doing together. 

If you have questions that you’d like me to answer during this series of post, I’d really like to hear them!  Drop me a comment here, and I’ll look forward to answering them for you!