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Hello. I'm Bekah. I like music

Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Truth About Heroes...

What is a hero?
The dictionary's definitions of the word Hero are as follows:
"A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability"
Today's "heroes" usually swim or stretch or fly around in a colorful cape or some other unworldly thing like that, and they stand for Truth Justice and the American Way or some such thing.
But what is a hero REALLY? IS it someone with mythological powers, or someone who flies around saving people from natural disasters and criminals, or is a hero something much more than that? 

"Heroes are made when you make a choice. 
You could be a hero, 
Heroes do whats right. 
You could be a hero, You might save a life.
You could be a hero, You could join a fight 
For whats right for whats right for whats right..."

For me a real hero is a fireman, a cop, a doctor, a soldier who risks his life every single day, or a stay at home mom who has homeschooled all 6 of her kids. 
Someone who will give of themselves, I mean actually lays down their life for others, THAT is a real hero.


"Who's gonna fight for what's right?
Who's gonna help us survive?
We're in the fight of our lives
And we're not ready to die --
Who's gonna fight for the weak?
Who's gonna make 'em believe?
I've got a hero, I've got a hero
Living in me--
I'm gonna fight for what's right
Today I'm speaking my mind
And if it kills me tonight
I will be ready to die--
A hero's not afraid to give his life
A hero's gonna save me just in time!"


People all over the world cry out for heroes. And sometimes they don't even realize they need one, but in truth, everyone need to be saved.


Psalm 130: 1-2
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!


"We're in shock from the failed emotion
No cause in a shadow land
We sing while the city's burning
No room, no escape, no plan
We all never thought it would end this way
--
We hide on our knees in silence
Maybe God doesn't hear at all
And the wait overtakes the violence
And we watch as the giants fall
We're not gonna let it end this way
--
And we need a hero
To save us from ourselves.
We need a hero
To save us from ourselves.
Save us from ourselves,
Save us from our fear.
When the sirens wail, 
We need a hero here."


Its true that we all have a little hero inside of us.


"I believe that you can save me,
And you'll never let me fall.
I believe in what you've shown me,
Maybe there's a hero in us all!"


But its not us who put it there! Because there is one hero who truly gave himself for others! One hero who literally died for people. And the amazing thing is he didn't just die for the people in his time; he died for EVERYONE! All over the world! And all over TIME! For every sin! And by giving up his own life, he save all of ours! Of course, we have to accept him as our hero. All of those who who cry out for a hero, all they have to do is look up! If only they could see!
Those of us who have Jesus as our hero, we have to practice it!


Philippians 4:8-9
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.


If we truly have God in our lives, we will WANT to show others that he is the true hero! We will long to share his gospel with them! We won't make excuses as to why we can't share the gospel!


John 4:35-36
"Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together."

So the truth about heroes is this:
True heroes do not fly. True heroes give of themselves for others. Everyone has a little bit of hero in them, but most don't acknowledge it. We cannot see the hero in ourselves without God's help.
Jesus is the ULTIMATE hero! He suffered more for us than we could ever imagine! He gave up his very life for us! Without Him, WE HAVE NOTHING! Without Him, we have no heroes.

Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

How Can I Keep From Singing?

You know what? I love music. And almost as much, SINGING. I could sing for hours! I have thousands of songs to sing and plenty of time to sing them! 
"There is an endless song Echoes in my soul. I hear the music ring!
Except for one thing. I'll be singing while doing the dishes or singing while doing school and I always get "Stop singing!" "You're to loud!" "Stop it Ellie!" etc...
I hate that! And I've just kind of started ignoring it. I WILL NOT BE QUIET! I sing. Thats just how I am! 


Singing is all over the Bible. The Psalms are full of music and singing. Its pretty much everywhere! People in the Bible days couldn't stop singing, so why should I? 


I gotta keep singing
I gotta keep praising Your name
Your the one that's keeping my heart beating
I gotta keep singing
I gotta keep praising Your name
That's the only way that I'll find healing

Can I climb up in Your lap
I don't wanna leave
Jesus sing over me
I gotta keep singing.

(MercyMe)


Sing! Oh, sing!
With one voice, how sweet it will be
When we sing, oh sing! 
One Church, under one King,
And we will sing!
(Sanctus Real)


Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud
Sing out strong
Sing of good things, not bad
Sing of happy, not sad.

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple
To last your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not good enough
for anyone else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.

Sing, sing a song
Let the world sing along
Sing of love there could be
Sing for you and for me.

(Unknown)


I can sing in the troubled times,
Sing when I win.
I can sing when I lose my step,
And fall down again.
I can sing 'cause You pick me up,
Sing 'cause You're there.
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer.
I can sing with my last breath,
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels,
And the saints around the throne!!

(Chris Tomlin)


How can I be silent when a fire burns inside!?!? I CAN'T REMAIN QUIET ANYMORE!!!!!
SO.I.WILL.SING!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Adelaide Chapter One: The Girl And The Clearing

She sat alone, poised with a pen in her hand. She desperately tried to think of words to write, but none came. The girl sat there staring into space, waiting for some kind of inspiration.
Why is this so hard for me? she thought. 
The house was actually quiet for once. The younger three Preston children were playing outside, Mrs. Preston had fallen asleep on the couch with a book on her face, and the dogs had run themselves tired and were now passed out on the kitchen floor.
She knew she had to write something, but she didn’t know where to start. She pushed aside the long brown bangs that always hung down into her eyes. They always seemed to be in her way, but she refused to cut them off.
The subtle smell of freshly mowed grass and someone grilling something wafted in through the open window. It was summer, but she has quite a bit of school work to finish. This included the book report that she was trying to write. She knew that she hadn’t written nearly enough this year. She also that she would have to do a lot more writing in her upcoming junior year of high school 
I wish it would all just go away! she thought to herself.
She had wanted to spend the summer with friends, or sitting out in the hammock reading her favorite book, or maybe even get to those library movies that were due soon.
Sighing, she put her pencil down. Sure, the book she had chosen was a good one, but how was she supposed to turn all of her notes, which were currently sprawled out all over the dining room table, into a readable book report?
Frustrated, she pushed her notebook aside and decided to start on something much more interesting: Astronomy.
She had been utterly delighted to learn that instead if chemistry, she would be using her dad’s old college astronomy textbook. She pulled it towards her smiling at the thought of her dad sitting in a college dorm pouring over the very pages that she would be reading today. Even though it wasn’t completely accurate, Pluto not being a planet anymore and all, the old book still held a sense of wonder for her. She could read it for hours, and never tire of learning from it. That was certainly one good thing about being homeschooled; she could make her own schedule.
Along with her three younger siblings, her two older sisters and her adopted brother, she had been homeschooled her whole life and she couldn’t imagine living any other way.
Her life was pretty much School, family, and the occasional get together with friends. Her adopted brother, Kenny, was also a big part of her life. One year older than her, Kenny was adopted when he was six years old. His parents had lived in Australia, but moved to England before he was born. The girl was only five when they had brought him home, and she couldn’t even remember a time when he wasn’t there. They had placed him in the same grade as her, so they did pretty much everything together. They had been best friends since he came. They called themselves the twins, and besides the fact that he loved sports, and she loved photography, the shared everything, including friends, books, school, a love of drawing, and a passion for all things musical.
Of course, today he had baseball practice while she was stuck at home trying to get those last few weeks of school done. When she finally put away her school books for the day, her younger siblings had broken the pristine silence of the dining room. She sighed and decided to wander in the woods that surrounded the house. She grabbed her camera and quickly walked out the door before one of her siblings could stop her. The weather was perfect. Not hot enough that you boiled, but not so cold that you had to wear long sleeves. It was perfect flip-flop weather.
She smiled to herself and began to make her way towards the small foot path that wound its way through the woods. The birds were singing, and there was a light breeze gently blowing the leaves on the trees. The scent of honeysuckle was very strong. She smiled thinking of the summer that Kenny had decided to build a tree house just above the large honeysuckle bush that took up residence in the yard. She slowly made her way down the path, snapping photos as she went; a flower here, an interesting tree there, plus the occasional bird or adorable gray squirrel.
She was so enchanted with the scenery that she quickly lost track of how far she had travelled into the woods. She wasn’t supposed to pass the tree with the red “X” painted on its trunk. 
"How could I have missed that?" she said quietly.
 She began looking for it, but it didn’t take her long to realize that she had missed it. She turned around and started back up the narrow path towards the house. She soon stared to see the familiar pathway again, but soon after finding the tree with the X, she spotted something new; a small path, very easily missed, hiding between two rather overgrown bushes. She nervously glanced at the sun. It was still high in the sky, so she knew she still had some time. After a moment of silently debating with herself, she made up her mind to explore this new pathway.

The trees seemed much closer. It was almost as if they didn’t want anyone to use the small overgrown pathway. They pressed in and shielded the sun, not quite letting it shine through the tangle of leaves and branches. Sure, it was a bit of a tight squeeze, but a photographer never passes up an opportunity like this. She pressed on, confident that the trail would widen eventually. After walking, or rather pushing through the think trees for about ten minutes, it did. The tiny path opened up into a large clearing. The trees still blocked most of the sunlight, but she could see the massive tree that was growing in the middle of the clearing. Easily the width of a hundred smaller trees grown into one, and extremely tall, although completely devoid of leaves, it was a beautiful sight. Bathed in the green sunlight that filtered through the surrounding trees, with birds fluttering in and out of the branches and squirrels playing in the thick roots. She stood awestruck for a moment before she remembered her camera. She took a few pictures, and then sat down at the base of the huge tree. What a peaceful place. She could have spent hours there.
As she sat listening to the sounds all around her, they all abruptly stopped. The birds stopped chirping, and the wind just barely discernable, so very high up in the topmost branches of the great tree, fell silent. All the sounds of the woods had been replaced by an eerie quiet that sent chills up her spine.
"I think i've been out to long." she said to no one in particular. 
She stood to leave, and then froze. There was a sound, almost a whisper, but growing to a shout, she heard a voice calling her name.
“Adelaide…Adelaide…”

Monday, July 25, 2011

Quiet - Natalie Weiss (Whole Song is Link)









Where Do We Go From Here?

"A billion emotions are buzzing in and around my mind like a psychiatric beehive institution, a crawling traffic jam of bedlam and chaos. Except these thoughts aren’t cute fuzzy little bumblebees with wooly mittens and happy faces, these are awkward, disoriented hornets that aren’t sure where to go or how to get there. It’s an unsettling feeling and sometimes I’m just a lightheaded worker bee who can’t find a place to land. Everything is spinning and my heart beats twice as fast as it should, making tonight an emotional triathlon of which I’m underprepared and totally undertrained for. I’m not entirely sure what’s happening and I don’t believe I could stop this race if I wanted to. My two-stroke heart is pumping double-time and I’m running faster than my legs can carry me, but the scary thing is that I’m not sure where the finish line lies, or if I’m even pointed in the right direction. What do I do? Where do we go from here? Everything is split down the middle and I need more wisdom than I thought. I don’t recall speaking or listening, I just remember feeling, processing, sensing, experiencing, living deeply, breathing it all in." ~ Adam Young

How I Became The Sea

Youtopia

Hello!
I will be using this blog to post songs, quotes, pictures, stories, chapters of my latest book "Adelaide", and my thoughts on different things. :)
I will try to post every day-every other day if I can.
Bekah