Day 29 {hopes dreams and plans for the next 365 days}

I want to learn to be content in the Lord regardless of my situation or trials, graduate from high school in a few months (YEAH!!!!), work more on my photography, get a job at Hancock Fabrics, and save up for my Canon EOS 60D...and, oh yeah, save up for a Ford truck. ;)

But more than all of those (except the first one) I want to go up to MN for, say, six months, to see my wonderful, amazing friends. <3

Day 14 {vacation i want to take}

I'd love to visit Rome. I'm one of the people who loves to see ancient artifacts and buildings that haven't been restored - I love to see ancient things as they were. And wow, would Rome ever be a place for photos! History + photography = you gotta love it. ;)

The history would be horrific to hear again, mostly in terms of the Coliseum. So many faithful believers lost their lives to the applause of the mobs - dying terribly cruel deaths because of their faith. But how amazing it would be to see where these men and women had stood fast, even knowing that they would be killed by some wild beast, a gladiator, or someone else - standing for Christ.

Note: You have until midnight tomorrow (Saturday) to enter my giveaway! ;) I will be announcing the winners on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning - so stay tuned! ;)

Day 7 {five things i couldn't live without}

1. First and foremost, I couldn't live without the Lord. (Literally, spiritually, emotionally...in everything) In this first one I'll include my wonderful, wonderful church and my wonderful Dad (who also happens to be my pastor. ;)  ) The encouragement that the true believers in our church are to all of us is wonderful. Though we are very small, there is peace in our midst and it is a blessing.

          Even though princes sit and talk against me,

         Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

     2.  Second would have to be my camera. My camera is the biggest way in which I express myself -     and if I didn't have it...well, that'd be pretty sad. ;) (I can't wait to get the Canon EOS 60D!!!!!)

     3.  Third...my laptop. So many of my responsibilites are on the laptop (college, blog design, etc.).

     4.  Music. Without a doubt. Our family loves, loves, LOVES music. ;) Just two days ago, actually, I was given the CD Revaltion by Third Day (I've wanted this CD for a long time!) When I was listening to it, I was so amazed by how all the songs can relate to me now, in what I'm going through. The Lord often uses the power of music to encourage His children, and that is what this CD (and the rest of my music!) does for me.

It's been so long since
You felt like you were loved
So what went wrong
But do you know
There's a place where you belong
Here in My Arms

Chorus:
When you feel like you're alone in your sadness
It seems like no one in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call My name and I'll be there
You just call My name and I'll be there

The pain inside
Has erased your hope for love
Soon you will find
That I'll give you all
That your heart could ever want
And so much more

Chorus:

You just call My name
You just call My name
Call My name say it now
I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive
Call My name say it now
I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive

You just call My name
You just call My name
You just call My name


The love I have for you is so alive
The love I have for you is so alive
You just call My name
You just call My name
You just call My name

   5.  Alright. Now I could live without my blogs and wonderful followers - but man, am I grateful to have you all! I'm very honored to think that 29 people are interested enough in my life and photography - and some of you I've become good friends with! (Well, as much as you can on the internet! ;)  ) But seriously, I've really enjoyed the experience and I am looking forward to many more blogging years. ;)

Day 5 {favorite quote}

My favorite quote would probably have to be this - 

Out of these ashes beauty will rise 
and we will dance among the ruins 
We will see Him with our own eyes 
Out of these ashes beauty will rise 
For we know, joy is coming in the morning 
in the morning, beauty will rise 

I know this is from a song, but can it count as a quote? Please? ;) I really do love it.

Day 1 {favorite song}

I'm joining May Amelia in her 30 day challenge! The first one is - a favorite song. Very hard...I have so many favorites! ;) I'll go with Beauty Will Rise by Steven Curtis Chapman. This is the most amazing and beautiful song. <3

Oops. That's the song See. (Amazing, but not the one I said it was! ;)  ) Here's the right one...

2011 is on its Way

How weird is that? 2010 has been a very unusual year in that it has seemed to go quickly and slowly at the same time. (I know - that doesn't make much sense. Sorry. ;)  ) This year has been a hard one - but it has also been sprinkled with many blessings.

"AND IF OUR GOD IS FOR US, THEN WHO CAN STAND AGAINST US?"

Most of you know that I've sewn two wedding dresses, and that I am trying to sell them both. Well, my sister and I did a photoshoot of her in both dresses on Sunday (church was cancelled due to the amount of snow we got). Here are some of the photos!

If you're in the mood for a free blog design, then head over to Iona's blog! Iona asked if I would consider providing one of my design packages for the giveaway, and of course I agreed. =) The deadline is midnight...but you can still enter until then. ;) (I know I've been a bit behind on my blogging) Happy New Year!

Excerpt Number Three!

Alright - here's the third excerpt. This one is actually really long - but I wanted to get everyone's opinion on it. So far I've just been "getting inside of" Kady's head...and that's how it will stay. But I was thinking that it would be a great "on the side" storyline to follow her brother Mark, too. The following excerpt is the first time the reader gets to hear Mark's thoughts. I'd love to know what you all think about this - should I "be in his head" from the beginning, or is it good to just drop in at this point?

Mark was standing a little apart from the group as his papa walked up. “Mark, look at me,” his papa said softly.

Mark fought the desire to yell at papa and tell him that he was fully able to go to war. Struggling between this desire and the desire to obey papa, especially as he might never see him again, Mark felt torn. Part of him wanted to inflict pain on his papa; to make him suffer just because Mark was suffering. The other part of him was screaming, “No, Mark! Hug your papa and obey him! If you don’t it will only pain him and make his going away worse!”

The confusion in Mark’s eyes was evident as he finally looked up at his papa.

“Son,” said papa, “don’t be bitter. I know that you are struggling right now, and I want you to be man enough to make the hard decision to obey. ‘To obey is better than sacrifice,’ and is hard to do…but you know it is right.” Forcing Mark to look back at him, Papa continued. “I’m praying that the Lord will save you, son,” he said softly. “You are very dear to my heart, and if I never see you again here on earth, I want to know that we will be together once more in Heaven. You know very well that salvation is the most important thing in life. Please, son, go to Christ. He will take your burden of sin and cast it as far as the east is from the west. No one can or ever will love you like He does.”

Mark willed himself to not look down. Now he was angry. The nerve of Papa! To say such a thing in front of the entire family! Besides, Mark had heard Papa say that whole speech a hundred times before. Why did he have to repeat it when Mark knew exactly what he was going to say?

Mark stiffly submitted to the embrace as Papa pulled him in to his arms. As he saw the tears in Papa’s eyes, he took almost a delight in tormenting him; yet at the same time he felt horrible remorse at treating his papa so terribly.

“I will be praying for you, Mark, my dear son,” his papa whispered, finally releasing him.

I definitely want my characters to live in godly christian homes (actually very common then...at some point I'll do a post on why in the world I'm siding with the south. ;)  ) but I really don't want it to be cheesy or dumb. I want it to be real, and I want to make it so that an unbeliever would be able to read my book and not think, "Oh, here she goes, presenting her own belief instead of just giving me true history." I really don't want it to sound like that. Even though that is my belief, I don't want to come off in the wrong way. (Did that make sense?? =)    )

So give me your thoughts! =) Like I said before, friendly criticism is extremely welcome, and I'd truly love to hear what you all think!



All writing is copyrighted by Hannah B. and MAY NOT be used without permission.

The Tongue Can Be So Wicked

¹¹ Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

-James 4:11-12

 

The Untamable Tongue

 ¹ My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. ² For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. ³ Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. ⁴ Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. ⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. ¹⁸ Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 3

 

I Know, I Know... =)

I know that I just re-did my blog...but I just had to do it again. ;) I don't know - after doing blog makeovers for other girls, it kinda made me want to redo mine!

So, do you like it?

 One more thing I wanted to post that has been a great encouragement to me and my family recently -

I am broken
I am bleeding
I am scared and I’m confused
But You are faithful
Yes you are faithful

I am weary
Unbelieving
God please help my unbelief
Cuz You are faithful
Yes you are faithful

I will proclaim it to the world
I will declare it to my heart
Sing it when the sun is shining
I will scream it in the dark

You are faithful
You are faithful
When You give and when You take away
Even then still your name remains
Faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You are faithful

I am waiting for the rescue
That I know is sure to come
Cuz You are faithful
Yes You are faithful

I’ve dropped anchor in Your promises
And I am holding on
Cuz You are faithful
God, You are faithful

I will proclaim it to the world
I will declare it to my heart
Sing it when the sun is shining
I will scream it in the dark

You are faithful
You are faithful
When You give and when You take away
Even then still your name remains
Faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You’re faithful
So faithful

When I cannot have the answers
And I’m wanting to demand
I’ll remember you are God
And everything is in Your hands

With Your hands you put the sun and moon
And stars up in the sky
For the sake of love
You hung your own Son on the cross to die

You are faithful
Yes, You are faithful
When You give; when You take away
Even then great is your faithfulness
Great is your faithfulness
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You are faithful
Ohhh
When You give and when You take away
Even then still your name is
Faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You are faithful

- Faithful {Steven Curtis Chapman}


 You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
         But the LORD helped me.
 The LORD is my strength and song,
         And He has become my salvation.
      
 The voice of rejoicing and salvation
         Is in the tents of the righteous;
         The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.

Psalm 118:13-155

I Love My Parents and My Church

It was the day the world went wrong
I screamed til my voice was gone
And watched through the tears as everything
came crashing down
Slowly panic turns to pain
As we awake to what remains
and sift through the ashes that are left
behind

But buried deep beneath
All our broken dreams
we have this hope:

Out of these ashes... beauty will rise
and we will dance among the ruins
We will see Him with our own eyes
Out of these ashes... beauty will rise
For we know, joy is coming in the morning...
in the morning, beauty will rise

So take another breath for now,
and let the tears come washing down,
and if you can't believe I will believe
for you.

Cuz I have seen
the signs of spring!
Just watch and see:

Out of these ashes... beauty will rise
and we will dance among the ruins
We will see Him with our own eyes
Out of these ashes... beauty will rise
For we know, joy is coming in the morning...
in the morning...

I can hear it in the distance
and it's not too far away.

And the heavens will praise your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints. For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him. O Lord God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the raging of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them. - Psalm 89:5-9

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there  shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:4-5

When Peace Like a River…

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

I love this hymn. It is such an encouragement to me.