Infinity Dreams Award

Thanks Lydia at C'est Le Vie and Paige at Sunday Best and All the Rest for tagging me for the Infinity Dreams Award. I am honored. 

 Here are the rules:

  Use the Infinity Dreams Award picture

  Thank the blogger who tagged you

  Tell us 11 facts about yourself

  Answer the 11 questions

  Tag 11 bloggers

So here are 11 facts about me:

1) I am graduating from college in 81 days.

2) The first "real" book I ever read was Little House in the Big Woods. 

3) I took figure skating lessons for about five years.

4) I am currently listening to the song "Traitor" by Daughtry.

5) My three favorite books of the Bible are Judges, Ruth, and Romans.

6) I love flying in airplanes so I can see the tops of clouds.

7) Seven is my favorite number because I was born on February 7, accepted Jesus as my savior on April 7, and will graduate on May 7.

8) I love Disney movies, and though it is so hard to choose, my favorite are Tangled, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast.

9) I hate ticking clocks because I am always singing and I have to sing the song in time to the ticking.

10) Though I am quiet, I love spending time with people and getting to know them.

11) I have this quote from Charles Spurgeon taped on my desk: "Let your personal weakness, Christian, be an argument to make you pray sincerely to your God for help."

Answers to Questions (I picked from both taggers):

1) If you could be a spectator at any event in any part of the world, what would it be?

  Probably the next Winter Olympics.  

2) If you could learn any skill, however random, what would it be?

 I want to learn so many things, but the first thing I thought of was archery.

3) What is your favorite piece of music?

 Wow. I adore music, so it would be impossible to to pick just one song. A song that has meant a lot to me recently though is "I Shall Not Want" by Audrey Assad.

4) What is something you wish you knew more about?

    I wish I knew more about body language so that I could better understand people around me as well as find ways to make my introverted self seem more approachable. 

5) What is your favorite quote?

  Again, impossible to have just one favorite, but here is one that I stumbled upon last Friday that made me cry. It can be found in John Piper's book "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ".

     "God has not promised to rescue us according to our time schedule. If it appears that your prayers are unanswered, do not dishonor the Lord with unbelief. Waiting in faith is a high form of worship. In some respects, it excels the adoration of the shining ones above. God delivers

His servants in ways that exercise their faith. He would not have them lacking in faith, for faith is the wealth of the heavenly life. He desires that the trial of faith continues until faith grows strong and comes to full assurance. The sycamore fig never ripens into sweetness unless it is bruised; the same is true of faith. Tested believer, God will bring you through, but do not expect Him to bring you through in the way that human reason suggests, for that would not develop your faith. Christian, believe this, and think on it: thou shalt be externally embraced in the arms of that love which was from everlasting, and will extend to everlasting—of that love which brought the Son of God’s love from heaven to earth, from earth to the cross, from the cross to

the grave, from the grave to glory—that love which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spit upon, crucified, pierced—which did fast, pray, teach, heal, weep, sweat, bleed, die; that love will eternally embrace thee."

6) What book and/or movie character do you most identify with?

    Probably a lot of them, but the first movie character I thought of was Rapunzel in Tangled and the first books character that popped into my head was main character Rueven in one of my favorite books "The Chosen". 

7) What are your feelings about puns?

   It can depend on the person, but I usually like them. I love my dad's puns because they are so unexpected. 

8) Describe yourself in three sentences.

    I am a selfish, evil, lustful, covetous, sinner who has been redeemed through no merit of my own by Jesus who died on the cross for my sins. He made me with pale skin, hazel eyes that I try to convince people are more green than brown, and wavy brown hair. He also made me an introverted writer, ice skater, and reader who loves taking longs walks, star gazing, and hiking mountains.

9) What is the #1 thing you want your younger sisters in Christ to know?

     Dwell and meditate on Christ- His Word, His character, His promises. Nothing else matters in comparison. This is something I am still trying to pound into my head because if I do that, then no circumstances or hurts or trials on this earth will matter to me because this world is perishable and will fade away, but when it passes we will spend eternity with Him. 

10) What is something you learned recently?

      Eternal life is knowing God.

11) Does your family eat unusual foods that most don't?

      No, I think we're pretty normal when it comes to food. Although my sister is allergic to peanuts, so unlike most people we never had peanut butter.

If you would like to do this, consider yourself tagged! Here are your questions!

1) Are you an introvert or an extravert?

2) What are the perks of being either an introvert or an extravert?

3) What was one name your parents were considering naming you before you were born?

4) What does your name mean?

5) If you had to lose one of your five senses, which one would you chose?

6) What is one random thing in your desk drawer?

7) If you could only keep one peice of jewelry which one would it be?

8) What is your favorite gemstone?

9) Pencils or pens?

10) If you could go back in time and re-live one day, which day would it be and why?

11) What is one thing you are excited to ask Jesus someday in heaven?

5 Things I Learned from My 500 Words Challenge

  Over Christmas Break, I decided to do something different. I challenged myself to write five hundred words of my novel a day starting the Sunday after Christmas.

  Five hundred words seemed like the right amount. It wasn't an unattainable one thousand words a day. It wasn't fifty words either that I could write without really even thinking. Five hundred words seemed like a good challenge for me without taking over my life or destroying my love of writing, so I went for it, and this is what I learned:

1. Nothing is ever really the same.

 I expected patterns. I assumed that on the days when I was excited to write that I would also love what I had written. And I assumed that on the days when I dragged myself to the Word document my mood would affect my writing and it would be terrible.

 Sometimes that is exactly what happened, but other days it was the opposite. I also had good days where I hated every word I wrote and bad days where I surprised myself and the words flowed out of my like. There is no easy formula to my writing.

2. I need a reward.

 I always tell myself I don't need a reward, but I do. I decided that if I completed this challenge I would buy myself a book, and bought Let Me be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot. I bought before I finished, which kept me going knowing that I had already bought my reward.

3. Writing is a sacrifice.

   Some days my family was watching a movie at the end of the day, and I couldn't join them until I had written my five hundred words. There were times when I was very tired and wanted to go to bed but I hadn't finished writing. It was a sacrifice that was sometimes hard, but one that I was willing to take. 

4. I either read or write.

   Before I began this challenge, I was constantly reading. When I began writing five hundred words a day, I stopped reading. Then when   I began swallowing books again like I had been fasting, because in a way I was. I think that because writing a novel is such a large endeavor my brain can only handle one story at a time.

 5. I can do it.

   This is the most important thing I learned while doing this challenge. I am not like other writers who can whip up ten or fifteen pages a day. I usually can't get five pages out of me a day. But I can set a writing goal and meet it.