My Twilight Fairytale Happy Ending

      This past summer I read “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer for the first time, and I couldn’t put it down. I can see why so many teen girls have fallen in love with the series. It’s a fast paced plot with mystery, romance, and danger that features an intriguing and original vampire culture and one super cute vampire who falls in love with a human and they defy everything to be with each other. Of course everyone is obsessed. And honestly, while I was reading it I was too.

      But as I was reading it, there were negative things I could not ignore. I thought the writing was horrible. Bella never “says” anything. She exclaims yells, states, and replies. Those words only bring attention to themselves and bog down the reader. Many of the descriptions are boring and cliché. Also, the main character, Bella, is flat. After reading the entire book this is what I can tell you about Bella: She is a high school girl who reluctantly just moved to a new town to live with her dad. She is an introvert. She is lonely and cynical. She loves to read. And she is obsessed with Edward Cullen.

      I was also appalled at Bella’s obsession with Edward from the very beginning. He becomes her life. Her very existence. She hardly knows anything about this guy and she falls in love with him. She goes behind her dad’s back to spend time with him. And whether or not he turned out to be an amazing guy or a jerk, Edward becomes Bella’s idol.

      So why did I finish reading the book? I think what happened is that Stephanie Meyer had a brilliant idea. A girl and vampire fall in love but he thirsts for her blood? Pure genius. I think she had images in her head, but when she tried to put those pictures into words, it failed. But for me as the reader, though I stumbled over the words, I could see the author’s intent, and that’s what kept me going. And like every other girl obsessed with Twilight, I kept reading because I loved the fairytale happy ending.

      This has been said before, but I’m going to say it again. Edward is the guy that every girl dreams of. He chooses Bella-  the new, shy girl- out of all of the other girls at school He loves her, saves her twice, tells her she’s beautiful, makes her feel special, and has this tantalizing, mysterious air. He has the strength to crush her and the overwhelming desire to drink her blood, but he does neither. What a guy. Oh, and did I mention that he’s super attractive?

      Every girl, including me, dreams of a Prince Charming to carry her off to his castle and live happily ever after. But unlike most people, I’m here to tell you that it is possible to have a fairytale life in this world.

      Like Bella, we are all nobodies. We are invisible and unworthy of attention because of our sin. But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the most amazing guy in the world, noticed us and loved us. He loved us so much He died for our sins. “Not because of the righteous things we’ve done, but because of His mercy” (Titus 3:5). If we confess our sins and believe in Him and give our life to Him, we will have eternal life.

      Someday, when I die, I will join my savior in Heaven for eternity. And we will live happily ever after.



Breathe

  This October I went to my first writing conference. It was such a wonderful time full of wonderful people, workshops, knowledge, and excitement for writing.

  I learned so much from the many workshops I was able to attend, but I think the best was the marketing workshop. I learned that you MUST have a target audience when marketing your book, or anything for that matter. The speaker used Coca-Cola as an example. They used to target their drink to "the new generation", but when they realized older people were buying it too, they switched their slogan to include their other buyers and sales dropped. This is just some of the amazing information I learned.

  My favorite part of the weekend, though, was being surrounded by people who had the same passion as I did: sharing the gospel through writing. Some of were into fiction and others non-fiction. Some were unpublished, a few were already successful writers. But no matter what our specific interest or level of expertise, we could talk to anyone about writing and encourage each other. I have always had a few friends who have shared my love for writing, but never have I been surrounded by so many Christians who want to glorify God through their writing. It is an experience I found at the Breathe Writing Conference that I never want to miss again.

  If you are interested in the Breathe Writing Conference in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, check out their website! http://breatheconference.com



Remembering



I remember twelve years ago

being seven years old

and watching the TV on a school day.

All I saw was grey:

the grey rubble, the grey smoke

and the fear was grey.

I remember realizing

there were people

trapped underneath the grey.

Buried far below,

with all of their colors

disappearing forever.

Some see hell

as a red,

flaming fire.

I

 see it as

 grey.

And Heaven

with Jesus Christ

as a shining rainbow.