Old and Uncool

The other day I was at the pool with my family. We'd been there a while and I was bored, so I swam up to my 8-year-old brother Elijah, who was playing with his "friends" that he had just met.
I asked, "What are you playing?" in the hopes that I could join in.
Au contraire.
Elijah pulled me aside and said quietly, "Melissa..." He couldn't look at my face.
"What?" I asked.
He bites his lip. "I'm playing with my friends."

Suddenly I got it.
My little brother was too cool to have his lame older sister around while he played with his friends.
I couldn't even swim in the general vincinity without embarassing the poor dear.
I was an oldie, too irrelevant and old-fashioned and not in with the times.
I use terms like "flipping" and "bazinga" and he was probably horribly afraid that I would unleash my slightly-too-loud laugh and his little buddies would hear it. Oh PLEASE, not the laugh! Anything but the laugh!

It's great to know the confidence my family has in me.

skateboard lessons. sort of.

My little brother Dalton was trying to teach me how to stateboard today. Of course, he knows absolutely nothing about skateboards, but this didn't bother either of us.
He demonstrates "proper form" and all this for me while my ADD brain is looking at a coke tab on the ground and wondering who put it there. Then he feels I am ready to get on, even though the feeling is not mutual.
Dalton pulls it back up the slope in our driveway. We have to ride downhill because we don't have a clue how to accelerate once you've slowed without falling off.
I suck up my wimpiness and have him stand still for me so I can hold onto him for dear life while I put my feet on. It's wobbily and shaky, but that could be because it's a little kid skateboard and a hundred-pound girl like me has no business being on it.
Dalton gives me my first instruction: "Let go of me now."
My fingers don't budge as I wait for him to explain in exact detail what I'm supposed to do. He didn't really know what I was supposed to do, but I had to have some direction if I was going to do this. He launches into this mini-speech about turning and slowing down, but all I can think is: I hope I don't die. Yes, I've always been a bit dramatic (but you already knew that).
Somehow I'm able to unpeel my fingers from his shoulders. As soon as I do, the skateboard lurches out from under me. It's the same experience you get when you ride the Titan at Six Flags for the first time. Next thing you know, I'm on the ground.
"Don't worry about it," Dalton tells me, as if falling down and looking like an idiot is perfectly normal (which I don't believe is true). He lugs the skateboard (and me) back up the driveway. "Next time don't hit the fence. Or dad's car. Or Abigail. When you want to turn, lean your body to the side...." His voice fades off as my fears once again seize me: I hope I don't hit the cat.
We repeat this for about five more times, Dalton patient as ever, me screaming the whole time, and the cat hiding safely out of sight.
Well, I don't need to go into more detail about the rest of my "lesson", but I can tell you with confidence that I will never, ever be a skater girl. This is a bummer, since I was really hoping on becoming as cool as Jillian.

Jesus & Waffles

At youth retreat, I realized that if people saw me, they'd probably think I'm all talk and no walk about the whole reflecting Jesus thing. I'm not perfect. This blog is like my spiritual journal, and it has helped me sort my thoughts, become closer to God, and figure out what I believe.
Yet, I feel as though this IS my spiritual life. This is it. My friends are Christians, but we hardly ever talk about God (but when we did it was great). My life is like a waffle. It is divided into compartments and the compartments don't merge often. There is a family square, a friend square, a fashion square, a school square.... Heck, even my church square is mainly about my friend Hannah and seeing if I can beg my parents for hot chocolate and donuts in the room outside the sanctuary.

Am I just crazy, or do you feel the same way? Ok, I AM crazy, but I'm being serious here, Maddy. :]

Do you feel like Jesus is only being let in the Jesus compartment of your life? If he's only there, then are you truly the Christian Jesus wants you to be? We are called to give Jesus are all. We are called to SHINE -- to be a light to the world. Swiss Miss hot chocolate and all the donuts in the world won't get you there. Jesus deserves and longs for your whole life. Only then are we living how we were created to live!

Murder is Murder, Plain & Simple

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said, "Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even one year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together."
So the doctor said, "OK, and what do you want me to do?"
She said,"I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this."
The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady, "I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you too."
She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.
Then he continued, "You see, in order for you not to have to take care of two babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms."
The lady was horrified and said, "No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!"
"I agree," the doctor replied. "But you seemed to be OK with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution." The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point.


This was an email chain sent to me by Alexia. I usually find chain letters VERY annoying, but the last two she sent me have been really good (I'll share the other one with you later).

Abortion is a crime. A crime is a crime. Abortion is murder. Murder is murder. It's plain and simple. Why do people find it so hard to understand?

Please check out www.abort73.com and Lauren Barlow's site www.neversilencelife.com (and yes, it is really the BarlowGirls.)

All I Need is You

Congrats to my 7th follower! Thanks! I hope this blog inspires you to do something for God. :]

This is a poem Rachel and I found in her room when we were going through her old notebooks. It's really sweet and about her grandma dying which made me nearly cry so yeah.

All I Need is You
by Rachel V.

I see the rain falling outside my window.
I hear the hail hitting my window.
These dark black clouds keep me away from you.
It's like a shield parting me from you.
And this is the time that I must stand strong.
The time I must hold the tears back.
And I'll do it all for you because
I miss you, I love you, I'm trying to live my life without you.
So now take my hand and pull me along all I need is you.
During the day a tear will run down my face,
that's a sign that I'm thinking of you.
I know you are thinking of me, too.

I was wondering...what if we had this relationship with Jesus? He died...for you. And it was sad -- the worst death anyone could die...yet it was the one who would set the world free of sin, if they just believe. Think how Mary Magdalene and Mary and Joseph and Martha and the Twelve and all those people who loved Jesus so much...how did they feel?
And yet, Jesus didn't stay dead. Just like Rachel's grandma is not dead -- she's in heaven, with Jesus.
If we had that kind of sweet, loving, hold me relationship with Jesus, we'd be stronger, happier people. We'd be loved.

Lessons from a Cat

Newborn kittens drink nothing but their mother’s rich milk for the first few weeks of their life. When they are this young, their eyes are not yet open and they really don’t do much. Because they aren’t running around and exploring, the milk is all they need.
However, when the kittens grow older, they start getting more adventurous, just like kids. The mother cat must show them how to live: how to play, how to keep clean, how to hunt, how to eat the mice they kill, how to stay away from predators (such as people, dogs, coyotes and cars), and how to find food that humans leave behind. The mother’s job is to protect the kittens and teach them how to live in the world.
When a mother horse is teaching her foal how to survive, she may nip it when the foal does something wrong, such as over-nurse, stray to far, or be to friendly with someone they shouldn’t be.
Your parents are much like the mother cat and horse! God has given your parents a big job: to love you and to teach you the ways of the world so that someday you’ll be ready when you set off to face it, looking out into the horizon at your dormroom, the McDonalds where you’ll work, your not-so-hip weather-beaten Ford, and *gulp* your girlfriend.
Do you think the mother horse was being mean when she pinned her ears back at her foal who was getting a little too friendly with some dogs? Of course not! The mother was simply protecting her child, and teaching it to be cautious about what company you’re with. Sometimes it feels like our parents are just being mean, but they’re just watching out for us to make sure we don’t get into trouble.
Don’t believe me? What are some of the "DON’T YOU DARE DO THIS" rules your parents have for you? No drinking? No driving at night? No parties? One hour of TV? 10:00 curfew? No friends over on a school night? Why do you think your parents have these rules? To be mean? Or to protect you? Think about it. Drinking is dangerous to you and to others around you. Driving at night can get you lost, kidnapped, in a storm, or in a wreck. A lot of parties have beer, Spin the Bottle, Ouija Boards (more on this later), and there are probably some people there who your parents don’t want you hanging out with. A lot of TV can earn you the award for "Biggest – Literally – Cheeto-Eating Couch Potato". A 10:00 PM curfew will help you stay out of trouble by not getting kidnapped, lost, or at parties you shouldn’t be at. Having friends over on a school night will keep your mind on your buds – when your mind should be on doing your homework and getting some sleep. What other rules can you think of, and what would happen if you didn’t have these rules?
Guess what! God has given you a special job right now! Your job right now is to obey your parents, because they’re your boss, just like God is their boss. Your job is to obey and honor your parents, to get good grades in school, and to live your entire life for God!
Your jobs will change over the years, but don’t worry – God will never change. God will be the one sure thing in your life when you pack your bags, kiss your mom on the cheek, shake your dad’s hand, and drive away to college. Even when your parents are there to help you through life, God will always be there for you, and his rules to live a great life are right there in your drawer – The Holy Bible.
Someday, after high school graduation, after college, after bullies and unfair teachers and cafeteria lunches, after your first girlfriend, (probably after the second, and third), after spending all your savings on a ring that isn’t even for you, after you get married and after all the mistakes of your youth, you’ll have kids. And guess what – those kids will think you’re being mean, too, when you tell them they can’t watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. But you’ll know that you’re just looking out for them and obeying God.
When you do have kids, will you want them to honor and respect you as you should honor and respect your parents? You can leave those questions till later in your life, but someday you will have kids and you’ll get to raise them just how you and God know they should be raised.

Spend Time with your Sibs

This week. Spend some extra time with your siblings (even if they are annoying).