Birthdays and Bible Bee // Monthly Wrap-up ~ August

September has officially begun.  Even around here it almost feels like it – when I feed the chickens in the mornings there’s a cool breeze that ruffles my hair and gives me hope – almost – that we might have some actual fall weather… Of course, that could just be our dear friend Hermine, the culprit behind these past two days’ incessant rain.  Who knows?

//Life in General//

Well, there was Bible Bee.  I mean, that’s kind of a big deal.  So the Locals test was on the 6th, and then we had to wait about a week to find out our scores (I placed 35th out of 120 Nationals qualifiers, praise the Lord!).  Now we’re all studying the wonderful book of 1 John and memorizing approximately 896 verses.  If you happen to think about me or the rest of the wonderful people in this competition, prayer would be much appreciated 🙂  You’ll probably end up seeing several more articles about what I’m learning in 1 John, too.

And of course I can’t forget about the trip to Kentucky.  It was a lot of fun, I learned a great deal (the south is awesome, and lemon essential oil works surprisingly well on grease stains), and I decided to write a non-fiction book.  (You can find more details on that and pictures of the trip here)

And then school starts soon.  I was quite pleasantly surprised to discover the other day that we’re starting a week later than I thought.  So yeah, that was fun!

And I almost forgot.  My birthday was on Sunday!  *hands out homemade vanilla ice cream*

//Blogging here and otherwheres//

River Running ~ a poem from last summer which is still quite relevant

I Am the Vine ~ The last post in the I Am statement series

To Wake ~ a poem I wrote the morning of the Bible Bee test

Love, Death, and Glory ~ The glory of God and the last few hours of Jesus’ life

In Which I have Two WIPs and Pictures ~ Aforementioned post about my trip

Cliques and Koinonia ~ True Christian fellowship and where it comes from

The Indescribable ~ A poem on trying to describe what words cannot express

And… a few posts I enjoyed from other blogs:

Into the Mist ~ A lovely journal-type post on worship

What is it? ~ Another journalish thing.  Really beautiful

the stars, they miss you ~ Okay, so I really loved this story.  And I’m not even going to try to describe it, just read it yourself.

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the Babylon Bee, but it’s a Christian satire news site.  This article made me laugh.

//Writing//

Aforementioned nonfiction book.  (It’s on Bible study, and meant for teenagers.)

And precious little outlining on the novel.

Have you ever jumped off of a roof into the deep end of the pool without knowing exactly how deep it is?  You either hit the bottom and come up with a scrape and a bruise, or you go down too far and start getting desperate as you keep reaching up to where the surface ought to be and there’s just more water.

That’s kind of what it’s like trying to jump into a book without fully outlining it first (which I did with both of my WIPs).  But I think in part that’s a good thing.  It means my little perfectionist self can’t totally take over, because there’s absolutely no way it’s going to be anywhere close to readable, so the first draft can be what it’s supposed to be – just spewing out your ideas on paper (or computer screen).

And apart from all of that, there’s a little bit of poetry, and a bunch of notes/commentary stuff I’m doing on 1 John for my personal study.  I can’t process something unless I write it out, so writing out my discoveries and conclusions as I study through is almost essential for me.

//Reading//

So, I actually only finished two books this month?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling; and The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen.  Both had their strong points, and both certainly had their flaws, but I did enjoy them.  Although they’re not really the, “I absolutely loved this,” type.  Kudos to Nielsen, though, for being able to pull off the plot twists she did while writing in the first person.  That was really impressive.

But I have a bunch more in progress.

Hopefully, I’ll be posting reviews of some of these; I really do enjoy all of them so far.  You may notice they’re mostly nonfiction (I am still technically reading Bleak House, it’s on my Kindle), but I’m hoping to read some more fiction soon; balance is a good thing.

//Listening//

So, the genre I enjoy most is Christian Folk music.  I thought that was more a construct of my own family’s imagination and not really a thing; but then my brother sent me this playlist, and it’s been making me very happy lately.  Not that I absolutely love every song, but just having a playlist that is actually the genre I like is so wonderful.

And I absolutely love this album.  It’s perfect to listen to while biking, and basically perfect in pretty much every other way… This particular song was stuck in my head for about an entire day.

And while I’m not really a Twenty One Pilots fan, I really like this song.  I like the lyrics – the idea that “Our hometown’s in the dark,” and we’re supposed to be a light in it.

 

//Thinking//

A lot about trusting God.

Trusting Him with Bible Bee (because what if I don’t make semis, which is my dream?  What if something happens and I can’t go?  What if this is really my last year?)

Trusting Him with my future (because where am I going to go to college?  Should I take a gap year or not?  What about scholarships, and what should I do for dual enrollment in the spring?)

Trusting Him with my writing (because I want it to be a light in the world, but how is that possible if no one sees it?  And why do I keep trying to do it all myself, and wanting my own fame and not His glory?  He’s the one who gives me the words)

Trusting His love.  Because I mess up so much.  I fall every day.  I’m supposed to abide in Him, but I even fail at that.  But He still loves me; when He looks at me, He sees Christ and His perfect righteousness.  I can’t make Him like me any more, because He already loves me with that unending, matchless love; not on my merits, but those of Christ.

So, how was your August?  Have you started school yet?  What did you read this month?