Chapter Two: Stay

      "I'm hanging on to a hope I don't remember. I'm 21 and life still hasn't come together. Stay, stay with me. Don't leave me all alone picking up the pieces. My heart can't bear you leaving. Just another night of feeling so alone. There's nothing for me without you. Where was I before I knew you? I AM YOURS!" ~"Stay" by Lexi Elisha.

                                    

Well, the first chapter to this story is Chapter One: My feet are bruised but they'll follow where You lead. This is the second chapter of my story. Over the summer I have forgotten about the dream God has placed in my heart to help others. I haven't done my volunteer work like I normally do. And though I have traveled many places this summer, I haven't had the courage to tell others about God on my trips.

To be completely honest, I've gone what some would call "lukewarm" in my Christian walk. The Bible says "So, because you are lukewarm- neither hot nor cold- I am about to spit you out of my mouth." ~Revelation 3:16. I don't want to be this kind of Christian and I don't want to be a disappointment to God. I had to get to a low point in my life to realize I needed that fire in me to be blazing again.

The Bible says "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans." ~Psalm 118:8 and "Do not put your trust on princes, in human beings, who cannot save." ~Psalm 146:3. Yesterday, on the way home from Tennessee, I realized I had been putting my faith in people close to me instead of God. Needless to say, these people let me down one by one until I felt completely alone. I don't think these people meant to let me down, but I think it was all a part of God's plan to get me attention. The Bible does say that God will take away what we worship instead o Him. Sometimes a relationship can turn into what we are worshiping instead of God.

I'm getting back into my routine of spending time with God, my heart is slowly being mended back together and the fire in my soul is starting to blaze again.

I haven't set out and conquered the world yet. But I am still a work in progress and, Thank God, He is still working on me. More "chapters" of my life story will be shared with you as they are revealed to me. God's timing is PERFECT!!

Other Women of the Bible- part 6

                                              

(picture is from the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC)

Today I finish writing about the women of the Old Testament in the Bible. There are thirteen here I had missed, who I think are important to talk about. Some of these women have long stories in the Bible and others only have a verse or two. But each one can teach us something and were important to God.

• Milkah: Wife of Nahor. She would have been Abraham's sister-in-law. She must have been a woman of Godly character because the Bible always listed her when listing Rebekah's family lineage. (Genesis 24:28-61).
• Judith: She was a Hittite and the first wife of Esau. She is mentioned in an interesting place in the book of Genesis. She is mentioned while Esau and Jacob are fighting. Rebekah mentions how miserable she is with her daughter-in-law. I think she is mentioned here to show that when you marry someone you marry their family too.
• Basemath: She was a Hittite and the second wife of Esau. She is mentioned in an interesting place in the book of Genesis. She is mentioned while Esau and Jacob are fighting. Rebekah mentions how miserable she is with her daughter-in-law. I think she is mentioned here to show that when you marry someone you marry their family too.
• Mahalath: She was Ishmael's daughter. She was the granddaughter of Abraham. She isn't mentioned much in the Bible, but she is mentioned during a time when Esau had heard that his parents were not happy with his Hittite (Canaanite) wives. Esau went to Ishmael and asked to marry Mahalath. I think her small story is a way for God to show us that when we marry a person we marry their family and we need to be on the same page. (Genesis 28:6-9).
• Asenath: She was an Egyptian and her father was the priest of On (Heliopolis), the chief centre of Ra the sun god. I always wondered about her faith. She grew up worshiping these gods and goddesses that could not help her and her father was a priest. Yet she marries a man, Joseph, who fears and worships the One True God. Her husband is a living testimony of how God works in His childrens' lives and that He is real. I wonder if she accepted the True God because of her husband and that's why they raised their children knowing God. (Genesis 41:45, 50-52).
• Elisheba: The daughter of Amminadab, which puts her in the family tree with Ruth (Ruth 4:20). She married Aaron and I wonder if she helped in the "ministry" of the "church" with Aaron. (Exodus 6:23).
• Shelomit: Her son blasphemed God and he was brought to Moses. Shelomit did the right thing by bringing her son to Moses, but I wonder if her son blasphemed God because he had heard her do so or she didn't teach him that it was wrong. I think we can learn that it is tough being a parent by knowing her story. (Leviticus 24:11).
• Cozbi: She was a woman of corruption. The Israelites were suffering form a plague and one of the men bring her into the camp in front of everyone. While he is sleeping with her, one of Aaron's sons kills both the man and Cozbi. The plague stops. I don't know why Cozbi had to die. But I do know she was showing great disrespect to God by coming into the camp at all, but especially being there while the people were grieving. She was a woman who did not fear the Lord. (Numbers 25:6-9)
• Abishag: She comes into the story during a horrible family feud. King David is an old man who is about to die. His son Adonijah is disrespecting him by deciding that he is going to be king next and he starts acting like a king before David is dead. David planned on making Solomon king though. David is also in a fragile state where he can not keep warm. So his attendants pretty much find a nurse for him. That nurse is Abishag and she apparently did her job, of keeping the king comfortable during his last days, very well. David did not have a sexual relationship with her. She was just his nurse and I think that speaks highly of her character. (1 Kings 1:1-4).
• Zeruiah and Abigail: These two women are the sisters of King David. Zeruiah's sons fought in David's army and Abigail's son was part Ishmaelite. They are mentioned in the family line of Judah. (1 Chronicles 2:16-17).
• Sheerah: This woman is mentioned in one verse in the Bible. But it is the placement of where she is mentioned at that gets my attention. She is from the tribe of Ephraim and her father was ether Ephraim himself or Beriah. She is mentioned in the family line as being the person who built three towns, Lower and Upper Beth Horon and Uzzen Sheerah. She was a working woman and important to Israel's growth. (1 Chronicles 7:24).
• Zeresh: She was Haman's wife. She advised him to make a pole to hang Mordecai on and supported him on his plan to wipe out the Jews. She was obviously a wicked woman and I think we can learn about what a heart that doesn't have God, but hate in it looks like. (Esther 5:14; 6:13-14).
• Lo-Ruhamah: She was the daughter of the prophet Hosea and his wife, who was a prostitute, Gomer. God told Hosea what to name her and her name meant "not loved". God chose this name not because He didn't love Lo-Ruhamah, He did love her, but because her name was proof that God meant what He said to the Israelites as a whole about not showing love to them anymore and forgiving them. God used her to show that names have a special meaning behind them. I don't know who she grew up to be, a woman like her mother or a woman who followed God like her father showed her. I can't imagine what it was like for her knowing what her mother did for a living. But I do know God loved her and gave her the perfect name. (Hosea 1:6-8).

The next time I write about women in the Bible it will be about the women of the New Testament. I can't wait to dive in and learn the lessons these women can teach us! A Cinderella post will be up next Saturday!

See you soon Cinderella (Chapter One)

 "She is clothed with strength and dignity;
   she can laugh at the days to come."
        ~Proverbs 31:25 

                                  

Cinderella is one of the most popular Disney Princesses there has been. The story of Cinderella was taken from Charles Perrault and his story Cendrillon (1697). But, Cinderella has been around longer than that. The first written record of Cinderella was in 7 BC! Cinderella has also been in Pentamerone (1634), Grimms' Fairy Tales (1812), and many others. Cinderella is also known in many different countries. She may have a different name in these countries, but her story is the same.
The first Disney movie of Cinderella came out on March 4th, 1950. After Cinderella two more movies followed. Cinderella II: Dreams Come True came out on February 26th, 2002 and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time came out on February 14th, 2008. These are not the only Cinderella movies however. thirty-seven movies have been released with the Cinderella theme, but there are countless movies that might not follow a girl loosing her shoe, but does follow a girl who patiently waits for her freedom to come. The most recent Cinderella movie is Disney's new live-action movie Cinderella (2015).
Plus, let's not forget the Broadway show of Cinderella. Then there are hundreds of books based on Cinderella and her story! I'm reading The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson right now and it is a great book. Then there is the dating book that has started all of my Cinderella research, The Cinderella Rule: A Young Woman's Guide To Happily Ever After by Bethany Jett.
So why am I bringing all of this up again? Because I have realized that my Cinderella posts are going to take longer than I thought. Why have I named this post "See you soon Cinderella"? Because I am going to be writing about a handful of the Cinderella themed movies, The Disney Cinderella movies themselves, and the two books I have listed in this post. All of this started out as a simple idea to share about a Christian dating book and one of the most loving Disney Princesses. But it has turned into a series based on Cinderella and each post is like a chapter in a book that has the best ending. In the ending we will finally get to meet Cinderella.
So before I end this post, here are some fun facts about Cinderella and Disney amusement parks. Cinderella's castle is the main castle at Magic Kingdom and opened on October 1st, 1971 (just 21 years after the movie). Cinderella's castle is the main castle at Tokyo Disneyland and opened on April 15th, 1983 (just 33 years after the movie). Disneyland Paris has a restaurant based off of Cinderella and it is called L'Auberge de Cendrillon. It opened on April 12th, 1992 (42 years after the movie). Magic Kingdom opened a ride on October 1st, 1971 that is Cinderella and Prince Charming's Carrousel. Tokyo Disneyland opened the same ride on April 15h, 1983. Finally, Hon Kong Disneyland opened the same ride on September 12th, 2005.

Freedom

     

I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend! Mine was good. Mom and I watched a movie on Friday and I packed for a trip. Saturday I went to my best friend's house and we left for Greeneville, Tennessee. We went to a concert that had a couple of live bands who played country music. The fireworks were great and we just talked and had a good time. Sunday we went sight-seeing and went to Andrew Johnson's house and museum. We even visited his cemetery in the rain! We did a little shopping after that and drove around for awhile. Then we came home and went to church. After church we rented movies and watched Gone Girl while eating pizza and ice cream. It was a great 4th of July weekend!

I was very thankful, and more aware, for the firefighters and police who worked on July 4th just to make sure people were safe celebrating our freedom and the men and women who are fighting to keep us free. I'm also appreciative of the men and women who worked in restaurants on July 4th to make sure people had food.

Also, July kicks off Hope for Justice's 31 Days of Freedom campaign. If you go to the website you will see ways to help spread the word about Human Trafficking and other ways to help! Sevenly is another website that has a different charity each week. So be on the look out for the Human Trafficking charity or just any charity that you want to help. Some other resources for bringing awareness about Human Trafficking are The A21 Campaign and Polaris. We get to celebrate freedom everyday. Let's work together and make it possible for others to celebrate it too!