A Little Bit of Whimsical

Greetings friends and strangers,


So I’m not preachy today. Instead, I’m sharing some of my new found obsessions.

It is always great to see a new-fangled something or other, especially when it has to do with talent and ingenuity.

The first two are web series. There are a ton of webseries, vlogs, and thoughts by random people. What I happened to stumble upon by chance would be The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (http://www.lizziebennet.com/). It has run its course and ended after the 100th episode, but I was so impressed with it, I had to tell you. Lizzie Bennet is best known as a character in the fictional novel “Pride and Prejudice”. Now put modern clothes on her, along with red hair, place her in a modern setting and give her a video blog to speak to as her life carries its course with numerous friends, family, and enemies coming along to pop into her videos seemingly randomly. In between times she talks to you (about twice a week) she and the other people involved in her blog talk on twitter, commenting on everyday life or something rather important. Now modernize her family, friends, and crushes then give them all twitter accounts (and one sister a video blog of her own). Now you have the The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. It rolls in the same time frame as actual happenings. This made it sublimely realistic and several times I had to remind myself that no, Lizzie was not reading a book right now and Darcy was not dreaming about Lizzie’s long locks because really Heather, they aren’t real. It was lovely. They did a great job at keeping to the story, and the acting was incredible. I would definetly recommend it.

Something that is extremely similar would be The Autobiography of Jane Eyre.  So far I’m not entirely sure what I think but it definetly has caught my attention. It’s much like the above just with the characters and story of Jane Eyre. Look here http://theautobiographyofja.wix.com/jane-eyre#

On a different note: some art I have recently found and instantly fell in love with would be that of the whimsical James Hance. http://www.jameshance.com/index.html

There you have it, my whimsical happiness. Enjoy. :)

Community at Last

So as most people who read this blog know, I am no longer on some crazy adventure half-way across the world from my designated home. I am home.


What I haven’t told people on here is, I haven't felt at home since I left the ship. There are bits and pieces that helped my tiny little apartment feel like home. Like, for the first time in my relatively short life, My room is completely my own. It isn’t the guest room, I’m not sharing it, and it doesn’t have other people’s stuff in it. That is lovely. And, of course I need to clean it… note to self.

But… somehow the US, Colorado, with its beautiful Rocky Mountains, my family surrounding me, and where I grew up for 8+ years didn’t feel like home. I felt distant from God and family. I was bone weary lonely. I missed community, and all my friends from the home I’d made on the ship.

But now this is home. It’s funny how being accepted by others makes me feel like I actually belong. Like somehow having a little part of my heart is filled. The home part.

I now have a job where people recognize me, greet me, and joke with me. In my church life I'm also accepted. The girls from my small group are amazing and get really excited over the idea at having girl's night, or just hanging out one on one. I'm one of them.
I still say community is so important. We need people, other than direct family members, who we can call up and ask to hang out at any time. People who don't feel forced to be our friend. Who actually want to hang out.  How amazing it is to be given such a blessing. I think God made us for that. But I finally have it and I no longer have to be living with all of my friends to feel at home. It’s good. :)

God bless all,

Heather

One Step at a Time

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105

“”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

These few verses have been going on in my head a lot lately.  Sometimes I think I’m not accomplishing enough for my age. I worry that I’m not good enough or that I’ve missed my moment. Lately, since I got off the ship, these thoughts have plagued me a lot. I was reminded of Psalm 119 at one point because I should stop worrying about my past, what mistakes I’ve made, how I may or may not have made the wrong turn. I should also stop worrying about the future, whether I will ever truly contribute to this world.  Whether God really does have the right guy out there for me (Yes, so help me, I’m like every other single girl out there whose clock starts ticking. It’s annoying and I’m trying to ignore it with some difficulty). 

God has plans for me. He has ideas in my head and simple mess ups are not going to mess him up. Even when we mess up big, God will still make it into something amazing. He never stops working for us and for the world.

We aren’t alone.

Now to remember that.

Heaven

As humans, we seem to have an innate problem with death. We go so far as to create creatures that don't die in fairy tales such as vampires and zombies. Why is that? It's the case with us Christians too.

A huge part of it is, I don't think we were made to die in the first place. We are eternal beings.

As Christians this shouldn't frighten us, because even once we die, we go home. Our real home. There, our wrinkles, pimples, frown lines, and tears all fall away. There we see long lost relatives.
What is more, our continuous search to fill the empty spaces, spaces I believe won't be filled until we reach heaven, will be whole. Our wounds won't just be stitched up but will be gone forever lost.
What is more, we will be in the ever-going presence of our God. However the relationship holds with each person, that relationship which was broken like everything else in our short lives, will be healed without even a mark of a scar. There we can dance, sing, laugh, play, and be without the worries and bindings of tomorrow. So we should rejoice for our friends and loved ones that go home.

Still, it's hard, isn't it? Those loved ones we won't hear laugh again. We won't exchange stories with them again, get mad at them, irritated, feel joyous with them again, get hugs from them. Whether they are silent or boisterous they are a presence that once they are gone will go away.
That, at least for me, is the hardest part.

Crazy World

Since the last time I wrote on here, a few things have transpired. The one that makes me the proudest was a whole week where I wrote. I didn’t go back through the old stuff and try to rewrite, I just wrote! It was wonderful and invigorating. I think I’ll be done with my first draft fairly soon and that will be a first for me. I have this nasty habit of going over my old writing before I am finished with the first draft, cringe, and scrap the whole thing before starting over. Not productive.

            Fairly soon after my writing frenzy, I received a temp job. They may or may not hire me full time. Either way, I’m on the work force again! Isn’t that awesome! I think it is. Ask me the same later, but for now I’m ecstatic.

            It is lovely to know that God is still on my side.

            It’s a crazy world and I’ll never know what happens from one time to the next. J

Thoughts on the last seven months

What have I been doing since the last time I wrote to you. It's been, what, seven months now? I've been figuring life and me out. Life on the ship was so amazing that when I got back to dry ground for good, I had a hard time dealing.  I had to re-acknowledge that to God I am beautiful, I am amazing, and isn't the world beautiful?
Seriously look around yourself. If it is snowing, every snow flake is different. It creates a softening of the world, makes it seem ublemmished. If it's raining then the sound makes a noise that relaxes one, brings up memories, and gives a sense of safety. Night has stars and moon with everything going to sleep minus the cayotees right outside my window who howl and wail and make me feel all snug in my safe house. Day has a brightness that goads me on to do things. There's the bustle, lively chapter and all the beautiful colors.
Then there are the people. Oh how amazing people are. There are so many cultures in this world and then if you subculture them then it spreads wider. How often have I been surprised by people. It happens so often and it always brings a happy smile on my face. How crazy is it just have a small conversation with the person standing near you, and how amazingly interesting those conversations can be.
I've learned specific things about myself too. Things that make me burst with joy. Four years ago I would barely ever leave the house because I didn't have a clue how to make friends outside of work or church. Now I have friends I can ask to do something and they willingly agree. People like me! It's not just pity friendship. How wonderful is that?
I never stop learning and I never want to.

God bless you all.
Heather

A tv show that I surprisingly liked

Something that has perked my interest in my new breeze in watching way more tv than I should, is the tv show How to Look Good Naked and not because I think having newd pictures of women is a good thing but because of what they try to do.
Women are notorious when it comes to their self esteem about their bodies. You go up to any woman you know and ask her what she doesn't like about her body and most of the time she will give you a list of body parts. She'll have a very hard time saying what she likes about her body. This show tries to bring a woman's self esteem about her own body, the body God gave her and is proud of, up a notch. That is amazing.
Many years ago, I had a horrible self esteem about my personality. I've mentioned it in other blogs so I won't go into it, but since then I have felt a heart for all those women lied at by Satan. I don't just feel sad for them. It makes me literally angry at the being that did this to them. God made every woman beautiful. They just need to know that to let that beauty shine. God does not make crappy work. So this show was pretty amazing in my mind. 
:)