Dana's Valley

Hi I am Addie for those who do not know. But I had a comment I wanted to make and it was taking a while on the comments and I thought i ought to post it. I am going to talk about this book I read and I will others later but I have company coming over soon and may not even have time for this. Well anyway.... I read a book in 7th grade called Dana's Valley. I was looking in the library for a book and I couldn't find one I wanted to read. (I am kind of picky) The librarian came up to me and suggested a book. The library at that time went and still goes to my church and had know me for a while. It was in the corner in the back of the library. I got it and fell in love with it. It starts out kind of slow but after it got going I couldn't stop reading it. It was about a girl named Dana who had a sister about a year younger than her (Erin who narrated the story) and older brother Brett I think, and a young brother named Corey. It starts out when Dana is about 11 or 12 I think. She starts feeling bad so her parents take her to the doctor and they find out that she is sick. I am not going to give too much of it away but it was probably the saddest book I have ever read. It spreads out over 3 or 4 years I think. One thing that makes it really sad it that it is narrated by her sister so you see that side of it and the trouble that they all are going though. Erin has trouble with her faith, Brett starts having some problems, and Corey feels neglected. They all have a struggle but the get through it really with the help of Dana keeping her faith and even growing in her faith. It sort of reminds me of a video we watched in Bible Class once. I don't have the time to really explain the who thing but the lesson was that God picks you up when you are in times of trouble and carries you through the storm. He doesn't make it go away immediately but he helps you and carries you and in the end you grow stronger in your faith. All you have to do is trust in him.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths strait."
Proverbs 3:5-6
Addie

Random list of GREAT books

Hey, this is just a random list of awesome books everyone should read. What can I say? I am a bookworm. Oh, and the starred books are part of the trilogy, series, or quartet that I listed above them.

The Chronicles of Narnia - by C. S. Lewis
*The Magician's Nephew
*The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
*The Horse and His Boy
*Prince Caspian
*The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
*The Silver Chair
*The Last Battle
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - by J. R. R. Tolkien
*The Fellowship of the Ring
*The Two Towers
*The Return of the King
The Hobbit - by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Door Within Trilogy - by Wayne Thomas Batson
*The Door Within
*The Rise of the Wyrm Lord
*The Last Battle
The Frank Peretti Books - by Frank E. Peretti (duh)
*This Present Darkness
*Piercing the Darkness
*Prophet (reading it right now)
*The Visitation (haven't read that one yet, but it sounds good!)
Hadassah, One Night with the King - by Tommy Tenney (I've heard there's a sequel!)
The Hidden Treasure of Glaston - by Eleanore M. Jewett (not sure if it's by a Christian author, but it's really good anyway, nothing bad in it)
The Linage of Grace Series - by Francine Rivers (I will list only the 2 I've read, even though there are 5 I think)
*Unashamed (about Rahab)
*Unafraid (about Mary-very touching)
The Screwtape Letters - by C. S. Lewis (I would suggest waiting a while to really comprehend it)
Esther & John in the Bible - by authors inspired by God

All of those books I just listed are really good, not bad at all, and many are encouraging spiritually. And they hold your attention to such a degree that you can't stand to put them down. Hope you like reading them. Oh, and The Hidden Treasure of Glaston is set in a monastery, and they search for the Holy Grail, so I am assuming it is Christian...

-Ellie

Flywheel

Last night we watched "Flywheel". It was a great movie. It is about a man, "Jay Auston", who sells used cars for unfair prices and cheats on his customers. When he gives his heart to the Lord, he realizes all the mistakes he has made in his life and tries to fix them, but not everyone liked these changes. He goes through many struggles, but in the end everything is even better than before because he trusted God.
It has a great lesson in having faith in god and trusting him no matter what, and, like I said yesterday, "When God says do something... DO IT!"

Thanks, Zoe!

Zoe (and anybody else reading this),
That was really encouraging. I hope you don't mind me answering on a post either! But I just have so much to say!
For one, I just wanted to tell anyone reading this, life isn't easy, especially if you are a Christian. I myself have questioned God many times...one of those biggest times being last December, the week before the spelling bee that my mom had entered me in. I was frustrated and didn't want anything to do with anybody or anything. One day, two days before the spelling bee, I picked up my Bible, hoping that I would find somewhere that said that parents should treat their kids nicely. (I was in a really foul mood, as you might have gathered.) Instead, I found a verse that calmed me beyond words. I was crying angry tears in my room, and could barely see the words on the page. Suddenly, a short verse jumped out at me. It was Psalms 18:29--"With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall."
You see, I was nervous about the spelling bee. But when I read this verse, an indescribable calm descended on me. God had spoken to me through that little short verse. That one verse just spoke volumes to me. And what really hit me was that God was trying to tell me that I was going to be okay, and that being in a spelling bee isn't the end of the world. And loe and behold, when this year's spelling bee rolled around, I used that verse to calm my fears. (And Zoe, boy am I gonna need it come February!)
Anyway, I hope that someday that a little verse will speak volumes to you, like Psalms 18:29 did for me.
-Ellie

Another Favorite Verse/In the world... not of it

This is another of my favorite verses...

John 15:18-19
18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

God doesn't want us to be like the world. In it, but not of it.
So don't change the way you act, believe, or dress because you are worried about what other people think because in the long run... it won't matter!

My Favorite Bible Verse

That is a good verse, Ellie. I decided to answer on this post (hope you don't mind). I like the verse at the top a lot! (That's why I put it there! lol!)
I also love this one:

"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 a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

To me, this verse reminds me that when I wonder what what my purpose is here in this life, God knows it. And even if it doesn't make since at the time those plans are to, "prosper me and not to harm me"! Not too long ago I was praying for God to reveal to me his plan for my life, and I found this verse. That is why I like it so much.

What's YOUR favorite Bible verse?

Hi everybody! So, I was wondering what everybody's favorite Bible verses are. Mine...hmm, I don't have a favorite favorite. Actually, I like lots of Christian songs that are based on Bible verses. One of my alltime favorite songs is "By Faith" by Michael Card. It is based on the great Faith chapter, Hebrews 11. It is so cool. And then there is this song called "Stand" by Rebecca St. James that is really awesome. In fact, I might post the lyrics sometime later. They are awesome. I don't really know if it is based on a verse, but it seems like it is very similar to Esther 4:14--"And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?". That is probably my favorite verse, other than Hebrews 11:1, 12:1-2, which I put at the bottom of the blog. Be sure and comment and tell us what your favorite Bible verse is.