Hugs from Jesus

'Twas the day after Christmas, and one poor little blogger

was tired of presents, talking, eggnog or

wrappings and trappings and new things galore

when all she had wanted was to know her Lord more.

Merry Christmas, readers! M. here apologizing for the terrible poetry above, composed by yours truly. I was hoping it would combat the writer's block and help me to collect my thoughts a little better.

I've been thinking a LOT lately. I'm off school, so now I actually have time to think about what I want, when I want! I've been thinking about school next semester, scholarship options, job options, taxes and applications, living on campus, and all of that fun college stuff in my near future! I've also been thinking about Christmas (obviously) but I didn't really know how to explain what I felt.

This week, I was considering what I'd post about for Christmas time. This is the idea that kept forming in my mind: "Presents have been unwrapped, delicious food eaten, relatives welcomed, thank-yous yelled, babies completely spoiled with gifts, laughter and excited chatter heard through the house, new items tried out, gift cards and money spent, and at the end of it all I ponder these things in my heart... that Jesus is, and always will be. And He wants to know me."

Lately I've felt a pull on my heart like never before. I feel like Jesus wants to hug me! To literally embrace me and remind me that I am His, and I can never be taken away from Him. Yes, He loves me; He gives me hope and peace and joy, but at the end of the day, He just gives Himself. Completely, with no strings attached, He is there for me. 

The super busy lifestyle I live makes me forget that. I forget how treasured I am and that there is a higher calling than just meandering through life, when life is actually a marathon. I need to be striving for the ultimate prize, like Paul talks about. I don't think I'm doing that for two reasons: a) I stink at sports, and b) most of the time, I don't mind settling for less than the best. The first one's just a joke (though I am bad at sports) but I truly struggle to remember that I'm not running the race for me, and it's worth every effort that I can give. That Jesus that I was taking about, the one who gives all of Himself to be my Father and my friend, He is the one I should run for. And the best part? He's the prize, too! (I hate this race metaphor sometimes, but I think it works alright.)

Through the presents, food, relatives, and rushing... Jesus is. He waits with arms open, for us to run to Him for an embrace...  yet we open another gift and say "Thank you." We eat more food and chat with more people and go to more parties, and still Jesus waits. Christmas ends, we go back to our lives, yet He's still there. Sometimes I imagine Him saying to the angels, "I can't wait to talk to M. today!" We miss a quiet time, then two, then months have gone by without us noticing. He's still there. He'll always welcome us.

Do you ever feel guilty after not spending time with God? Do you go back to Him hanging your head and apologizing? Or do you avoid Him because you're afraid of the lecture? Or do you grow callous and just run through the motions without emotionally investing? I've done all of these (A LOT). Guess what? He's still waiting! He still is overjoyed to spend time with us. 

Do you ever feel like God just tolerates you? Why?

Take a look at these verses. This time, read them out loud. I know that you're tempted to gloss over the Bible verse section. I do it all the time. READ. EVERY. WORD. OF. THEM. OUT. LOUD. (Colors added for emphasis.)

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing."

1 Peter 5:6-7 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."

For this next set of verses, I've rewritten them (Go ahead, Bible thumpers; wag your fingers!) based on the 1 John 4:8 claim that God is love. I've also taken it out of stereotypical Bible verse format so that maybe you can see it in a new light.

God is patient.

God is kind.

God does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud.

He does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs.

God does no delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

God ALWAYS protects, ALWAYS trusts, ALWAYS hopes, ALWAYS perseveres.

God never fails.

The greatest of these is Jesus.

(Verses used: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13.)

Let me ask you again: Why do you feel like God just tolerates you? News flash: He doesn't!!! Stop believing the lie that you've been fed by your church, your friends maybe, and your own conscience. This lie you're hearing says that God thinks you're not worth His time if He's not worth yours. 

You are ALWAYS worth it to God. That's what Christmas is all about!! It's reminding ourselves that Jesus knew that it was worth it to give ALL of Himself to become a baby, to live, to die, and to rise again, because it meant that He could give us a great gift - a hug! And more than that, He could know us, and we could know Him.

Through this season and through next year, I want to follow the path God has for me. I want to trust in His love, because it's the love that truly never fails. I want to remember that God rejoices in me, when I obey Him and when I stumble. I want to be satisfied with Jesus, and with Jesus alone. 

Merry Christmas, everyone. -M. :D

Inner Dialogue and (Sort of) Christmas-ish Thoughts

Here's the inner dialogue that's been going on in my head the past month or so:

"M, you need to post something. It's the holiday season and you have so many topics to choose from."

"M, you should post something. You've got free time today and it's been a while."

"M, you have to post something today or your readers will think you've died."

And then there's the other side of my brain:

"No.
(That side of me makes such a good argument.)

Anyway, I'm back (sort of) to talk a little about Christmas. Because, you know, it's like (looks at calendar) A WEEK AWAY?!?! Oops. I probably should start my Christmas shopping, don't ya think? (sheepish grin)

* * * * * * * * * * * *

In church on Sunday, we talked about Christmas, not just the first Christmas, but the second one! You see, for every time the first Christmas is mentioned in the New Testament, the second Christmas (literally, Christ-coming) is mentioned eight. That's a pretty significant ratio. I love thinking about what Christ's coming will be like, and there's a pretty detailed description in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18:

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encouragie one another with these words."

Unfortunately, I want to know EXACTLY what's gonna happen. Will we all disappear randomly? Will we have to wait to see Jesus? Are the people we know who've died already in heaven, or are they waiting somewhere? WHY DON'T WE GET MORE INFORMATION??? (Ahem. Sorry 'bout that.)

Unfortunately, this complaint I have is actually a pretty consistent problem of mine. I always want to know exactly what's gonna happen in life. What am I getting for Christmas? Where am I going to school next year? What career am I going to have? You know, simple stuff like that.  It shouldn't be that hard for God to just let me in on all of His plans for my life, right? When it actually comes down to it, this problem is me not only wanting to know what God's plans are, but wanting to be in control of these plans that God has. I don't want someone else to run my life!

As I've said before, this is a problem of mine... so I need to change, obviously. God knows what's best for me, whether I like it or not, and in the end, it kind of comes down to trusting that God is not a mean Father but a loving one. It's the same thing as a parent keeping their child away from the hot stove, even though the kid might scream and beg to touch it. The parent knows what's best for their son or daughter, so they will keep them from harmful things like that, and the child will develop a respect for their parents by their trustworthiness.

So what does all of this have to do with Christmas? Absolutely nothing. (Just kidding!) :D

I think what it has to do with Christmas is that Jesus came to earth so that we would know the Father. He came so that we would know the Father's love. And He demonstrated ultimate trust in God's will by being willing to do so much through His life, so that we could know that it pays to trust in the Father too. Jesus was a living picture of trust through His whole story:

He trusted God to give Him the right earthly parents. He trusted God to make Him into a baby and be dependent on people for His care. He trusted God through His childhood, not being able to show His deity to the world yet. He trusted God's timing even when His mother said He should act (John 2:4). He trusted God as He performed miracles, healed many sick, and gained a following during His three years of ministry. He trusted God when He knew He was going to die. He trusted in darkness and in fear. He didn't waver as He was beaten and mocked and crucified.

Which do you think was harder for Jesus: Leaving heaven for Christmas or fulfilling what He actually came to do?

That's what my problem has to do with Christmas. It didn't matter which was harder for Jesus because He trusted God enough and was willing to do BOTH of them! That's the Savior we celebrate, one who is trustworthy AND willing to trust. He's worthy of my worship and my trust in every situation, from an awkward Christmas party to a serious sickness in the family.

So, do you trust Him?

That's what I've been thinking about this season, I guess. Take it or leave it. :) I pray you all have a Merry Christmas, and I'll hopefully be back to post something before the New Year!!
-M

"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord."(Proverbs 21:30, NIV)

Fall, Movies, Excitement, and Other Random Happenings

Hi everyone!

Well, it's been way too long since I posted, so here's the collection of thoughts, projects, and happenings in my life lately. :)

• I'm back in school! I'm doing online coursework for the year before I transfer to university on-campus next fall. I finished a Christian worldview course about a week ago and REALLY enjoyed the class. It stretched my mind in lots of different ways, which you all know I love. :D Right now, I've just started taking Old Testament History!
• I work full-time now!! At least almost full-time. I nanny/babysit for two different families and I absolutely love it! I can't even think of a better place that I'd want to work right now. 
• I CUT MY HAIR OFF. Well, I actually paid someone else to do it, but ya know. :) It's kind of a longish pixie now.
• I recently got the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan and have just started reading it. So far, it's really convicting and theological and just all-around awesome. I also recently read C.S. Lewis' The Weight of Glory and I really loved that, too. Have any of you read anything interesting lately?? Comment below! :)
• Fall is finally here, and Winter is in sight!! Fun fact: Winter is my favorite season, hands down.
• I've been thinking about grace a lot lately. God's grace isn't clean, it gets dirty. Grace has to cover every sin, not just the "little" ones. When we understand God's grace, we become free from fear of perfection, because we are no longer required to be perfect. We are free to just be ourselves and chase after God with all of our hearts!
• I changed the blog background! (Again!) I went with blue this time, and I really like the new fonts I found. :)
• My brain is about to die. I've watched a lot of movies lately and have been thinking a lot about the worldview in each of them, (big surprise!) so hopefully I can still put together a set of coherent thoughts when I need to. (Which, looking back on that sentence, probably won't be happening anytime soon...) Recently I've watched The Maze Runner, Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Citizen Kane, The Patriot, (edited) and The Magnificent Seven.
• We have a new page coming soon to the blog!!! L. had a really cool page idea for us to add, and we're excited for you to see it! Stay tuned...
• My friends are awesome. Jus' sayin. :)
• I color-coded the apps on my phone. It's kind of relaxing to just scroll through and see all of the colors. :)
• I'm running out of relevant information to put in these bullet points...
• Our cars have all been dying!!! And our house has lost power three times in the last week. It's freaking me out. 
• I keep waiting for something really exciting to happen, but I don't know why. Maybe I've just had too much routine lately. (But if there's too much excitement, I completely shut down and can't function until I have routine again...)
• Last Saturday, I got 7 pies smashed in my face. L. and E. were responsible for two of said pies. I'm totally getting them back for that, but I haven't quite decided how yet. :D
• I went to a concert over the weekend that was absolutely amazing!! I got to see Colton Dixon, Francesca Battistelli, Jeremy Camp, and Hillsong United, along with others, but those four were my favorite!! (I also got to start sponsoring a little girl in Thailand with an international program!!! I'm super excited about that!)
• Here's a verse that I fell in love with the other day! At Bible study a few days ago, the teacher had us do something called lectio divina with verses we were assigned. (Look it up on google; it'll tell you what that means...) The verse I got was 1 Corinthians 1:17 - "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel - not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of of Christ be emptied of its power." The phrase that stood out to me was "words of human wisdom" because words are so meaningful to me. I was  thinking that maybe the way we preach the gospel is with a language of love and grace, rather than words. The cross kind of transcends the very limited power of words, which I find fascinating. My mind's been on this thought a lot for the past few days.
• There are pushpins in my bulletin board in the shape of a heart. Just in case you wanted to know. :D

There ya go! Enjoy trying to decipher my life! (Hint: Oh, wait. There aren't any hints. I can't even decipher my life!) I guess you could say it's kinda... simplex right now! (Hahahaha! I see what you did there!!) Oh, man, I'm laughing at my own puns. This is really bad. I'd better go and save whatever dignity I've got left. Bye!

-M.

Drawings

  Hey guys! Here's my most recent drawing/inking: dun-na nun-na nun-na nun-na...BATMAN!!!

I got the idea from a picture that my brother showed me. And I'm very pleased with how mine turned out..what do you think?

   I also drew this one from a series of books written by James Patterson, the Maximum Ride series

  And I'll end with this..it's a quote from a book that I'm reading..

"When we risk ourselves, our time, our careers for what we believe, we can accomplish things we never imagined. We can achieve the impossible" ~Bill Strickland

~E.

One Year Ago...

Guys...  

(*cough*and gals*cough* I'm apparently here to comment and fix any errors that M. made. -E.)

(BTW this is completely M's post! Don't tell her I'm here;))

Friends...

GUESS WHAT?! (What? oh hey people! It's L. I snuck into M.'s post:) (Oh hey L.! How's it going? M. doesn't know we're here, right?)  (Hey E. you can join me in sneaking around!  I don't know if she has caught us yet.)

It has been one (uno) (eins) (What??) year since Simplex began. Allow me to share the story with you....

"What should we call it?" E. and I deliberate as we sit in front of my computer. Ideas are tossed out quicker than bad cheese. "We could smush two words together and make a new word. It catches people's attention." (M.'s idea..) We go through a LOT of names... Something about a literary fortress? (M.'s idea..) Nah. We settle on mystery. (Also M.'s idea...) "Of what?"

"This is too complicated..." I say. Complex... hmmm. I thought blogging would be simpler than this!! Simple.. Complex.. "Simplex!" I call out.

"What...??" (I was more like: "whaaaaaaaaaaaa.....???) E. looks at me, confused. I explain. "Simplex is something that is simple and yet at the same time, it's complex. Like rain. Or God's grace." (M. literally thought of this in about 10 seconds!) That's M. for ya!)
"Just put something down!" (We have tried to make a name probably for an hour...) (ha! More like 'two' hours! :D it was roughly 11:00pm by then and we were both exhausted)

Here is a picture for you!

The story above may or may not be exact, (its pretty close;)) but the process for making the pages, first post, and design for Simplex went along those same lines of taking forever to make decisions...(like forever) :D But we made it. On October 12th, a year ago today, our blog went live online. And look where God has brought us today! (I'm still amazed at what He has done, and where He has brought me - all of us - since then;)) (I did not know that story until I read this. What troopers they are!)

We have a new author, L! (she mentioned me :)) We have published 58 posts ranging from random to theological (and just plain weird;) mostly by me:)). We've hit over 2,000 page views!!!! (Can I get a round of applause, people?! woot! woot!) The background has been changed multiple times... (mostly by M. once by me) and God's been glorified through it all. (AMEN!!)
Thanks YOU, readers, for making our last year of blogging a wonderful one! (Yeah thanks guys! Especially the three of you who comment! God loves you all though!)

Catch you later! Stay tuned for more Simplexities here! (Siml..sompx..coxcity...Whaaaaaa.....??? ;)) (What???)

-M. (and L.:)) (Don't forget about me!! Otherwise known as: - MOOO!! - *cough* I mean: - penguins are cool - AAAAHHHH I'm going insane!! -- insert evil witch cackle here -- E.)

THE AFTERMATH:

M: (scrolling)
M: (scrolling)
M: (scrolling)
M: (scrolling)
M: (scrolling)
M: (clicks)
M: (scrolling)
M: (gasps)
M: (viciously scrolling)
M: (screams; faints)
L and E: (high-five)

It's A Beautiful Day

  Hey everybody!! E. here. I know it's been a while since my last post...

ok correction: 'long' while, and you've been wanting to hear from me again(hopefully, 'cause if not...-insert whatever impending demise you wish-*cough* I mean..that's ok!! I still love you anyway!!) wow that just rhymed....weird...

   Anywho, I wanted to talk about rain. I know M. has sort of already done that..but rain is just soo cool that I just had to talk about it too! 

  and, also it has been raining the passed few days! Which is totally awesome!!(coming from the girl who has lived in AZ all her life) so basically rain is cool:) (no pun intended) and wet! And my favorite thing to do, is stand in the middle of it when everyone else(a.k.a. my family) is hiding under shelter. No matter what kind of day I'm having, as soon as it starts raining, my mood changes and I'm happy. 

('..because I'm HAPPEEEEEEEEE...')

   I remember when I was little I used to think about how, when there is complete cloud cover, even though I can't see the sun, it's still shining and as bright as ever! How cool is that?! I remember one time when I was younger, I though that the rain had put out the sun. I wondered if it would ever shine again, and then I figured God would light it again when the rain was over, and He always did! 

(Bunnies....my brother is obsessed with bunnies)

   I was never afraid of lightening, the explanation for this is simply that my mother always told me that the Angels where bowling up in heaven. It made me happy to think that they were having fun and probably laughing with joy:) sometimes I wondered if the rain was because they used cups of water, instead of bowling pins...hmmm...I wonder...

   I think that the main reason I love rain is that it brings back soo many memories!..how I would watch two rain drops roll down my car window, pretending it was a race..

(crunch)

asking--more like begging--my mom to let me and my siblings play in the rain, trying to reassure her that we wouldn't get struck by lighting, and then struggling to put on our swim suits as fast as we could, silently willing the rain to stay...jumping and sliding on the slick wet surface of our trampoline...

(crunch)

...scouring our house from top to bottom, trying to find an umbrella, just so I could say I used it that year, and look important while standing in the rain...

(crunch-*cough* oh sorry for interrupting 'food is good'!!) 

...jumping in puddles of water, trying to make a big enough splash to spray my siblings...these are just a few, happy memories I reminisce about when it rains. 

   The smell after it rains is one of pure happiness! And it's so refreshing! Sometimes I just stand outside and breathe deeply for a few minutes, and it always makes me feel better:)  rain is espe...

              *          *          *         *          

    Zig zag stripes are cool! And the amazingness of actually tying a shoelace!

              *          *          *         *        

     Penguins don't say "waddle..waddle"

     Cows aren't only black and white

     Ducks both fly and swim

     Goats don't eat just anything, they are actually very picky eaters (please don't ague with me on that one-I promise-you won't win)

              *          *          *         *

   ...cially amazing when it's cold out:) then I can bundle up in a bunch of blankets and read my favorite book! 

   Anyway, hope you've enjoyed reading this! And I hope you have many comments;) but for now..BYE!!!! And have a WONDERFUL day/week/month/year or whatever;)!!!!!!

I think my sister took this picture. -L.

~E.

Enough

"Dear God,

I tell you almost every day that I love you. I just forget a lot of the time that you love me too. 

You love me enough to make the right song play on the radio. 

You love me enough to give me a mind to stretch when I'm learning. 

You love me enough to give me a voice to sing about you. 

You love me enough to put people in my life that bless me all of the time. 

You love me enough to hurt me. It's kinda weird, but even though you cause me pain now, it will save me from worse pain later. 

You love me enough to correct me when I'm wrong. 

You love me enough to let me smile when I see a paper clip. 

You love me enough to let me rebel against you because you'd rather have a free will praise you than a puppet.

You must love me a lot. You died for me. 

Why don't I FEEL your love? I have to fake it sometimes. I desperately want to feel loved. Let me feel it. 

Amen. -M."

I wrote this in my journal almost a year ago. Lately, the thought that just keeps popping up in my head is that God loves me enough. 

Not too much. 

Not too little. 

Just enough is how much Jesus loves me. It's a lot, obviously; more than I can imagine, but it's the exact amount that I need. 

How do I even comprehend the love of Jesus? He created me, knows my past, my fears, and my scars. He knows who I was.

He knows the masks I wear and the true me. He sees me as I am today, not as a work in progress, but as a child of His, "holy and dearly loved" (Colossians 3).

He sees the things I desire, but He knows best what I need. He understands the dreams I have for my life, but it will be His story that turns out better than I could have ever imagined. Jesus loves who I am going to become in Him.

So, Jesus loves me with an incomprehensibly perfect love. Yet it's not too much. I think that there is no limit to God's love, and that's how much He loves me.

* * * * * * * * *

And you. (Yes, you!)

God loves you enough. Enough to time something just right in your day. Enough to give you the family, friends, home, and possessions you have now. Enough to write your story, however it may look like, exactly the way it is.

He loved you enough in your past to let you make mistakes and to learn from them. He loves you enough today to give you freedom to choose whether you will obey Him or not.

He will love you enough tomorrow to let you live the BEST life ever. I know it's the best because God planned it for you. :)

It's enough to bring a smile to your face or a tear to your eye when you realize He's using each moment in your life to say, "I love you SO much."

Why don't we believe this? Why don't we FEEL like God loves us so much?

Well, I don't know. (Really? SO HELPFUL!! Just kidding.) Some days I get it. I understand that God loves me and life is beautiful. Then some days I feel like God ditched me and ran to the other side of the universe. What's the deal with that? I have a few possible explanations.

Most of the time, when I feel distant from God's love, it's because I ran away. Not Him. Then I'd get mad at God and push Him away, and then I'd have to pretend everything was fine at a moment's notice when anyone asked how I was doing. So that might be one reason why, if God feels far away from you right now. But that's just from my personal experience.

The other theory I have was inspired by the a page in the book "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. This particular day I read about how Christians should have faith instead of emotion. The author writes, "If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again." So days like this one were truly a blessing from God, but we can't expect them to be the norm. Chambers goes on to say , "Never live for those exceptional moments - they are surprises... We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life - our work is our standard."

Sometimes, I think God lets us feel unloved (not become, mind you) in order that our faith might be strengthened. He still does love us unconditionally and watches to see if we'll believe that and continue to live in joy, even if we're not happy.

I know it's the song everyone's sick of now, but Oceans by Hillsong is a great summary of this idea. "Your grace abounds in deepest waters, your sovereign hand will be my guide," the song says. Trust that God loves you enough when you don't feel it. He hasn't left you.

Make sense? I hope it does. Thanks for reading!

-M

It's the Little Things

Hi readers! M. here; it's been WAY too long since I've posted. Apologies, guys! I've been branching out into other types of writing lately, like spoken word poetry and songwriting (!) but I'm back now with a Simplex story for you today!! (Just a forewarning: it was really awesome.)

By the way, how are you liking L's writing? I'm so excited that she gets to blog with us!

The story kind of begins on Friday night a few weeks ago. I spent the night at a friend's house and we stayed up till 4 in the morning, which was super exhausting but so much fun! We got up around 8:30 that morning and my friends introduced me to a TV show called "Once Upon a Time." I'd never seen it before, but I did enjoy the first two episodes.

While I was watching the show, I checked my email and I'd gotten two pins from L! They were super encouraging and I knew that today would be a good day.

I got home a little before lunchtime and went to get our 15-month old up from his nap. He wasn't feeling too well and had a runny nose, so I sat down on the couch and got to snuggle with him. Now, this child is not a snuggler; he's always up and running around, so I was really suprised that he sat there with me for several minutes! It definitely put a smile on my face.

At 2:00, I went to a lady's house to discuss a weekly childcare job for her kids. I got to meet them and they were so friendly! I was so excited to start working for them next week!

When I got home again, I had a great conversation with my mom about college stuff and got to snuggle with the baby AGAIN!! By this point, I'd started to notice that God was "up to something."

Other things that happened on that Saturday:

The sky outside was GORGEOUS!!
I got compliments on the shirt I was wearing twice in one day!! 
I was able to read several chapters of "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, which I love!
I got to babysit a family from our church in the evening... 
When I drove home after watching the kids, I heard not one or two, but SIX songs on the radio in a row that encouraged me, blessed me, challenged me, and shifted my focus to Christ!! 
And I had to do dishes and shower when I got home, but I still got to bed before midnight!!!


By halfway through the day, I was starting to catch onto God's scheme. It was like he dumped a bucket of love on me, like never before. it was a day of lots of little things, but they sure counted!!

Lately, I've been using the phrase, "God chose." I've stopped asking God, "Why did you do this bad thing to me?" or "Why did you give me a bad day?" because I know the answer is always, "Because I did!" God doesn't need a reason for doing things in my life; he created me! And as a Christian, I gave Him control of my life, so questioning His motives is, honestly, really counterproductive!

I'm thankful. It really is the little things that make me feel blessed to be alive.

Thanks for reading! And I love hearing from you guys! Comment below!
Until next time! -M.

50 POSTS!!!

50TH POST AUTHOR INTERVIEW-CELEBRATION-COOL-THINGY

(translation: I (M.) couldn't come up with a good title for the 50th post. You'd think we have this down by now, but noooo.....)

ACTION KEY:
(A word in this color means this author is speaking, acting, or being described)

M: purple

L: green

E: blue

M: Simplex is now a real word! I'm pleased to announce that "Simplex" has been officially added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary... Not really! We're not that famous. (and we probably never will be!)

L: BUT WE'RE AWESOME!!!

E: And so is the LEGO Movie!! (Breaks into song and dance) "Everything is awesoooome..... Everything is cool when you're part of a team!!"

M: (stares at E. with slight concern)

L: (begins to laugh hysterically)

M: And so begins our interview... and impending demise.

QUESTION 1: TELL US SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT ONE OF YOUR FELLOW AUTHORS.

E. M enjoys using parentheses in weird and crazy ways... (M ponders the opportunity(but doesn't do anything about it(or does she???)))

L: and E. never gets enough sleep! (E. yawns)

M: and L is secretly a pop star! (L breaks out in loud song)

QUESTION 2: DESCRIBE THE OTHER GIRLS IN ONE WORD.

M: L is pondering and E is Engaging.
E: M is a rainbow and L is twirly!

L: E. is Random and M. is thoughtful.

M: We make a make a good mix!

QUESTION 3: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTERISTIC OF GOD?

L: The fact that He knows us perfectly and still loves us perfectly!

M: The way He has a perfect plan for everything; how His story is woven through all aspects of our lives!

E. HIS SENSE OF HUMOR!!

QUESTION 4: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO POST ON THE BLOG?

M: I like writing about Simplexities or something creative, fun, and engaging.

L: Well, I haven't posted much yet but I enjoy writing stories!

E: I enjoy posting my drawings and funny wallpapers.

M: For example, the picture to the right was drawn by E. during the early stages of the interview, in 5 minutes, on a simple dry-erase board. THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is called talent!!

QUESTION 5: WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO?

L: Simon Peter. He messed up pretty bad, but Jesus forgave him and he did some pretty bold stuff for the gospel.

E: Donald Duck. No further questions.

M: Well, most of my friends are taller than me. My neck gets sore sometimes.

QUESTION 6: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BLOG POST UP TILL NOW?

E: Creative Writing Prompt #6 or #15.

L: "A Lot can change in Two Weeks."

M: Creative Writing Prompt #13. (but now, probably this 50th post!!)

(Pause of awkward silence, but only for a moment...)

E: Moo, I'm a cow, and you can't do anything about it!!

M: Wow, ok....

E: MOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

L: I like M.'s responses to E.

M: It's getting late, can you tell?

L: In other words, I love you both.

M: AWWWWW!!

E: .......moo?.......

CAN WE GET TO THE LAST QUESTION BEFORE YOU THREE GO INSANE?

M: Too late! 

E: (rises and begins to walk around the room like a penguin)

M: (sighs dramatically) We are all insane already.

E: Moo.

L: (Laughs at everyone in the most loving way possible)

THE LAST QUESTION: (FOR THIS INTERVIEW, ANYWAYS)

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE, SAGE WORDS, WISE WORDS, HUMOROUS WORDS, WORDS OF QUESTIONABLE INTENT, OR OTHER WORDS YOU WISH TO IMPART TO THE READING AUDIENCE?

L: Jesus loves you!!! M. and E. are awesome! And eat more Pizza.

E: Don't get brain freezes reading the blog. And doughnuts are good.

M: Paperclips. 'Nuff said.

Sore Feet and a Cloudy Sky

Hi readers! M. here with a simplex story of my weekend.

WHAT HAPPENED:
1. My feet got sore, and 2. It rained. Fairly simple weekend. Sounds boring, you say. (Yawn) So why on earth am I blogging about such a dull weekend?? (Haha, silly question. That's what ALL bloggers do!)

I had a few realizations about my sore feet and the rain. I felt inspired, and I learned a few somethings about God and myself from them.

That's the simple story. Here's the rest.

On Friday and Saturday I attended a homeschool convention. For a few hours during the weekend, I ran the exhibit hall, serving the vendors in small ways. (getting water, coffee, etc.) I forgot to get some comfortable shoes before the weekend and had to borrow my mom's shoes, which didn't fit quite right. Hence, sore feet! Not very interesting, you say? Well, it isn't. The thoughts I had on the way home, however, were.

I was thinking about thankfulness. I want to be a grateful person, and I try to thank God for His blessings each day. I wondered how I could be thankful for sore feet, but soon realized that I was thankful.

I was thankful because the fact that I had sore feet meant I could walk.
I was thankful because the fact that I had sore feet meant I could walk and had shoes to walk in.
I was thankful because the fact that I had sore feet meant I could walk, had shoes to walk in and had the convention to walk around at.
I was thankful because the fact that I had sore feet meant I could walk, had shoes to walk in, had the convention to walk around at, AND the freedom to walk around in this homeschool convention in America.
I was thankful because the fact that I had sore feet meant I had feet!! Get the picture? It wasn't that I was necessarily thankful for the soreness of my feet, but rather the reasons my feet were sore and the blessings I had in spite of this annoyance.

Simplexity #1 - check. Let's move on to the second event of the weekend.

RAIN.

Like I've mentioned before (repeatedly and perhaps to an annoying extent) I really love rain. It always reminds me of God's love for me. I collect my "rain stories" and store them in my memory for, well, other rainy days. Or late nights. Or blogs like this. (Stop rolling your eyes!)

A few stories:

When I was about 9 or 10, my family and I were on a road trip. It was late at night, and I had finally thought that I had picked out the big dipper. Without warning the car was in the midst of a torrent for no longer than two minutes, but it stopped, also with no warning. My mom remarked that it felt like a bucket had dumped tons of water on our car, then ran out just as fast as it poured.

I remember when winter rain came once, my brother and I put on our heavy snow coats and jumped on the trampoline in the rain.

There was one time when it started pouring in the middle of class. A few minutes later, our teacher let us out on break, but the rain had stopped and the sun shone vivid through the clouds. The crystal reflections on the walls and pavement flashed brightly.

At a mission trip meeting, the first of our summer storms hit. We finished before the downpour did and went outside to party. Let's just say over 80% of the group left for home soaked.

Two of my favorites happened at camp.

1. We were at Bible lesson time, in a tin-roofed building. A pile of hundreds of muddy shoes sat near the door, and as a Dad in the group taught, the rains came. The sound was deafening, words no longer discernible. I thought it was beautiful.

2. Last August. We were about to begin a team-building exercise when the skies opened. Of course we HAD to be doing the rock-climbing activity right at that point! The rain stopped a few minutes later, but everyone and everything was wet and slippery. We finished team-building and headed back to camp about a 1/4 mile away, but the storm was far from over!! No one got back to the cabins with even an inch of dry clothing. I loved every minute.

Sorry for the memory dump. Anyway, back to this Sunday's simplex rain.

It was different. I had fallen asleep in the afternoon due to my exhaustion from the weekend. I woke to the sound of the skies screaming. Normally I delight in those moments, but this rain, this torrent was angry. It was sad. I was usually overjoyed for summer showers, but when I heard this one, I knew something peculiar existed within the deluge. I still don't really understand why this rain made me feel bitter, for a storm has never done that before.

The simplex thing about it was that I had a chance to open up my rain-memory book and tell myself the joyful stories again, the ones above along with others.  The peaceful recollections brought a sense of acceptance. This rain reminded me of the song "How He Loves," in which the lyrics say this:

"He is jealous for me

loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

bending beneath 

the weight of his wind and mercy."

God's creativity astounds me, reminding me that I've had hundreds of rain stories to collect and yet none are alike! AND I could be thankful about the rain too, the way I learned this weekend!! I don't think I've even learned the whole lesson yet, but these little thoughts were definitely part of it.

Thanks for reading, as always! I hope you enjoyed my attempt at making my weekend sound interesting. :) See you next time!
-M.

The New Look and Other News

Hi Everyone!!!

How do ya like the *new* look??? I wanted something a little more fun for summer!!! 

In other news, it's L's birthday!!!! Well, it was last Friday. ;) (happy dance)

In other news....

Well, it's been a bit crazy 'round here. (My house, that is) We had lots of juggling with new foster babies and car trouble and my brothers' guinea pig died, too. :/ And that all happened in the last two days!!

One of the books I've been studying lately is Galatians. It's been cool to dig deeper into the first chapter. It talks about Paul's warning to the churches of Galatia about false teachers. He then goes on to share his testimony of his conversion and some of his missionary journeys. It's a pretty cool chapter, and I can't wait to get into the rest of the book!

Worldview was also awesome!! I staffed for a week in June and had an amazing time! I was so grateful to see friendships form and hear great conversations throughout the week. 

Last week I volunteered for our church's VBS program and it was such a blast!! My brother, my friend and I acted in the drama and got to walk around the campus in character afterward. I played the "bad guy" and had a great time with it! My character did come to a conversion experience on the last day, which got me thinking about the simplexity of it all!!!

Oh, and another cool thing! I was on the road the other day and I saw a truck with the word "Simplex" on the back!!!!! It was probably talking about that really complicated science term that pops up when you google it, but it still made my day!

There you have it, my completely random post for today. ;) I'm in a random mood today anyway.

See you next time!

-M.

Another point of view

Hey All!
 L. here. This is a really long one again. After reading M.'s post about the last 2 weeks of May I want to share about  them from my point of view, as well. I'll be starting on Wednesday the 21st:

My oldest brother came home for a one week visit, arriving at the airport around 10am. I also went to my last Spanish class of the school year.

Thursday May 22nd
 I went to see Disney's Million Dollar Arm with my family  in the morning And had a great afternoon with M. and E. Then my brother picked me up from M.'s house on  the way to dinner with some other friends.

Friday May 23rd
 My sister graduated with M. so I went to the same ceremony and party that night and really appreciated getting to spend time talking and dancing with the people there.

Saturday May 24th
 This day was crazy! I got to sleep in until about 10am before going to one graduation party and helping with preparations for and a party shared by M. and my sister. During the party I chatted with friends, ate snacks, and  helped take photo booth pictures and gather and guide people for boat rides. Over all it was an enjoyable but hectic party. When it was over I went with M. and a few of her siblings to another grad party for a mutual friend of ours while my brother's collage graduation open house started back at the club house. It was a nice chance to relax for a bit and enjoy some smore's.
I got back in time to help with some clean up from my brother's party. Thanks to everyone who helped by the way! It would have taken forever with out you.
Anyway that's enough about Saturday.

Sunday May 25th
This was my official rest day between Graduation and Camp though it was still pretty busy. We missed Church:( cause we were all so tired after the graduation parties but we went to two more that afternoon then had a few friends over for dinner. That may sound crazy but I actually thought it was rather relaxing.

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Camp week

This was a 5 day 10:00-7:30 Christian Music and Dance Camp that was truly different from any other. Our director put together the theme "Masquerade" for our concert and devotionals. You'll learn more about it as you read.

 Monday, May 26th

We excitedly greeted old friends, met new ones, heard from our director and did an ice breaker. Then we stretched and learned some basic ballet and Jazz steps. We learned some of our choreography and music for the concert and had a devotional in the evening where we learned about different kinds of masks and I realized what kind I wear the most. 

Tuesday, May 27th
I remember feeling stressed and empty. I wanted God to work in a big way at camp and I was afraid He wasn't going to.  I love to dance and its been a really cool form of worship for me but on Tuesday morning when we were told to try dancing during our worship time I didn't want to. For once I didn't feel an urge to dance like I normally did and for another our director had said to keep our eyes closed so that no one would be embarrassed so I was afraid of hitting or kicking someone if I moved too much. After an improve dance lesson later on though some of us danced freely around to our songs for the concert while our instructors prepared for our next session. For one moment as I spun in circles to "Oceans" by Hillsong United I thought I felt God for the first time in a while; just for a moment; then I let it go.

Wednesday, May 28th
Because most of you were probably there or have read M.'s other posts about it I'm going to focus on my perspective of the Cross time. When Eden told us to pray about and then give to God whatever we needed to I didn't know what that would be for me. As I started praying I thought I had an idea but then it became clear. It was the root of my masks that I needed to give up. My desire to be the one everyone could depend on; the one who was friendly and likable and always knew what to do. I was actually excited to give this up. I thought I was ready to let God take the lead and just be His. I knew He could use that surrender in big ways and I finally thought I knew how to let go. 
  So I went up to one of the alter, "gave it to Him" and went back to my seat. I must admit I felt awkward waiting there. Some girls like me had been ready quickly and gone up to the alters, others were talking through things with each other or our instructors, and a lot of girls were crying.  One of them was M. sitting two seats away from me. I could see how much it hurt her to think of giving up her mask as she held her beautiful prop mask in her hand and I could almost see desperation in her eyes. I wanted to do something but I was afraid she wouldn't want my help. I wanted to show I cared but thought giving her some space might be the best way to do that. Our Music director went up again and told the girls who had already been to the alters to pray with each other that this wouldn't just be a "spiritual high"  but that we would continue to leave the things we had given up in God's hands. I prayed with a good friend of mine who sat farther down the row and had also noticed M.'s tears so we prayed for each other and M. then went back to our seats again.

 Thursday, May 29th
 Was an exhausting tec day where we also learned one more song! You can read more about it in M.'s posts.

Friday, May 30th- Concert Day :D
Not what I expected. We Practiced, watched Skit Guys videos, messed up our hair and put on our ripped  jeans and black T-shirts. If you want an idea of what our hair looked like, the 8ish year old boys in the other Choir said we looked like we had just gotten out of prison or been through a fire.
After our pre-show meeting we went out to the lobby to greet people and open doors. I think everyone was a bit taken aback by our hair and jeans but It was nice not having to worry if they were pretty enough because they weren't supposed to be.
As we waited backstage I danced my nerves out and tried to comfort other nervous girls that even if we messed up it would be okay and God could use even our mistakes for His glory. We got to see that first hand.
I was the one who couldn't find my mask when it was time to go on stage but my dance partner for the first song grabbed an extra for me and we made it to our places just a little late. I tried to use the mishaps and even my feeling about them to our advantage and I knew that God had let them happen and was going to use them for his glory. But then our director stopped us in the middle of the first act. She confessed that we'd had more then a few technical problems and she wanted to check on us and give us a quick breather. I was a little annoyed but we went on and my singing became more and more truly from my heart. The last song in the first act was Power of the Cross by Natalie Grant and as we went through the song girls hung there masks on the cross and went back stage. Because I had the ending solo I was the last to leave the stage so I sang these customized lyrics out to myself as I prepared to get the ugly mask off my face.

That's he Power of the Cross; see the Fear fall

That's the Power of the Cross; see the Shame fall

That's the Power of the Cross; see the Hate  fall

That's the Power of the Cross; see the Greed fall

Then I took the mask off revealing the tears that were streaming down my face and sang to the audience with a sort of peaceful joy.

See the grace

 your Masks fall

I half walked, half bolted down the center aisle and around to back stage where I broke down and hugged a friend as i shock with tears. A few other girls gathered around us for a sort of group hug and M. prayed for us. I felt a mixture of shattering disappointment and overwhelming relief. I was done trying to do my best and trying to put my mask back on now would just look silly. Everyone backstage and in the audience knew I was a mess. During the second act I was real and free to worship God for what He had done and was doing that night. It was amazing how well the story in our performance fit so well with what God was really doing in my heart. At one point before I went on in a small group for one of the songs one of the girls said "we've got this" in an effort to encourage us.  "He got this" I said pointing up. If there was one thing this concert thought me it was that. We didn't have it but God did. I got to share some of this in a testimony time at the end of the concert so I hope God uses it in the lives of those who heard it there as well as those who read this post.
Thanks for reading!

-L.

A Lot can Change in Two Weeks

WARNING: THIS POST WILL BE VERY LONG. (LIKE, EXTREMELY LONG)

I'm back! Did you miss me? M. here with apologies for all but abandoning my readers, but E., L. and I went to camp together last week! (More details below) Now let me tell you a day by day account of the past two weeks. :)

Sunday, May 17th - First camp practice! I blogged the story on the STELLO blog. Find it here. After practice, I went to a friend's house to study for finals on Friday. We had a blast, and it was a great start to the week!

Monday, May 19th - The last Monday at work. I had to say goodbye to the kids in my classes, which was super sad. I didn't study much, though I should have. I was not in a great mood. Then as I was reading back through my journal, I found an entry from a year ago. That was the day one of our foster girls left. She had become my buddy and I still miss her so badly. All in all, not a great day.

Tuesday, May 20th - I coached swim lessons in the morning, studied a little, said goodbye to another class at work, and kinda just chugged through the day. Again, not the happiest day. I was starting to get really tired and wanted the week over.

Wednesday, May 21st - A full circle day. If you haven't noticed, dates are important to me. I look back on where I was a month, two months, three months ago; you get the idea. My "monthly anniversaries" for the 21st went along these lines: I got a part in my senior play, had to deal with my choir dissolving, performing in my senior play, and starting a bible study. This month, it was my last day of working at the gym for the summer. I studied almost the entire day and stayed up late to keep studying.

Thursday, May 22nd - What a day! I had my final in the morning. I felt like I did my absolute best on the questions. It felt good to work hard and be done. Then E. and L. and I went out to lunch together and hung out at my house for the afternoon. I had a wonderful day talking, singing, and growing closer to them. (Right now, I'm listening to "Life is Beautiful" by the Afters and it's a perfect description of what I felt that day)

Friday, May 23rd - GRADUATION DAY!! I had the morning to do my nails and get my things together. I had rehearsal in the early afternoon and then a few hours to do my hair and makeup. It was kinda stressful but also really fun. Then we got to actually do the ceremony that evening. It took forever, but it eventually ended and I got to exchange hugs and smiles with the friends who had come to watch. After that I went to a party with my friends and we talked, danced, had a fun night in general. I got to bed about 2:30. :)

Saturday, May 24th - Graduation Party! I shared a party with two of the other graduates and we had a beautiful event in the afternoon. There was delicious food and lots of friends. One of the graduate's older brother was giving boat rides out on the lake outside the clubhouse, which was super fun. I also got to go to a second party later in the evening.

Sunday, May 25th - I crashed, finally. :) My mom and I had a vendor event for the morning and afternoon where we were selling our Jamberry nail wraps. I was so tired from the weekend that I fell asleep super early after we got home! Before I went to bed I read the devotional for the start of camp the next day. I thought about my "mask" and it all kind of hit me that evening. I was tired and stressed about the week ahead.

Monday, May 26th - First day of camp!! We stretched, danced, sang, talked, and got to know new friends. I tell the whole story here. Each night of camp, I stayed up and blogged about how the day went, then I frantically tried to gather everything for the next day. SO, though I don't talk about that on the other blog, I entered the week already tired and got even more exhausted as the week went on.

Tuesday, May 27th - I started asking the girls what they thought of the day in one-word descriptions and shared their opinions on the blog along with mine. It was cool to get other perspectives. Tuesday, we ripped up our jeans, where each mark was added to represent an imperfection in our lives. It was a really reflective night for me, but not necessarily in a good way. One of the highlights of the day was getting to dance freestyle to a few songs. It opened up my mind in a new way and though I'm sure I looked awkward, for just a little bit, I didn't feel like it!

Wednesday, May 28th - Everyone laughs when we talk about Wednesday now. It was a turning point for a lot of the girls. Early in the afternoon, our director brought the wooden cross to the center of the stage and told us that we had the chance to take our mask off. Not our prop masks, the real ones in real life. She told us that when we were ready, we could go pray at the altar then hang our mask on the cross. Then she walked away and let us pray while the lights were lowered and some music was playing over the speakers.

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I didn't fully share my perspective on the other blog post, so I'll tell it here. I was caught off-guard when our director set this all up. I wasn't surprised, but I didn't really feel ready. I sat in my seat, frozen with fear. Taking my mask off would mean changing my life drastically. L. was sitting near to me and I knew she saw me wrestling with this decision. She later told me how she wanted to help me, but she was also afraid. In that moment, I guess I felt abandoned; alone in that room full of friends. Several songs went by and our director walked forward again. She told the girls who had already hung their masks up to pray with each other. She gave us a little more time and I finally felt ready. I slowly and tearfully stumbled up to the cross, hung my pretty purple mask up, and tried my hardest just to not collapse on the stage. I barely got back to my seat before one of my friends wrapped me in a huge hug. I lost it. I didn't even know who it was, but I finally didn't feel alone anymore. I clung to her and she sat with me for the next several minutes. We didn't have to say anything; we didn't have to hide anymore. Then our director walked back up with the most joyful smile. As I brushed the tears from my face, I realized that apparently the same thing I was experiencing was happening in the whole room. The director saw the love of Jesus being spread in an extremely genuine way, as many girls who didn't know each other just a few days before prayed together, embraced each other, cried together, and were being unconditionally real with each other. The masks were off. It's one of the moments I'll remember the rest of my life.

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Thursday, May 29th - Tech day! We ran through the concert twice that day, learning the places we needed to be and trying to tweak stuff so that the concert would go smoothly. The coolest moment for me on Thursday was watching this video and listening to this song. When the girl in the video cried out that Jesus is alive, I felt so freed! The song breathed some life into me and brought the biggest smile to my face.

Friday, May 30th - Concert day. Where do I start? We got ready throughout the day and practiced songs in little blocks. Early in the afternoon, our director told us that we were doing our hair too pretty. The goal for the concert was to show that we aren't perfect, but God uses us when we take the masks off and just be real. She helped us basically destroy our pretty put-together hairstyles, till we looked like we just woke up. When only one girl had her hair really messy, it looked funny, but as a choir (along with our ripped jeans and masks) we looked pretty intense.

Right before the concert we sat down and prayed. We listened to "Let Them See You" by JJ Weeks, which was another one of those full circle moments for me. Just a few weeks ago, I played and sang this song for our voice recital, and I've been learning to live it out this semester, too. It brought my focus back to Christ's glory.

Concert time came. Some girls couldn't find their masks. Microphones weren't working. People forgot lyrics. Some of the girls had breakdowns. I felt like we were in a battle. The devil did not want this night to go over well. He saw where our hearts were and did everything he could to stop us. The first act was tough to get through, but we did make it. During intermission, many of the girls finally cracked and were crying backstage. I prayed with several girls, then our director cut the intermission short and asked us to go sit on the stage. She asked the audience to come lay their hands on us as she prayed. That moment showed me a glimpse of eternity. What other concert do you find that kind of thing? Anyway, the second act was one of "genuinality" and we truly left it all on stage, singing in awe of God's wonderful power. We didn't have any more tech issues that I knew of and the rest of the concert was much more peaceful.

Overall, graduation was an exciting week turned stressful turned wonderful! Camp was intense, freeing, and simply a God-encounter experience! However, after the concert, if kind of finally hit me that this was my last concert as a student with this choir. I floated through the rest of the evening in a sort of a daze. I still don't really think I've accepted it.

The past few days have been a similar daze. I've slept a lot! But let's be real. Camp was about being real, right? I didn't live "happily ever after." I'm confused and tired. I want to say that I know God's got it under control, but I don't know if I truly believe that at this point. For now, I'll leave you with the lyrics to my favorite song from the concert:

Thanks for reading!
-M.