Heroes, Misdeeds, & Second Chances

I was discussing a buddy-read recently with one of my buddies and we stumbled upon a topic that I believe passionately upon. This is a subject that I’ve been running against a lot and after ranting to my friend I decided to write a post about it.

I have noticed that a prominent problem in our society is constantly shoving people’s past misdeeds and mistakes in their faces. Someone posts about some good thing someone did and someone else comments talking about some stupid or scandalous thing they did three years ago. Or someone digs up the follies someone did in his youth. Or digs up the war crimes of a nation and forevermore bashes the innocent citizens & descendants for it.

Is this right?

Is that what God does to us? Is He constantly rubbing in our faces the sins and mistakes we’ve done? No! He forgot them. He put them aside. He moved on.

Nowadays the trend is to strip all the greatness off a person and expose all the meanness and ugliness and nastiness. 

“[I]t’s written down for all men to read—there have been times in our history when we fought on the side of the powers of darkness, when we did what was cruel, treacherous, mean, lazy, shabby. And now, when we want to be strong to fight for the right, half the world taunts us with the shady places in our past, and our misdeeds rise up like grim spectres, mocking us—”*

*Enemy Brothers, by Constance Savery. 

But what happened to second chances? What happened to redemption? 

There is no redemption without messing up first. 

Accept that there were mistakes and wrong. Don’t deny it. Face it. Condemn it. Learn from it. Appreciate what that which was good. Remember it. Then move on. Make up for it. Change. Press forwards instead of digging up what’s behind you. 

Why make everyone feel negative and depressed? Why make us all feel there is no good in this world? There is good. There is beauty. There is wonder. There is hope. Choose to see it. Acknowledge the bad in the world, and condemn it, but choose to believe in goodness and Hope. Choose to see the Light in the darkness. 

And what makes a true hero? A true hero is one who overcome his flaws. Who moved on despite his flaws. A true hero doesn’t always have it right. A true hero has to sweat and bleed and weep. A true hero is one who fought and didn’t give up. A true hero isn’t perfect—a true hero is a warrior.

So don’t ignore the flaws and misdeeds of the heroes. Admit them, condemn them, and determine not to imitate these. But admire the goodness of the heroes and strive to emulate that. David was an adulterer. Paul was a murderer. Peter denied the Lord. Abraham feared and lied. These men are heroes of the faith—not because they were perfect, but because they were strong in the Lord and they fought on. They didn’t stay where they were. They didn’t wallow in the mud. They stepped out and cleaned up and moved on.

And those that messed up in the past but are now doing good? Don’t shove their misdeeds in their faces. Give them a chance to redeem themselves. Admit they did wrong, and don’t copy it, but see what they do that is great & appreciate that. And know that they’ll always fall. We’re not perfect. We have to ask forgiveness, pick ourselves up, go back to the Lord for cleansing and renewing of strength, and keep going. 

True heroism is moving on despite your past. True redemption is cleansing you of your past. True love is helping you move on from your past. True hope is that there is more than the past. 

And when we all stand there, messed up and dirty and broken, that’s when Jesus shines forth. The Perfect One. The True Hero.

My friend said something that sums the whole thing up and I’m quoting it all here: 

“It's so important and valuable to give people and everything else a second chance to do better and go on in the future, without holding up their mistakes. We are not defined by our past! We are not defined by our mistakes. That's the whole point of the Gospel. We are new, and our identity is in Christ, not in our past failings and sins. We should not dwell on those, except to overcome them. And it's so wrong for everyone else to do that and throw it in people's faces.”

It’s all about second chances. It’s about redemption. It’s about love. It’s about forgiveness. It’s about hope.

Let’s stop tearing each other down. Instead, let’s encourage and build each other up. Let’s show the Hope. Let’s show the Light. Let’s show forgiveness and love. Let’s be like Christ. 

Letters to my Past & Future Writer Self

So once more I am stealing an idea from Jenna Terese, but in my defence she told me to do this, so. ;)

She encouraged us to write letters to our past and future writer selves. This is kinda just journaling, but maybe you'll enjoy it anyways and be encouraged or inspired. <3

Letter to Past Writer Self 

It's not easy. You write stuff you think is great and then come back to it later and realize it's awful. You haven't got anyone to listen to your stories. You have all these big dreams and no way of reaching them. You feel like you're mistreated. You feel like you don't have the opportunities you should have. 

Listen. You are okay. Your awful writing? It's this way that you're gonna grow. Your lack of audience? It'll just make your audience more special when it comes.

You've got the wrong mindset. 

Those opportunities you think you don't have? That's on purpose. That's because your story isn't someone else's. God's crafting YOUR story, not replicating someone else's. 

Those dreams you have and will never reach? Listen, I know it sounds unbelievable, but they just might change. They may not be what is best for you. 

Listen. Trust God. He knows exactly what He's doing and it is all for the best. So stop fretting. 

Concentrate on writing, reading, and learning. It's more useful than you'll ever know.

Yeah, your stories are trash. But there are good ideas hidden within, and more importantly, good experience. Don't give up. Don't lose hope. <3 

I promise this is worth it. 

Be flexible. Willing to change. Willing to surrender. 

It pays. 

Letter to Future Writer Self 

I have big plans right now. I'm flying high. Maybe those ideas won't come to fruition. Maybe I'll never be a published author. Maybe I'll never finish the Kalsyian Chronicles. Maybe. Who knows?

God knows. 

I'm gonna trust His plan. So wherever you are right now, know you're on the right track because God brought you here and He makes no mistakes. He gave me these plans and dreams for a reason, but that doesn't mean they'll always turn out as I want them too.

Don't lose faith. Don't lose hope. It's okay. 

Maybe these dreams haven't come true. Maybe they won't come true. 

But the real desires of your heart, God will answer. At the best time. In the best way. 

Don't regret the past. You learned from it. Now move on. 

And cling to this promise, always: He knows best. 

8 Reasons to Re-Read a Book

I have been a big reader almost all my life. I would read a book, and some time later--weeks, most of the time, but in some cases days--I would read it again. And then a little while after that, I'd read it again. And again. I didn't have a huge selection of books as a child--books that belonged to me. The greater portion were schoolbooks. But I often reread those schoolbooks--dozens of times, for the most part.

Then, when I was around sixteen or seventeen, I entered the blogosphere (merely as a reader, not as a blogger). I began to follow the bloggers I followed on Instagram. and I began to notice something. Those bloggers bought at least one book a month--more often than not, four or five (or eight or ten, in extreme cases ;) ). They also got a few review books, pretty regularly. They read between 8-15 books a month. BUT. They hardly ever reread a book. If they reread a book, it was a huge deal. It was a phenomenal book!

My personal reading style is to read a book--very fast. Then, a few months later, I read it again, more slowly. And a few months after that, again--more or less slowly. Rereading has helped shape me in many ways. Last year I read A TON of new books; this year, my goal is to read as many old books as new books. And as I reread, I remember why I do it. Today, I am going to share ways that rereading has helped me. Rereading may not be applicable to every person (or every book!), and rereading might not do for others what it has done for me personally, but I still believe it is well worth doing, even a little. 

1. Rereading has helped me remember information. 

I have often found that rereading books many times had implanted information on my brain. I can remember the details of a historical occurrence long after I read it because I have read the book many times. This could be simply that I have a good memory for words. However, I've seen that rereading also helps me remember information about things I don't particularly care for.

Example: My mother was reading a schoolbook (that I have never read) to my younger siblings. It was describing a certain bird. (I am not particularly interested by natural history). My mother asked my siblings if they could guess what bird it was. Based on the descriptions (a twittering bird with grey/brown stripes on its side and a bright red cap & breast), I answered, "I think I know what it is." She looked at me and replied, "I don't think we have those here." I answered offhandedly, "Redpoll or Redbreast." The answer was a redpoll. She replied jokingly that she guessed I hadn't had that bad of an education after all! The fact was, I had immediately remembered a bird that shows up in The Burgess Bird Book for Children (which I have read at least eight times). If I had only read that book once, I would very likely have completely forgotten that unimportant little fella. But reading it so many times had imprinted it on my memory.

2. Rereading has helped my writing. 

When rereading, I often notice things I did not notice the first (or second, or third) read. Like how certain characters changed. How an author wove certain parts of their books together. How they wrote a certain scene. How they worked plot twists. How dialogue showed the characters' growth. How forshadowing began. It's taught me things about the writing craft. I've often fallen upon cool writing tricks that I would not have seen if I had not reread the book. It has also taught me words (I always look up words while rereading but very, very seldom while reading for the first time--unless its a boring book!). I sometimes stop to notice how a phrase was worded. I stop to notice quotes much better than during the first read, too. ;)

Example: When I reread Ivanhoe, I was amazed to see how Scott deftly pulled characters together and how the climax slowly worked up to a huge incident. Since I had read the book before, I knew when characters would reappear and I noticed how certain happenings helped work in the climax. When I reread Enemy Brothers, I noticed SO many ways that Constance Savery revealed characters, expressed their emotions, etc. 

3. Rereading has turned books into deep friends. 

How many times have I reread Little Women? What about Anne of Green Gables? Or the Little House on the Prairie series? Understood Betsy? Our Island Story? I've lost count. But I know those books (among others) like my own bedroom. Those books seem to hold my childhood in them. They hold the dreams and tears and laughter and happy sighs of my growing years. They are home. I know their pages like I know my parents' faces. They speak comfort and happiness. The characters are more than just acquaintances. They are friends--deep, real friends. It's hard to even describe how dear those books are to me. And I think that's a lovely problem to have. ^_^

4. Rereading has improved my vocabulary/writing style. 

 I reread books so often that many phrases and/or words have stuck in my head. Often when I am speaking or writing, I come out with good words to describe things or a phrase which sums up the subject. I have an extensive outlay or words to choose from and many good quotations. I strongly believe that's just because I read good books so often that their styles & vocabularies bled into me. 

5. Rereading has brought a lot of fun into my life!

There's nothing like quoting "has anybody seen my mouse?" when you hear anybody walk around complaining, "Has anybody--?" There's nothing like quoting an sentence from Little Woman and having your sister reply with the next sentence. (It's even more fun if it's a dialogue and you know

 almost, if not all, of it.) There's nothing like having your sister read out a sentence from a book and you're able to tell exactly what scene she's on. ;)

6. Rereading has helped me see things I missed the first time.
This sounds like a repeat of #2, but it isn't. Rereading helps me understand the story better. While rereading, I see where a character first pops up, why they actually were in a certain situation, who this personage was, etc. I am going slower, and I know what happens in the end, so I understand things better. 

7. Rereading gives a book a second chance.
Sometimes I read a book and I find it disappointing, boring, etc. It's not bad, it's just not what I expected. Often, when I reread the book, I find that I enjoy it much more. Perhaps I'm in a better mood. But generally it's because I know now what will happen so I'm not disappointed by how it all turns out. I like giving books like that a second chance. :) 

8. Rereading helps me rave about books better. 

Mwahaha, that's open to debate, I suppose. But I can tell you it's much better to be able to spill out the whole plot of a book in detail than to have to frown at the cover and say, "I remember really loving this book, but I have no idea why anymore..." xD When rereading a book, you see things you never noticed, you dig deeper, you remember it better, you develop a special knowledge of the book, and you enjoy it again. All of which helps it stay longer in your mind. :) 

~ / /~

So, are you Team Reread or Team One Read? And why? :) 

Deadlines & To-Do Lists

And we have another post written a couple years ago. This one was written on October 23, 2018. I hope this can just be a little encouragement to you all\. :) 

~ * ~

You know when you have a to-do list and you just start adding and adding? Pretty soon you are just adding and barely noticing what you check off—if you even do check it off—and it just weighs on you and stresses you out... I've been struggling with that a lot lately. But I've been seeing... if you break up those huge tasks into small ones, and even check off a few of those small ones... you've still done something.

I've been really trying hard to get ready for NaNo [UPDATE: I NO LONGER STAND WITH NANO] in a little less than a week and a half. I've been stressed by all I have to do, with that + school + driving classes + life. But I just need to be willing to let things go. Not everything will happen. If I even do a little writing... it's still more than I had yesterday. Small can still be success. 

And sometimes... sometimes you just add too much to your plate. Sometimes a to-do list just lures you into writing anything on there... stuff that normally you wouldn't even really think about.

But even if your life is super busy... take time to pause and enjoy. Drop everything for half-and-hour and watch a video on the beauty of creation. It will relax you and you will be able to tackle the next thing better. It'll change your mood, and attitude is often half the struggle. Take time to help a sibling... your writing may not last but the memory that Big Sister was always so helpful will. Take time to laugh with a friend over a silly joke, and create memories you'll love to remember later. Take time to worship and admire the Lord. 

Sometimes you saddle yourself with self-imposed deadlines. 

Sometimes you stress out so much your thinking is skewed and everything seems worse than it is. Attitude is so important... in a bad attitude everything looks useless while in a good one you can find encouragement that things may just work out. Maybe you need to make an effort to change. 

Take time to step back and relax. Approach what stresses you out with a new attitude. See how you can make things better and work on the things you have to do to free up time for what you want to do. 

And remember to count your blessings. <33

~ / / ~ 

The Avid Readers Award Tag

Wooohooo!! Today we are doing the Avid Readers Award Tag and it is super fun. :D

The Rules…

Display the blog award logo in your blog.

Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you. // Thank you, Jenna! <3

Do not forget to link to their blogging website. // http://jennaterese.com

List your favourite 5 books. 

Answer all the questions they have given you.

Nominate 4 bloggers of your choice.

Ask them 10 questions.

My Top 5 books…

• Basic Principles of Speech by William Trufant Foster & Lew Sarrett. 
• Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout by Stewart Edward White. 
• Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery. 
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. 
• The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. 

 

And now the questions!

The first set of questions are the ones Jenna answered and I did them cause they were so cool. 

 

01. If you were forced to live in a book world, which would you live in?

Enemy Brothers' world, hands down!!! Imagine living at the White Priory with the Inglefords!! And I know they would take me in, too. <33 

 

02. What is one scene from a book that stuck with you? (We don’t have to get it, just say it!)

The scene in Enemy Brothers when Dym is talking of the war and of history. <33 He put into words what I had been feeling all along... 

 

03. What is one imaginary object that you wish was real?

Oh boy. Uhm... I have nooooo idea. There's probably something in a book somewhere that I really wish I could have, but for the life of me I can't think of one... 

 

04. What cover of a book do you like best?

I beg your pardon??

How on earth is that a real question???

My favourite cover on my bookshelf right now is the cover of Little Women (it's the same cover my review is linked to).

And that's all the choosing I'll do. 

 

05. What book character do you relate most to?

I did a post about 5 characters I most relate to. Out of those 5 the one I relate to most is Katy. Check the blog post for more explanation. ;)

 

06. Which book villain do you hate most?

Probably one from Sherlock Holmes... not sure which one though. He had some really awful ones. 

 

07. What is one book you can’t stand or can’t get into?

I have a hard time getting into books with a lot of embarrassment happening to the characters, so some of the Trixie Belden books were hard for me to get into. 

 

08. What is one book character quote?

*beams*

Here are my two top favs. 

“I'd like to add some beauty to life,” said Anne dreamily. “I don't exactly want to make people know more... though I know that is the noblest ambition... but I'd love to make them have a pleasanter time because of me... to have some little joy or happy thought that would never have existed if I hadn't been born.”

~Anne Shirley from Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. 

and 

“But I don’t really know; I’m not in the Operations Room, you see. All I do know is that the world has a Chief who was victorious when the powers of darkness struck at Him with everything they had. He has the plans today. The darkness won’t last forever. There’s a splendor beyond.”

~Dymory Ingleford from Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery. 

 

09. Have you read any of my favorites? XD

Probably not XD idk?? 

 

10. What is your favourite nonfiction book?

The Bible, hands down. 

 

And now Jenna's questions!

01. What would your dream library look like?

Floor-to-ceiling, covering-the-walls-like-wallpaper bookshelves. A really cozy snuggly couch with a comfy blanket. Excellent lighting. Some plants and flowers to rest your eyes. Everything spick-&-span. 

02. What three authors would you want to collaborate on a book?

Kassie Angle, Kaitlyn Krispense, & Jesseca Wheaton. 

03. What author would you want to meet in person?

All my indie author friends. *smirks* 

04. What’s your favourite book in a genre you don’t usually read in?

Persuasion. I don't like romance as a genre, but this one was soooo amazing. 

05. What’s your favourite book to movie adaptation?

2000 Railway Children movie, hands-down. 

06. Hardcover or paperback?

Paperback. Hardcovers are too heavy, and I HATE dust jackets with a vengeance. 

07. Matte or glossy paperbacks?

Glossy, because matte shows all your fingerprints! *shudders*

08. What’s your favourite indie book?

Tattered Wings by Kassie Angle. 

09. What genre will you never read from?

Horror. And apparently there's a genre called bodice-rippers and it sounds absolutely horrific (no pun intended) and is totally on my list. 

10. Who’s your all-time top favourite fictional character?

George Dymory Ingleford. <33 No questions. 

And I nominate...

Kassie

Kate

Rebekah

and Abby. 

Feel free to do like me and steal Jenna's questions. Here are mine. 

1. If you could pick one fictional character as your sibling, who would it be? 

2. What's a strong opinion you have about a trope/opinion/anything else lacking in books, especially Christian fiction? 

3. What's a book you didn't expect to like but fell head over heels in love with?

4. What is your dream reading goal?

5. Favourite quote (or two ;P) about reading? 

6. Your opinion on dust jackets?? 

7. Your favourite book spine(s)?

8. Do you like to eat while reading? 

9. Can you read with silence or music in the background?

10. What's your favourite indie book? ('Cause we gotta spread the love!)

And there you are. This was a ton of fun and I hope it was for you too! :D

Feel free to answer the questions in the comments!!