So I made a new iReport account on CNN....

I had one a while back, but it got lost somewhere in cyberspace?

Anyway, here's my first piece. It's really lame and cliche but there was a question on their interface about "Tell us your 9/11 story," so I was like, "eh, why not."
Anyway.
I just thought that I'd let you know.
Feedback, anyone?

Everyboy Talks About the Weather, But No One Does Anything About It

-Charles Dudley Warner

     Well, ya can't really do much about the weather itself.  But many of us can do things to help those affected by it. Most of you have probably heard about what happened last night in Joplin. Last I heard, there were 119 people who lost their lives in the tornado that ripped through the town Sunday evening. I personally know three people who lost family in this storm.  It's horrible.  My aunt (an Ozark Police officer) has spent the entire day since midnight last night down there looking for people and trying to minimize the chaos that's bound to ensue after this. It's a terrible, terrible occurrence that will have long-reaching effects on those people and many others.
     I really can't very well tell anyone what to do. I know that. But I do ask that everyone think about what they can do to help the victims of this tragedy.  Just today, my school had an assembly which had nothing to do with the storms.  At the end, the StuCo president asked that if anyone had some spare change, they would drop it into buckets at the gym doors on the way to class. We collected a little more than $400, and that was just changed that kids had on them.  They also asked that we bring basic supplies - especially water and baby supplies - to school to donate for the recovery efforts.  My aunt says they all really need socks, water (they're on a boil order right now), packaged food that doesn't require cooking (all their homes are gone, so there's not very many appliances), clothes, new underwear, and lots of baby supplies and basic hygiene items.  Most Red Cross stuff is going to them right now, so that would be a great way to donate. I'd like to ask everyone to think about what you can do to help.  Not all of us can do down and physically clean up the debris, but we can all help in some way.  Imagine if it were you who lost your home or couldn't feed and clothe your children. Wouldn't you want someone to give up something so your kid could have clean socks or your baby would have clean diapers?
     If any of you would like to know how to help, I can get more information for you.  I hope you'll all think of something you can do!

♪♫You Can Laugh, But I'm Dead Serious♪♫

♪♫Watch her as she goes,
      There's something different and she knows it.
      Ask her why, and she'll flash that silly smile.
      She says she's got a purpose
      And she's done with all the games;
      Jesus saved her soul and she'll never be the same♪♫
   
     So, I've been thinking a great deal lately about a lot of different things. Mostly though, I've been thinking about some changes I'm going to be making over this summer (as I will have a good deal of down time) and the mission trip next month. 
     I've unofficially dedicated this coming summer to getting myself back on track. getting my life on track for the first time ever, now that I have a chance to do so.  It's going to take a lot of work, and a lot of changes are simply going to have to be radical, drastic, and sudden.  I'm trying to start deciding what those might be, but honestly, I really wish I could just sit down with someone and just process it all verbally in a completely honest and open fashion.  So that's a lot to contemplate.
     Also, I'm really thinking about the mission trip of which I'll be a part.  As I understand it - and I don't have a lot of details because I haven't had time to worry about them - we'll be in East St. Louis assisting in a center that essentially has a lot after-school type programs (although it's in the summer, so it's obviously not "after school") for inner city kids.  These are the kind of kids that have truly been through hell and back.  They've been through just about every imaginable atrocity and they live in poverty and abuse every day.  In many ways, I can empathize a lot with their problems; I grew up in a highly abusive home and have a lot of emotional baggage from it.  What I've been through could never begin to compare with the experiences of these kids, but I do believe it helps me to understand their psyche a great deal.  Their pain, for the most part, differs from mine in intensity rather than kind.
     These kids, people who have not been given the chances the rest of us have, people that have known nothing but pain and abuse - they are my passion.  They're the reason I want to be an attorney; it's not for the money or the excitement or anything of that sort: it's for the people without a voice, the ones who can't help themselves.  These are the people about whom I care the deepest.  They're the ones that I truly think that my experiences can help.  I think that through my pain, I have great sympathy, empathy, and understanding for people who have been through abuse and neglect. I think that they are the biggest reason that God allowed me to go through what I did. So I'm dead serious about this trip.
     I might have another post on this topic coming up; I'm not sure yet.
 

♪♫It's Your Life, Whatcha Gonna Do?♪♫

     ♪♫The world is watchin' you.
           Every day the choices you make
           Say who you are and who
           Your heart beats for.
            It's an open door;
            It's your life.♪♫
     So, I'm still completely uninspired. Utterly. Completely. So don't get your hopes up about reading something really profound right about now.
     Essentially, this weekend has been about homework and making it through the last couple weeks of school.  I've expended more creativity and thought this weekend than customarily do in an entire week of school. I. Am. Tired. Of. Thinking. Thus, this wretched post.
     Today, we went to church and Sunday school was, per usual, good.  Then there was lunch with my grandparents and aunt, and I shopped for some makeup at a sale.
     Tonight, I had class and there's where I started thinking.  The class was the second class at church for those of us going on the mission trip next month.  Really, I've just been thinking about it a lot anyway, but I started thinking more about tonight during class and what it means to be a servant leader and just how I should live day to day.
     We were presented tonight with various scenarios that we might encounter on the mission trip.  I answered some questions exactly as I believe the situation should have been handled.  Characteristically, I was forthright, saying, for example, that in a given situation we should "get a glass of water, paint smile on your face, and suck it up! We all signed up for this, after all!"  Then I started thinking: shouldn't we be doing that normally? I mean, I "signed up," so to speak, for the life of a Christian.  That means I should be that kind of servant leader all the time. We should be "on a mission trip" every day.  After all, the point of a mission trip is spread the Gospel. Shouldn't we be spreading the Gospel to those around us every day?  I think so.  As Christians, we have to be willing to show God's love everyday.  We have to be careful of how we represent God; we might be the only Jesus that a person ever sees.
     Anyway, that's what I've been thinking.
     Also, I've been thinking about a lot of things in my personal life.  I'm starting to think that this summer is going to be a summer of self-rediscover and reinventing.  I'm thinking a lot about who I am and how I've become and who I should be.  I really want to finally start getting my life in order, and I figure I better start soon. Thing is, I need people that are going to help me with that; I can't do it on my own. I know; I've tried. So, assuming I can find some people that will truly help me and lead me and guide me and stick with me through all the crap that's gonna go down during this journey, that's what I'll be doing this summer.
     And, I'll be sleeping a lot and going on a missions trip.
     And drinking a lot of coffee.
     And blogging.
     Anyway.
     That's about it.

♪♫Red as the Bloodshed, Blue as the Wounded, White as the Crosses on Our Soldiers' Graves;

Through the rain, through the sun, these colors never run.♪♫
     Well, not much has really been happening with me over the last few days. The only thing note-worthy, really, is a project in which the high school's social studies department is participating, due to my teacher, who has a tendency to start things like this. It's called "Shoeboxes for Soldiers" and is actually a localized branch of the national organization of the same sort.  Shoe boxes or an equivalent are filled with supplies, food, puzzle books, etc. and sent to soldiers overseas. Each box is addressed to an individual soldier, not a company or other intermediary.  A local radio station in the area, KTTS, sponsors two drives every year - one at Christmastime and one around the Fourth of July, which is the one that is going on right now.  It costs about thirteen dollars in postage to send a box, and my teacher has agreed to pay for the boxes her classes fill.
     I've always wanted to get involved in this sort of thing, but never have. Now, I'm finally getting a chance to do so, and it's made me start thinking; our military fights every day for our rights and freedoms: shouldn't we be using them? If we don't that invalidates all that they do and thus makes their sacrifice futile. Because of the men and women fighting for our country, we have the freedom to think, feel, say, and be whoever we choose. Shouldn't we be doing more to honor that fight?
     I know I should. I need to take advantage of the fact that, because of these sacrifices of these soldiers, I have every right to live my faith and uphold my values. This is not the case in most countries, and I feel that, should we choose to "roll over and play dead" to every whim of society as a whole, we are nullifying the sacrifices of our military past, present, and future. So, I am going to start walking the walk. If God has blessed us with a nation in which we can be free to live and believe as we see fit, I think He means for us to use it to its full advantage.
     So, that's my brief thoughts on the subject. Also, I obviously think that we should be honoring those that serve our country and put their lives on the line for us every day. And this project is just a tiny way in which I can do just that.
     That's about it, so I'll talk to ya'll later! :)

Mother's Day 2011

   As most of you know, I've gone through a lot o changes in the past year.  One of those changes is that, for reasons not pertinent to this discussion, I now need make no pretense of observing Mother's Day.  This also means hat I am now free to observe in a fashion that suits me.  And this is that fashion.
   Over the course of my short but eventful life, I have come across many people of many different beliefs, backgrounds, and temperaments. Among these people, there have been difficult, vindictive individuals judgmental exclusivists, and sacrinely loving givers.  A personage that has been severely lacking, however, is that of a loving, caring mother.  Because of this unfortunate void, Mother's Day , in the past, has meant but little to me; it was a mere formality with which I grudgingly complied. 
   This year, as this holiday approached, I began contemplating the prospect of making this holiday mean something for the first time in my life.  This idea sparked as exploration of the meaning of the word "mother."
   It seems that the word "mother" can be defined in three distinct ways; the first is simply the biological maternal parent of an individual.  The second is the legal female guardian of an individual (this definition is, really, questionable at best; I threw it in for the argumentative types like myself).  The third definition, however, is vastly different; it is, I believe, the definition most proper in regards to Mother's Day.
   A mother is a woman who loves you unconditionally. She is a person that has helped, in some way, to raise you and make you the person you are today.  She is a woman that pulled you through difficult times in your life and hast stuck with you through good times and bad.  A mother hast taught you lessons that have become vial to you and your outlook on life, and she has bee willing to tell you when you were wrong and needed to change.  A woman who has done these things is someone that certainly, in my book, deserves recognition on this day.
   These sort of women are the women I wish to recognize.  Some have simply pulled me through a difficult time in my life or taught me a few important lessons; others have made sure that I never got "too big for my boots;" others have been with me through thick and thin, never backing down from the truth and never letting me give up.  Many of these women are still an active and vitally important part of my life.  Without these women, I don't know where I would be today.  Each and every one of them have shaped me into the person I am today.  Though I live to be thousand years old, I will remember these women and the things they have done for me. They have taught me about love and loss, pain and perseverance, and faith and fortitude.  They are my reason for celebrating Mother's Day.  At some point, they have all been a kind of mother to me.
   Am I going to recognize the same people over and over again every year? Maybe; but probably not. Obviously, I won't know exactly what I'll do next year until next year rolls around.  But I'm thinking I'll probably recognize women who have been important to me over the past year.
   But that's for me to know (eventually) and you to find out :)

Angels

   So, like I said, I'll occasionally post some stuff up here that I write in my spare time.  These are not a reflection of my best writing abilities.  It's just stuff that I scrawl in my spare time. Hope you like it, feel free to comment or criticize :)

Angels

 

    I believe in angels. In fact, I believe that I see them every day. I believe they speak to me and guide me through the most difficult times in my life. I believe God sends angels when I need them most, and that, without their help, I would not be here today.

    But these angels of which I speak are not winged entities that flit about this earth unseen. They appear in no bright-shining light. No voice from Heaven accompanies their arrival. In fact, most people will pass by them knowingly, and yet, without a second thought. Yet, a few of us will recognize them and, by this recognition, receive great blessing.

    But who are these angels, if not the ones that reside in heaven above? You might know a few without even realizing it. These angels are just like you and me: they work; they play; they eat; they sleep; the have families and careers and hopes and dreams, just like the rest of us. They're ordinary people that likely will never be seen as special or especially “worthy,” or great by any save a privileged few; nevertheless, they are angels, just the same.

    What makes these people worthy to be called angels? Angels are God's messengers. They bring His message to us here below. They comfort and console; the mentor and minister. That is what angels do. And that is what these people do.

    Now that you gave a better idea of the entities to which I am referring, are you thinking of some of your angels? I know I am. And the people that come to mind are not people who have done great and grand things for myself or others (although I do know a few of them); they are the people that accept me when no one else does. They're the ones that I know I can text in the middle of the night and get an answer. My angels are the ones who come up to me when I look down and give me a hug or a pat on the shoulder and a smile and tell me to “hang in there, OK?” My angels never walk by without making sure I'm smiling. They tell me when I'm wrong or causing myself trouble, but they make sure I know that they do it because they care, and that they'll never give up on me. Those people are my angels. They are not without fault; they make mistakes. They have problems of their own. They can't always be there, solve my all my problems, or give me all of the answers. But they try; they allow God's love and grace to show through them in a real way. And that's what makes them God's messengers.

    Angels come in all shapes sizes. They have problems and struggles just like the rest of us. They lose their tempers, struggle with body image, get stressed, and forget birthdays. They get tired and they need others' help. They are not flawless, but they are perfect because their hearts are pure and they truly strive to serve God and help others; they bring God's love to those around them.

    So who are your angels? They could be a curly-headed little girl whose bright smile just lights up your day; they could be a teacher or youth pastor who knows just when to ask if everything's alright and when to say nothing and simply pray; it could even be an elderly couple whose sage advice has steered you from pitfalls unseen to you but so plain to them. Whoever they me be, you know the people that you call your angels.

    As I've said, angels are just like us. The only difference is that they allow God's love to shine through in ways that the rest of us often do not. So I have two challenges for you, regardless of who you are and what your situation happens to be. Firstly, tell your “angels” just how much they mean to you. They're human beings, just like everyone else. They'd love to know that what they do makes a difference. Secondly, be someone else's angel. We all have the ability to change someone's life for the better in some capacity, whether large or small. It's a choice we can each make to be someone's angel.