I've moved!

Hey everyone!

It's been a while since I posted!  I've been busy with life, getting married, having a baby, and everything that goes with starting a family!

I've started a new blog that I will be posting on rather than this one!  Head on over and check it out!

https://homemakingcometrue.wordpress.com/

I haven't had much time to work on books (a new baby helps with that!) but I'll be trying to at least blog a bit to keep up with writing till I have a bit more time!

Boys:

I work with some teenagers who desperately hit on girls without any concept of what they are doing wrong.  As I observed I felt the need to give some "older sisterly" tips to anyone who may not know this already or who may need a refresher:


~Do us the honor of getting to know a girl as a person before hitting on her.

~Girls do a lot to be productive, responsible, and more attractive.  They're not going to go for irresponsible boys who lay around all day living unproductive, vicarious lifestyles through animated figures or actors.  Think what you can do now to become more of a man.

~Become a nicer person and treat everyone with more respect.

~View all girls and women as God views them...His daughters.  And He's always chaperoning. 

~Work on being clean and organized.  That's classy and really impressive to a girl.

 







~Be clear about your intentions.  You just want to be friends?  Make that clear from the beginning.  Don't get anyone's hopes up.

~Take control of your limbs.  Know where your arms and legs are.  Try not to knock stuff over or crash into stuff if at all possible because you never know when there's a girl or a kid there.

~GIRLS DO NOT RANDOMLY HAND OUT THEIR NUMBERS.  If you want a number, you're going to have to ask for it.  Get a dictionary and look up the word PURSUE.  That is your job not ours.

Christmas Sale and Announcements!!!

I haven't posted in a while but I'm back with some exciting news...

The Tiphereth Trilogy is now available for your Kindle on Amazon!!!

Also, some great sales have begun here...


Purchase books in the month of December and get FREE SHIPPING!!!

Plus, from now until midnight on January 15th...

Sale option 1:  Buy The Tiphereth Trilogy, get The Teacher free!

Sale option 2: Buy any number of The Tiphereth Trilogy for 25% off!

Regular Prices:
The Tiphereth Trilogy - $20.00
The Teacher - $10.00
+Shipping - $2.98

to order,
1) leave a comment with your email.
2) email us at khprovidence.1@verizon.net

Don't miss out on these great sales!!!

The Hunger Games Trilogy

I know this post will probably be controversial and so if absolutely nobody has any comments on it, I will know that nobody read it all the way through...:)

The Hunger Games Trilogy

This series has been talked about a great deal recently, as The Hunger Games is coming out in theaters in March.  Hearing the main character, Katniss Everdeen, praised, and the trilogy generally acclaimed, I thought I’d get the series from the library and see what I thought of it.

  I have to say, Suzanne Collins is a talented writer.  The books held my attention from beginning to end, were fast paced, and well-written.  They are written so well that they make you want to like them.  The fact that I wanted to like them shows a lot of talent on the part of the author, as I never want to like a book I disagree with.

  I don’t usually write book reviews, but in this case I thought I ought to, as The Hunger Games Trilogy has been very widely praised, even in Christian circles.

  The Hunger Games, set in a futuristic society, under the dictatorship of President Snow, presents a world where there is no God, no higher power than that of the government.  “May the odds be ever in your favor.”  The books leave no room for doubt the way The Lord of the Ring Trilogy does, allowing for a case to be made on either side.  There is no God, no higher power, and there is no question about it.  We all make our own destiny—if fate allows us the chance.  Keep in mind that a writer can make things however they want them to be.  In the real world, because there truly is a God, an atheistic society can pretend there is no God as much as they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that He exists.  However, in Panem, there is no God, and it is not a pretense, because it is an imaginary world, operating under the author’s directives.

  In this world in which there can be no hope, we meet Katniss Everdeen, a girl who we connect with emotionally over the tragedies which have already occurred in her life, and who seems to display some strength of character, despite some minor flaws.  Her love for her sister is made evident, and we see the grandest display of her sacrificial love in volunteering to be a tribute in place of her sister Primrose.  The tributes are sent into an arena, which is basically a survival of the fittest contest.  Kill your friends before they kill you.  The tribute with the least mercy and compassion has a better chance of winning.

  At the end, with only Katniss and her friend Peeta left alive, after a great deal too much kissing, which is made light of, the two of them resolve to commit suicide by eating poisonous berries rather than have to kill each other.  At this they are hastily extracted and sent home victorious.  Thus ends book one, which also had a strange, and almost toddlerish, slight obsession with nakedness.

  In book two, Catching Fire, the rebellious action of pulling out the berries has ignited a revolution against President Snow and his government, and when the Quarter Quell comes around, a more grand version of the Hunger Games which comes around every 25 years, tributes are selected from among former victors.  Upon receiving the news, Katniss gets drunk, one of several times in the series in which she quenches her pain with drugs or alcohol.  She and Peeta are once again sent into the arena, and they team up with some other tributes, who are in on a plot to protect her and break them out of the game.  They are able to accomplish this, although Peeta is captured by the capitol.

  Book three, Mockingjay, begins with Katniss’ reluctance to become “The Mockingjay”, or the poster child for the rebellion against the capitol.  The rebellion is commanded by President Coin, a slightly less depraved and female version of President Snow.   Peeta, held captive by the capitol, is being brainwashed by President Snow into believing what the capitol wants him to believe.  Katniss eventually agrees to be the Mockingjay on several conditions, including immunity for Peeta.  After the deaths of many people, including Katniss’ sister Prim, the rebels win the war.  Katniss is personally responsible for the deaths of both President Snow and President Coin, as well as several others.  By the end of the third book,  Katniss has become brutal and cruel, and her vote helps ensure a final Hunger Game, orchestrated specifically for and played by the children of Capitol officials, including President Snow’s granddaughter.  By the end of the series, Katniss has become the epitome of what the Hunger Games was created to produce: an unfeeling, uncompassionate person who feels no compunction at murdering her enemies, or taking her own life, if the going gets too tough.  This demise of her character is a good illustration of how, without God, all our righteousness is as filthy rags.

  The Hunger Games Trilogy, though well written, is morbid and hopeless.  Without a God, orchestrating the events for the good of His people, despair is the only option possible.  A few too many of the main characters are killed off for good, without having actually been alive and reappearing at the end, but this fits in perfectly with the worldview of the book.  Without a God, the odds are never in your favor, the world is a morbid place, life is hopeless, and all that is left to do is despair, while numbing the pain with whatever is in your reach.

  Good books usually have two key elements: redemption, or one person sacrificing them self for another, and the intervention of a higher power when all seems lost.  The Hunger Games Trilogy did well on the first in many instances.  Katniss volunteers as a tribute in her sister’s place and repeatedly risks her life for Peeta, while Peeta and many others risk their lives to protect her.  However as Panem is a godless world, there is never any miraculous intervention.

  Without God, there is no faith in God, and without faith in God and obedience to Him, there can be no successful government.  This is well illustrated in the rigid rebel government of District 13, which is hardly better than the dictatorship of the capitol.  Because there is no God to take vengeance, revenge falls to the people of Panem, resulting in heavy bloodshed and anarchy throughout the trilogy.

  Prim’s death is really the climax of the worldview being perpetrated in the books.  Despite all Katniss has done to protect her, Prim still dies anyway.  It was all to no avail.  At the end of the last book, the author tries to pull together a happy ending, which cannot help but be unconvincing in a godless world.  Without God, there are no happy endings.

  The Hunger Games trilogy is built on a worldview of despair, and perpetrates a message of hopelessness.  The world around us may be fascinated by this, but how can we, who have hope, allow ourselves to do the same?

True Beauty

True Beauty

“Seriously, you could be a model!”

Meant as a compliment, this phrase or one similar is often used to express that the one to whom it is addressed is beautiful.  However there are some underlying problems with this statement.

1.       Models are the epitome of beauty.

To the contrary.  To be a model is a difficult process, involving the value of beauty over character; of the end over the means. One must be willing to do anything under the sun if they wish to be a model.  A model can only get the job by removing all moral compunctions from their mind and hardening their heart. 
   After one has secured the job,  further demoralization is required—not just their own, but of the world in general.  Now not only in their own mind is “beauty” the highest endeavor, but now that message is perpetrated to the world.  With even only provocative eyes or smile, they are able to spread their worldview to the world.  Computer adjustments are made to achieve a kind of “super-beauty” not achievable by humans.  And since beauty is all that matters, women will do anything to achieve it, from makeup and exercize to starving themselves and surgical alterations.  Cosmetic surgeons can do anything from replacing or expanding parts to sucking out excess fat to lengthening legs.  But you will probably be in debt to them for the rest of your life, made miserable by the fact that you have seriously damaged your body in pursuit of an unachievable and worthless goal.
   “Being a model” and making it for a Christian girl would require the sacrifice of one’s faith upon the altar of pride and pagan ideas of beauty.  

2.       Every girl wants to look like a model.

I would sincerely hope, that as Christian girls we strive to forsake the pagan ideas of beauty and hold to the direction God’s word gives us on true beauty.

   “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful…”  1 Peter 3:3-5a

  “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”  Proverbs 31:30-31

Character is to be valued high above outward beauty.  A model only has a job while she is young and pretty.  But a girl who fears God and trusts in Jesus for her salvation will have eternal life.

3.      Outward Beauty is a thing to be praised.

When the Proverbs 31 woman’s husband praises her, note what it is he is praising:

  “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”  Proverbs 31:30-31

  He is not praising her beauty.  He is praising her fear of the Lord and her character and encouraging others to do the same.  Character is to be praised, not outward appearance.  And so rather than telling them they could be a model, praise their diligence in dressing in a God-honoring way.  Praise their modesty of dress which brings glory to God rather than themselves.  Praise their vigilance in not allowing the lies of the world to affect their dress.  Praise their commitment to dressing and acting as a child of God.

Books!!!

I found this over at Whispers Of the Wind ( http://arries-whispersofthewind.blogspot.com ) and thought it looked like fun!

1. Favorite childhood book/s?

The Archives of Anthropos by John White.  Or else The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

2. What are you reading right now?

Magic for Marigold, by L.M. Montgomery, and The Doula Book, by Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?

Homebirth: The Essential Guide to giving Birth outside the Hospital, by Sheila Kitzinger.

4. What do you currently have checked out at the library?

Nothing currently…I own too many books I need to read while waiting for the one I have requested.

5. Do you have an e-reader?

No.

6. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

Up to three, depending on what they are.  One non-fiction, one fiction, and maybe one history thrown in there.

7. Can you read on the bus?

I have never tried!  I can read in a car though.

8. Favorite place to read?

I have a comfy chair in my room…

9. Do you ever dog-ear books?

No!  Many of my books are very, very old, and if I tried to dog-ear them, the corner would break off.  I use bookmarks, or remember where I was.

10. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?

No.

11. What makes you love a book?

I must be able to identify with and respect the characters.  They must have hearts and souls, and yet act in a way that I can put myself in their place.  And usually there is some sort of redemption story, or noble sacrifice made by one to save others.

12. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

If I feel that not only did it hold my interest, but I took something away, gleaned something, am better for the reading of it.

13. Favorite genre?

History and Historical Fiction, as long as it’s not fiction trying to pretend it’s historical by taking modernized people and sticking them a few hundred years back.

14. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

If a book just does not hold my interest, I will probably forget about it before I could tell someone not to read it.  Only if I take strong issue with a book, and am filled with indignation that someone would dare write such a thing, will I tell everyone I know not to read it.

15. Favorite Poet?

Longfellow…I know there are others but they escape my memory at the moment.

16. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?

One or two, although once I reserved a record 50.  My mom told me never to do so again. J

17. How often have you returned books to the library unread?

Rarely.  On occasion I will just flip through the book, but that is usually if it is an instruction manual, with lots of pictures.

18. Favorite fictional character?

Mary Barton.  Or Molly, from Wives and Daughters.  Or Helen, from the book of that name by Maria Edgeworth…Although I must say, Louisa May Alcott’s Rose Campbell and Polly from an Old Fashioned Girl are up there…With Sir Percy Blakeney (we are talking about books here) .  When I first started to read the Chronicles of Narnia, Susan was my favorite because she had dark hair that went down to her feet…but then when I got to The Last Battle and heard how she’d strayed, she plunged down in the ranks.

19. Favorite fictional villain?

Citoyen Chauvelin! Shagah and Hocoino, The Goblin Prince, and the Mystery of Abomination from the Archives of Anthropos!

20. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?

Whatever I haven’t read in a while and can delude myself into thinking I’ll have time to read.

21. The longest I’ve gone without reading.

An actual physical book? I have no idea.  A few weeks maybe?

22. Name a book that you could/would not finish.

A Southern Woman of Letters.  It’s supposed to be a collection of letters written by Augusta Jane Evans Wilson, but I read only the introduction, in which they twist every known fact about her to try and make her sound as evil (or what they would consider good) as possible. I could no longer bear their commentary and haven’t picked it up since.

23. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

Once I’m settled down and have read a bit, not much, unless I’m really tired or have something else I need to do that I keep thinking about.

24. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

I don’t like it when they make movies of books.  They should come up with their own stories instead of stealing other peoples.  However, some of the older versions of the Jane Austen films are not too bad and stick to the books pretty well.

25. Most disappointing film adaptation?

The Sound of Music.  Read The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria Von Trapp, and you will find that the only things they kept the same were her name, the genders of the children, and the fact that she ends up marrying the captian.

26. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

Not being too interested in it and having other things keeping me busy, or righteous indignation at what is written therin.

27. Do you like to keep your books organized?

 I am a very organized person.  People laugh because I am not able to achieve anywhere near a level of organization most of the time, but my books are the one thing that is perfectly organized.  By Author, time it was written, series, and topic.  Each book has a specific spot.  It must be there or I am bothered by it.  I can always tell when someone has borrowed a book, and what it was.

28. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?

I collect books.  I couldn’t bear to give them away.  Even if I have duplicates.  I can hardly bear to buy someone a book, even if I got it specifically for them, because I am sorely tempted to keep it.

By Right of Conquest, or, With Cortez in Mexico

I've been thinking about my life and how many unplanned turns I've been taking in the last few years, and G. A. Henty's book By Right of Conquest, or, With Cortez in Mexico came to mind.  Roger was living in England and had his life planned out. He was taking a short trip to the New World, at which point he would return and settle down in England with the girl he had picked out.  However when he got to the New World he ended up in a lot of unexpected adventures that tossed him about and spun him around until he could hardly remember the life he had planned out.  And he began to wonder if maybe he had made his plans, but God was directing his ways.  While in the New World for much longer than he had planned, Roger met another girl in Mexico whom he admired.  And after a great many years longer than was his original intent, Roger and his wife returned to England, where the English girl as well had married someone else, causing everything to work out in the end.  And of course it is a Henty book, so they end up with a nice piece of land, Roger's wife get some jewels, and they have lots of children and grandchildren to whom Roger likes to relate his adventures.

I've been feeling a bit like Roger.

Those of you who know me well know that I have always had my entire life planned out to the smallest details twenty years in advance, although I'm not that good at planning the immediate future.  In the past few years, with none of my plans working out the way I'd planned, I have been asking God what He would have me do while feeling strangely lost without my 20 year plans. 

Sometimes the things that are meant to be temorary, God chooses to make not so temporary.

I recently took a very temporary, as I thought, break from my plans, which I have continued to modify to my situation regardless of how difficult or ridiculous that may be.  However it seems like God is really leading me in a complete opposite direction right now, which is incredibly confusing to me, because it is not at all where I thought God wanted me.

I don't know how coherent that last paragraph was, but it results from my personal confusion over the turn of events.  I don't understand how this fits into my plans, or how it fits into God's plans.  I think maybe I was mistaken about God's plans.  I just really hope that He makes it clear soon, because I would like to have a plan.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll end up with a nice piece of land, some jewels, and lots of children and grandchildren to relate my adventures and God's providence to someday soon. :)

Lights have always been my favorite kind of decoration!

Excerpt from a new book I'm working on!

There is the Leviathan
(Title not definite)

Daniella hurried away from the group of Mark-adorers.   Although she liked Mark, she had always despised the giggling possy of fans always around him.  She wanted Mark to like her for her, not as just another adoring fan.

  As she arrived at the bus stop, she realized that she was just a minute too late.  She had her driver’s license but no car and so always took the bus.  Mark and his friends all had their own cars. She looked back toward the school building, wondering if maybe someone would offer her a ride.  No one was in sight.  She would have to walk home.  She started off, but suddenly saw Dustin.  He had always picked on her and was probably mad that Mark had told him to stop, and so she automatically ducked behind a nearby car.  He was walking right towards her though, and Danny looked around for somewhere to hide.  She saw a door to the school music hall she had never noticed before.  It was close enough that she could make it to the door and stay behind cars.  She quickly began to run towards the door, stooped over so Dustin wouldn’t see her.  Reaching it, she quickly opened and ducked inside, pulling the door shut behind her.

  Instantly Danny knew something was wrong.  She had no idea where she was.

   She was standing in the middle of a large field.  She could see a huge city in the distance, several in fact.  She turned back to the door to let herself out, but the door was no longer there.

What do you think?  I'd love to hear your comments!

New Blog!

My friend Rachel and I have started a new blog!  It is called Trailblazer's College Talk and offers practical encouragement for the "college-age" years!  Come check it out at


http://trailblazerscollegetalk.blogspot.com


Be sure to follow us and tell all your friends about it!