How Great Thou Art

Been really, really, blessed by this song lately. Makes me think about how awesome God is. From creation, to sending his son to die in my place on the cross. Where I deserved to die. We talked tonight in Bible Study tonight about Jesus Christ who knew no sin, became sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 -- For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (ESV)

Really love the lyrics to this song.

That's all for today, ~JD

It's time....

Hey everyone,

I finally decided it was time to update my blog. Well, since the last post a few things have happened:

1) I had to have surgery a few weeks back, it was kind of sudden, but no worries. It's done, I've healed, never felt better. :)

2) Me and my Brother started a new school class with some other homeschoolers. It's a speech class. It's an ok class, in my opinion. The part that I dislike the most is writing the speeches, I have a hard time thinking of things to write about, and when I do think of something it's hard for me to get it to the amount of time it has to be. All in all, it's a pretty good class. :)

3) Our cousins came down for a few days. Our cousins who only come down a few times a year or less, got to come down this weekend, and we celebrated Thanksgiving a little early. But never fear, we are celebrating it again tomorrow. ;)

I have soo much in my life to be thankful for and tomorrow is just one of the 365 days a year I should be thankful for them. We take so much in life for granted. All things are a gift from God. So I thought I'd share some of the things God has given me that is I'm thankful for.

1) I'm thankful for a loving God, who sent his son to die in my place, so that I may have eternal life. Thankful for his grace and mercy, on someone like me who deserves nothing.

2) I'm thankful for an amazing family, who help me, encourage me, make me laugh, love me, and who I can have the best of times with.

3) I'm thankful for my friends, my amazing friends, who encourage me, and make me laugh. :)

4) I'm thankful for God's Word. Too many times have I ignored this great book. It's such an amazing book, with such amazing truth. I know sometimes I can read the Bible and not really think of it as true. Reading it like a fictional book. But I have to remind myself "Wow! This really happened!" And stand in awe of what God did for me, and is doing in my life daily.


Well, I just wanted to come here and give you guy's an update on life. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. :)

~JD

Favorite Passage...

This is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. :)


God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
(Psalm 46 ESV)

That's all for now!

~JD

Sorry!!!!

You guys have heard this too many times. Wow, guys, it's been a month since my last post!! And for that I apologize. Sadly, the reason for this, is pure laziness. Not a whole lot going on in life right now, just trying to keep up with school. Near the end of September, our church had their Awana 2012 Kickoff, which was awesome! We had some pretty awesome  pictures of it too, which might have been deleted by accident. But anyway we had some pretty nice action shots, especially of a skit some of my friends put on. Such talented kids they are. :) 


Other than school, and the Awana Kickoff, we have been doing Monday Night Football with our homeschool group which has been awesome! But wow, it has also been an eye-opener to how out of shape I really am! 

But never fear, whenever I don't post, you can ready my friend's blogs, which our 10x better! :) 

Well, sorry for this long-time coming, and really short post! 



~JD

A Little Overwhelmed...

Well, my hypothesis proved to be correct, school is a little overwhelming and I'm only on Day 3. See, it's already done something to me I used the word "hypothesis" in a sentence. Who does that? Oh  well, the good news is the weekend is almost here! :D But school is still pretty great. My most challenging subject though would have to be Algebra. It my worst subject, that has to say something when I'm taking British Literature too. Today we studied about Beowulf. :O Enough said. Let's just say Old English is not quite my forte'. I could barely understand the story. Well, I have schoolwork yet to do, books to be read, books to write.

That's all for now,

~JD

Goodbye....

Well, it's time to say goodbye to summer. And hello to a new school year!! Wohoo! We are starting school tomorrow, and I must say my school schedule looks a little overwhelming. But I'm ready to get back into school. I don't really think I have more classes than I've had before, just a lot more work in each class. Hope you all have a good school year, whether you've already started, or are starting soon. Hope you enjoyed your summer, at least what we saw of it, as much as I did too! I'll try and post more later on this week (no promises though).

That's all for now,



~JD

Summer?

Well, it's been forever since I've updated what's been going on. One reason for that would be, not much is going on. :)

So most schools around here started school already. :O Summer is gone! And it seems like it just started. At the end of the month, I will be starting my sophomore year of high school! High school. So much different than middle school. More homework. More classes need to be taken to get my credits so I can graduate. But at least, I enjoy doing school, mostly.

This summer even though gone by way to fast, was fun!

1) At the beginning of summer we went camping with our cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents ect. That was really fun. Wen't canoeing for the first time.

2) We started a park thing with our youth group, called "English in the Park". It's been such a great time. We go to the park and talk with the kids and parents who come, we play games with them, and then we have a short message at the end. The kids have been so amazing!

3) Our family has been going through the book of 2 Timothy, for a Bible Bee program that we are doing. It has been really good, doing that study of 2 Timothy, and memorizing bible passages.

4) Kings Pointe! We went to Kings Pointe with our homeschool group. That was amazing! :D

There are more things we did this summer but I'm gonna stop for now. Even though the summer went way to fast, it was still an awesome one. But I'm ready to get back to school. Yup, that's right. I like school, i'm weird like that. Well, that's all for now, i'll try and post more often from now on.

~JD

More Precious than Gold

Hey, it's me again. Sorry, once again that I let it get so long since I wrote a blog post. Today, I thought I would recommend a book to you guys. The book I'm recommending is called "More Precious than Gold: The Fiery Trial of a Family's Faith" by John & Brenda Vaughn. 

That is what the book looks like. And yes, I thought it was an amazing book. It's an autobiography which means that the people who the story is about wrote this book. And here is the summary of the book: 

With faith refined by this fiery trial and restored by God's grace, the Vaughns are later able to see gold come from the ashes of their former life. Their marriage develops a 'priceless oneness' as John and Brenda cling to each other as never before, John's ministry grows from a small church of 35 people to a church 1,000 members strong. 

Overall it was a really great book, and I'd reccomend it to everyone. :) 

That's all for now,

~JD

Nature Mash-up

It's me again, and just wanted to post a video for you guys. It's an awesome video, and you should really watch it:

Hope you liked this video as much as I did:

That's all for now,

~JD

Postponed......

Hey it's me again,
So yesterday I was planning on putting a skit that me and Joy are working on. Yet it didn't happen, we ran into some difficulties along the way.

1) Fixing the kinks, in the play. I wrote it in like an hour, so there are kinks that needed to be fixed.
2) Getting our parts just right, having the right reactions to what were saying.
3) One of the most difficult, was keeping a straight face. For those of you who know me, it is practically impossible for me to win the "no smiling" game. So just think how it is for me trying to act? :)

So there were some more difficulties, but I just was going to let you know, that hopefully I will have it up in this next week. Sorry,

But for now here is another blog that you should check out:

Room for More is a blog written by some friends of ours. It's a great blog, and always a good read. It's our good friends T-bird, Rye-bread, and Sunshine's families blog. So if you've read Two Twinkies in a Ding Dong World, or Bursts of Sunshine's blog. You know that their family has to have a good one too. And it's awesome. Go ahead and check it out...


That's all for now,

~JD

Another Movie Monday...

Hi, it's me again. Ready to post another movie for you guys. This weeks movie is "Flywheel". You know the drill, here's the B&N summary:

Weary of the masks he wears and the lies he tells, an unscrupulous used car salesman resolves to win back his wife, become a better role model for his son, and stop ripping off his unsuspecting customers in the inspirational feature directorial debut of Facing the Giants director Alex Kendrick. Jay Austin (Kendrik) is the kind of used car salesman that customers fears most - dishonest, manipulative, and constantly smiling as he sends another lemon driving off the lot. Eventually Austin's deceptive ways catch up with him, prompting him to take serious stock of his life from the ground up. Now, as Austin begins working to get his classic convertible back on the road, the repairs he performs under the hood begin to reflect the personal transformation that he is going through at home and at work. Determined to turn his life around for good this time, Austin soon finds out just how good things can get when he begins applying the philosophy of Jesus Christ to everyday life. 


It's a great movie and if you haven't seen it yet. You totally should check it out.


Here's the trailer as well,

As the trailer states: Before "Facing The Giants", Sherwood Pictures had a $20,000 budget, and a movie called "Flywheel". So you may notice it's not as good of quality as the others, but still a great movie. With a great message.


That's all for now,


~JD

Outgoing Grace.....

Yup, this post is also about Grace. Grace is (how do I put this in a couple words) totally outgoing to complete strangers. So me, and my Mom were going to run some errands the other day, and Grace was out on the porch waiting for us. Before we go any further, Grace is totally addicted to this spray water bottle. She will spray anyone, anything, anywhere. Whether its us walking around the house, or little cracks in the sidewalk. It has to be sprayed. So Grace was out on the porch waiting for us, and I walk out the door and hear this lady, walking by say "No, I don't want sprayed." And then walked off. Ummm Ok?

We found out later, that Grace had a conversation with the lady somwhat like this.

(Lady that we don't even know walking down the sidewalk passing by our house.)

Grace: Do you want me to spray you?
Lady: Excuse Me?
Grace: Do you want me to spray you?
Lady: I'm sorry, what?
Grace: Do you want sprayed?
Lady: No, I don't want sprayed.

Oh Grace, you are funny....

Well, anyway that was a little embarrasing, but funny.

That's all for now,


~JD

Toddler Mischief.....

Hey, 

It's me again, just a little toddler mischief yesterday that I wanted to share with you. My three year old sister, just got her bangs cut the other day by Mom. So anyway, that night, Me, my sister Anne, and Tallguy were watching a movie. And of course Grace was still as hyper as ever bouncing around. I told her if she would just lay down she would fall asleep. So when I went back to the living room, I saw her laying on the couch. Yes! Her hyperness was gone. She was getting tired. So Anne took her up stairs and the next morning we saw why she was just laying down being all good yesterday night. :) She had gone behind the couch that night, and took some scissors with her. She must of wanted to be like Mom, and cut her bangs. So she did. And this is what she looks like now:

That's all for today,




~JD

Movie Monday (3rd edition)

Hey again,
Sorry it has been so long since my last post. But I'm ready to start again, and start off this week with another Movie Monday segment. Yup, it's been awhile. So today's movie is "Grace Card". This is one of the best movie I've ever seen. 






So here is the Barnes and Noble summary:


This earnest evangelical drama draws inspiration from the Bible verse Hebrews 4:16 "We will find grace to help us when we need it" in its tale of a police officer named Bill "Mac" McDonald Micahel Joiner whose life is shattered and his faith severely challenged when he loses his son in a tragic accident. Eighteen years of rage and hostility ensue, marked by rapidly crumbling relationships with his family members and strained relationships on the force. Events reach a fever pitch, however, when Mac gets partnered up in the squad car with Sam Wright Michael Higgenbottom, an African-American ordained minister-turned-cop with a loving and supportive family. Despite the many obstacles standing in the way, the men gradually work toward overcoming their differences and helping one another.


And here is the preview for the movie:

                                                       


So I really loved this movie. Sorry again, for not posting forever. 


~JD

Perpetua....

Lately, me and my family have been going through the book of 2nd Timothy. It is for the Bible Bee (Shelby Kennedy Foundation Bible Bee) program that we have been doing. So far it has been a really good book study, and yesterday they shared a story about a girl who was strong in the faith and not ashamed of God. So here is what I got from the Bible Bee workbook, but I will give you the actual link at the end. Here you go:

How Does it feel to be condemned to die?
History holds an amazing record of this exact experience. The diary of Perpetua, a young North African believer, tells the story of the days between her imprisonment and death as a martyr in 202 A.D.
The Problem: Second-century language doesn't communicate well to modern ears. Please enjoy this present-day adaption in which Perpetua's diary becomes a series of blog posts:

Day 1: No Other Name

Arrested. I never thought it would happen, but it did. When Daddy, who doesn't believe, realized what was happening, he tried to shake my determination to stand up under such pressure.
 "Dad," I said, "See this vase?"
 "Sure."
 "Could we call it a broom, a truck, or anything else?"
 "No. It is what it is."
 "And so am I. No other name besides 'Christian' fits."
Fire blazed in his eyes as he made a quick, angry motion then stopped. In another moment, he left. He and his arguments disappeared. I don't know what the future holds, but I know the One I trust.

Day 6: Rest

Long days. Desperate times. But today, two kind, believing friends bribed the soldiers to move my friends and me into a better part of the prison for a few hours. The quieter, cleaner atmosphere brought us rest and peace. Soon afterward, my family brought my son so I could nurse him. My mother and brother seem so torn up. Watching them hurt is worse than my own pain. But guess what God did? He made a way for me to keep my baby with me! This precious gift of time took away my worry and turned my prison into a palace. Suddenly, I'd choose to stay here rather than anywhere else. Thanks for that gift, Father. And thanks for your faithfulness. Always.

Day 17: Vision

God speaks through dreams and visions. I accept that as truth. But what if the vision reveals something you'd rather not see?
Not long ago, I asked God to use a vision to show me the future. So why was I surprised when He did?
I saw a narrow ladder that reached up to the heavens. Its sides carried sharp, spiked metal weapons, designed to keep people away. I almost stayed away myself. A gruesome dragon lay at the ladder's base, but I followed my friend upward with only a small hesitation. At the top, we found a beautiful garden, thousands of people in white, and a white-robed shepherd. The cool sweetness of the sheep's milk he gave us woke me up to share my dream with my brother.
We agree on its meaning: Our hope lies not in this world. Suffering will come before heaven's sweetness. And we are not ashamed. We know whom we have believed, and He- only He- is able.

Day 24: Interruption

A few days have passed. People whispered about a hearing. Soon, Daddy came again to persuade me away from my faith.
 "If you won't think about yourself, think about your family," he pleaded. "Your death will destroy us all, from young to old. If you persist, none of us will ever speak freely again."
He spoke out of his deep love. How could I not feel his hurt? But as a follower of Christ, how could I follow his instructions?
 "Daddy," I responded. "All will go according to that of the Father's will. Our fate rest in His hands-- not those of man."
He left, his face stony. I wept. I had no other choice.

Day 35: Steadfast

More days have passed. Today, the guards rushed us off for our hearing. One by one, my comrades admitted their guilt. My turn, and Daddy again appeared with my baby.
 "Perform the sacrifice!" he said. "Save yourself and your child!"
The governor added his voice: "Don't you care about either your father or your child? Offer the sacrifice to our rulers!"
I had no choice "I bow to no emperor, no governor, no earthly king. I will offer no worship except to my God."

A short time later, Perpetua and her four comrades were killed in a brutal stadium celebration. She remained steadfast in her resolve never to worship anyone but the one true God. Perpetua knew whom she believed-- and He was able.



I just thought that was an amazing story and wanted to share it with you all. If you would like the link that the Bible Bee book provided here it is:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/perpetua.html

Have a great day,

~JD

Thoughts on Writing: 2nd Edition

Hey it's me again, and I thought it was time to update my blog again. So I was gonna write a little more about writing. :) From my last post about writing I was in a middle of a book that I am writing. Story/Book whatever you would like to call it. And yet again, I have reached the "writers block" stage. Uggh, the stage where my mind quits working. Ideas stop coming and I'm stumped at what to write next. Hopefully, soon I will be able to continue with my book. I'm 7 chapters in which is probably the furthest I have ever gotten in one of my stories so this one is definitely one that I would like to finish. The worst part for me is I have a plot and once I write out my plot, I don't have a way to get the characters out of the dilemma I have put them in. :) That for me is my "writers block" problem. But I really enjoy writing stories/books anyway. It is one of my hobbies. So this is just a short update on my writing. Hope I didn't make you guys bored, and hope that this made some sense. :)

That's all for now,

                                                                         ~JD

Umm.....

I love that picture! Now, yes I'm alive. And sorry for not posting in forever! I'm here now and going to update you on the recent happenings. At the beginning of this month, we went to our annual family camp with our cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. This year we went to a really nice cabin that was right next to a lake. The lake was really nice too. We had so much fun, here are some pics:

                                               The Cabin that we stayed in. :)

                                                                    The boat that we got to use.

                                                 We had some pretty awesome scenery pics.

                                                   Grace is saying goodbye to somebody. :)

                                                               More pics of the cabin.

                                                             Cousins on the dock.

                                                     The small beach that we had.

                                                     Me, Tallguy, and my cousin canoeing.

 And another scenery picture. :)

That was just a small glimpse of the awesome time that we had. And that is all that I'm gonna post for now. But again I'm sorry for not posting in forever. And all you Fathers out there: I hope you have a great Father's Day and that your kids let you know how much they love and appreciate you. I have the best Dad anybody could ask for, we all love and appreciate him so much. That's all for now,

Happy Fathers Day,

~JD

Friday Funny...a day late! :)

Here is something I thought that you guys might enjoy, at least it's something that me and my family got some laughs out of. If you have ever seen somebody after they got their wisdom teeth out, i've heard it is pretty funny.  Especially the stories my Dad brought back when my brother got his out. Well here is a funny video:

                                                             


Well that is all for today, I hope you enjoyed it...

~JD



                                                                     

Lightning....

So the other night we got a thunderstorm, and I was laying in bed watching the lightning. God is so amazing in his creation, and lightning is by far one of my favorite. It is so cool to look God's awesome creation. So here are some pictures of lightning that I got off google, that I thought were cool:

And if you haven't seen fire lightning before. It's awesome... :) I couldn't really find any pictures of it. So that is all for this short post. Hope you guys had an awesome weekend.

~JD

                                                   

Awesome Week!!

Before I start there is another blog you should totally check out! Dingy, but Loved is a blog written by my good friend Bugg. Bugg is fun to be around, funny, an awesome fiddle player, and has an amazing talent for writing. Her posts are a great read. I hope you guys will check it out.

So this past week was awesome... a little busy, but awesome! So here is a glimpse of what we did this week:

Monday: This is the day that I don't really remember doing anything except for a little school... :)

Tuesday: The regular shopping, still doing school, relaxing a little bit. :)

Wednesday: The day where we helped one of the families in our church move. :( It was sad to see them go, but I am happy for them. And after that we went and played an awesome game of Ultimate Frisbee right before Bible Study. :)

Thursday: Algebra.....Algebra.....Algebra.... ;)

Friday: Was our annual homeschool Track and Field day. It was awesome. We had an awesome time and for anybody that was there and didn't go through the right side of the hot dog servers we're sorry that it took so long.. JK! Hahahaha we all worked together and beat record time. :) And then that night we went to our friend Buggs house for a bonfire, Ultimate Frisbee, and soccer. And I got to meet some new people. :) That was soo much fun.


Saturday: Saturday we slept in late..ok I slept in late.. until ten. And we went to a wedding that day, and right after we went to my hyper-buddy, awesome friend, Katie's graduation. And then we went to PeachWave. Pictures will come at a later time. :)

Hope you all had as good of a week as I did.



~JD

                                                                     

Movie Monday...Continues

Yes, it's that time of week again! This Monday's Movie is "Facing the Giants." Its one of the best movie that I've seen. Here is the summary from barnes and noble.

                                                                  

            A failing high-school football coach finds that in order to succeed he must convince his team that there's more to sports than fame and glory in an inspirational tale of courage on the gridiron and the power of God's word. Grant TaylorAlex Kendrick has been coaching the Shiloh Eagles for six years, and he has yet to realize his dream of a winning season. When the team's star player transfers schools, the first three games of the new season show no promise for improvement, troubles at home begin to take their toll, and a plot among the player's fathers to have him fired finds his future in football looking bleak, Coach Taylor is faced with the prospect of either cutting his losses and admitting defeat or turning his life over to God in an attempt to test the true power of faith. With his job on the line and nothing left to lose, Coach Taylor convinces his determined team of underdogs that there's nothing they can't accomplish with a little faith -- including the miracle of a winning season when all hope seems lost. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This movie is a must-see! Here is the trailer...

                                                                

I love this movie because, it reminds me of how awesome God is. How he can take something so little, and do something great with it! 

"For nothing will be impossible with God." Luke 1:37

~JD

                                             

The Best of the Blogs!

So today I am just going to share with you some of the best blogs ever!! Let's start off with some:

Two Twinkies  is a blog written by two awesome friends. Rye-bread and T-bird are awesome, funny, amazing, and they both are just plain fun to be around. They have one of the best blogs I've ever seen! You should totally check it out. Their posts are amazing, creative, and are fun to read. They both have an amazing talent for writing. So what are you waiting for... Check it out! :)

The next blog is written by my good friend Katie! She is soo fun, hyper, creative, fun to be around and a great writer, and great friend! Bursts of Sunshine is an awesome blog that you should totally check out it's one of the best blogs ever! This blog is definitely a fun-filled read! Well go ahead and.. Check it out! :)


The next blog is written by my good friend Blondie! Blondie is really hyper...ALL THE TIME! She is a great friend, funny,  and fun to be around. Live to Love is her blog, that she just started this past week! So.... Check it out! :)


The next one is by the best drama teacher anybody could ask for! Kandt Chronicles is a great blog that is written by her. Her posts are always fun to read. They are always interesting, I look forward to more posts!  Go ahead and check it out! :)



More of the best blogs ever will come at a later time! That's all for now...



~JD

New Segment!!!

Yes! It's true! It's called "Movie Monday"! It's a new segment on my blog that I will share with you some movies that I have watched, and enjoyed! If you haven't figured it out yet, this blog is soo random. :) Anyway, let's start off with the first movie: 

Yup that's right! Courageous! I loved this movie soo much.. it is by far one of the BEST movies I have ever seen! If you haven't watched courageous yet here is a summary:   


                                            Four police officers attempt to put their faith in God after a sudden and unexpected tragedy transforms their lives forever. Produced by Sherwood Pictures, the Christian production company behind such popular films as Fireproof, and Facing The Giants, Courageous follows dedicated cops Adam Mitchell and Nathan Hayes as they work with their partners to keep the streets safe. But when these devoted peacekeepers face the challenge of fatherhood, both their faith and devotion to family are put to the ultimate test. In the aftermath of a devastating calamity, they are faced with a difficult choice that will ultimately come to define their lives. Fortunately, a wise mentor appears to help them understand that man's ambition and God's will aren't always in perfect harmony. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi. (Thanks to Barnes and Noble where I got this for a summary.)
:)


You guys should totally check out this movie if you haven't! Here is the trailer:

                                               


So that's all for today! Prepare for more "RANDOM" posts in the future. :)




~JD

It is well...

Today, I thought I would share with you a story, about a man named Horatio Gates Spafford.

Horatio was the author of a hymn many of you might know "It is Well". The Spafford family had their share of hard times. Their only son died of scarlet fever when he was four years old. Only a year later, the Spaffords had invested a lot of money into real estate that was wiped out in the Chicago Fire of 1871. These recent events had been hard for the family. Horatio saw this, and decided his family needed to take a trip and get away. He decided to take his family to England for a holiday. They had also decided to help their good friend. D.L. Moody (who was traveling on one of his evangelistic campaigns). The Spafford family had planned on joining D.L. Moody in 1873. Just when they were about to set sail, a last minute business complication came up that Horatio had to deal with. He didn't want to ruin the family vacation, he told his wife and kids to go ahead and he would be there as soon as he could. Spafford went to Chicago to deal with the business, and got a telegram from his wife just nine days later that read "Saved Alone".



On the 2nd of November 1873, the ship that the Horatio, family had left on collided with another ship. The ship sank in about ten minutes. Which took 226 lives, including that of the Spafford family's four girls. Horatio immediately left on a ship to join his wife. Who knows what Horatio was feeling? But during all this hardship, he wrote this one song.

Thoughts on writing...

One of the things that I love to do is write. Whether that includes, writing my blog posts, and most of all I love writing books/stories, whatever you would call them. But it is so much fun! Mysteries. That is what I mostly write about. I started writing another book lastnight. An idea popped into my head of a story and how it would start, and so I wrote it down. I found out from one of the authors that I like, that the books they write are around 70,000 to 90,000 words. And those books are usually about 280-350 pages long depending on some stuff. But thats a pretty good size book. And so lastnight, I wrote 2,000 words. Which is about 4 pages on Microsoft Works. I don't have a title for it yet. (That is one of the hardest things for me, and names of course) But I just really enjoy writing. I have a problem though. It's called "writer's block". Its when you write until you are stumped, and can't figure out what else to write. I come upon that with all of my books. As a matter of fact, as I went through my stories/books, a couple nights ago. I found the alot of them are still to be finished. They are one of those books that I have a BIG idea for, but when I run out of ideas I just stop. I hope that is not the case in two of my books I am writing now. I have the one I started, lastnight. And then another one that I started a couple months ago. That one is progressing, slowly, but surely. I am up to about 8,000 words in that one (14 pages on Microsoft Works.) So this post was kind of random.  I just thought I would let you know about one of my hobbies and how it is going. I'll post soon, later this week I'm sure about something else that is random. That's all for now.



~JD

Drama Ends. :(

So yesterday we finished up our drama class. We put on two shows that turned out really well. The crowd was great and laughed alot! It was so fun to get up there and act for them, but most of all for God. It is amazing what God can do through something like this. He can take a drama program about the Sermon on the Mount and burden someones heart to come to church to learn more. He can burden somebody to ask more questions about God and what he has done. I am so glad that I was a part of this drama ministry. It was fun, but it was about giving God glory! I met some new people and friended them. Now I leave this drama class with good friendships and a feeling of accomplishment. The directors and helpers were amazing too! They helped so much with this production, and we couldn't have done it without them. 




Also, today, my sister-in law, and brother left after their one week of visiting. :( If you could keep them in your prayers for a safe drive. Its a long way from Iowa to Florida. 

Sorry about not updating Monday, It totally slipped my mind. Thats all for now!

~JD

Surprise!!!

Hey!! Yup, I'm still alive! Sorry I haven't written in awhile. So this morning I woke up to a laugh that I recognized. It was my sister-in-laws laugh. My brother and my sister-in-law moved to Florida, last August. And so we haven't seen them since. So when I heard that laugh, I was like I must be dreaming. But sure enough, I heard some more voices and then recognized my brothers. I shot out of bed, and rushed down the stairs, along with my other siblings who had obviously, heard them too. Sure enough, they were talking in the kitchen with my parents! I was so excited to see them! Since we haven't seen them since last August it was awesome! I am so glad to have them here.... and can't wait for what this next week brings. Hahaha this was waaayy to short for a blog post but I'm gonna post it anyway! :) I will try and update tomorrow (which will be pretty busy, so don't get your hopes up) lol, or Monday. I will try to the best of my ability! Hope you all have a great weekend! 

 Oh, and btw, if you have a friend/sibling/ etc. that is a long ways away. Be careful, what you tell them you will do if they come home. Because they might just surprise you, and expect you to take them to that certain place you promised. HuHot was awesome!! :D LOL (long story)



~JD

Weekend Randomness...

This weekend we went to see my Sister (Anne) in College. The trip down there is roughly about 3 hours. But to me it felt like 45 minutes to maybe an hour. (And no I didn’t sleep at all.) J We got there, and stayed with a lady from my sister's church. She was so nice, joyful, hospitable, and just plain nice. J We then went to the college ate supper, and played in the Student Center. We played ping-pong, pool, fooseball, and the Wii. It was a fun night, and then it was time to sleep. Sunday Morning it was Easter, and we went to Anne’s Church for breakfast, she invited us down there for her Easter Cantata, which was amazing by the way. We listened to a message. And then it was time to go home. And yet again it seemed like a really short trip (for me.) (Still didn’t sleep.) J And so that was basically our weekend. It was an amazing trip and we always love the chance to see our sister. Hope you all had an amazing Easter, and didn’t get to caught up into your traditions, to forget what Easter is all about. The day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection  after he died for our sins. He has risen from the grave, and he will never die again. This was kind of a short post, but there will be more. Hope you all had as good of a weekend as I did.



He Lives!!

~JD

　

Lincoln Trip.....

This past Saturday, our family went to Lincoln, NE for Tallguy's first Judo tournament. Although it was a long car ride, it was worth it. Lincoln is awesome. We saw the Huskers stadium! And then it was time for his tournament. Here are some pictures of the tournament:

                                                    What would be a road trip without Skittles??

                              Tallguy wasn't being cooperative with the camera but I finally got a picture. :)

                                                  Somebody is a little excited!! :)

                                           Tallguy and his Judo friends.

                                                Getting everyone all lined up.

                                                 Tallguy in his first match.

                                                   

                                                  Tallguy's second match.

                                                   Tallguy getting his first place medal.

                                                 
Needless to say, the trip was long, but it was worth it. It was fun and it is interesting to watch. :) Tallguy ended up coming in 1st place!! For his first tournament it was a good one. That's all for now, and sorry for not updating this often.

~JD

The Weekend!!

Happy Friday!! The day where we stay up late, finish up all the school work for the weekend, watch movies, play games, and spend time with family and friends. This week was awesome! Monday we did school.... and then pretty much just chilled in the afternoon. Tuesday..... School..... and then we had alot of fun at Drama Class, with some Amazing Friends!! :) Wednesday..... School...... the kids went to Awana, and we went to Bible Study. This week's Bible Study was prayer night which was amazing. We also learned an African song, (earlier this month, some friends of ours went to Shone, Ethiopia which is in Africa and learned this song while they were their so they taught it to us.) That was awesome to learn. Thursday.... Mom's birthday!!! We are so blessed to have an awesome Mom like her. And then Thursday of course..... School.... and then we headed back to Drama Class, and worked on the music for the play. Yes its a musical!! Well that's all for now and I will leave you with one of my favorite bible passages:

Isaiah 40:28-31:

²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
     his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹ but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Have an awesome weekend,

JD