Writing the Joy of Every Glorious Day...

Nov. 8, 2009 -

Well, guys, sorry I haven't posted in such a while. Things have been pretty hectic, as usual :-) Everything is back in full swing. Piano lessons, school, speech, debate, church, a full load! Debate alone could take up all my time! We're having our first couple practice debate rounds this Tuesday. Please pray that they go well and we all learn a lot. Thankfully, my mom is the only one who has been sick so far this year. She had a weird virus for about a week where she was really tired and achy all the time, but we all took good care of her and she's 100% better now! And thank goodness, nobody caught it from her. School is going pretty well. I took a bunch of tests last week, the hardest one being an algebra 2 exam. Blech! I do not like math :P My other subjects are going great. Even Chemistry! Ha ha. I am really enjoying my history course this year. It is the book Streams of Civilization 2. World history stuff. But I am also looking forward to studying American history next year. My theology course is helping a lot with one of the speech categories, apologetics. In apologetics there are one-hundred questions about defending your faith such as "Explain the meaning and significance of divine inspiration" and you have to try to write 6-minute speeches for as many of them as possible. It is a really great speech event but it takes a lot of time and work. My Dad is teaching it this year, so that is really helpful :-) I ask him all kinds of questions! Hope everyone is doing well! ~Christine

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Sep. 16, 2009 -

Soooo. How is everybody doing? Hmm...what am I going to post about.*Think think think* Well. Godsdaughter made me a wonderful new blog button (actually, my FIRST blog button) so if anyone is interested in having that, you can ask me, but I would recommend asking her!! Hehehe, sorry to put that on you, Ariel. You see, everyone, I am just slightly technically challenged and it was something of a trial getting that button on my blog to begin with! So, it would probably be best for you to go straight to her :D if you want to use the button. Or I guess you can ask me and I'll ask her for ya if you're not already friends with her!

Speech and debate has continued well. I gave that persuasive speech I was telling you about to the class last night and it went very well. I was able to get some very good feedback, and I really just enjoyed giving the speech. I will be posting it under here so if you have a few minutes to read that, I would really appreciate it. I need to have time to revise the speech with everyone's criticism and have it re-memorized by February 11, 2010. Of course, I would prefer to have it done before that date, but that is the latest date possible for you to turn in your thoughts! I'm sure you can do it by then, right?! ; )

School is also going well. I have been able to keep up with my older sister pretty well in chemistry and somewhat in algebra 2. Although they are both a challenge! I am so glad that Dad is home to be able to help us with those subjects. I don't know what I would have done about that if he was on deployment! It is very nice to have him home : )

My birthday is coming up this month! September 26th. I am thinking that I will have a couple friends over for a sleepover and then we will go to a really fun tea house that I know of, downtown here. It is called Reynold's Tavern, and I actually went there last year for my birthday with my mom and sister. It is really fun to get dressed up and go down there. You get your own pot of tea, and scones and little sandwhiches and everything which equals = very enjoyable experience :P

I hope everyone is doing well and has a chance to read the speech posted below my signature!

In Christ,

Christine

A Persuasive Oratory on The Persecuted Church

By Christine Daae

Gao Zhisheng was arrested for the first time on February 4th, 2005 by secret police in his home-town. Since that time he has often been arrested by Chinese authorities as well as being tortured and imprisoned. Zhisheng was the main founder of The Association of Human Rights Attorneys for Chinese Christians, which he began in 2006. A year later he was again arrested and this time spent over fifty days in prison, while being tortured severely. Finally, in February, 2009 he was again arrested and is currently still imprisoned. Zhisheng has never hurt anyone, or stolen anything. So why is he so repeatedly being arrested? The answer is quite simple, really, Gao Zhisheng is a Christian and was trying to organize other Christians. Now this answer may sound strange to you because we live in a country of religious freedom, right? Perhaps not. Today, let's first look at the persecuted church around the globe, second the persecution going on in the US, and finally, what we should be doing to stop this persecution.

The Bible is an illegal book in fifty-two countries. Some of those countries include: Turkey, China, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Now think about it this way. China alone makes up about 20% of the world's population. If it is illegal for that 20% to read the Bible, that is 1, 330, 044, 544 people who are not getting the gospel message. Yes, there are missionaries to China, but their job is not an easy one. Dozens of Christians in China spent this past Christmas in prison, just for organizing Christmas Eve services, or small study meetings. Chinese pastors are being forced to labor camps, such as Mao Minzi, who was arrested and sent to a labor camp, simply for organizing a house church meeting. This fifty-five year old man was sentenced to a year in a forced labor camp, just a week after a raid on the house church meeting which he had organized. This raid also confiscated Christian books and other materials. The examples of Gao Zhisheng, Mao Minzi and the other Chinese pastors, should be enough to at least give us a desire to support them, even join them. I will talk more about ways to join and support their cause, later in this speech.

Now you may be thinking "okay sure, that sounds terrible and everything, but how does it affect me? I mean, none of that stuff is going on in the US right?" Well, it is true that nobody in the United States in being held in prison for being a Christian. But there are forms of Christian persecution even in the US. Today, many Christian doctors in the US are being sued if they refuse to perform abortions. During the Bush Administration, a federal rule was enacted, stating that Christian physicians could refuse to perform services such as contraconception, abortions, and other services that they found went against the Bible and their beliefs. The rule was still being enforced on the day that President Obama took office. Now, President Obama is working to reverse this order, which will cause many physicians around the country to resign or even to be fired, in the case that they refuse to perform these medical services. Another example of Christian persecution in the United States is that of the gay rights being given more freely every day. When a Christian photographer refuses to photograph a gay or Lesbian marriage, he or she can very easily be fired, and many are being fired around the country today. Others simply resign if they are asked to do such a job as this. On May 24, 2006, a federal district court judge in Harrisburg, PA, violated the freedom of speech rights for two street pastors who were preaching against homosexuality just outside of a Pride Fest event. The two pastors were outside of the event in a place used as a park, so they were not arrested for where they were preaching, but for the content of their message. The two police officers who arrested them, first tried to create a fifty-foot no-speech zone, before their arrest. Thankfully, another judge stepped in and proclaimed this ruling unconstitutional and the order was taken away, but this is just the beginning of more persecution to come to Christians in the United States.

At the beginning of this speech, I told you about a man in China, named Gao Zhinsheng. Just as a reminder, Gao has been repeatedly arrested and tortured for his beliefs. He is currently being held prisoner and many people around the world are doing something to issue his release. People can sign a petition pleading for his release, through a group called the Voice of Martyrs. The Voice of Martyrs ministry offers books, radio broadcasts, and a free monthly newsletter to those who want to get involved in the release and aid of Christians around the world. On their website, www.persecution.com, you can sign up for their newsletter, find a group in your area to get involved with, join online discussions, and even write letters to some of those who are being persecuted right now. As I speak thousands of people are desperately trying to get the attention of government officials in China, to secure the release of Gao Zhinsheng, through the Voice of Martyrs website and the petition which they have available to sign. Please take this step. Take one step closer with us, closer to the enlightening of the burden on Christians around the world. If you want to get involved with stopping the Christian persecution in the US, there are also things for you to do. Remember, that even if you are not a Christian, this fight for religious freedom, still involves you. When we allow our government to force doctors to perform services against their will, and when the government does not allow pastors to speak on the issues that they find important, we are allowing the government to take our liberty away from us, piece by piece. So here are a few things that you and I can do to prevent this from happening. First of all, pray. We must pray for the spiritual battle which is taking place right now. We cannot fight this battle on our own. We desperately need God's intervention. Next, we should educate ourselves, and our friends on what is going on in the lives of many Christians, and how we can help. One way to do this would be to read the books "The Narrow Road" by Brother Andrew, or "Tortured for Christ" by Richard Wurmbrand, founder of The Voice of Martyrs. These books both give vivid details on what is the true story behind the walls of the Christian church. Finally, join the fight by becoming an advocate for the church. There are many ways to do this, but just a few include writing a letter or an email to your Congressman, or Senator. There is no telling how far that could possibly go, towards helping the church. How about taking a short missions trip, to see the persecution around the world first-hand, and to help those who so desperately need our aid. Finally, encourage those prisoners and the workers who are suffering on the front line. Send them a gift, or just a letter or card to let them know that they are not alone.

Today, I have shown you the persecution that is very real in our world, and even our own country today. I have given you several ways that you can get involved in the battle, including pray, educate yourself and your friends, and finally how to become an advocate of the church. Now it is your turn. I urge you to take these steps toward religious freedom, and toward our country's overall liberty.

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Sep. 9, 2009 - Kayaking!!

Last weekend my sister and I did something we have never done before. Can you guess what? Oh yeah, I guess my title kind've gives it away ; ) Anyway, we went on a seven-mile kayaking trip! It was a lot of fun. We went with the same group of friends that went on a winter retreat with last year. They are midshipmen from the Naval Academy, and Arya and I are good friends with their leader's daughter. I know that sounds a little confusing. There is this Bible study group at the Academy -and at other colleges- called the Navigators. We know the family who leads the group and sometimes when they do these fun trips they invite my sister and I along! I have never done any kayaking before, so it was a learning experience. The day after I was VERY very sore too! But it was worth it, because we had such a good time hanging out with friends and trying something new.

On another fun note :D my family and I are going to our first major league baseball game tonight! It is between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals. Should be a lot of fun! My Dad, sister, and younger brothers are all huge fans of the Phillies so they have been looking forward to this for a long time. My mom and I aren't as much into baseball, but we're definitely looking forward to just spending some time together as a family. And I do enjoy an occasional baseball game ; )

Last night was our second speech and debate club meeting of the year. It went very well. I am actually enjoying debate a lot more than I thought I would so far! And it is a blessing to have my Dad teaching two of the speaking events, apologetics and extemporaneous speaking, because he can help us out a lot at home. Next week my speech assignment is to bring and deliver a five-minute persuasive speech. I actually wrote a persuasive over the summer, so I plan to bring that. It is ten minutes, but that should be fine. I was thinking about posting it on here for feedback. Let me know if you are interested! It is on the persecuted church. I don't have time to post it right now, but maybe later this week!

In Christ,

Christine

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Sep. 1, 2009 - Vacation and school...wait a minute! I can't put both of those words in the same sentence, can I???

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all your well-wishing : ) We had a great vacation. The plane ride home wasn't exactly smooth...but we made it here safely, thank the Lord. There was an hour delay and lots of turbulence, etc, etc. Anyway, we're home now.

Yesterday (Monday) we started school! It went very well, as well as today's work so far. I have Chemistry and Algebra 2 this year which are both a little daunting to me! Math and science are not my best subjects. However, my history book looks like it will be good and my literature book. Those are my favorite subjects : ) I also usually enjoy grammar, although this year my book seems exactly like the book I had last year. Well, I guess that should make it easy!

Tonight is our first speech and debate meeting of the year! I am really looking forward to it. This will be my second year of speech, first year of debate. I am a little nervous. Oh, under this post, I will be posting one of my speeches. Please read it if you have a chance, and let me know what you think! It is only the second draft, so I still have lots of editing to do! Your changes and ideas will definitely be appreciated so please read and comment. And don't worry, this is NOT that boring economics speech that I was telling you about recently ;-)

Well, I guess that about covers it! Please read the speech! I greatly appreciate your input. You'll find it right under my signature...

In Christ,

Christine

An Original Oratory

The day when I learned that my Dad was deploying to Iraq. The hour that I found out my wisdom teeth would have to be removed. And the minutes before I gave my very first speech. What do these three times have in common? Worry. Would my Dad be safe? How painful would the surgery be? My audience, would they laugh at me or reject my words? I believe that worry is one of the most debilitating emotions in our society today. When people allow themselves to worry, they are not only sinning in the eyes of God, but are also allowing themselves to be held back from doing great things. Held back by fear of what people may think of them. Today, I would like to delve into some Scriptures about worry, list several of the bad effects that worry has on our thinking, as well as pointing out some of the good effects that it has already made upon us, and finally give you some pointers on how to live a "worry-free" lifestyle.

To begin with the Scriptures, one of the most well-known verses about worry is Matthew 6:25. It says, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" You know, I think that one of the reasons that this verse is so well-known is because it really covers two of the biggest causes of worry. What we will eat and what we will wear. How often have people found themselves wondering about where their next meal will come from, or how they will be able to dress? I would like to take a moment to tell you about a man, who learned to turn over all of his cares and worries to God with prayer. His name was George Mueller and he lived in the 1800s. After spending some time in prison, George went through a miraculous change of heart and gave himself to the Lord. He then began an orphanage in Bristol, England. He ended up with several orphanages and by the end of his life, he had housed, fed and clothed over 10,000 parent-less children. Now he was not a wealthy man. No, he depended completely upon God for the money to provide for his needed buildings, clothing and food. To put your trust in God and allow Him to provide for you fully does not mean to sit back and watch for your needs to be fulfilled without working at it. It simply means to put your best effort forward and to have faith that God will reward you for that. Another verse about worry is Matthew 6:27, which says "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" The answer to this question is, of course, none of us. Worrying does nothing in the way of extending our time here on this earth. In fact, it seems to do just the opposite. This brings us to the second part of my speech, the bad effects of worry and the good effects of not worrying.

A study was recently done using samples from surveys taken between 1986-1989 and 1995-2005. The result of this study showed serious results to another type of worry. Worry about the security of your job. The surveys showed that "chronic job insecurity was a stronger predictor of poor health than either smoking or hypertension". Clearly worry does nothing to aid our struggles. Instead, it eats away at us and ends up affecting those around us also. Remember how I told you about how I was worried when I found out that my wisdom teeth were to be removed? Well, on the way to the oral surgeon's office, I expected to be quite scared. However, both of my parents lent a very relaxed feeling to me and helped my greatly in my own struggle not to worry. Later, my mom told me that she had actually been extremely nervous about the surgery, but she knew that if she had let me see her true feelings, that my nerves would only be increased. You see, by allowing herself to be calm and relaxed, my mom helped me to have the same type of attitude and put me much more at ease. Yet another example, is that of the man who I was telling you about earlier. Even when George found himself without anything to feed the orphans, he kept a completely positive attitude and saved the children from much worry themselves. And God blessed him for this, by sending him his needed items in miraculous ways. So we can see that God will bless those who obey Him by trusting in Him. But He is certainly not going to reward those who waste their time away by worrying.

Now that you understand the part that worry plays in our lives, I'm sure you want some tips on how to begin your journey down a worry-free road. The first one may seem obvious, but it is the most important of all. You absolutely must keep a personal relationship with God. Without Him in your life, you will constantly find yourself stressed and worried. And simply professing to be a Christian is not enough. You must have a day-to-day walk with Him, talking to Him in prayer and studying His Word. This, above all, will send you far on your way to living with less stress. Also you could try this. If you find yourself worrying about the worst-case scenario, think of at least five positive scenarios that could be happening instead. For example, say your daughter was supposed to be babysitting until 10 PM and you find that at 10:30 she still isn't home. Instead of immediately deciding that something terrible must have happened, try to focus on more positive scenarios, say that she got stuck in traffic on the way home, or the parents just stayed out a little later than they had planned. Don't let yourself fall into the trap of pessimism. This is exactly what God despises. He wants us to stay totally focused on Him for support and not to let our negative emotions to get in the way. One more thing that you should do if you start to worry, is simply to take action. You will feel much worse if you just sit back and imagine horrible things, when you could be actually doing something about it.

So now I have shown you what the most important source of all, the Bible, has to say about worry, discussed the negative effects that worry can have on your health and those close to you, as well as several of the good effects that not worrying leads to, and finally I gave you three pointers on how to live a more worry-free lifestyle. These included, a personal relationship with God, keeping a positive outlook, and taking action to reverse your fears, instead of just letting them grow. It is my desire to see our society worry less and trust God more.

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Aug. 23, 2009 -

Hey, I just wanted to let y'all know that we are leaving at 4:30 tomorrow morning for our vacation to Disney World so I won't be able to get back to your comments until next week. God bless and I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

In Christ,

Christine

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Aug. 21, 2009 - Short story...please read and comment!

Okay, so I know I said I was going to post my short story on the other blog, but I posted my speech over there instead, so I decided to just post this story right here for everyone. If you have a chance to read, please let me know what you think. I originally wrote this to be a speech that I would act out, but I will not be doing that anymore, so I didn't want it to just got to waste. Presenting...

Joy in the Lord's Arms

By Christine Daae

"Hello Mama", Hada said.

"Where have you been? It is late."

"Well I would like to tell you and the family about it, Mama, but I will wait until tomorrow so that I can tell you all at the same time."

"Alright, but I am expecting an explanation."

"Good night Mama".

"Good night".

Hada had a hard time sleeping that night. She tossed and turned in bed, thinking about what she would say to her devout Hindu family the next morning. How could she tell them about the underground missionary that she had met that day? How could she explain the love of Christ to her father, mother, and brothers, the way that that missionary had explained it to her? They would never understand. She got up and knelt by her bed "Dear Lord," Hada prayed to her new Father in Heaven, "Thank you so much for the sacrifice of Your Son, Lord. Help me to be a light to my family. Please let them receive your gift of salvation. Give me peace, Lord." As she climbed back into bed, a calm which she had never before experienced came over her, and she fell into a deep sleep.

*The Next Day*

"Mama, Papa, please listen! What the missionary said made sense. We need to listen to him." Hada's mother was crying. Her father, Kumar, was staring at her as if she was another person. Her two older brothers just glared at her, angrily.

"I know you have always told me not to listen to missionaries, that they told lies, but-"

"So why didn't you obey us?" her father cut her off, roaring.

"Father, please listen-"

"No, you listen. We have raised you as a Hindu child all your life. You are sixteen years old now. Do you know what happens to Christians in this country? They are killed, Hada. So stop this nonsense right now. Pray to the gods for forgiveness."

"No Papa, I can't."Hada protested, "There is only one true God, and He is the one whom I will pray to. I will pray for Him to show you the truth, just as He showed me."

"Stop it!" Hada's father screamed, "You have three days to repent of these sins, or we will throw you out of the house. Until the three days are over, you will remain in your room with no food or water."

As Hada turned to go to her room, her father laid his rough hand on her shoulder.

"And Hada."

"Yes Father?"

"Please make the right decision. We love you."

She ran to her room sobbing.

That night as Hada once more lay in her bed, restless, she again got out of her bed and knelt next to it. "Lord, please show my family your love. Please let them see that You are the only true way to Heaven, Lord. Please help me." She spent the rest of the night in prayer.

"Kumar, maybe we should listen to Hada. Perhaps this missionary whom she spoke to was right." Hada's mother pleaded with her husband.

"No," said Kumar firmly, "Hada must grow up. We cannot let our heads be turned by every new faith which comes along. Her punishment will be carried out tomorrow if she has not repented."

"Alright," said Hada's mother softly. It had been two days. The following day would be time for Hada's decision. Over the past two days no one had been allowed to enter her room. She had not even been given food or water. But what her family did not know, was that Hada had been crying out to the Lord the whole time. When she began to worry about what might happen, if she was forced to leave her home, the words that the missionary had spoken to her echoed in her mind. "Don't be afraid, Hada. The Lord is with you. He will protect you. Put your faith in Him." When she thought of those words, she knew that everything would be alright as long as she trusted in her Heavenly Father.

The next day, there was a knock at Hada's door. The door swung open, revealing Hada's family.

"Well Hada? Will you repent? Or will you force your mother and I to see our only daughter thrown out in the streets?"

"Papa," Hada began, "I know that you think I am wrong. But can you not feel the Lord prompting your heart? He wants you to believe. He wants to make you His child."

"No Hada. I will not be made to listen to this. You are wrong. After all these years of our careful training...Is that your decision then? To break your family's hearts?"

"Papa, please-" she tried to explain.

"No Hada, tell me once and for all."

"Then, yes. My decision is follow the Creator of the Universe, He Who sent His Son to be the ransom for my sins. He, Who's heart is breaking that you will not accept him, He Who loves His children and will never leave them. That is my decision."

"Then get out," hissed Kumar. Hada lifted the bag on her bed and slowly walked to the door. As she opened it she looked back over her shoulder at her family.

"Good bye Mama. Good bye Papa. Jamil. Kadesh. May God one day soon show you His truth."

Hada wandered the streets of the city for the rest of the day. The missionary who she had met had told her about a small, secret church which met in one of the poorer sections, but she couldn't find it on her own, and was afraid to ask any of the people for directions. She could not risk giving up its location. As Hada was beginning to notice the pain in her stomach for not eating for the past few days, she knelt down, there in the middle of a deserted road, to pray. "Dear God, You know everything. You know exactly how I am feeling right now. Just...show me what I should do please Father." She started as she felt a hand gently touch her shoulder. She whirled around to see a kind-faced old woman standing there.

"Hello dear. Are you a Christian?"

"Yes ma'am, I am," Hada replied honestly. Chuckling, the old woman said, "Well then, it is good to meet you. What is your name?"

"My name is Hada. Who are you?"

"My name is Anila, and I am also a believer in the Lord, Jesus Christ."

"Oh, you are? Praise the Lord! Perhaps you can help me. I am looking for the church."

"Of course I can help you. Just follow me."

Anila led Hada to the church where she met many other like believers. She struggled being seperated from her family at first, but soon she had met another young Christian man, whom she married and started a family of her own with. She prayed for her mother, father, and brothers every day and always hoped that they had evenutally found the Lord, as she had.

Once again, please let me know what you think!

Oh, and by the way, blog button #1 won the vote! Thank you all so much for your help. I never could have decided by myself. And sorry that it took me this long to let you know! Hopefully the button will be "up and running" in just a few days ; )

In Christ,

Christine

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Aug. 17, 2009 - By the third time that you rewrite your entry, you're feeling a little less enthusiastic...

AHHHHHH!!!!! I had just written my post a SECOND time and then it got deleted again!!!! AHHHH!!!! Ooh, that is so frustrating.

Okay. Let's try this again. *Deep breath*. Well, let's see. Now, I have to remember everything...what's been going on lately?? Not much actually. I finally wrapped up ninth grade a couple weeks ago and have spent the last two weeks mostly relaxing and having a nice summer break. I do have one speech for school left to write. It is an oral summary on the book Free Enterprise Economics in America. A very good book, but definitely confusing at times. I may be posting the speech on my story blog, so keep an eye out there, if you're interested. While we're on that subject, I also might post a short story that I recently wrote on that blog. Keep your eyes peeled!

Exactly a week from today we fly to Disney World! I can't wait. There is a hurricane that is somewhat threatening to our plans, but so far it seems like it's staying out of our way...I hope...! We may just get a lot of rain while we're there. Today Mom is taking us four kids to this Disney store in a mall nearby to get some shirts for the trip! It should be a lot of fun!

Last Friday my Mom's mom drove up for an overnight visit. Friday night, Dad took the boys to a baseball game, so Mom, Jordan, Grandma and I all went out to dinner and ice cream. Afterwards we came home and watched a movie. It was really nice just spending some "girl" time together : ). Grandma drove home on Saturday so she could rest up for church. It was a very nice visit.

Hope everyone is having a great summer break and getting ready for another successful year of school!

In Christ,

Christine

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Aug. 5, 2009 -

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's been a little while since my last post. I've been busy trying to finish up school for the summer. Thankfully, I should be done by the end of this week. I know, it's about time, right?! But I'm really glad, especially because our new books are on the way! And because we are going to Disney World in a couple weeks and I really need to be done before that. They're having a really great military discount there so we decided to make that our summer family vacation this year! I can't wait :-)

My brothers have been going to Cub Scout Day Camp every day this week. They're having a lot of fun. And it's nice because we're able to get a lot of big cleaning projects done while they're gone! But I miss them. They'll be all done by Friday. And they are very excited to show us all of their fine accomplishments (crafts, badges, etc.) when they do get finished :)

Also, I am debating this year for the first time, so I have been busy researching for the new resolution. It has to do with US environmental policies, so it's pretty tough! One great thing though, is that we live near the Naval Academy library which not only has great search engines, but also lots of books on current US environmental policies. I have gotten plenty of material there which I should be able to use over the year.

Well, I better get back to work on my homemade pizza! And chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for dessert! Are all of your mouths watering yet? ; )

In Christ,

Christine

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Jul. 26, 2009 -

Hey Everyone!

Well, the wisdom tooth surgery went well. I am so glad that it is all over with and I won't have to worry about it ever again! It only took about forty-five minutes. Of course I don't really remember anything from it because I was asleep the whole time. Sorry it took me so long to post about it. I've just been trying to recover! The first three days afterwards were pretty tough, but yesterday and today I have felt a LOT better. Thank you all so much for your prayers! They were greatly appreciated :-)

On Friday, our good friends the Dawsons arrived at our house from Georgia for a weekend visit. We have known the Dawsons for a long time, and they are really great friends! There is one boy (Jeremy, 16) and then four girls (Emily 14, Abby 6, Zoey 4, and Karli who is three). We all get along really well and have a lot of fun. Yesterday we went swimming ALL afternoon and then us four oldest stayed up till midnight watching a movie. Of course then we had to get up early for church this morning!

Finally, I have this tag that I found on Madison (Strive17) 's blog. Here goes!

What is infront of u? A keyboard

How old r u? 14

When is ur bday? September

Have u heard of Lion King 1 1/2? Yes

Do u like Selena Gomez? Who's that?????

Do u like Disney? Generally...

R u a christian? YES!

Who is ur 5 most looked upto ppl in ur life?

1. Jesus

2. Parents

3. Missionaries (in general)

4. John MacArthur's pretty cool

5. The Harris brothers

Is ur hair blonde? Nope

Do u have blonde moments? Ha ha. Who me? Yes.

Do u know who Mandiefan is on hsb? No

Do u have karaoke night? No

Can u sing? Not really

Have u ever sang 4 more than 4 hrs at a time? No I don't think so

Where r u right now? The office

How many computers do u have in ur house? One desktop and one latptop

Do u have any animals? A puppy, a cat, a parakeet, a fish, and a hamster. *phew*

Do u like cats? Usually...if they're friendly

What is ur fave color?Navy blue/light pink

Who r 5 ppl(or friends) u go to 4 advise?

1.The Bible

2.Mom

3.Dad

4. Arya

5. Friends~sometimes

Who r u gonna tag? Whoever comments on this post!

Okay! So there's my tag! Sorry about all these font changes...I couldn't seem to decide on just one ;-)

In Christ,

Christine

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Jul. 18, 2009 - Blog Button Vote!

Hey Everyone,

Guess what? Ariel, or godsdaughter, was kind enough to make me TWO blog buttons! I'm so excited, but now I have to pick one. So I decided to put it to a vote. Here they are:

Now it's up to you all to decide which one fits my blog better! Please leave your votes either in comments or private messages. I will leave this up until August 3rd. Please cast your votes before then! I'm looking forward to seeing which one wins!

Turning to other events, my sister Arya is coming home from debate camp today! I can't wait to see her. It has been two long weeks! And we're also very excited because she and her debate partner came in second place out of 41 teams! There was a mock tournament in the last couple days of the camp. We were so excited to find out how well they had done! They ended up having to debate in front of everyone at the whole camp, all of the instructors, students, parents, everyone! And they just barely lost the final round. Six judges voted for the other team, and five for Arya and her partner. So close!

Oh, and please remember to keep me in your prayers on July 22nd. That is when I will be having my four wisdom teeth removed and I am still pretty nervous about that!

In Christ,

Christine

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Jul. 12, 2009 - Summer Vacation in NC!

As most of you read from my last post, I spent the past week at my Grandma's house in NC. I had a lovely time visting her. I flew down there on Monday and stayed until yesterday, when I flew home. Both flights went smoothly, and I thank everyone for their prayers for my flights! It was pretty exciting to be flying alone for the first time! On Monday when I had just found a seat next to a little girl and a lady, I found out that the little girl sitting next to me was flying alone and that she was only nine years old, so I couldn't be nervous after that! :)

Grandma and I had a nice time eating out for lunch on Monday when I got there. We went to California Pizza Kitchen. Later that evening we went to a baseball game with two of my great aunts. I felt pretty spoiled as an "only child" for a short time! Our team won, so it was a good game :-)

On Tuesday we did some shopping. I found a dress at Target but I didn't fit righ when we got home so we took it back on Wedensday and exchanged it for a sweater. We also picked out a wedding shower gift for a young lady from my grandma's church. I enjoyed shopping!

On Wednesday we also went out for lunch at my favorite restauraunt. The Crystal Palace in Raleigh, which is a very big Chinese buffet. Mmm, that was yummy! One of my great aunts joined us for that as well, and it was nice spending time with her. That evening Grandma left me with a great aunt and uncle on her street while she went to her Wednensday evening church. I had a a nice time talking to them and we also went to Dairy Queen! I had a lot of fun that day!

Thursday, Grandma took me to her church where I played a little "concert" for some of her friends on the piano there. I played my recital piece "Los Gitanos", Country Dance, and and arrangement of El Shaddai and Oh the Deep Deep Love of Jesus. It was a lot of fun. Later that evening she took me to her choir practice.

Friday, Grandma took me to Jacksonville, NC where I used to live and we met with one of my old friends and her mom for lunch at Olive Garden. It was great catching up and seeing the town again! That evening I packed up for my flight on Saturday.

Saturday (yesterday) morning, my flight took off at 11:55. It was exactly an hour and went very smoothly, thank the Lord. I spent the rest of the day catching up with my family and resting! Somehow that short flight managed to make me pretty tired, so I slept in a little this morning before getting up and getting ready for chapel.

So, that was my summer vacation in NC. Oh, and I picked a lot of blueberries while I was there because one of my relatives living on my Grandma's country road has three huge blueberry bushes! That was fun althought I'll probably never eat a blueberry again!!! I would love to hear what everyone else is doing this summer. Leave a comment and let me know!

In Christ,

Christine

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Jul. 5, 2009 - P.H.C and N.C

Well I tried to be a little more creative with this title but I don't think it really worked! =) I know you guys understand though!

Today my sister, Arya, left for a two week debate camp at Patrick Henry College in Virginia. She has been looking forward to it for months. But I really miss her already! She will spend the next couple weeks researching this year's NCFCA resolution, writing an affirmative case, and at the end they will hold a mini-tournament. Patrick Henry is the college where she would like to go, so it's a great chance for her to see the campus. She is staying in one of the dorm rooms, so that is a great opportunity (sp?) for her too.

Tommorow I am flying off to NC to spend a week with my Grandma. I am really looking forward to it. We have some fun thing planned. We might go see a movie, we'll eat at my favorite restaraunt, we'll play mini golf, etc. But best of all she said that we may be able to drive to Camp Lejeune which is just a couple hours away. We used to live there so it would be a great chance to catch up with some of my friends! I really hope it works out. Oh, and by the way, I could use your prayers as this will be my first time flying alone. I have only flown once before and my family was with me then, so it will be an interesting experience for me! Hopefully I won't get lost in the airport!!!

In Christ,

Christine

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Jul. 1, 2009 - Braces off and a couple Blogging Awards!

Wow, how much more original could I get with my titles?!?!

Exciting news everyone! I forgot to tell you in my past couple posts, but a couple weeks ago, I had my braces taken off! Yay! I had them on for over three years. It took longer than expected because we moved near the end of my treatment and then my new orthodontist wanted to practically start all over again. She took off all my old braces and re-posititioned new ones on my teeth. Ouch. That was not a very fun day. Anway, they're finally off now and I am very happy about that...but....right after the orthodontist had taken them off, she was looking at my new x-rays and decided that I needed to have my wisdom teeth pulled. Ahhhh!!!! So we scheduled an appointment to have that done on July 22nd. Please pray for me, because I am pretty nervous. Even though it is a minor surgery, I've never had any surgery before so I don't really know what to expect. Please keep me in your prayers!

Now for the lovely awards from Katy. She gave me Best Blogging Buddy Award...

hugging_kittens-1.jpg picture by aryathe12th

Which I will award to some of my newer friends: nachoaveragegirl (Hannah Grace), Becca the Great, godsdaughter, and MBF (Marybeth). Just so everyone knows, I also re-awarded Katy Thanks to all of these friends for being such great bloggers!

Katy also awarded everyone on her friends list the Rocking Blogger Award...

rock-1.jpg picture by aryathe12th

And I likewise award that to all of my great friends on my friends list! Thanks for everything you guys!

In Christ,

Christine Daae

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Jun. 29, 2009 -

Okay, actually Katy's friend Mari told me how I should be able to post the slideshow. Thanks Mari! So, here goes...

Hope everyone enjoys that!

I also would like to thank Katy for awarding me...but I will save that post for another time! God bless.

In Christ,

Christine Daae

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Jun. 23, 2009 -

Well, sad as it is to say all good times evenutally have to come to end. Last week our Katy did have to leave us, to head back to Colorado with her family. We miss her already. We did have fun the last few days that she was here though! Now, I have a slideshow all ready to post...I just need to figure out how to post it! Any suggestions, Katy? ;-)

On Sunday after church, Mom and Dad left for a four-day conference in Michigan. While they are gone, my Dad's Mom is staying with us. Yesterday she took us to see the movie "UP" in theaters. It was really funny, and very sweet. We all enjoyed it. We also went swimming in the afternoon. Today looks like another swimming day with the temperature in the upper 80's! . I don't like heat, but it is fun to jump in the pool!

I don't think we really have any more plans for the week. Oh! I do plan on finally finishing one of my school subjects. Theology. In our curriculum we have always had a Bible workbook, up until a couple years ago. Then it switched to actual theology books. This year I had "The Kingdom of God" First Half. It is a really good study book on the Old Testament and I have enjoyed it a lot. I am looking forward to have a little less of a school load to get finished with though!

Sorry about the long gap between posts. I don't know what got into me! :-) I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Right now I am working on Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky and a biography about Elizabeth the First. They are both very interesting. I just hope I actually finish them!

In Christ,

Christine

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Jun. 9, 2009 - More on Katy!

We are still having an amazing time with our friend Katy. We have done a lot of fun stuff since she got here the Saturday before last. One day we went to see the move "Night in the Museum 2" and the day after we got to go visit some of the museums that were in the movie. We saw the American History Museum and the National Gallery of Art. They were both really neat. The American History Museum was really crowded because it just reopened after being renovated. It had a lot of neat stuff though. I would like to post pics from it sometime, but we haven't downloaded any onto our computer yet, so that will have to wait. Tonight me, Arya, Katy and my Mom are going to the mall for a little shopping and Starbucks! Hurrah for Starbucks! Anyway, I'm looking forward to that. Oh, and I have also been having fun coming up with a word of the day with Katy. Yesterday the word was "Catachresis" meaning "the misuse of words". I'm not sure what we'll do for it today....hmm...

In Christ,

Christine

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Jun. 1, 2009 - Great Friends, Great Times

I am really excited to tell you that one of my greatest friends ever, Katy Seawolf or aliveagain13 as some of you may know her, is visiting me right now! She is staying at our house for two whole weeks! I have not been able to post about it before she came because it was supposed to be a surprise for her and I was afraid she might read my post. Her Dad is doing a two week military-type school thing not too far from here, so her Mom decided to surprise her and let her stay with us! Her Mom brought her to the door under the ruse that they were asking for directions =) When I opened it, her mouth dropped open and she just ran forward and gave me a big hug. It was really fun. That was on Saturday. She and her family went to church with us yesterday, and then her family left her here with us (evil laugh ;-) So far we have: gone shopping (I know, already!) yesterday, and then today we made chocolate chip cookies, discovered a new breed of creepy bugs, and went swimming all afternoon. It's so much fun having her here!

And, I am sure you have already noticed by now, but I finally changed my template. I would love to know what everyone thinks, so please leave a comment!

In Christ,

Christine

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May. 24, 2009 - Time for a Post!

Hey Everyone!

What's been happening lately? Well, let's see. I had a very busy day on Friday. My Dad is a chaplain at the United States Naval Academy, and on Friday all of the seniors had their graduation. Arya, I and a couple friends went to watch. President Obama was there. He spoke, and shook the hands of all 1,000 graduates, which was pretty cool. I had never been to a graduation before, so it was interesting. It was neat to hear the names of the seniors that we know, and to see them shaking the President's hand. Unfortunately, they will all leave now to serve either in the Navy or the Marine Corps. A couple of them that I know, are going to ships in Japan. They are all very excited.

Also on Friday, we had our piano recital. It went very well. I played one solo and two duets. After several months of working on them, I was relieved to finally be done playing those songs, but I did enjoy them. And a little surprise; at the end, my teacher awarded me a half-semester scholarship to her studio! I was very excited, as this will make it a little easier for all four of us to continue taking lessons. Afterwards, as is our tradition, our family went out for milkshakes, which was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, we were able to swim for the first time this year. We opened the pool about a week or so ago, but it took a little while to get it all cleaned out and to have the chemicals properly adjusted. We had a lot of fun swimming yesterday and today. I think it's going to rain for the next few days, so we got in as much swimming as possible!

Well, I think that's pretty much it. God bless!

In Christ,

Christine

PS: One more thing I wanted to add: I had been working on reading, "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky for a little over a week. It is a 729 page book, and I finally finished it yesterday. Hooray! It was very interesting, but I won't try to write a review on it right now ;-)

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May. 14, 2009 -

Well, I feel like I should post about something, but nothing is really coming to mind. Hmm....Tucker, our puppy, has gained five pounds since three weeks ago when we brought him home. Pretty random, but I just weighed him last night, so I felt like telling someone! :-)

School is going pretty well. The end is finally in sight! We are all hoping for a nice summer break this year. Last year, since we were in the middle of moving, we didn't really get a break, because we fell behind during the move.

Arya actually turned sixteen on Tuesday. She got a really nice, light-pink Sony camera from Mom and Dad for her birthday. My little brother Andrew bought her some chocolate-covered coffee beans from Starbucks, and my brother Noah and I pitched in together to buy her a movie called "Little Dorrit". It is based on a story by Charles Dickens. Did anyone happen to see it when it played on Masterpiece Theater a couple weeks ago, or has anyone read the book? The movie is a mini-series. My Mom, Arya, and I are all planning to watch it this weekend. I can't wait!

Well, this was a pretty random post, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! God bless.

In Christ,

Christine

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May. 4, 2009 - "Sweet Sixteen" Surprise Party

On Saturday we had a wonderfully succesful "Sweet Sixteen" surprise party for my sister Arya. We had been planning for it for a couple of months and we were all so excited when she had completely no suspicions and was VERY surprised. It was a lot of fun. We invited people from our church, her debate partner and other friends that we knew through speech and debate or my Dad's work. We had a slideshow of pictures of her, a cake with her picture, streamers, balloons and tons of food. A couple of ladies had been asked to share a few things about Jordan and with Jordan, and they said some really nice things. My Dad also had little devotional for her, which was really special. Finally we all played Catch Phrase, which was lots of fun, although a couple of the teenage girls there got really wild and started throwing it across the room at one point! Just as a note, Arya doesn't actually turn sixteen until May 12th . After most of the guests had left, we had asked a couple girls in advance to stay for a sleepover! We watched a movie (that was a little disappointing), played Twister and talked (and giggle ;) for a while. We had great time together.

Well, I hope everyone's doing okay! God bless.

In Christ,

Christine

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