Happy Easter, everyone! Lent is over now, so I can write (legally) again. It's been a long and very tiring Holy Week this year. Even when we didn't attend the Masses at church directly, watching them on TV from the Vatican was one of our main activities.

 

Yesterday the bunkbed in my 'computer room' broke. The bottom bed collapsed on me when I sat on it to tie my shoes. Awkward. So we got rid of it and are going to put something else in its place. The room is a big mess, what with the clothes that we'd had piled on the top bunk, and it looks a lot bigger than I thought it did. It's pretty cool. We got a smaller bed to build in here eventually, when we can get the room cleared up. I'll get pictures.

 

I found out that apologetics is something you have to learn slowly, especially the Catholic ones, since there is so much I have to study and learn to defend. I'm learning new things that I didn't know, and other issues that I had been unsure of in the past (e.g. ghosts, purgatory, etc.) I have a solid, positive opinion on them now.

I've also decided that it's not in my place to try and convert anyone to the Church. I just learn about everything and if the need ever arises, I'll defend it. But who am I to try to force someone to join the Church? Although the fullness of truth is in the Catholic faith, there's really nothing I can do about it---I don't like arguments. I don't even like friendly debates. I'm not very confident in myself, so I try to stay away from them. In the end I'll just love my neighbor like I always did and let God do the rest. He knows what's best, and He knows why we're where we are (that sounded silly.)

During my reading in the past few weeks that I took a break on Lent, I've learned that all denominations have different opinions on issues that range from how you get saved to purgatory to even baptism, and that just showed me how complex it all really is. But the truth is that in the end, the one thing that we all have in common is Jesus, and everyone I know believes in and loves Him. I'm satisfied with this. In the end He is the rope that keeps all Christians together, and in a way we're all a huge family because of this. I give thanks for that.

I understand now that my calling was only to study these things and to know. I wasn't born to argue or debate or discuss or...any of those things. And I wasn't born to be like one of those missionaries that goes from door to door and tries to convert people. My mom told me that it's enough to show God to others through our own example. Live the live He wants us to, and we'll see that the truth will be spread to others in some way or another. This is enough.

 

 

Moving on.

I submitted a short story I wrote, entitled Stephanie's Gravestone, to TeenInk.com. Within the following weeks they'll review it and decide if it's worthy to be displayed on the website, and if they decide it is, they'll email me. I'm not getting too excited---after all, then when it's not put up I won't be disappointed. I have low self-esteem in these things so that's not a problem, really.

 

Our Macy's raid gave me a pretty new wardrobe of new clothes. I'm keeping them away from the dog before she gets then covered in fur. They're coming to Peru with me on May.

 

The weather is getting decent. We've had a couple of grills outside in the back yard this weekend. It was so fun. It finally feels like spring, and today was perfect Easter weather (sunny with a breeze.) I am so happy. I was getting tired of rain.

 

I have reached the halfway point in my big leather journal. The $40 one I got for my birthday. That's probably because I failed at my Lent sacrifice and kept writing short paragraphs in it from different random stories, and in the end it adds up to be an entire chapter. And a handwritten chapter takes a lot of paper. Oh well. I daresay no one, even God, really expected me to be good at this sacrifice.

 

I have returned to Blogger, where it is easier to edit the template and all, but don't worry! I'll keep posting on my HomeschoolBlogger because I adore the community. And it's the only place I get comments. :/ So basically I'll be submitting the same post to both of my blogs. Hooray. I hope to hear from all of you soon. I like comments but haven't gotten many lately.

 

Take care!

-Mariella