Book Review // What Thou Need'st

What Thou Need'st

Synopsis:

Kendall Thatcher, a dutiful squire, thinks he's seen the worst of his master, the irascible Prince Bartholomew. However, things can indeed get worse; much worse.

When the Prince runs away, a princess from a neighboring kingdom vanishes, a dragon takes up residence in an abandoned castle, and two kingdoms near the brink of war; all this can be resolved only when Kendall and the Prince discover "what thou need'st"

Bethany Canaan, from Clever Bunnies, recently wrote this novelette and published it online at Snippits. I really enjoyed its fairy tale story line and biblical moral. It made for a lovely afternoon's read. Although it's based off of a common plot, it has enough variation to be delightful, not repetitive. My only complaint is that a few questions were left unanswered. The story line is positioned in such a way so you know how things will end up, but I'm just one of those people who prefer to be told. Overall, I really enjoyed how her book grabbed me with the first chapter, her description, and the creative twist on a common fairy tale plot. I extremely recommend this book for avid readers like me looking for delightful, clean, and gripping books. I wish more books like this were out there.

Becca

*Picture and synopsis provided by Bethany 

Burdens #2

Recently I realized I didn't share with you all how we gave up our burdens. Here are the steps:


1. Recognize the lie you are believing

2. Find truth in Scripture that combats your lie

3. Realize that God doesn't want to you believe this lie and that Jesus has already carried this weight for you

4. Replace the lie with the truth

Okay, these may not make a lot of sense, so let me illustrate it with a lie I've believed.

The lie:

  "Part of me is not made in God's image"

  Let me break this down. I've always had this subconscious belief that the 'good' parts of me were made by God and were just the way that He wanted them to be, but the 'bad' parts were due to the Fall.  Do you see how this can grate on one's self esteem?

The truth:

Psalm 139:13-16

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

My youth leader used pieces of this verse to show me that God uses all of me, the good and the bad, for a purpose. There is no 'mistake' or 'mess up' in who I am. And now, I work of believing the truth instead of the lies. 

Becca

Cowgirl Dirt Samples

Hello all!

 A couple weeks ago I ordered some samples from Cowgirl Dirt's website. They have very natural cosmetics, and I've been wanting to try them for some time now. I thought I'd share with you all what I found! Lets get started:

Foundation / Mineral Powder in Champagne 2:

I use a loose powder mineral foundation from Bare Minerals, and I found this wasn't much different. It has nice light coverage without looking caked on to my skin.

Foundation / Creme in Champagne 2:

I loved this!!!!! This is the first time I've tried a foundation other than the mineral powder and I was extremely excited with the results. I just used my fingers to apply it, and I loved how soft and smooth it made my skin look. It worked as a concealer as well. It also covered the red in my cheeks, and helped the blush show up. This is a product I hope to be purchasing soon because I will use it all the time. 

Concealer / Neutral Light:

Their concealer works nicely, but only a tad better than loose mineral foundation does for me. So I probably will not be purchasing this full size.  

Clear Lip gloss in White Lighting:

This one is flavored mint, but I could smell other flavors in there as well and I couldn't put my finger on it. Anyways, I love it. It was nice and shiny, wet, but not sticky, and it moisturized wonderfully. I will be purchasing this wonderful product full size here soon. 

Lipstick in Flicka (bright purplish pink) and Seabiscuit (light peach):

These lip sticks weren't heavy and dry like other brands, and while they aren't moisturizing, they didn't deprive my lips of moisture. They have a beautiful metallic shine. My only complaint is that my lips are dark themselves, and these didn't have a ton of pigment so they really just tinted my lips, not color them like other lipsticks do. I don't know how long they last, because it seems like every time I try to test that I end up eating something. ;) This morning, though, I ate a few things and the color is still there! 

That is all! So far, I'd say I'm impressed with Cowgirl Dirt's products! If you are into natural cosmetics, I would recommend visiting their website here. 

 Becca

Burdens

Last Saturday, I was at a retreat with my youth group. Around eight in the evening our leaders gave us gallon Ziploc bags full of rocks. On the bag we wrote our regrets: whatever was lying on our hearts. Then we placed the rocks in our cinch bags, added a couple more handfuls, heaved them onto our backs, and walked outside. The trek I found to be an excellent metaphor to our life as Christians. I’m not sure my leaders meant it this way… but it was perfect anyway. Here is the description, with a couple points added to make the story complete.

 Our life is like a walk up a steep hill in the dark of night. What’s ahead is dark, looming, and unknown, except for a few glimpses here and there. On the left was a steep drop. Some tired of walking and in their sin missed the drop and fell. Sometimes we could stop them before that happened. Other times we had to help them back up, or God himself would. To the right were thick, dark woods, where those who were lost wandered.  Sometimes they would see us on our path, and join us. Others in their sin would see the woods and think their world is better than ours and leave us. Still others would walk in the woods holding Christ’s hands and bring someone to the path. Still upward we trekked, the weight of our sin weighing on our tired backs.  Looking up we’d see the navy sky, dotted with silver stars, and as we are reminded of what is to come our strength and resolve would increase, even while it was drained away. If someone lagged behind, the stronger would help them along. Every so often we would stop, and we would look into His word to remind us of the lies we were carrying around. Once we remembered, we would be able to take the weight off our backs and replace it with His comforting words. Slowly, slowly, we gave up our burden to Him, till the only yoke we had was His, and a light one it was indeed.

      This walk really taught me what it means to give your burdens to Jesus. It taught me that you don’t need to ‘make up’ for your past, that Jesus has made you new so you aren't that person anymore, and you might as well let it go because Jesus has already carried that weight for you, and He wants to give you rest.   

  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

Becca

Blogging Schedule

Hello, everyone! I'm extremely excited to be back! My writing tutor decided that once the school year started, I needed to bring my blog back to life. I've not had the time to start it till now, but that has given me a chance to stack up on posts. 

The Plan:

I'm going to shoot for two posts a week, and I'll share a couple of the series you'll be hearing from. 

I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I want for this blog. Being a teenager is a very confusing transitional part of life. I'm having to figure out what I believe about what to wear, how to act, and how to connect with God. It's confusing, and I'm dabbling in a lot of areas; makeup, curling my hair, styling my clothes, helping at home, making relationships, bible studies, helping at church, youth group, and so on. On this blog I'd like to share what I'm learning, how I fail, and what I succeed in too. I find a lot of my input from my Mom and other blogs written by people I trust (I'll be sharing those along the way). So here are the series I'll begin with:

1. Beauty

    I'd like to show you how I wear clothing and makeup while staying modest and cute. So I'll post a few tutorials on how I like to wear makeup and how I create the outfits I wear. There is no way I can blog about this topic without linking to other blogs because they've given me so much inspiration to so many of my ideas. 

When you are trying to figure out stuff like this though, I really encourage you to keep your mom in the ring. Hopefully, she can help you to keep your head on straight and point you in the right direction. My Mom does, and I really, really appreciate it. 

2. Keeping Your Eyes on the Things Above

The is a series I'd like to keep going for the rest of my blog. I'll be writing posts like, "Why I Went to Women's Bible Study before Youth group" or linking to other blog posts I admire and discussing them, or just sharing what I've spiritually been learning. I'm most likely going to have at least on of these posts a week. 

Alright, there's my plan!  If you have any other ideas for another post or series want me to talk about something a bit more, or have a question, please let me know in the comments! 

Thank you so much for reading!

Becca

Help Miroslav Get Adopted

  Here is another little boy from the same orphanage as Viktor and Yuri looking for adoption. Here is the link to my previous post if you missed it. This dear little boy, Miroslav, was left here by his Mother, who believed he was getting better care. In reality, he is left in his crib day after day. She said she would bring him home in a year, yet over a year has passed and he is still in the orphanage. Please read the post on the Rebulution and share his story, to help find him a family. 

Help Viktor and Yuri Go Home

Last night I read this heartbreaking post on The Rebulution. It's about needing a family to adopt these poor boys, Viktor and Yuri, saving them from their prison of cribs. (Please click on the link and read what these boys have lived through.) A family has stepped up to adopt them, along with another little girl! But the crisis is not over, the family is trying to raise $30,000 to bring these children home, and right now they are at $4,362 with only FIVE days left. Can you help by either spreading this online, praying, or giving? I know many of us can't give much, but little bits add up.