Love Life

Life certainly is tough. Whenever things seem to be going just right, a problem arises that creates a myriad of problems. Yet we never stop loving life. Why is that?

I think it is because life is full of promise. There's always a surprise just around the corner. God seems to know when we need a little bit of a boost in life. Of courase, there are times when He seems to continually be testing us, but I think He can see when we need some sweet surprise in life. Sometimes, just when I'm going through a tough emotional time, someone will send me an e-mail, a text, or even a card that says that he or she is praying for me. Those little things light up my entire day because I feel as if I'm still cared about by both God and my friends. These, of course, are when I'm going though tough times and am in desperate need of those reminders.

Little surprises like those make life worth living. People come up with so many four-letter words to describe life when things are difficult. But there are so many better "four-letter words" to describe life: love, hope, kind, dear, home, and free. Each of these better describes life than any of the infamous four-letter words.

College decisions

I have written about college before, but that was a month ago, and I am still having college woes. I actually started filling out applications the other day. So far, Biola University, Westmont, and Point Loma Nazarene University are on my list. I think I'm going to check out Azusa Pacific as well. I now have essays to write, SATs to retake (even though my first attempt wasn't too shabby with well over 600s in every category. But when Frank Thiessen is your college counselor, be expected to work your heart out.) I also have to fill out the FAFSA, find scholarships, get teacher reccommendations, find some way to pay for room and board, take the ACT...just thinking about all of this gives me a headache. Of course, my four AP classes at my high school cannot suffer during this season either. And debate season officially opens this weekend and will last, Lord willing, until June.
But I am thoroughly convinced that I can handle all this. After all, the trying times are the times when I discover what I am really made of. I have survived Mrs. Walker's AP English Language class, so I am convinced I can survive the college search chaos and college itself.
I am sorry to bore anyone with this college stuff, but it has been on my mind recently. Anyone else have college stresses to share?

Country Girl

One of my all-time favorite television shows is "Little House on the Prairie." In one of the earliest episodes, Laura and her sister Mary started school for the first time. The snooty rich girl, Nellie, called the girls "country girls" in a rude way, but Laura's pa reminded her that Laura and Mary really were country girls, and to take the comment as a compliment.

I have often been called a country girl, and I often refer to myslef as a country girl...a down-home girl who loves the outdoors and old-fashioned things. But, what, exactly, is a country girl?

You Know You're a Country Girl When...

...Your "boyfriends" consist of all the male livestock and pets owned by your family.

...Your church's Christmas play has character with names like "Calamity," "Little Joe," and "Wild Bill."

...You are baptized in a horse trough.

...Your church members continually ask for prayer about rain, lost calves, and water tanks.

...You are late to an appointment because a cow was calving.

...You can list all the reasons for killing squirrels.

...You name your ckickens after chracters from Little House on the Prairie.

...You learn to drive a tractor at age seven.

...You learn to shoot a gun at age five.

...Your first car is a beat-up stick-shift pick-up.

...Catching lizards is an acceptable form of entertainment.

...The only event your family watches on television is the national rodeo.

...You wear blue jeans and cowboy boots to church...and the rest of the congregation does as well.

...Church services are canceled on rodeo weekend.

...The kids in the Sunday school class you teach pray for their fish, their chickens, their goats, their ponies...and their grandma (in that order).

...You define designer jeans as levis with creative grass stains.

...The turkeys raised by your family are named "Thanksgiving" and "Christmas" for a reason.

...You know every type of snake native to the area, whether they are poisonous, and how to kill them.

...You (and your parents) find it acceptable to skip school to go shot gun shooting.

...You are very proud of yourself when you run over a squirrel with your car.

...You don't consider any of the city roads in bad condition because all the dirt roads are much, much worse.

*Disclamier* Not all of these happened to me (though some did), but most of these are true for families at my church and friends of mine who live in the country. But I really was baptized in a horse trough.

Anyone have any more? If so, please comment!

The Infamous College Search

College is a major decision in the lives of most teenagers, myself included. I am on the brink of deciding where I will spend the next four years of my life. God's will is a buzzword in Christian circles discussing college, majors, and life plans. I am right, smack in the middle of figuring all this out.

For the first time I can remember, I am making a major live-changing decision. And my parents can't make it for me. I remember when I used to just give it all to my parents and let them decide my future. Those days are long gone... I'm on my own as far as decisions are concerned. And I have never enjoyed making big decisions, which doesn't make this one any easier.

Although I am excited about pursuing a career and making my own future with my own hands, I am a bit apprehensive, as many people are. What if I choose the wrong college? Is that even feasible? The only thing I can do, outisde of tons of research, is pray that God will show me where He wants me.

I have long thought that I would attend a Christian college. But lately I have been re-thinking this. My debate coach once told me that "the darker areas need what you have to offer." Is t God's will that I go to some liberal, secular university in order to be a light? Or am I still too impressionable which means I should go to a private Christian college and spend time being influenced by Christian friends and professors?

Funny...the older you get, the more complicated things get...

Out in the Country

A bit of God's creation. This is the ranch my family owns. These pictures were taken in the winter or early spring, so it looks like a paradise, but it gets dry right around May...

I truly think that God likes to use the world He created to teach us about Him...His creativity, His love for us, His sense of beauty.

Remember to thank God for His gifts, like nature, that we don't always take time to appreciate.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Siobhan

Books, Books, Books

In my opinion, you can tell the most about a person by what books a person likes and who the person aspires to be like. I would like to tackle the first on the list today. So, in no particular order...

• To Kill a Mosckingbird by Harper Lee
• A Snowball's Chance by ted Duncan
• Kathleen: The Celtic Knot by Siobhan Parkinson (not me)
• A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
• Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie de Paola
• The Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn
• A Torch for Trinity by Colleen L. Reece
• Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris
• Abram's Daughters series by Beverly Lewis
• Annie's People series by Beverly Lewis
• Christy by Catherine Marshall
• God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew
• The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
• Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot
• Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot
• More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell

I highly recommend any of these books. Do you have any amazing books that you think I would like? Or any that you think people who read this blog would like? Please comment!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Siobhan

The Latest Trouble with Obama

First, let it be known that I am strongly opposed to Obama. I respect the man only because he is our elected leader, and God commands His people to honor those in authority. But, for me, that is where it ends. I strongly disagree with his policies and how he is leading this country.

In my local paper the other day, there was a published article speaking of Obama's plan to allow tax cuts to the poor. He proposes to tax the rich more in order to make up for the taxes that the poor will not have to pay. This is utter nonsense. The rich are being punished for working hard and succeeding. The more they earn, more gets taken away from them. Are we not taught to reward hard work rather than punish it?

This action will not get any more money for the government. It will not get us out of debt. It may sound beneficial in theory, but in reality, it does not work out in real life like it does on paper. When people must give up a larger and larger percentage of what they earn, they stop earning as much because they are allowed to keep less and less of it anyway.

Also, when the government taxes the rich in order to not have to tax the poor as much, communism is the result. Taking from those who earn and giving it to those who do not earn as much is communism, not matter which way you slice it.

Obama, some may say is a Robin Hood...a good-deed-doer. Not so. Instead, Obama is redistributing wealth so that people have no reason to really work hard. We work hard to earn money. If we are not allowed to keep all of our money (or at least a large percentage), why work? Those who do not work or do not make as much money are taught only that not working results in more money from the government. They are taught that the government will take care of their every need. The government, however, does not have the funds to do such...without taking it away from hard-working folks.

Now, don't start thinking that I have no sympathy for the down-and-out. Because I do. I know that many people truly work hard and do not earn much. I truly want to help them and I try to. But the government was not set up to take that role. The people, community, church, and individual organizations may, and hopefully will, but the government cannot...unless we want a welfare state which can only lead to communism.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

How did all this get started? That's a very good question. I have always loved to write. I have especially loved to make my thoughts known. But, not everybody wants to hear one's thoughts. So why not make the availability of my thoughts optional? I could get all the ideas swimming around in my head out, while not forcing my family to listen to my constant chatter. And this is the result.

The bolg is named (for the present time) "Insurgi Fidelis." This is Latin for "true rebel." Now, I have never considered myself a rebel, but a friend of mine made this comment to me as we drove down one of the local streets talking about life. When she told me, I believe I laughed. I'm not the rebel type. Actually, I'm the exact anitithesis of a rebel. My curly brown hair hangs to my shoulders, and it has never been dyed any color...especially not the classic rebellious black. I was probably wearing a pair of Bermuda shorts, flip-flops, and a blouse. I have no piercings, no tattoos, and I look...normal.

So why am I a rebel? Because in today's culture, rebellion has become the norm. Everyone tries to rebel against the laws of established society. So...if everyone is doing it...then rebellion is not rebellion. The only true rebellion is rebelling against rebellion and going back to the Way, the Truth, and the Life...Jesus Christ. By doing so, I am rebelling against the world of conformity I see around me, but instead I choose to be transformed.