Dance Recital, Honors Convocation, and Graduation

    Sorry for my absence of late. I've been very busy with school, homework, projects, work, and other activities. Thankfully the school year is winding down. :) The last day of school is on Friday and I'm excited to be done with my sophomore year. It's hard to believe that I only have two more years left before I graduate...
    Anyways the things I have been most busiest with have been the Dance Recital, Honors Convocation, and Graduation. My dance recital was on May 5 and I believe that it went very well. I danced in four different songs. In jazz I danced to a mash up of LMFAO songs, in tap I danced to the Edge of Glory, in ballet I danced to Turning Tables, and lastly in the finally (which was a country line dance song) I danced to Fake ID. There were some problems that people had with the dance recital (mostly the dancers). A lot of us felt that we had not gotten in enough practices and didn't know our dances well enough. However, I guess to the audience (except a few) the dancers did a great job. Overall I'm happy that dance is over, but yet at the same time I'm already looking forward to next year.

                                                            Myself and "my sister" Erin

    The second thing that I have been busy with is of course my artwork and Honors Convocation. The year is wrapping up for school; however, this does not mean my art isn't. I have been offered a job to draw my eye picture again, except the iris would be brown. It's meant as a birthday present and for the first time ever I have a deadline. It has to be done by June 18th, except I would like to get it done a week before hand if at all possible. Also at my school's art show my drawing "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" won Principal's Choice and People's Choice. Continuing on with Honors Convocation. At Honors Convocation I was inducted into the National Honor Society and also received awards for placing in the NECC Scholastic Competition and also for being an Outstanding Student.
    Finally Graduation. Graduation took place this last Saturday. Dillon has finally graduated from high school and will be going onto college. I think this will be good for him, because I'm not sure he could live another year in this town. The coolest thing about Dillon's graduation party though was his cake. It was made to look like a rubik's cube. Pictured below.

     Also another thing that came to mind. Last Wednesday I rolled the jeep into a ditch. I was fine and came out with no bruises or scratches or whiplash. The jeep I can not say the same for. It's finally going into retirement. However I will say this about the jeep, whoever manufactures Jeeps really know how to make a durable and safe car. That Jeep has been through many accidents (mostly my brothers and now I) and it has seemed to survive everything but this last thing.

Failure

    I have most definitely been failing at this blog. I don't write about anything from Why? by Hamilton (the original reason why I started this blog). Mostly this is because I'm super busy all the time thanks to school winding down. I have had art shows, work, plenty of homework, and now awards nights. I don't even have time to read anymore which is the real bummer, since I love to read. However I am lucky because I did get to read a little bit in Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I have read this book before but am re-reading it so I may read Clockwork Prince. Plus I forgot a lot that happened in this book too.

    Another thing I have failed in, is my ability to exercise every day. That one went in the trashcan pretty darn fast. I know for sure I only exercised a maximum of three days and that was for surely over a month ago. Failure.

~Davita

A Busy Little Bee

    Sorry I have not posted much in the last week. I have been very busy do to school and other activities. Here's a recap of the week. On Monday I went to Norfolk for a scholastic competition. I places 3rd in art history and I was very happy about that considering the fact that I neither studied nor knew anything prior to it. I got 59 answers correct out of 100 and feel this was very great accomplishment, because I only knew ten answers for sure. Also on Monday I got to spend time with my friends, Bryce and Anthony. It was great seeing them again. I loved being able to see Anthony because he is my best friend and I hadn't seen him for a year and four months. I only saw him for about fifteen minutes but it is fifteen minutes I'll never forget. :) Alrighty moving on, also on Monday I had to take down an art show all by myself with the help of two teachers who didn't really know much about putting stuff away. Later thought the next day my teacher gave me money to buy a pop so it all worked out. Oh and I forgot to mention how my time went with Bryce. We had a really fun time, we spent a lot of time walking around the college campus and talking. I also saw Bryce on Wednesday because they had a track meet here.
    Anyways that's besides the point. On Wednesday I went to Sioux City with my brother, mom, and grandma. Dillon (my brother) had to sign up for classes at the college and my mom wanted me to go along to see the school. I believe she wants me to go there because it costs a lot less than UNL. It might also be she thinks they have a better art program there than UNL. Even if that is true though I don't like the feel of the college and I'm not sure how I would go there if everyday I felt like I was in a hospital. Who knows though.. I still got another year to figure it out.
    I guess that is all of what is worthy to write down today. Oh well I guess that I should share that at the art show I received two purple ribbons (which are like a judge's merit), one 1st place, and two 2nd places. I think I did pretty darn well. :) Alright well that's all for today.

~Davita

ACT Test

    Alright so I'll be taking the ACT Test tomorrow and I'm really excited for it. I'm not nervous for it though cause I have taken the practice test for it and I am also only a sophomore so I still have two more years left to take it. I supposed to get a 25 according to the practice test, but I'm guessing it'll be lower. That's all for now.

~Davita

Hyperboles~Why? By Adam Hamilton

    In Why? Adam Hamilton explains that when Jesus was spreading the faith, he used hyperboles to get his message across. Now what is a hyperbole for those of you who don't know or can't remember? A hyperbole is an obvious and intentional exaggeration or also an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, such as “to wait an eternity.” In the Bible, Jesus does use a lot of hyperboles. One of the most famous ones would probably be, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off and if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out" (see Matthew 5: 29-30) Jesus doesn't actually mean for you to cut off your hand or pluck out your eye. Through this Jesus is using a hyperbole to explain just how serious sin is, and that it shouldn't be taken lightly. I've never realized how much hyperbole was in the Bible before, but now that I do I think it will be much easier to read the Bible and understand what the context means. 


   I know this has been a very short entry for Why? compared to my usual ones; however, I think this one is worth mentioning because in truth it helped me to understand the Bible a little bit more than I already did, which is definitely something that some of us all need. 


~Davita

Next entry for Why? and Art Show

   Hello! Alright so I am finally working on my next entry for Why? By Adam Hamilton and it's going to be very interesting. I learned something that I had never thought about when I read the Bible. To be continued...

   Anyways tomorrow I am going to my first art show outside of my school's art show, and I am very excited to be going. I have four things entered in the art show. Two crayon melted "paintings" and two drawings. Below is one of the pictures I am entering.

                                 The title for this pencil drawing is, "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder."

Food Shows and Songs

    This past week I went to a food show with my mother. My mom gets invited to food shows a few times a year. This time I was lucky enough to go with her. When we got to the food show we stacked up on a lot of goodies. We had at least five bag fulls of freebies. Now what kind of stuff did we get? Well lots of different types of candy like skittles, starburst, tootsie rolls, twix, herseys, and also different kinds of sauces like bbq, ketchup, and other things. At the food show we tasted lots of different things anywhere from meat to ice cream to dessert and new types of energy drinks. They had pretty much everything there. The thing that tasted the best to me though was the white chocolate carmel coffee that I had. It tasted sooooo good!!! Definitely going to be looking for some more of that in the future. I do have pictures from the food show; however, they are on my Ipod and I don't think I can upload them to this page through that. So I'm sorry for no pictures this time.
     Next I want to talk about songs. A few days ago I was heading home and "Remind Me" by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood came on. I love this song, because it reminds me of someone (and of course it does, obviously because of the title). Anyways after that song came on, "I Don't Want This Night To End" by Luke Bryan played. Well I have heard this song before, but not all of. Well once hearing all of it, I was absolutely obsessed with it! The next day I listened to it at least twenty times and I am still listening to it right now as I am typing this. Along with that song by Luke Bryan, I have also taken a liking to "Drunk On You", "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye", and "Country Girl (Shake it for me)." So now I'm stuck on country songs, and probably will be for the next month or so.

    By the way I also know I have not posted anything about Why? by Adam Hamilton lately. I will try to get a post up by the end of this weekend, because I should have time to do so. If I'm lucky I'll have it up sometime tomorrow night.

~Davita

P.S.~ This is a quote that I found that I really love,
 “You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.” -William W. Purkey

Seasons Are A Changing

    Well, it's been officially Spring for about four days now, and you can definitely tell it. The trees are starting to get there leaves back, the days are getting longer, and of course the weather is warming up! Ah, I absolutely love spring time! I'm excited for track season (even though I don't do track) because I like to help at the meets and watch the competitors.
    Side note: Today was my dad's birthday. In honor of my papa, Grandma took us all out to eat at West Side and it was very delicious. Dalton (my brother) brought his girlfriend and we all had a pretty good time.
    Tomorrow I have to go back to school, it seems like it's been such a long weekend but that's because I might have been up all night (literally) on Friday because of a lock-in that I went to. It was pretty darn fun for the most part, but later got boring because the only thing they really had left to do was play basketball. Below is a picture of me with a friend at the lock-in.

No Limits 2012~Youth Rally at Lincoln Nebraska

    Sorry for not posting I have been very busy of late. St. Patty's was this past weekend and I dance on the shamrock every year as an Irish Dancer. See below.

    Also as of late I went on a Youth Rally trip to Lincoln Nebraska with the group No Limits Nebraska. This group is a youth led organization that fights the lies of Big Tobacco Companies. I have been apart of No Limits since 7th grade and have went to three Fall Summits and the two youth rallies at the capital. During this trip we are able to meet with our senators and talk about issues that affect us and everyone else. After we meet with our senators we go back to our meeting area and discuss how we are going to get ready for our march that goes through town. We make posters and memorize chants. Then we end our march at the capital steps where we have speakers talk about our cause. This year we had a few No Limits Youth Board members talk and also Senator Avery. If you would like to find out more about No Limits visit http://nolimitsnebraska.com/  Below are a few pictures of the trip. We were also lucky to make the news. Here is a link to watch the video: http://www.klkntv.com/category/190066/klkn-channel-8-video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6865556

 

 

Exercising

    Yes, I know. Crazy right? (talking to myself here)

    For the past few days I have been working out, doing exercises. I am not lifting any weights (maybe and hopefully in the summer). For the past few nights I have been doing exercises that will focus on my abs, my behind, and my legs. Here is a list of the exercises I am doing:

Abs
1. Plank on elbows and toes
2. Vertical Leg Crunches
3. Bent Leg Crunches
4. Double Leg Lift
5. Long Arm Crunch
6. Bicycle Exercise
7.Scissors Exercise
8. Squats/Squat thrust with twist (on occasion probably because I'm not very good at squatting)
9. Ballet Twist


Behind
1. Lunges
2. Step Ups
3. Hip Extensions
4. Duck Walks

Legs
1. Lunges (These go with the behind but since they work both I put them on both lists)
2. Toe Raisers
3. Wall Sits
4. Sing Leg Circle (These work both the legs and abs)
5. Plie
6. Outer and Inner Thigh Kicks (These really work)

   Now why am I exercising? First off, I want to keep my body healthy. I want to do many things in my life, and they might take a while to accomplish and I can't be doing them if I'm already having health problems at the age of 45 or 50. Second, I want to look fit. I don't want to be skinny skinny (like those anorexic girls) but I'd like to get rid of my flabs (for lack of a better term). Third, it actually keeps a person more energized. This I know from experience. When I was in junior high I was in track and we did lots of running and exercises when I got done I felt more energized and more productive. When I was a freshman I did get some workouts in but not a lot. On the days that I didn't work out much, I was actually lazier. So to come to a conclusion: Exercising will help out a lot in my life. I've never been one to work out a lot, but I've begun to see that it is necessary and when I really am determined to do something I will do it.

   Tonight I exercised and I did most of the exercises listed above. I know that if I keep doing this it will pay off. How do I know this? Well I already started to feel the burn tonight, especially in my abs. I believe it will be easier than in the past to keep up my routine, now that I am more focused. However I can't just exercise and eat whatever I want. I'll have to watch that I eat healthier foods. I'm not going to diet, because let's face it those hardly ever work. I am already a pretty healthy eater, but I could be better. One way I can definitely do this is by cutting back on the amount of pop I drink... I drink A LOT! Anyways, I believe the best way to do this is not to cut pop completely out of my diet, but to cut back to 3 or 4 a week. (Like I said, I drink a lot so even though this doesn't look like I'm cutting back, I really would be) Tomorrow I think I might post my exercise routine, including how many reps I do. I might also post a list of what I will try to eat every day. Thanks for reading! Comment if you feel like it. Thanks :)

~Davita

God's Providence and Human Suffering

    Three categories that can be applied to The Three Foundational Ideas (1. God gave humans domain over the Earth 2.To be human is to be free 3. Humans have a tendency to stray from God's Path) are Natural Disaster and Widespread Human Suffering, Suffering caused by human decisions, and Suffering caused by sickness. This being all summarized by what Adam Hamilton says in Why?
 

(Here my thoughts will come in along with a few other things from the book)

1. Natural Disaster and Widespread Human Suffering
  When natural disasters happen, many people blame God for what has happened maybe this is because God created the Earth. Yes God did create the Earth and how it functions, but some natural disasters are needed to help keep our Earth able to sustain life. Take tectonic plates for example, the shifting of the plates often cause earthquakes, but they also keep our Earth's core from super heating. Without the movement of tectonic plates it would be impossible to live here on Earth and this is just one example of a necessary function for Earth. So actually when you think about it, natural disasters are essential for existence of the whole. So when people blame God for natural disasters, it's not because God doesn't want to stop the devastation, it's because if He did the Earth as a whole could be ruined. It is with this category that the first foundational idea can be applied: God gave humans domain over the Earth. When natural disasters strike areas that are stricken with poverty God calls people to do his work. People hear the calls for help from the people who have been placed in suffering and they go to them and help them. This can be shown by the Red Cross, missionaries, care packages, and etc. When their is human suffering like famine, lack of shelter, and when people don't have adequate drinking water what happens? The answer is still the same, God sends people to do the work of God. He sends people to build wells, to help feed the people, and to help build houses.

2. Suffering Caused by Human Decisions
  This category is when people abuse the second foundational idea: Humans can make their own decisions and have their own freedom. We make decisions every day. We make decisions about what we eat, what we want to do with our lives, and etc.We make decisions and choices mostly expecting that are choices with always come out with a positive effect, but what about when it doesn't? Here's a little story: A man showed up for late causing his boss to yell at him and threatening to fire him. The man angry with his boss decides to go to a bar and drink a little bit to relieve his stress. After drinking a bit he drinks a bit more. When it gets late he decides to drive home, but on his way he doesn't see the stop sign ahead of him and runs into a car in the intersection, hitting the car straight on. This "accident" kills two teenagers and severely injures another one that are in the car. The mother of these kids, blames God for what happened because she thinks He could have stopped in. Maybe this is true, maybe not. But since humans have the freedom to make our own decisions it was the man's choice to choose where he went after work. God could have maybe interfered with that situation so it didn't happen, but what would happen to our freedom? What would life be like if we didn't have the choice to choose, but instead our every actions, thoughts, and feelings were controlled by someone else? These are questions I'll leave to you to figure out.

3. Suffering Caused by sickness
  Sickness is not God's way. When Jesus was on Earth he spent much of his time healing the sick and the people with diseases. Sickness is something we can get because we have flesh and blood bodies. Bacteria and other such harmful things can get into our bloodstreams and our body and cause us to fall sick. Yes, God made us with flesh and blood bodies, but I think the beauty that God put into our bodies out ways the cons of sickness. People can get sick when they do not take care of their bodies correctly. Our bodies need exercise, nourishment, and care. When we neglect just one of these things, our bodies have the chance to fall ill to sickness or a disease. In Psalms 139: 14 it is said that we are, "fearfully and wonderfully made."


"One thought has often struck me when I meet people who reject God in the face of suffering. Rejecting God doesn't change the situation that has caused our suffering; it only removes the greatest source of hope, help, comfort, and strength we have." ~Adam Hamilton

And one more thought to leave you with is this "The present suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory that is going to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18

I hope this entry has given you some things to think about, because I know I am still thinking through some of these things as well. I hope you return soon to check out my next entry. Thanks for reading and feel free to comment! Have a great day/night!

~Davita

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

    Sorry for not posting lately I have been so busy lately. Anyways I'm very happy, because I was able to finish my book this past weekend! I was reading Inheritance by Christopher Paolini and it was 849 pages long. The book is thrilling, and very unpredictable (except the part where Arya becomes a dragon rider). If you haven't read the book or the series I recommend that you do. The series begins with Eragon and continues on with Eldest and Brisinger and finishing with Inheritance.

    Right now I am in Spanish II, and don't have much time to write. I will have another entry up tonight. What it shall be about I'm not completely sure yet.

~Davita

The Vow

    So tonight I went to see The Vow with a few of my friends. I had heard that it was going to be an amazing movie from some other people, so of course I wanted to go see it (plus Channing Tatum stars in it, so who wouldn't want to watch it haha). Anyways the movie is about a husband and wife, and when they get into a car accident the woman losses all memory of her husband (Channing). Leo (Channing) tries to help her regain her memory by recreating how they met and other certain things they use to do. I will not write the ending to the movie for those you have not seen it and do not want a spoiler. Anyways during the movie I could not help but think how much Leo loved Paige (Rachel McAdams) to have stayed with her through all of her struggles and how all he wanted was for her to be happy. The things he did for her really made me want a man to love me like the way Leo loves Paige. By watching this movie (I do intend to read the book, because I know the books are always better than the movies) my standards for how a guy treats me has definitely gone up.

(Random Thoughts below)

    Every girl wishes for a man that will treat her right. To hold her close when she's sad, to tell her everything is going to okay when she's afraid, to tell her he loves her with all his heart and nothing could change that, and etc. Sometimes girls spend long amounts of time looking for their one true love, and sometimes that pays off and the girl does marry her true love. However for some girls, their one true love isn't somebody they need to go looking for, sometimes their true love is staring them right in the face and all they need to do is to see him.

   This has definitely been an entry for me to write down my thoughts. I could write more, but those thoughts I would rather like to keep to myself. I'll leave you with this though... "Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."  ~Robert Heinlein

~Davita 

Why?~Does Everything Happen For a Reason?

  

   "Everything happens for a reason." This is something that most of us say to our friends or families in a time struggles like when a person we love dies. However in Why?, Adam challenges this statement, asking us to re-examine it. If everything happens for a reason then you are basically saying that God caused this to happen (once again this is if you believe in God) or that what happened was part of God's plan. Honestly though can we really say that? There are many bad things that happen in this world, and since God is a just and loving God, why would He let things that are bad happen? Well in Why?, Adam tells us three very important things. First is that God has given human beings "dominion" over this planet (we have been placed in charge of the Earth, making us responsible for what happens here), second is the idea that what makes us human is our ability to choose good from evil, which is a gift from God, and thirdly is the idea that humans struggle with our freedom; we find that we have an innate tendency to be drawn towards those things that are not God's will.


(This is where my thoughts will come in)

1. God has placed human beings in charge of the Earth.
 God has given us the responsibility of taking care of this Earth. We see it everyday. When it comes to air pollution, water pollution, the extinction of animals, and much more. It is true that we are superior to any other species on this Earth. Also when God wants something done in the world, God calls people to do it. When a natural disaster strikes, he sends people to help those who are in need.

Genesis 1:27-28
"God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."

2. God has given us the ability to choose good from evil.
  God gives us the ability to make our own choices, this is what makes us human. If we were not able to choose our choices but instead we were being controlled by a higher being, we would be like puppets. Our actions, our thoughts, and our lives would be determined by that higher being. But thanks to God, we are able to live a life by our own free will. We can choose right from wrong. In Genesis 2:15 God places Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. The next verse then says "And the Lord God commanded man, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat it you shall die." Knowing that Adam and Eve would eat of the tree, why did God even put the tree in the garden? God put the tree in the garden to represent the freedom that God gives human beings. As human beings we have the choice to believe in God or not to. We have the choice to choose right from wrong. And as humans we know how much our freedom means to us. We have fought and died to keep our freedom.

3. A Proneness to Stray from God's Path
 As human beings we have a tendency to choose the path that God has not set out for us. It is in our very nature to do this. To make ourselves feel better about sinning, we often try to rationalize it to make is seem as though we really did not sin, even though we know that we did. When we misuse God's gift of freedom to us, we often tend to cause pain for us and other people because we have chose the wrong path.

These are three necessary ideas as to why God let's suffering happen. It is not because he doesn't want to stop the suffering, it is because he has given us dominion over this planet, freedom and the choice to choose right from wrong, and as humans we tend to rationalize sin to put it in a better light.

I will soon have another entry up about my thoughts of Why? by Adam Hamilton in the next couple of days. I hope this has given you some insight as to why bad things do happen in our lives, and why God let's it happen (even though it causes him pain to see it). Please continue to come back, and feel free to comment on anything. I may not always have an answer but I will try to reply to it.

~Davita

ACT

    So soon I'll be taking my first ACT test in April. I got a practice book so I can see what it'll be like. I hope to score above a 20 for right now. I took the Plan test earlier this year and it said that if I were to take the ACT that I would score anywhere from a 24-28. However I'm not going to get my hopes up too high. This was just a random post about something.

    Also I am very sorry about not blogging on Why? I took the book to school today and forgot it in my locker. Of course this would happen to me. Oh well I shall post about it tomorrow.



~Davita

P.S~I'm very surprised I am actually keeping up on posting. It's weird, but good. :)

Time Management

Dear readers,

    Unfortunately, I do not have time to write about my thoughts about Why? because I have been very busy today. First off I am a student so I go to school from 8am-3:30pm. Right after school I work till around 5:30 and then at that time I have ballet till 6. Today I hung out with my friend Erin from 6-8 so naturally I did not get much done. Then from 8-8:45pm I have regular dance. So when I got home at 9 I had to take care of some things from school and do homework yet. So Mondays will be hard for me to post things, since I am very busy on those days. However, tomorrow I shall have a post up. Sorry for not writing my thoughts down today. Come back tomorrow and check in! Thanks! :)

~Davita

My First Thoughts about Why? by Adam Hamilton

    I have begun to read the book Why? by Adam Hamilton (Just for those of you who have not read this book, it is indeed a book about God. So yes there will be many references made to God in this blog. If you are not a believer, I still encourage you read this blog since it will mostly likely deal with human views on life as well). I have read the first chapter already, but am rereading it so I might capture my thoughts about what I read. The first chapter is titled "Why Do the Innocent Suffer?" I believe that many of us have asked this questioned before, but have never found the answer to it. Some of us believe that it is by the choices we make, by fate, or by a higher being that controls what happens in this world.

    "Among the assumptions I once held was that the Bible teaches that if I believe in God and try to be a good person, God will take care of me and bless me and nothing bad will happen to me. Because this is what I thought the Bible taught, every time something bad happened in my life I was left wondering if I was being punished by God because I had been bad, or if I simply did not have enough faith in God, or if, perhaps, there really was no God after all." This is a passage from the book and I believe that many of us have experienced this. I would say that this is true for most of us that believe in God. However as the book goes on, Adam tells us that once he started to actually read the Bible he found out that his assumptions about what the Bible taught was wrong. That the actual message about the Bible is not a promise that those who believe and do good will not suffer, but instead the Bible is a book about people who refused to let go of their faith in the face of suffering. After reading this I found this to be true. Most recently I have begun to read the Bible for my actual first time (it helps that I have the Bible on my Ipod with a daily plan to read it). It is true that the Bible is actually about people who refused to let go of their faith in the face of suffering. Examples of this are when Joseph is sold into slavery by his envious brothers and through God he prospers in Egypt becoming Pharoh's right hand man and saving Egypt from a great famine that lasted seven years, also when Job (a good man) suffers terribly yet refuses to give up his faith, and also when Moses is in the desert with the Israelites for 40 years. These people suffer greatly along with many others in the Old Testament but through their suffering they still claim what Psalm 73: 26, 28a has to say, "My flesh and my heart may fail,/ but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge." Through their trials and sufferings God is constantly with them, every step of the way (even if they do not realize it). This has happened in much of my life as well. As young as I may be I have been through many trying times (maybe even more than some adults) and every time God has been there for me to lift me up and encourage me to tell me everything is going to be okay. By now I have given you examples that the Bible does not teach that those who follow God will have a life with no worries. The Bible describes the faith of those who continue to trust in God despite their suffering; and the comfort, strength, and hope they find in the face of their suffering through God.

    By now I have learned that the Bible does not promise us a life of safety, health, and wealth for those who believe in God, but hope and comfort that when faced with struggles God will be there for us. Which leads me to the next thing I read about in this book and also that of which many of us have also commonly asked ourselves, "Does Everything Happen for a Reason?" To hear my thoughts about this you will have to read my next blog. I realize I did not put most of mine own thought in this blog but rather summarized what the book has said so far. I promise though as the book goes on I will put more of my thoughts in to this blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading this and find it intriguing enough to return shortly to read my next one. If you want, you may comment about anything on this blog. I would be happy to reply to any questions or statements anyone might have. Thank you!

~Davita

Heads or Tails?

Heads and Tails. Two sides to a penny. As most of us know, one side representing good luck-Heads. And the other representing bad luck-Tails. Finding a penny on the ground with the Head side up is taken as a sign of good luck. This is the background information needed for my story in the paragraph below.

Being a high school student (sophomore), I have to take four required classes: Geometry, American History, Biology I, and English II. My English II class teacher is a woman, and I absolutely think she is amazing at what she does. She makes learning fun and easy to understand. She is a very upbeat person and always smiling. However one day in class she wasn't, and it was because someone from a earlier class had left a penny TAILS side up for her to find. She believed this person to be a pessimist, and couldn't get over it for the rest of the day. This continued on for a few days, but with each new day she found a way to get over her sadness of the person being a pessimist. In the following week, a penny was not put down every day but every so often. The week after that another girl in my class would join this hoax. Before the start of the period she would put down a penny that was tails side up. When our teacher came back into the class room as the bell rang she saw the penny and questioned our class about who would do this. By now the mystery of the pennies had become a joke between my class, and our teacher would act (and we knew she was acting because she would exaggerate her voice and emotions)  as though the pennies face down was a direct hit on her. I soon wanted to be apart of this joke and so from then on I started to lay pennies tail side up as well. Our teacher eventually found out who had started laying down that first penny and the people after that. To this day the pennies will always be a joke between my class (because it had mostly become our class who started laying down the pennies) and our teacher. Nowadays, pennies will sometimes still be laid down but every so often. And the best thing about it, our teacher merely laughs and smiles at us and tells us we are silly.

I guess the point of my writing down this story is that it doesn't matter whether you find a penny head side up or tails side up. The fact of the matter is, is that a penny whether which side is facing up can always bring a smile to a person's face. And another point as to why I wrote down this story is because now whenever I find a penny laying tails side up (like I did earlier today) I will always think of my English teacher and how she has made an impact on my life. I think she is a brilliant teacher and person, and she will always be one of my favorite teachers.

~Davita

Introduction

Hello fellow bloggers!

My name is Davita and I'm fifteen years old. I've never been much a person to write down my thoughts, mostly because after a few weeks I just seem to forget to do it; however, I am going to try once again. Why? Well mostly because I have begun to read a book called Why? by Adam Hamilton. Pretty Ironic why I started this blog, isn't it. Anyways with in reading just a few pages of this book, I knew I wanted to write down my thoughts about what I read so I might capture my thoughts and be able to look back upon them. In my blog I will write about this book and what my thoughts are about it, but don't be fooled. I am also going to write about random thoughts that enter my mind and find worthy of writing them down for all you lovely people to read. I hope you enjoy my thoughts and continue to read this blog.

~Davita