Wedding Plans

It has been a very wedding-y sort of week for me. A friend of mine got engaged last Friday. I attended another friend's wedding today. And to top it all off, I just read a blog post where someone said she would like to arrive at her wedding in a hot air balloon. All this got me wondering: what do you want your wedding to be like? I wrote up a questionnaire for y'all, and I answered the answers myself ... not because I have any desire to share with you MY wedding fantasies, though; I just wanted to make sure you know how questionnaires are done. XD. Jokinnnnng ... I'd LOVE to share with you some of my wedding schemes, and I'd love to hear about yours, too! Post your answers on your own blog, or put them in the comment box below.

1. Inside or outside? Why?

Outside, in a glade in a forest. Because it would feel so much more vital to be married with a breath of fresh air blowing about me. And I'd feel closer to God's presence outside.

2. What time of year do you want to have your wedding at?

Um, summer. Because outdoor weddings in Oregon negate just about any other option.

2. What do you want your dress to look like?

I rather like the idea of a wedding dress shaped like Princess Aurora's. Except obviously it'd be white instead of pink or blue. The skirt has so much mobility! And the bodice is just beautiful. 

3. Will you follow the old tradition and try to wear something old, something new,

Something borrowed, and something blue? Also, btw,

Hee-hee-hee.

Yes ... I'd follow that tradition. It's so charming.

4. Will you dance the first dance with your husband? What song would you like to dance to for this?
First dance with husband, yes. The difficulty is picking the song. Of course the guy I marry would have a lot to do with it, but objectively I really like this song. So celebratory. (What kind of dancing could you do to that song, Cassie?)

5. What music will you walk down the isle to?
If I had to pick today, it'd be this. It's so beautifallllll.

6. What do you want your wedding colors to be?
Okay okay. Either coral and gray, like this

blue and orange, like this

or just a lightgreen.

7. What will you have your bridesmaids wear?
I'd like them to all wear about the same length of dress, maybe knee-length. Other than that I'd like them to wear whatever dress suits them best.

8. How about your groomsmen?
Vests. Duh. Mostly because of Ron. Ah, love you, Ron.

9. What food do you want to have at your wedding?
Peppermint ice cream. That's all I've settled on. Oooh! That would match the coral and gray color palette! 10 points for Coral and Gray.

10. Name any random other details about your wedding you have in mind. Arrival by hot air balloon, for example.
Hmmmmmmmmm. I think it would be really awesome if after the wedding ceremony, the bridal party all went down the isle in an epic folk dance of some kind.

11. And, finally, because I want to know and because it has to do with getting marrried: what character quality would you prize most in your husband?
Moral fortitude. I want to marry a man who doesn't give a cent for what anyone else thinks as long as he's doing what God has called him to.

Can't wait to see your answers!!! Also, invite me to your weddings.

Masks

Oh, dear,

Must you go to bed so soon?

Well, goodnight,

but I wish you wouldn't leave.

Perhaps if we stayed up long enough,

I'd find a way to tell you 

everything that's on my mind.

Perhaps everything would look better then -

then again, everything may look a good deal worse.

Oh well, it's worth the risk, isn't it? - maybe I will tell you after all.

But - we wear our masks for a reason, 

don't we?

And I worked so hard to make mine,

It seems a shame to throw it away.

It's such a pretty mask.

Maybe, if I take it off, you won't love me anymore.

Oh, I don't think I could bear that.

Why don't you take yours off, first?

Yes, do!

Then maybe I could summon up the courage to -

oh - 

but, of course, you've already gone to sleep.

Oh, I wish you hadn't gone away.

I've so much left to say to you.

Oh, well, perhaps another time.

Goodnight, and I hope you have
lovely dreams.

Hullo all! Found a poem I wish to share with you (i.e., I did not write it). Let me know what you think :). 

I do not want to smile

It's just the way I am

But if you let me be a while

I will smile again

I do not wish to carry

A burden that is not mine

But not long shall I tarry

Ere once more I help with thine

I do not want for company

I can be lonely on my own

But my hopes, though dim, are many

And I shall not stay long alone

I do not wish to want for

Things I can never know

But holes cannot be filled more

By cutting out your woe

~anonymous

The Piano

We rounded the corner, and I caught a glimpse

Of hammers and strings and keys all awry

And amber wood shattered in a thousand pieces.

The girl stood with her face in her hands,

And the boy stood with his arms about her

As she mourned the loss of a friend.

Gently, gently now, good sir,

Play adagio.

I think I know how it happened.

The piano fell from the bed of their truck

As they rounded the corner too fast.

Now it stood on its side, bent and battered,

Never to speak again.

Softly, softly, not too loud,

Play pianissimmo.

We drove on. And though I faced forward,

My heart remained with the girl who had suddenly lost so much. 

Oh, so many years they might've spent together! 

For pianos are made to live long, long lives.

This one's end came swift and soon,

And yet - though it is sad to think on her loss -

I am glad that this one was so loved before the end.

Dolce now, and dolore, 

And still adagio.

The Universe is Dancing

The universe is dancing - yes, that is the nature of it:
The planets whirl through the cosmos, dancing in the dark.
Here on Earth we dance together,
Our hands clasped as we whirl each other around and around.
We dance beneath the moon, that faithful lover,
Revolving ever with his face to his pirouetting partner,
Admiring her to the end of time.
One day, too, I may dance before my lover,
As he treads the sentry's loving waltz around me,
Keeping me from harm.
But till then we as friends dance together,
By the light of the wheeling stars.

Imagination and Reality

NOTE: The fact that there are three Totoros standing next to the quote 

does not make the quote true.

***

In the end, people, you've got to face reality. I know, I know, I hate this as much as any of you. I spend a lot of time reading and writing, partly because I love it, but also because I just have to get away from the real world sometimes. I'm sure you feel the same way sometimes, and I can't say that I blame you. The real world is scary. Things are out of our out control. Days are often humdrum, occasionally blue, and sometimes even downright gruesome. Getting away from it all, even for a while, can be really, well, nice. In the stories I love, even the sad endings are beautifully written. But  it's not like that in real life.

Or is it?

Look around, guys. Who's in control here? The One who works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Our lives aren't orchestrated by some tacky director whose goal is to make a bestseller that will make gobs of people happy. Look closely: Romans 8:28 doesn't say that God works all things together for the happiness of those who love Him. Happiness is an unstable thing. It changes. That song that made you feel so happy yesterday just might not work today. Good, however, is different. Good is constant. It isn't changed by how you happen to be feeling. On days when I'm feeling too miserable to get out of bed, Good whispers in my ear truths so pure and strong that they pull even me to my dragging feet. Good prevails.

God's ways are higher than our ways. Life may not always go the way I want it to, but that's okay. I'm glad it doesn't, actually. Gosh, if my life always went the way I wanted it to, I'd be in deep trouble right now. God's plan for my life is so much better than anything I can imagine. 

And speaking of imagining, that brings me back to the quote at the top of the page: I'm not saying that imagination is inherently bad! Don't get me wrong on that. Imagination is a God-given thing. Remember that amazing plan that God has for you? Your imagination is one of the gifts He gave you that will help you along the way. So don't use imagination to escape this world; use it to make this world even better. 

Come back to the real world, but bring imagination with you: make it become reality. Share your amazing life with us. And never forget to give God the glory. 

I Killed A Spider

So I Googled images of sadness and this is one of the first ones that popped up and I think it also implies remorse as well, remorse and sadness, and that's how I feel so yes that seems like a good way to start this post guys I killed a spider. 

Here is my rule about killing spiders: if they are in the house, kill them. I think of it as a good excercize for my flabby Courage Muscle, and moreover I don't want our house to be overrun by spiders. They bite, or so I've heard. Here is my other rule about killing spiders: if they are outside, leave them alone. They make pretty webs, and they kill mosquitos and flies and things. In short I respect spiders, I admire them, I fear them, and unless they are in the house I will let them live a long productive bug-catching life.

Except this one. He's on the smallish side of tiny and he's one of those spiders that will be holding perfectly still one second and then suddenly will be an inch to the right the next. You know, the teleporting kind. They give me the creeps. And he's sitting staring at me. While I'm trying to study. I manage to kind of steer him away to the far end of the table and continue studying. Sitting in the chair with my knees up, with my book on my knees. I happen to glance to the side and THE SPIDER IS ON MY KNEE STARING AT ME. I'm like "WOULD! YOU! GET! OFF!" and I swat him to the ground, where he sits, none the worse for his fall, staring at me. I stare at him, struggling with my other rule about killing spiders: if they are outside, leave them alone. True, I had not assumed there would ever be a spider in Oregon that would not leave ME alone. But still, it's not like this guy is actually going to HURT me, right? I know what I have to do. I pick up my text book, hold it over the spider, and drop it on him. Remarkably, it kills him.

I lift up my book and stare at the remains of Spider. I am shocked and apalled by what I have done. I still am. My sudden hatred, violent enough to end a small life. The world has one less life than it did before. Actually several more lives probably began at the exact moment of his death. Not to mention several other lives probably ended at that exact same moment, too. I wonder, is there like a constantly moving clicker keeping track of lives going in and out of existence? Like, how many things are alive right now? Not counting plants, though. Just in kingdom Animalia. Which includes humans. I know it offends some Christians when I inform them they are mammals, they're like "WE DID NOT EVOLVE FROM MONKEYS," and I'm like "Yesssss but we ARE primates and also mammals and also ANIMALS." I mean out of the three categories of animal, vegetable, and mineral, which one are WE in? OBVIOUSLY animal. I killed an animal, guys. An animal that had, in all probability, no intent to harm me ... well, actually, I doubt that part. But anyway I feel bad about it. 

I had written this far when a friend asked "Why are you writing this? What is your point? You are SUCH a girl." What IS my point? I don't know. I just feel like I had to get this off my chest. So, yeah, I killed a spider today. And I feel bad about it. Thanks for reading.