I am going to be brutally, painstakingly honest in this post. Lately I have been feeling that my life can be considered mediocre at best. From realizing that I am not the best author in the world to getting denied for scholarships because there were others who were more "academically qualified" than me to planning a budget wedding, I find myself wallowing in my own discouragement. I have a strong Choleric side to my temperament (for those of you who do not know temperament lingo, a Choleric is a mover and hates feeling like a failure)and it has manifested itself often for my whole life. I remember telling my parents when I was 10 that I was going to drop out of my dance for the Nutcracker Ballet because I wasn't the best and the teacher kept getting annoyed with me. I felt that she had no right to treat me the way she was and I was sick of being embarrassed in front of my classmates because I could do the dances well enough.
I've always been a type "A" personality. This has caused me a lot of unneeded stress. Who wants to spend their whole life competing with friends and family to have things they will never have and be someone they will never be? Well, that's what I've been trying to do for years. I have never felt good enough by my own standards. Heck, I am not even good enough by the standards of other people (take the scholarship committee at KSU, for example). I realize that to people like my fiancee and my family and friends, I am someone very special. However, I need to learn to be happy with that fact alone and stop trying to make everyone else in the world feel that same way about me. I love having a support system who is always proud of my achievements. Sometimes, they still were not able to convince me to not quit something just because I only got average results. There was a time when I wanted to quit college. I felt that I couldn't master anything and I would never find something I was truly good at. Finally, I found something I love and have a passion for and can also get really good grades in, too. Sociology is a passion of mine and I intend to get a job in that field or relating to that field, even if it is kind of a mediocre job.
In sociological theory, there are two major viewpoints. One is Conflict Theory, which focuses on society teaching that the rich should oppress the poor. There is not much room for middle class in this form of society. I lean more towards the functionalist viewpoint. In a functionalist society, it is necessary to have a low, middle, and upper class. I feel that financially, my family has always been middle class. Technically, my fiancee and I will still be considered on the low end of the middle class financially when we move out because we make more than $18 K a year combined. So we will have a "just okay" yearly salary with a "just okay" little apartment and some "just okay" health insurance and an average sized TV. We won't be nothing special. What's the use in keeping up with the Jones's when the Jones's are people we can never be?
The reality is that Chris (my fiancee) and I play important roles in society. We are both working on college educations, which will improve our salaries and get us better health benefits. We will then be able to buy a house and maybe a new car. We're just two hard working people who are really stubborn. We usually don't give up, even if we aren't the best. And that's what make society work. If everyone who is not the richest or the most powerful member of society gives up, we end up with a small upper class and a huge lower class just waiting for the benevolence of one of the rich guys to help them afford toilet paper. That is not the ideal for society. What I have realized is that I may not be anyone special. I may not be a good enough writer or singer to become famous. I may never earn a doctorate degree or win national recognition for some huge career advancement or achievement. However, God still wants me to keep living and doing the best I can. Why should I try to be the best when God tells me to consider others better than myself? It's not about being the best. It's about loving God and loving others.
One more area in life where I feel mediocre is my wedding. I know that it is going to be one of the most memorable days of my life. I will be ecstatic either way. But I can't help feeling that my good friend who is getting married next year will have a much nicer wedding. I can't help but feeling that my friends who got married last year had better weddings than I will have. So-and-So had or will have a more expensive wedding dress than me, what's-her-name has a bigger diamond on her ring than I do, and the Who's-its are going to have more people at their wedding. Why do women have to be so competitive??? I don't want to be a remake of the movie Bride Wars!! Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway did good enough as it is...
Sometimes it's just very easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Why should I try to make my wedding be just like someone else's? Better yet, why should go into debt up to my eyeballs in order to have a more expensive, fancier wedding than my friends? That's not what it's all about! It's about me and my fiancee sharing our love for each other and making a commitment to stay together in front of our family and friends. I don't keep to wear a dress shaped like a cream puff and have a diamond as big as a ring pop candy to prove that I am in love. Weddings have become too much of a competition and too much about social status and less about the sacred bond that the bride and groom make with one another. I know that my wedding will be special because it is the day that I leave my mother and father and my groom and I will become one flesh. there's no point in trying to one up anyone, especially not for your wedding.
So, long story short, I am still considering myself average, middle class, slightly mediocre, but fulfilled through God. Having all the prestige and riches in the world could not make me as a happy and satisfied as the love of my Savior. I still want money and I still want to be the best and most popular person I can be, but I am not trying so hard to reach those goals. From here on out, I take things one day at a time and rely on God to fulfill me and let Him lift me up rather than me trying to do so myself. It's funny how God knocks people off of their pedestals. He has done that with me because I often get a little too proud of myself. It may not seem evident to those around me, but it happens. Whether I vocalize it or not, I greatly value personal achievement. However, I value my relationship with God and my relationship with my loved ones enough to stop striving for what I can't have. Climbing to the top of the ladder of success is not worth risking relationships and friendships. Thank God I realized this before it was too late.
There's my very honest blog post! I hope you readers have a great rest of the week!
Love,
Julia
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
The blinding power of love...
If there is one thing I have learned from my three and a half years of being in a relationship, it's that my wonderful and amazing fiancee is not always perfect. He has had to realize that I am not perfect. Especially in fights/issues that pop up between our mutual friends, Chris and I have had to learn not to be biased toward one another just because we are in a relationship. Nothing bugs me more than the couples who will defend each other to no end and not acknowledge the fact that they are both capable of doing something wrong...
GASP! - you may say. "Are you telling me that my perfect, beautiful, amazing significant other could have done something wrong? That is not possible! They are always just misunderstood by others and it's not their fault."
This is the most destructive thing for a relationship, in my opinion. You need to understand 1. that you are capable of doing something wrong, 2. that your spouse/significant other/fiancee is capable of doing wrong, 3. that you both need to not automatically assume that each other is right when confronted by an outside party about some misunderstanding.
Take for example, a situation between a group of friends. Some of the friends happen to be in a relationship with one another. Chris and I are being told that we are doing wrong but when we are wronged, the other parties involved say:
"Well, my boyfriend could not have done that. Chris is just overreacting!" Or "My girlfriend is a saint and handles her emotions very well. Julia is just having one of those emotional girl episodes and you (Chris) need to control her better."
Can I tell you all that this has happened to Chris and I before? It's childish, it's stupid, and it's really melodramatic. But guess, we all do it. We all get involved in it. No one wants their side of the story to be the one that gets the blame. Unfortunately, there are some personalities who have the charisma to get everyone they love to stand up for them, even when they are wrong. As a child, my parents were not the ones to say:
"My baby would never do that!"
if they got a bad behavior report about me. They would talk to the parties involved, determine what happened, and give me the proper share of the blame. This way, I have learned that in most disagreement, some blame goes to all parties involved.
Please, those of you in relationships out there, don't hurt friendships by constantly defending your significant other. If your loved one does something to hurt one of your mutual friends, realize that there is always more to an argument than what it appears on the surface. Realize that either party in the relationship will be reluctant to take any blame and realize that just because one of the people involved is in a romantic relationship with you, that you don't have to pretend that they did nothing wrong.
Being in a relationship with someone means being able to see the good and bad in the other person and being able to help reinforce the good things and help to reduce the bad traits. It's a mutual thing. I am very against coddling your partner because it tends to drain you, always having to defend them like your their angry parent after they got into a fight with someone on the playground. Treat them as your equal and your friend. You would not let your best friend do something stupid, why would you excuse your significant other's stupid choices? If you are afraid to speak up to your significant other when they are blatantly wrong, then there are other issues going on. You need to know them and trust them well enough that if they are being stupid, you will say something and that you are being stupid, they will say something to you.
Being in a relationship is not about spoiling each other. It's about building each other up and being accountable to one another. Many couples are successfully able to help one another overcome weaknesses and build on strengths. That is what I desire my marriage to be like. That is why I will say that I know I can be stupid and I know Chris can be stupid. However, we can work together to overcome our difficulties. If we are unable to see that each one of us has a capability for being wrong, it will make our relationship and our social life quite complicated.
That is all! I hope that no one took this as a "diss" or "bash". I am not perfect. I am just writing about something I have observed and seen happening in myself and I wanted to share some insight I gained.
Thanks,
Julia
GASP! - you may say. "Are you telling me that my perfect, beautiful, amazing significant other could have done something wrong? That is not possible! They are always just misunderstood by others and it's not their fault."
This is the most destructive thing for a relationship, in my opinion. You need to understand 1. that you are capable of doing something wrong, 2. that your spouse/significant other/fiancee is capable of doing wrong, 3. that you both need to not automatically assume that each other is right when confronted by an outside party about some misunderstanding.
Take for example, a situation between a group of friends. Some of the friends happen to be in a relationship with one another. Chris and I are being told that we are doing wrong but when we are wronged, the other parties involved say:
"Well, my boyfriend could not have done that. Chris is just overreacting!" Or "My girlfriend is a saint and handles her emotions very well. Julia is just having one of those emotional girl episodes and you (Chris) need to control her better."
Can I tell you all that this has happened to Chris and I before? It's childish, it's stupid, and it's really melodramatic. But guess, we all do it. We all get involved in it. No one wants their side of the story to be the one that gets the blame. Unfortunately, there are some personalities who have the charisma to get everyone they love to stand up for them, even when they are wrong. As a child, my parents were not the ones to say:
"My baby would never do that!"
if they got a bad behavior report about me. They would talk to the parties involved, determine what happened, and give me the proper share of the blame. This way, I have learned that in most disagreement, some blame goes to all parties involved.
Please, those of you in relationships out there, don't hurt friendships by constantly defending your significant other. If your loved one does something to hurt one of your mutual friends, realize that there is always more to an argument than what it appears on the surface. Realize that either party in the relationship will be reluctant to take any blame and realize that just because one of the people involved is in a romantic relationship with you, that you don't have to pretend that they did nothing wrong.
Being in a relationship with someone means being able to see the good and bad in the other person and being able to help reinforce the good things and help to reduce the bad traits. It's a mutual thing. I am very against coddling your partner because it tends to drain you, always having to defend them like your their angry parent after they got into a fight with someone on the playground. Treat them as your equal and your friend. You would not let your best friend do something stupid, why would you excuse your significant other's stupid choices? If you are afraid to speak up to your significant other when they are blatantly wrong, then there are other issues going on. You need to know them and trust them well enough that if they are being stupid, you will say something and that you are being stupid, they will say something to you.
Being in a relationship is not about spoiling each other. It's about building each other up and being accountable to one another. Many couples are successfully able to help one another overcome weaknesses and build on strengths. That is what I desire my marriage to be like. That is why I will say that I know I can be stupid and I know Chris can be stupid. However, we can work together to overcome our difficulties. If we are unable to see that each one of us has a capability for being wrong, it will make our relationship and our social life quite complicated.
That is all! I hope that no one took this as a "diss" or "bash". I am not perfect. I am just writing about something I have observed and seen happening in myself and I wanted to share some insight I gained.
Thanks,
Julia
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Another Shameless Plug for my Novel...and Some other Stuff!
So...if you haven't already heard through my facebook page, you can now buy a paperback copy of my novel, Exceptions, on Amazon.com! If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can get free two day shipping.
I will now be ADD for a minute and vent about Amazon Prime.
I ordered two movies for my Anthropology class this summer that I must view and analyze in a three page paper from an Anthropological perspective. I ordered them Friday evening and Amazon said they would be at my house by Tuesday, June 7th. Well, it's June 8th and they just now got to Woodstock. Hmmm....not so speedy, Amazon.
Anyway, please check out my novel on Amazon and also on Amazon Kindle. I know some people are more tech savvy and like ebooks better.
Only 6 months a few days until I get married! That fact just hit me today. I will be starting a new job soon, so I will have two jobs. I changed my major so now I only have one class picked out for fall and I am waiting until July 18th to hopefully sign up for some more! I really need more than just one class, even though I am getting married at the end of the Fall semester. Overall, life has been great. My summer classes are going well so far. I have found approximately seven errors with the online Anthropology course that were made by my professor. Don't they train her on how to set up the online quizzes? First, she says they all have unlimited attempts and one random quiz had only five attempts and the final quiz had only one. Next, she was supposed to have the computer only record our highest attempt on the quizzes so that we could earn the max points on the quiz portion of the class grade. Well, so far, the first four quizzes did that and now they are all only recording the first grade you get. I have pointed out every one of these mistakes in very respectful emails to my teacher. I am still waiting on extra credit for saving my class mate's butts :-P Something tells me being observant doesn't always get you extra credit in college, lol.
That's all I got going on for now. Check out my Book on Amazon!
Love,
Julia
I will now be ADD for a minute and vent about Amazon Prime.
I ordered two movies for my Anthropology class this summer that I must view and analyze in a three page paper from an Anthropological perspective. I ordered them Friday evening and Amazon said they would be at my house by Tuesday, June 7th. Well, it's June 8th and they just now got to Woodstock. Hmmm....not so speedy, Amazon.
Anyway, please check out my novel on Amazon and also on Amazon Kindle. I know some people are more tech savvy and like ebooks better.
Only 6 months a few days until I get married! That fact just hit me today. I will be starting a new job soon, so I will have two jobs. I changed my major so now I only have one class picked out for fall and I am waiting until July 18th to hopefully sign up for some more! I really need more than just one class, even though I am getting married at the end of the Fall semester. Overall, life has been great. My summer classes are going well so far. I have found approximately seven errors with the online Anthropology course that were made by my professor. Don't they train her on how to set up the online quizzes? First, she says they all have unlimited attempts and one random quiz had only five attempts and the final quiz had only one. Next, she was supposed to have the computer only record our highest attempt on the quizzes so that we could earn the max points on the quiz portion of the class grade. Well, so far, the first four quizzes did that and now they are all only recording the first grade you get. I have pointed out every one of these mistakes in very respectful emails to my teacher. I am still waiting on extra credit for saving my class mate's butts :-P Something tells me being observant doesn't always get you extra credit in college, lol.
That's all I got going on for now. Check out my Book on Amazon!
Love,
Julia
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
This is the Last time...
This is the last time I will be switching my major.
For the past two years I have been a couple different majors. It was bio chem first, then management, then english, then sociology, psychology, then english and finally...
Sociology.
I knew I loved sociology when I took it last summer. So why did I switch?
Simple. I didn't think it would make me enough money. Now, I find that both sociology and English are listed as one of the top 20 majors that have the best entry level salary potential upon graduation. Granted, the computer and economics people are in the top 5 so they are way better off than I am, but I am really excited just sticking with what I love.
This is going to be a good thing. The Lord is teaching me to do things for myself and not worry about how much money I will make.
I am pretty happy today. Besides it being extremely warm outside, I am very happy. Maybe I will go swimming again...hmm... :-P
Anyway, my book should be available for order through Create Space in about a week. I am supposed to receive the proof to review and then I can approve the book for sale. It's so exciting!! *jumps up and down like a little girl* The only next most exciting thing that will happen to me this year is getting married!!! I am super excited about that.
Anyway, hope all my readers have a wonderful day.
Love,
Julia
For the past two years I have been a couple different majors. It was bio chem first, then management, then english, then sociology, psychology, then english and finally...
Sociology.
I knew I loved sociology when I took it last summer. So why did I switch?
Simple. I didn't think it would make me enough money. Now, I find that both sociology and English are listed as one of the top 20 majors that have the best entry level salary potential upon graduation. Granted, the computer and economics people are in the top 5 so they are way better off than I am, but I am really excited just sticking with what I love.
This is going to be a good thing. The Lord is teaching me to do things for myself and not worry about how much money I will make.
I am pretty happy today. Besides it being extremely warm outside, I am very happy. Maybe I will go swimming again...hmm... :-P
Anyway, my book should be available for order through Create Space in about a week. I am supposed to receive the proof to review and then I can approve the book for sale. It's so exciting!! *jumps up and down like a little girl* The only next most exciting thing that will happen to me this year is getting married!!! I am super excited about that.
Anyway, hope all my readers have a wonderful day.
Love,
Julia
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wondering If I should keep writing...
So far, my book has been on Amazon Kindle for about 2 days. No sales yet. I have read about those breakthrough authors who made millions selling on Kindle. Well, as my book obviously states, they are the exceptions to a well known fact that most authors never get rich.
Good thing I have a back up plan for my career, right?
Yes, I am very excited to earn my Master's degree in Social Work. I hope to start Spring of 2014. When I realized that authors make very little money and I really don't want to teach English, I knew I had to find something else. It was then that I turned to my other passions in life. One of those passions is encouraging and serving others. What better way to do that then Social Work? I hope to one day work for a center that provides alternatives to abortions for women undergoing an unplanned pregnancy. Being pro-life is something I have always felt should be default for everyone. A baby starts developing as soon as conception occurs. I feel that people who find themselves pregnant with a child they were not prepared to have need to know that there are other ways to handle the situation other than abortion. Specifically, I would love to counsel women who decide to keep their babies and help them discover ways to get back on their feet and provide for themselves and their child.
Anyway, needless to say, I am feeling discouraged about my writing. Since I cannot make any money that way, will I just stop altogether? Is it worth keeping my art if it will not yield a profit? Decisions, decisions, I say. Hopefully, this book will sell something. I am just praying now that anyone who does happen to come across it and download it to their Kindle or i-Pad, etc., will take something away from it after reading. Soon, I will have a print version available. The proof was shipped out to me this morning. It will be for sale on Create Space's webpage (createspace.com) and Amazon.com.
Now, I am getting into the rut in my amazing summer that is called summer school. No, I did not fail a course. I chose to do summer school so that I could take less classes next semester to prepare for my wedding. However, I am dreading the work that summer school entails. I know it won't be extremely difficult, just time consuming. I would rather spend my days working and then coming home to relax. Also, I would like to spend my days off chilling at the pool working on my tan and hanging out with friends. I guess I am learning that balancing work and play is an art form and I need to practice.
One more thing: wedding planning is not easy! To any future brides and grooms out there: be warned. You will spend countless hours creating guest lists, worrying about how you will feed all your guests, staring at online pages adding stuff to a gift registry, and making sure your wedding party all wear the same thing...
My bridesmaids finally got their dresses. Of course I picked a dress that is about to be discontinued in a few days. This made it very stressful on my girls, especially the ones who could not pay for their dress up front. I apologize deeply for being such an inconvienent bride. :-P But, I have been blessed with people who will help me make invitations, decorations, and keep me fron losing my mind.
A mind is a terrible thing to lose. Especially for me. :-P
Here is a link to my book on Kindle. Take a peek if you have an e-Reader. If you don't, stay up on my blog because I'll post a link to the print version.
Peace out,
Julia
Exceptions:
A Novel by Julia Hall
Good thing I have a back up plan for my career, right?
Yes, I am very excited to earn my Master's degree in Social Work. I hope to start Spring of 2014. When I realized that authors make very little money and I really don't want to teach English, I knew I had to find something else. It was then that I turned to my other passions in life. One of those passions is encouraging and serving others. What better way to do that then Social Work? I hope to one day work for a center that provides alternatives to abortions for women undergoing an unplanned pregnancy. Being pro-life is something I have always felt should be default for everyone. A baby starts developing as soon as conception occurs. I feel that people who find themselves pregnant with a child they were not prepared to have need to know that there are other ways to handle the situation other than abortion. Specifically, I would love to counsel women who decide to keep their babies and help them discover ways to get back on their feet and provide for themselves and their child.
Anyway, needless to say, I am feeling discouraged about my writing. Since I cannot make any money that way, will I just stop altogether? Is it worth keeping my art if it will not yield a profit? Decisions, decisions, I say. Hopefully, this book will sell something. I am just praying now that anyone who does happen to come across it and download it to their Kindle or i-Pad, etc., will take something away from it after reading. Soon, I will have a print version available. The proof was shipped out to me this morning. It will be for sale on Create Space's webpage (createspace.com) and Amazon.com.
Now, I am getting into the rut in my amazing summer that is called summer school. No, I did not fail a course. I chose to do summer school so that I could take less classes next semester to prepare for my wedding. However, I am dreading the work that summer school entails. I know it won't be extremely difficult, just time consuming. I would rather spend my days working and then coming home to relax. Also, I would like to spend my days off chilling at the pool working on my tan and hanging out with friends. I guess I am learning that balancing work and play is an art form and I need to practice.
One more thing: wedding planning is not easy! To any future brides and grooms out there: be warned. You will spend countless hours creating guest lists, worrying about how you will feed all your guests, staring at online pages adding stuff to a gift registry, and making sure your wedding party all wear the same thing...
My bridesmaids finally got their dresses. Of course I picked a dress that is about to be discontinued in a few days. This made it very stressful on my girls, especially the ones who could not pay for their dress up front. I apologize deeply for being such an inconvienent bride. :-P But, I have been blessed with people who will help me make invitations, decorations, and keep me fron losing my mind.
A mind is a terrible thing to lose. Especially for me. :-P
Here is a link to my book on Kindle. Take a peek if you have an e-Reader. If you don't, stay up on my blog because I'll post a link to the print version.
Peace out,
Julia
Exceptions:
A Novel by Julia Hall
Monday, May 23, 2011
I love Blogging...
Mondays are a GREAT day to blog!
Just Sayin'
Anyway, I am kicking myself for not taking the time this weekend to work on my novel! I have another blog that has most of the chapters I have completed thus far. I need to provide a link to that blog on this blog. It is a novel I call "Exceptions". It is about an FBI psychologist who loses her brother and reconnects with her father, who has been separated from the family for years. She also learns to reconnect with her spirituality in the process. I am so excited to have it finished. My goal is to get it finished this summer and self-publish it on the Amazon Kindle website. If you have a Kindle, iPod, iPhone, iPad, or Kindle app for Windows you can read it that way. If you don't have those, you can access the book through my blog.
Here is the Link to my Blog: Exceptions: A Novel by Julia Hall
Anyhoo, I am coming to terms with the fact that I probably need a second job. Things are getting more expensive. I have already spent almost $100 dollars in gas this month and I barely drive 150 miles per week!! This time last year I could drive that much for like 60 or 70 dollars a month. It's crazy! Also, I started paying this month on Chris's wedding band and I have been paying my medical bills each month, too. It's ridiculous. I am hoping that everything will go well as far as my job situation. If I can get a job that offers good health benefits, I may be able to afford some allergy shots and that will greatly improve my asthma and allergic reactions to dust.
On another note, I decided this month not to go into Education. I feel the Lord leading me in a different direction. I plan to continue on in my English bachelor's degree and minor in Criminology. After I graduate, I plan to apply to the Master's of Social Work program at Kennesaw. If I am to do this, I definitely need a job with more flexible hours because the Master's of Social Work will require an internship that will be a couple of days a week. Getting a job that has day, evening, and weekend hours will be best.
I am praying that the Lord will give me the strength to get on with my life even if I feel it is not always fair. I have been asking a lot of God lately and I am not sure that He always answers in the way I expect. I have heard stories of people who needed to adopt children from China or go on missions trips to faraway countries who were short thousands of dollars and miraculously received checks in their mailbox days before the money was due. This has never happened to me. I have raised a lot of money in one day when I went to Paraguay a couple years ago, but I have never received random checks in the mail. I need money, I but I feel that God has called me to keep working faithfully and be the best worker I can. Also, if I am the best student I can be, I have a feeling He will reward me. I will be able to pay my student loans, medical bills, tuition bills, and other bills off no problem if I just keep working hard. Luckily for me, I am taking just two classes online this summer and three classes in the fall. That way I will have lots of time to work. Hopefully I will be able to be wise with my money, afford what is still needed for my wedding, and help Chris and I get off to a good financial start in our new life together.
Thanks again for reading! I appreciate all my readers very much :)
Love,
Julia
Just Sayin'
Anyway, I am kicking myself for not taking the time this weekend to work on my novel! I have another blog that has most of the chapters I have completed thus far. I need to provide a link to that blog on this blog. It is a novel I call "Exceptions". It is about an FBI psychologist who loses her brother and reconnects with her father, who has been separated from the family for years. She also learns to reconnect with her spirituality in the process. I am so excited to have it finished. My goal is to get it finished this summer and self-publish it on the Amazon Kindle website. If you have a Kindle, iPod, iPhone, iPad, or Kindle app for Windows you can read it that way. If you don't have those, you can access the book through my blog.
Here is the Link to my Blog: Exceptions: A Novel by Julia Hall
Anyhoo, I am coming to terms with the fact that I probably need a second job. Things are getting more expensive. I have already spent almost $100 dollars in gas this month and I barely drive 150 miles per week!! This time last year I could drive that much for like 60 or 70 dollars a month. It's crazy! Also, I started paying this month on Chris's wedding band and I have been paying my medical bills each month, too. It's ridiculous. I am hoping that everything will go well as far as my job situation. If I can get a job that offers good health benefits, I may be able to afford some allergy shots and that will greatly improve my asthma and allergic reactions to dust.
On another note, I decided this month not to go into Education. I feel the Lord leading me in a different direction. I plan to continue on in my English bachelor's degree and minor in Criminology. After I graduate, I plan to apply to the Master's of Social Work program at Kennesaw. If I am to do this, I definitely need a job with more flexible hours because the Master's of Social Work will require an internship that will be a couple of days a week. Getting a job that has day, evening, and weekend hours will be best.
I am praying that the Lord will give me the strength to get on with my life even if I feel it is not always fair. I have been asking a lot of God lately and I am not sure that He always answers in the way I expect. I have heard stories of people who needed to adopt children from China or go on missions trips to faraway countries who were short thousands of dollars and miraculously received checks in their mailbox days before the money was due. This has never happened to me. I have raised a lot of money in one day when I went to Paraguay a couple years ago, but I have never received random checks in the mail. I need money, I but I feel that God has called me to keep working faithfully and be the best worker I can. Also, if I am the best student I can be, I have a feeling He will reward me. I will be able to pay my student loans, medical bills, tuition bills, and other bills off no problem if I just keep working hard. Luckily for me, I am taking just two classes online this summer and three classes in the fall. That way I will have lots of time to work. Hopefully I will be able to be wise with my money, afford what is still needed for my wedding, and help Chris and I get off to a good financial start in our new life together.
Thanks again for reading! I appreciate all my readers very much :)
Love,
Julia
Monday, May 16, 2011
The End of the World as We Know it!
On this dreary Monday morning, I pose a question to all my loyal readers:
Is 6:00 PM local time, Saturday May 21st, 2011 the end of the world?
I do not know. I really don't want to know. All I know is that Jesus says in Matthew 25
“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids[a] who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’
7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’
12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’
13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return."
It would appear to me that Mr. Harold Camping, the man who predicted 6 Pm on May 21st, has just tried to predict the day and the hour. Jesus Himself said that we will not know. Also, Mr. Camping first predicted the coming of Christ on September 6th, 1994. Obviously, that did not happen. Since then, he attributed the mistake to a mathematical error in his calculation of the timeline of Biblical History. You see, he believes that the flood began exactly 4990 BC. Mr. Camping also thinks that the Lord means 1,000 years when he talks about days because of a verse in 2 Peter 3:8:
8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
So, this preacher determined that God would take "seven days", or seven thousand years, between the beginning of the flood of Noah and now to destroy the earth. His formula looks like this:
4990 BC + 2011 - 1 = 7000
The minus one came from the fact that the calender does not have a 0 BC. It just went straight into 1 AD. So, in other words, this man has decided that the Lord encrypted the Bible with a mathematical formula to predict the rapture. Camping also believes that according to Revelation 9: 5
5And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
...that people who are not raptured this Saturday will be tortured for exactly five months until October 21st when God will judge everyone according to their actions and the earth will be destroyed.
So do you think this man is a false prophet? Personally, I do. I am not too worried about whether he really is right, though, because I believe in the Lord and I know that He has saved me. However, something to consider is this verse in Deuteronomy 18:
21 “But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ 22 If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.
In other words, Mr. Camping was wrong once already. By the standards God gave Moses in the Old Testament, Mr. Camping did not truly hear from the Lord on that one. My opinion is that this is no different. However, should the world really end on May 21st or June 22nd or September 13th (just making up random days here to get my point across), don't be afraid. Follow Jesus's advice in Matthew 25. Don't be the bridesmaids who were not prepared for the groom's return. Be ready! But don't be worrying too much about when Jesus is coming back. Do your best to follow his commands and learn to be more like Him each day on this earth. Smile at someone, let them know God cares for them, invite them to church or Bible study, but don't abandon your daily life as though it will all be gone on Saturday. Just enjoy the life the Lord has given you on this earth and be ready and waiting for the day he comes to take you home, whenever it may be!
Hope that gives you a little peace if you were concerned about Saturday. For now, just worry about today. God says to think about today because tomorrow (and saturday!) will worry about themselves.
Peace out!
Julia
Is 6:00 PM local time, Saturday May 21st, 2011 the end of the world?
I do not know. I really don't want to know. All I know is that Jesus says in Matthew 25
“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids[a] who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’
7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’
12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’
13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return."
It would appear to me that Mr. Harold Camping, the man who predicted 6 Pm on May 21st, has just tried to predict the day and the hour. Jesus Himself said that we will not know. Also, Mr. Camping first predicted the coming of Christ on September 6th, 1994. Obviously, that did not happen. Since then, he attributed the mistake to a mathematical error in his calculation of the timeline of Biblical History. You see, he believes that the flood began exactly 4990 BC. Mr. Camping also thinks that the Lord means 1,000 years when he talks about days because of a verse in 2 Peter 3:8:
8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
So, this preacher determined that God would take "seven days", or seven thousand years, between the beginning of the flood of Noah and now to destroy the earth. His formula looks like this:
4990 BC + 2011 - 1 = 7000
The minus one came from the fact that the calender does not have a 0 BC. It just went straight into 1 AD. So, in other words, this man has decided that the Lord encrypted the Bible with a mathematical formula to predict the rapture. Camping also believes that according to Revelation 9: 5
5And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
...that people who are not raptured this Saturday will be tortured for exactly five months until October 21st when God will judge everyone according to their actions and the earth will be destroyed.
So do you think this man is a false prophet? Personally, I do. I am not too worried about whether he really is right, though, because I believe in the Lord and I know that He has saved me. However, something to consider is this verse in Deuteronomy 18:
21 “But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ 22 If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.
In other words, Mr. Camping was wrong once already. By the standards God gave Moses in the Old Testament, Mr. Camping did not truly hear from the Lord on that one. My opinion is that this is no different. However, should the world really end on May 21st or June 22nd or September 13th (just making up random days here to get my point across), don't be afraid. Follow Jesus's advice in Matthew 25. Don't be the bridesmaids who were not prepared for the groom's return. Be ready! But don't be worrying too much about when Jesus is coming back. Do your best to follow his commands and learn to be more like Him each day on this earth. Smile at someone, let them know God cares for them, invite them to church or Bible study, but don't abandon your daily life as though it will all be gone on Saturday. Just enjoy the life the Lord has given you on this earth and be ready and waiting for the day he comes to take you home, whenever it may be!
Hope that gives you a little peace if you were concerned about Saturday. For now, just worry about today. God says to think about today because tomorrow (and saturday!) will worry about themselves.
Peace out!
Julia
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