A love so deep. A sacrifice so great. A man who came willing.

Pink and purple streaked across the sky, trying to prove that the day was supposed to turn out well, but the voices, the events made it seem otherwise. A large balcony, high above the ground, was the center of attention. An immense crowd of people stood below and around it, waiting silently for the main event to reveal itself. Quiet murmurs could be heard as a man, wearing white, stepped out for all to see him. Another man, his hands bound behind him, was shoved onto the balcony. A hush came upon the crowd. The man in white, known as Pilate, pulled the other man towards the banister rimming the edge of the parapet. Pilate looked out upon his people and cried, "I have found no charges against this man! I will punish him, then release him to you!" Pilate was sure the people would cheer or at least be silent. The reaction was opposite and defining. "Barrabas! Release Barrabas to us! Away with this man! We want Barrabas!"

Pilate's face proved the shock he felt. His heart sunk. "Barrabas?! Barrabas is a murderer! This man has done no harm! Why would you want a murderer above a miracle worker?"

Pilate begged loudly, but to no avail. With fists raised, the crowd shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

Pilate closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Slowly, he lifted his finger towards the man who was called Jesus. "Take him away."

Two soldiers grabbed the man's arms and dragged him from the balcony. The crowd roared. Pilate lifted his hands to direct the crowd to silence. Growing quieter, the crowd listened intently to Pilate's words. "He is gone. I now release Barrabas to you." Pilate turned his back to the crowd and walked out.

--------

The soldiers did as they wished with Jesus. They whipped him, they beat him, they spit at him. His back was torn and bloody. What flesh was left on his back, barely covered the muscle and blood that seemed to blanket the man. They placed a crown of thorns upon his head, readjusting it so the thorns would pierce the man's flesh. They stripped him of his clothing and left nothing but a dirty cloth around his waist. They placed his cross upon his shoulder and forced him to carry it to the hill where he would die.

Tears streamed down Jesus' face. He collapsed. Before the cross could fall upon his back, Simon of Cyrene stepped from the parting crowd and caught the beams of wood. He lifted it upon his own back and carried it up the hill for the man.

Jesus was prodded forward and slumped along, supporting himself with his arms every few feet. Men tried to comfort the woman and children who were crying out to Jesus. Jesus stopped moving and turned to the women, saying, "Do not weep for me.....weep for yourselves....and your children....."

When they reached the top of the hill, the cross was laid out and Jesus was thrown on top of it. They stretched his arms out across the wood. Large nails were hammered into his hands, attaching them to the cross. They did the same to his feet. They lifted the cross, propping it up so all could see Jesus, the supposed king, die.

On either side of Jesus were two criminals, who were to be crucified also. Jesus lifted his head and looked lovingly at the two men. He then looked up to the sky and prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing...."

The soldiers sneered at Jesus, casting lots for his clothes. People called out, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is God's Messiah, the Chosen One!"

Soldiers shoved a sponge with wine and vinegar into Jesus' mouth, crying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"

Jesus was saddened, as he looked upon the men who were sinning. He looked at them with love in his eyes. His Father's creations, the ones who he was dying for, were mocking him. They would never discover the true love, the true meaning of His death. Their bodies would reside in Hell forever. Jesus looked out upon the people. His people. Compassion filled his eyes, tears steamed down his face.

One of the others hanging upon the cross called out to him, "Aren't you the Messiah?! Save yourself and us!"

The other criminal rebuked him, "Don't you fear God, since you are under the same sentence?! We are being punished justly! We are getting what our deeds deserve! But this man, the Messiah, he has done nothing wrong!" he then looked at Jesus, "Jesus, please remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Jesus smiled and answered, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."

------

Noon had come and darkness was cast across the earth. When three o'clock rolled around, the sun had stopped shining. The curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus cried out, with his last breath, "It.....is......finished!"

The centurion watched in awe, as realization came to his mind. He praised God and said, "Surely, this man, was a righteous man."

A man came and took Jesus' body. He buried him in a tomb, which was vacant.

To Be Continued....

I know that this was not very well written, but I felt like it was time for me to share this with you guys. This story means so much to me and many other believers. I don't understand fully how Jesus could love us SO much, that he would willingly give himself up and die....for us! I wanted to separate the resurrection from the crucifixion when I wrote this, that's why it will be split into two parts. Basically everything that was said by someone in this was taken directly from Luke 23, but I did add some words and change it around a little bit. Otherwise, the not dialogue was written by myself.....:p

God Bless,

Angela

the Beautiful People Challenge Pt. 2

I'm doing it on Carter again, since he's my favorite character of mine.

1. How old is he?

Just recently Carter turned 14, but in his mind he feels older.

2. What does he do with his spare time?
Carter doesn't have spare time; all he does is practice his sword fighting, sleep and eat. He doesn't have time for anything else. I mean, the "knight" business is pretty serious.

3. Does he see the big picture or live in the moment?
Carter just lives for practicing. He doesn't think either is really even worth it. It's quite saddening actually.

4. Is he a perfectionist?
Yes. If his instructor tells him that he swung the sword wrong, he practices for hours just on that move to be sure that he can get it right. Otherwise, it's not even worth it.

5. What does his handwriting look like? (round, slanted, curly, skinny, sloppy, neat, decorative, etc.)
Well, Carter participated in school until he was eleven. He stopped when his brother died, so he doesn't get a lot of practice anymore. The only thing he writes is his practice logs, so he feels that handwriting is just another thing he knows, but doesn't need. So, his handwriting is a sloppy mess, but definitely able to read.

6. Favorite animal?
Dogs. When he was younger, his family owned a Shetland Sheepdog, but he also died in the fire. Even with Carter's fighting spirit and anger problems, if there is a dog in the stable or in the castle yard while he is eating or moving to and from the training arena, he always stops to give it a bite of food or just some love.

7. Does he have any pets?
I kind of answered that in the last question. He had his old dog and basically cares for all the dogs he sees. He doesn't really like horses, but he occasionally swats the flies from their eyes as he sits in the stable area.

8. Does he have any siblings? How many? Where does he fit in?
He did. His brother, Thomas, who was two years older than him. But he died at the age of thirteen.

9. Does he have a 'life verse' and if so what is it?
Not really. He's not really religious or anything.

10. Favorite writing utensil?
Just a piece of charcoal or occasionally a feather and ink if he's feeling up to it.

That was quite interesting. Some of his stuff is a little boring, since he doesn't really live for much. :p I thought it turned out quite well though. :D

God Bless,

Angela

I want to, yet I don't want to......

• I want to make a blogpost, yet I don't know what to write about.
• I want to write a book, yet I don't have the patience.
• I want to be an artist, yet it takes so much practice.
• I want to be popular and well known, yet I want to stay with my few very close friends.
• I want to get a Facebook page, yet I don't want it to consume my time.
• I want to go to camp, yet I don't want to have to work to raise the money.
• I want to Bible quiz, yet I don't want to memorize the verses.
• I want to be smart in Math, yet I don't want to learn the fundamentals.
• I want to be good at soccer, yet I don't want to practice and practice and practice.
• I want to learn how to play the harmonica, yet I'm reluctant to buy one.
• I want to move closer to my cousins, yet I don't want to move away from my friends.
• I want to expand my horizons, yet I don't want to try new foods.
• I want to outreach, yet I don't want to go to other countries.
• I want to meet new people, yet I don't want to have to include new friends in my lifestyle.

All of these are so true for me and I'm sure a few of you can relate to some of these.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 7:25

God Bless,

Angela

I find it quite strange....

The Strangeness of Me

1. I find it quite strange that when I'm talking, I have so much to say and rarely stop talking, but when I try to type up a blog post, my mind goes completely and utterly blank.

2. I find it quite strange that I can sit down and read a book for hours at a time, but when it comes to reading anything else, I get bored after a few minutes.

3. I find it quite strange that I love the colors purple and green, but that I hate Barney.

4. I find it quite strange that I have a ton of clothes, but probably only wear half of them, or not even.

5. I find it quite strange that I love How To Train Your Dragon, even though it's a Dreamworks movie.

6. I find it quite strange that I spend minutes staring out a computer screen, but learn nothing from it.

7. I find it quite strange that I still have strange things to type about.

8. I find it quite strange that I am starting to half enjoy school and the school year isn't even over yet!

9. Isn't the word 'strange' so....well, strange?

Over and Out.
Angela

long, sunny days

Well, the past week I have spent outside, running around and just being plain awesome. I mean, Friday night was spent with some great friends. We ran around a farm in Michigan. It was crazy windy, so we ran around this open field. It was raining too and since it was so windy the rain stung your skin....then we climbed up in the hayloft and spent the next hour just jumping off of a ledge into a pile of hay....skipping a few days, yesterday was spent with my younger brother, Lucas and a neighbor. We played basketball and since the basketball was covered in tree limbs and sticks, we jumped over the sticks and such while playing basketball, jumped out of the truck, climbed trees, skateboarded, threw the football around....etc. etc. etc.

The picture above was taken by my little brother, the skateboarder is myself (of course. O_o) I also spent awhile just riding on my stomach on the skateboard down my friend's steep driveway. It was quite scary at times. The funny thing is that the only time I fell off of the skateboard was when I was just sitting on it and going straight forwards....anyway.....

That is basically all I have to say, which is really really lame, I just felt like I needed to make a post and you know, I figured it would be best to post something that I've been doing. :p

God Bless,

Angela

The Big Black Eye

The only reason this post is being typed up right now is because I’m so bored! I can’t believe how bored I have been all day…..this post will probably bore you to death, but I really can’t help myself, so you will just have to deal with it.

My soccer season has started. My team color is….wait for it….pink. Not a good pink. An ugly, light pink. I don’t really like pink that much, but I especially hate light pink. It’s better than neon green though.

Our first game was on Saturday; we tied zero to zero. We played surprisingly well. I played goalie for the first ten minutes until a girl socked me in the eye, then I kind of sat out for a few minutes. When I went back in, I played sweeper. Then the second half I played left wing. It was the first time I had played forward in like……forever.

You probably couldn’t care less about the positions I played, but would rather hear about the whole being socked part, I mean…I would.

So, like I said, I was playing goalie. I had just jumped on the ball that a forward from the opposing team was dribbling towards the goal. It popped out of my arms and was kicked out of bounds by a member of the opposing team. Since I was on the ground, some girl from the other team bent down to “ask” “are you okay?” Then….she popped me! Right in the eye! Since she was playing it up that she was kind, the refs didn’t see her hit me! So, really, I couldn’t hit her back, because they’d definitely see that. So, I sucked it up and started playing again, so I caught another ball….until….I realized that my eye had swelled up so much that I couldn’t see out of it.

I had a black eye for a few days….my eye is still really sore when I touch it and it’s not really black anymore, it’s more of that yellow color that it gets when it starts healing. That was the first black eye I’ve ever had, which is really funny considering it’s me….haha.

Okay, so far this post hasn’t been as boring as I thought it would be, although it’s not nearly as interesting as some of my recent posts…

I have recently discovered a bad habit of using the word “so” at the start of sentences. I really need to work on that…..

Right now, I’m watching America’s Funnies Home Videos, which is a hilarious show, I must say. Some of the videos are definitely not worth putting on the show and some shouldn’t win while others should, but you have to admit that a lot of the videos are really good.

My computer battery is dying, so I might as well stop typing……=P

Angela

Death.

I am running out of amazingly, stupendous blog post ideas, therefore, this post will be a jumble and mix of my garbled thoughts. I hope my mass amount of slightly uncommon and brainy words don't mess up your ship-shape minds. I would feel gravely if I did so.

After that quite odd, but neat introduction, I shall tell you of a thought that keeps racing through my mind, always pushing ahead of the other "unworthy" thoughts. Death. Do we feel death, when it comes upon us? If we are shot, would we feel the pain or plainly wake up in Heaven, with angels looking down upon us? If we were stabbed, would we feel the cold of the blade? What does it feel like to be strangled or hanged? These unnerving questions engrave themselves into my brain, causing them to jump at me during the most unwanted times. I try not to arouse them, because I hate unwanted questions frolicking across my empty expanse of mind. I cannot help myself though. I search desperately for answers, but I know that no one can give them. No one knows.....

After such a disconcerting paragraph, I feel exceptionally hunky-dory. My informal ticker feels blithesome. (I may have used that word wrong, but it seemed fit for the situation.)

In the recent month, music has been....everything to me. My mind and heart has been engulfed in the melodies and lyrics of wonderful artists. Different lyrics and tunes ease my internal, emotional pain in many ways and basically fill me with jubilant jollity. I've been listening to a small number of songs recently, but those few songs have added to my comfort and cheer. Those songs are:

Zero by Hawk Nelson

Already Over by RED

How to Save a Life by The Fray

Apologize by OneRepublic

It's Not Over by Chris Daughtry

I guess all of these sort of relate to recent happenings in my life.....it's painful for me to talk of these "things" but I talking of them is the only thing that can help my through the turmoils of life. Since Abby passed away, I've listened to these songs for specific reasons, all relating to the same topic. I'll elucidate at this time.

Zero, I would rather not bring to light, I'd prefer if you would just listen to that one on your own.

Already Over is by RED. RED was one of her favorite bands and the song is the only one I have of the artist....

How to Save a Life....well, it says....."Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness and I would have stayed up with you all night had I known how to save a life"...I expect that they can explain how I feel....

Apologize...well, that's a tougher one to talk about. See, I feel, for me at least, that it's too late too apologize for some things I may have said that could have hurt her....

And It's Not Over.....the title states the meaning of this song....it's just....yeah....I don't really have anymore words to use to describe.....

Now, my heart is overwhelmed with grief as I think about these things. I am listening to these songs as my fingers type this. My heart cries out....for a friend, for....you know, I don't really know what my heart is crying out for.....I pray continually about it, as the Bible states I should....but....I still feel a gaping hole in my heart....the pain that I'm feeling is like no other. At times all I can do is cry. At times the pain hits me like a wall of brick....because both obviously hurt immensely.....I just don't.....understand.....why she had to leave......

I know as I go through this pain that God will always be by my side....helping me through the thick and thin. The tough things of life......

Angela

Bible Verses Galore

For those of you who don't like reading a bunch of Bible verses, which I assume and hope is none of you, you should probably stop following my blog now. Recently, I've been keeping a notebook for when I read my Bible. When I find a verse that I feel is really important or could help me through something when I come upon it, I write down the reference and what it could help me with in my notebook. I also underline the verse in my Bible with a blue highlighter/Sharpie. When I do this, I try to find really good verses and I feel likes it's helping me, because it keeps me reading my Bible more and helps me understand it a little bit better.

For those of you Science geeks who have taken Biology or some class where you dissect an animal or insect, I feel that's what I'm doing with my Bible. After I read through a passage once, I read through it again and make sure I know what every word means. If I don't know what a word means, I go into my brother's room and he kindly tells me. (I really need a nice dictionary in my room.) Once I know what all the words mean, I start "dissecting" the verse/passage. I don't want to read on until I understand what it means and how it could help me.

Right now, I'm reading 1 Samuel and when I'm done with 2 or 3 chapters in the book, I look through Psalms and Proverbs and randomly pick out some chapters to "dissect." In 1 Samuel, since it's kind of harder to "dissect" because people are talking more and it's more telling you a story, I don't dissect. I write down, in my Bible, anything I don't understand or questions I have about a certain sentence and then at the end of reading that chapter I'll go to one of my youth pastors and have him try to answer some of the questions.

Now, after you had to read through everything I had to say, I will start posting some of the verses that I have written down in my notebook.

How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!

Psalms 133:1

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.

Song of Songs 8:4

Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

Psalms 16:1

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:24

I love all of those verses, for many different reasons. Now, I have to get ready for my soccer game. Wish me luck! =P

Jesus Loves You!

Angela

the ramblings of myself on a gloomy day

The weather was so nice yesterday! I just don't understand!

Actually, because the weather was so beautiful yesterday, I was planning on biking up to the soccer field with anyone who was willing and goof around a bit. I guess that's out of the question now. Okay, that's exaggeration. Not out of the question, because it's not raining or anything, but the forecast calls for rain, so I don't want to bike all the way to the fields, start playing and then have to bike back as it starts raining. I'd rather stay at home. =P Weather makes the world so complicated.

I have officially achieved my 200th post, as of last night. I wasn't even aware that it was my 200th post until this morning, which made it even more exciting. I have also achieved 11 followers! I'm so happy. =D

Moving on from my.....gloating? I guess that word fits.

I read two books yesterday and the day before. They are both in a series called The Dreamhouse Kings. I definitely recommend reading them, but if you get scared easily, don't read them before bed. Robert Liparulo, who wrote the series, is a Christian author and it's his series of teen fiction. They're really good and keep you on the edge of your couch. He does write with a lot of fragments and he repeats himself a lot and jam-packs much information into 300 pages, which I don't necessarily enjoy, but it does show off his style of writing as different, which I do like. I can't wait to buy the rest of the books in the series. Each book does end in a cliffhanger though, which is good, but slightly disappointing, since I don't have the third book. =P

A quite lousy blog post, I know...but, it's the thought that counts right? Yeah, that really doesn't fit in this situation. Anyway.....the only reason I was really posting was because I woke up early, which was a very stupid thing to do, watched Bolt until 8:30, came downstairs, ate a bowl of cereal and then did my Math. Now I have nothing else to do and I'm just sitting around being bored.

Over and OUt.

Angela

American Idol

After tonight’s awesomeness of Idol where Pia finally got voted off, I must post again my favorites. I have neglected it because I figured it not worth it, but they have changed in the recent weeks.

1. Stefano Langone

2. Haley Reinhart

3. James Durbin

4. Scotty McCreery

5. Paul McDonald

6. Jacob Lusk

7. Casey Abrams

8. Lauren Alaina

Awesomeness. That’s my new list for you all to look over.

Angela

Time for a little bit of writing

Since earlier this morning, I've really felt the urge to write something. So, here I am staring at a computer screen, listening to music, wondering what I should write about. Really, I could just write about the beautiful blue sky or sports or music, but I don't know, I feel like writing a story. I don't know what kind of story though....I guess I'll just start.....

Jarrod sunk to his knees, tears pouring down his cheeks. Grief overwhelmed him. A strong hand gripped his shoulder, attempting to comfort him. Jarrod shrugged it off and whipped around. A man stood above him, looking down and smiling.

Jarrod raised his eyebrows and questioned, "Who are you?"

"I'm a friend. I'm here to help you."

Jarrod stood up and took a step away from the man.

"I don't know who you are. I was always told not to talk to strangers."

The man just smirked and stated calmly, "I'm not a stranger; I know everything about you."

Fear clenched Jarrod's heart. "That's not possible."

"Oh, but it is," the man noted Jarrod slowly stepping back every few seconds, "You can't run away from me Jarrod. I'll never leave your side."

"You're creeping me out. Leave me alone!"

Jarrod turned his back to the man and sprinted. After he ran a short distance he turned to see the man standing in the same place.

"It doesn't look you're beside me, does it?!" Jarrod screamed out.

"Are you sure?" the voice rang in Jarrod's head as if the man was standing next to him, speaking into his ear.

Stopping abruptly, Jarrod swiveled on one foot and came face to face with the man.

"AAHHHH!!!"

"I told you, you can't get away from me."

To be continued.....

Yeah, that was quite poor writing on my part and my needs have not been satisfied, so I will continue by posting something I wrote like two years ago....or even longer....it's quite funny. It was written for a writing assignment, where I had to write a "Just-So Story."

How the Dragon got his Fire

Miserably lying in the corner of his dark, dank cave Silvertail coughed loudly. The darkness swallowed up Silvertail and hid him from the other dragons. Lifting his head slowly he looked around for Sorrel, the brownie, a small furry cat like creature with four arms- that took care of him. Silvertail spotted her sleeping on the other side of the cave. He quietly moaned as he laid his head back down on the ice cold rock floor. In between coughs he called out, “Sorrel…Sorrel…”

Sorrel woke up immediately and trotted across the cave to Silvertail. “What is it? Are you hurt? What do you need?”

Silvertail complained, “My throat hurts and I can’t stop coughing…”

Sorrel groaned and said, “I’ll go see if I can make you some medicine. You’ve been sick for four days and your cough is getting worse. I’m really worried about you…”

Sorrel ran out of the cave and into her warm and cozy den. She fanned through pages in her Make Your Own Medicine book, which had a million different recipes, and ripped one out that was titled, Coughing Cures. Eagerly, she gathered the ingredients and mixed them together in a pot while reading out loud, “Let’s see…Red Chili Peppers, Banana Peppers, Jalapenos, Serrano Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Habanero Chili Pepper, Bhut Jolokia….” And Sorrel dropped each pepper into the pot with a loud, plop!

When she finished mixing all the ingredients in, she carefully carried the mixture to Silvertail’s cave. The pot steamed and the smell made their eyes water. Sorrel walked towards Silvertail and said, “I made you a medicine, it’s going to be a little spicy, because it’s made out of peppers and water only.”

Silvertail groaned and reluctantly opened his mouth. Sorrel quickly shoved the wooden spoon full of medicine into his mouth, pouring it down his throat. Silvertail howled as steam shot out of his ears. Jumping back Sorrel yelped as Silvertail’s scales turned bright red. Stunned, Sorrel slowly inched backwards and away from Silvertail, who seemed as if he was going to explode. Silvertail looked at Sorrel hopelessly yelling, “Water! Water! Water!”

Sorrel ran out of the cave hurriedly. Silvertail moaned and groaned as his tongue burned wildly. After a few minutes, Sorrel returned with a bowl of water, quickly pouring it down Silvertail’s throat. Silvertail sighed. A grin of relief covered his face. While Sorrel cheered with happiness, Silvertail laid down, still exhausted. Tired out, Silvertail slept until the next morning, when he realized that his cough was gone. Sorrel woke and told Silvertail to stick out his tongue to see how bad the damage was. He stuck out his tongue. A large burn mark showed on the surface of it. Sorrel jumped back and yelped. Laying back down Silvertail sighed. When he sighed a flame shot out of his mouth. Silvertail stood back up and breathed out again. Another flame shot out, only this one was bigger. With every breath came a bigger flame. Silvertail soon became popular among the dragons, because of a nasty cough. And this is how the dragon got his fire.

I got the idea from reading Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. I used the brownie from her story, with the same name, which was kind of bad of me, but it makes the story better. And all the kinds of peppers are real....just so you guys know. Ignore the underlines.....since this was written for a class, I had to underline the dress-ups I used. I believe I was eleven when I wrote that story.....

Over and Out.

Angela

storms and apples

I am no doubt terrified of thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunder, lightning, wind.....yes, should I continue?

Hearing on the Weather Channel that half of the US was going to be having severe thunderstorms was really hard for me. Really. My stomach curled into tight knots and suddenly wasn't too happy anymore. Last night was when the storm hit, but it wasn't as big as the weatherman/woman made it up to be. The southern part of the US got worse than we got. We didn't get any tornadoes. We didn't get severe thunderstorms, only basic thunderstorms.....which made me slightly happy. I was hoping I'd sleep through it all, but no....I just had to wake up at 3:20 to the sound of guess what.....thunder. Whoop-dee-doo. I slept in the hallway for an hour. Yes, I'm not kidding, I really did sleep in the hallway. Why, you ask? Well, it's totally obvious. You can't see the lightning and it's not that loud and.....well, there's no windows in the hallway.....that was basically my night though......

Moving on to yesterday morning. I'll start with the good news. I cut an apple for the first time ever! The bad news, I sliced my finger open in the process. Yeah, it was a really stupid thing on my part. The knife wasn't exactly going through the apple when it was on the cutting board, so I picked up the apple. The knife when through the apple faster than I thought it would and guess what was under the apple. My hand! Yippee. I'm proud of my accomplishment though.

Angela