Through the Eyes of a Bride Pt. 1

Hello world!

Another spring has come and is full force. I don't know about you, but my spring has been pretty darn good! A couple of really exciting things happened.

The first exciting thing is my man and I became homeowners! Yes, we officially have our own place. It needs a lot of love to get it to where we want it, but hey it's fun. The house we have is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, a decent sized kitchen and dining room, and a very spacious living room. The yard is very pretty, a little run down, but that's all fun for me as well. I'll tell more about the house later, but I want to talk about other things and put down some other thoughts.

So we have a house, we're getting it fixed up, but that's not all. This spring, on April 21, we got married! It was a beautiful ceremony on the beach in Gulf Shores, small but comfortable, and so much fun celebrating with family and close friends. To be honest, I never thought I'd have a beach wedding, but logistics worked out for it to happen and it was amazing.

There is so much to the wedding story I don't know where to start. I'll just tell about the actual day, and then later tell the story. The day was just gorgeous. Since it was at the beach, we weren't sure what the weather would do and had a rain plan just in case. As it turned out we didn't need a weather plan. The temperature was in the mid-70's, and the sun stayed present all day long. There were a few clouds, but they did not make a fuss. The ceremony was at 4:30 in the afternoon, just after the heat of the day and early enough that we wouldn't have to worry about any lighting during the festivities. As the day progressed it seemed to drag, but as it got closer to time to walk down the aisle it seemed to go even slower! I put my dress on (with help from my mother, cousin, and niece) at just before 2:00, and I think that is when it started to really creep for me. The dress was on, makeup and hair done, all that was left for me to do was be in the right place on time for pictures. My girls got to see the dress first. None had seen the dress in the form I was wearing it, so it was just a fun, sweet moment with them to girl out and giggle about it and have some fun with pictures. Then came time for the first look with him. Oh the anticipation! He had already been around the ceremony site taking pictures with his groomsmen, but neither of us had glimpsed the other yet. Our photographers (wonderful family friends who did an amazing job) positioned us to get the perfect shots. As we were waiting for the cue for him to turn around, I could see the groomsmen watching. It was more than a little amusing watching them dance around and show excitement, almost as much as he was feeling. Almost. Finally he turned around and oh the look in his eyes when he saw me! I am so glad we were able to have that small moment together before the ceremony just to take each other in and savor the moment. After the pictures were finished all we had left was to wait for the ceremony. So many guests at the plantation stopped to congratulate us and wish us good luck. Finally, it was time to walk down the aisle. We made our way to the boardwalk leading down to the beach, lined up and ready to go. First our parents, then the wedding party. Our officiant, my groom, and the groomsmen made their way down to a Beach Boys song, followed by the girls dancing to Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride. Then the bride's song came on, Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts, a favorite. My niece walked down the aisle throwing seashells. Then my daddy escorted me behind her, walking slowly and taking our time, my arm through his and my other hand holding my bouquet of baby's breath and lavender. Walking down the aisle, I hardly noticed anyone except the one standing at the altar waiting for me. When we got to the end, my mother stood on my other side and took my arm, and he stood beside his parents. The pastor asked for a parents blessing and prayer. Both my parents gave me away at the altar, giving my hand to him. The pastor introduced the ceremony and guided us through the blessing and charge. For the vows, we both had written our own. We started with him. He pulled his out of his pocket and began to read, but could hardly make it through the first few words for the tears. Slowly, he made it through his vows with the most emotion I've ever seen him express. Then the pastor turned to me and it was my turn to pledge my life and love to the man standing across from me. Once the vows were stated, we stepped under the arbor to complete our unity braid. I had chosen burgundy, teal, and gold trims to use, matching our wedding colors. Then it was time to exchange the rings. In turn, we recited the ring vows we had chosen. It was a wonderful moment seeing him slip the silver ring on my finger, the ring I had waited for what felt like forever for him to put on my finger, and to slip his wood and metal ring on his finger. We were then pronounced husband and wife. And the kiss! He had joked about how he would deliver the first kiss as a married couple, but I still wasn't expecting it. The moment he kissed me, he wrapped his arms around me and dipped me. It was the most wonderful kiss. After the pastor presented us, we made our way down the aisle to Walkin' on Sunshine toward where we would take pictures with the bridal party. After the pictures were all taken (and it was a fun process getting everybody together for those!) we all headed to the reception.

The whole thing passed in something of a blur for me. I did get to sample some of the goodies we had, but not everything. The actual wedding cake was a small round chocolate cake with teal frosting, and I had placed a gray shell as the topper. The cake cutting was interesting! The cutting was normal, both of us slicing the cake. Then came the fun part. Instead of actually getting to taste the cake (what a novel idea!) we both ended up with cake on our faces! It made for a good laugh and was worth it, but I still wish I had been able to have a piece of cake! Then came the dancing. We danced our first dance to A Million Dreams (yes we love the Greatest Showman, don't judge). Right around the first chorus, we looked down and his niece, now my niece, was standing next to us wanting to join in. We bent down and picked her up, and she stayed with us the rest of the dance. It wasn't quite what I had planned, but it made for a sweet memory. After the first dance, the girls and I did our own dance. We had worked, admittedly last minute, on a dance routine to Dancing Queen, because why not! It was a lot of fun just letting loose and enjoying the evening. After that everything passed fairly quickly and before I knew it, it was time for the sendoff. My maid of honor helped me get what I needed for the trip and led me back to him. Everyone was lined up waiting for us, ribbon wands in hand. We walked through the line, enjoying the moment and dreading to see what had been done to the car! The car, once we were able to see it, was a colorful conglomeration of streamers taped to the outside, balloons, filling the inside, and *ahem* interesting soap artwork on the windows and doors! After the final goodbye hugs, we were in the car and on our way to start our honeymoon.

It was a beautiful day and full of memories that I won't soon forget. The butterflies, the stress, the excitement, all of it combined to make a wonderful day. There were so many friends and family members who helped to make it such a great day and to pull it off, I can't begin to thank them enough. If you were not able to be there, I hope this gives a good picture of what the day was like for all of us, and if you were there, I hope it brings back fun memories. If you were there, I wouldn't mind hearing your stories of the day!

An Apple a Day

Hello world!

I've missed sharing with you. Life has given its twists and turns, but I wouldn't wish a single one gone. I will share some of those with you soon, but first I wanted to share something that was recently on my heart.

They're all across our cities and at every intersection. You try not to read their cardboard signs asking for help, try not to meet their eyes and see the defeat there. You smile if you do and continue on your way home in your air-conditioned car, a Tervis tumbler in the cupholder and leftovers from lunch in the seat beside you, supper in the crockpot at home. I know I am guilty of doing this too often. More often than not I see some poor soul asking for help and just drive past not giving them a second glance. I don't often acknowledge they are there, using anything as an excuse not to. There's too much traffic behind me, I don't have any cash that is convenient to give, nobody would want a half-eaten cookie or opened box of raisins. Too often I have passed them knowing I have something to give but using any excuse I can think of not to, especially when it comes to sharing my food. I tell myself that's my food! I'm starving! This is expensive food and I don't get it very often! I'm saving that to take for my lunch tomorrow! I was especially bad about using that excuse when I was working fast food and not eating until mid-afternoon after a long shift.

But, my conscience usually kicks in about that time and says I should have given them my fries even if they're not the freshest, or my half of a cookie that I was saving for dessert later, or that apple that I was eyeing all day long and didn't get a chance to eat. It would have been more than they started out with. I can always find something else to eat at home, but they have no such luxury. I can stand to miss a few frivolous snacks as I know I will be able to get more food later. But who knows how long it has been since they have had so much as a small apple, not to mention a full meal? All it would take out of my day is a few seconds to roll down my window, give them a dollar or an apple and let them know there is someone who cares about them. Jesus asked us to care for the least of these, and said if we care for those less fortunate we are in effect taking care of Him. I can't help but be reminded of the song "Angels Among Us". I do believe there are angels living in our midst; we just don't see them for who they are. Hebrews 13:2 says "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels." (NKJV)What blessings do we miss out on when we forsake those asking for help on a cardboard sign wearing their whole world on their back, if anything at all?

Society has made it difficult for those who genuinely need help to get it. I know for me it was practically drilled into my head that not all asking for help are honest, that they'll use whatever money they swindle off good-hearted people to buy booze and tobacco and all sorts of questionable goods. That may be true for some, but not all who appear desperate have bad intentions. Nonetheless, no matter their situation, all deserve to know someone truly cares, that not all hope is lost. For most, yours may be the only smile they see, the only help they get that day. Sometimes all a person needs is a smile and a helping hand to take care of a small need to see even a glimmer of light, and that glimmer is enough to leave them looking for the source.

 Recently, I was sitting in a long line on my way home from work. There was a young man holding a sign that said "Hungry Please Help." I personally don't like giving cash but I do keep leftover food that just didn't get eaten at lunch in the car. There was a delicious apple in my bag (remember what I said earlier about excuses? This was one apple I would make an excuse for), but the bag was out of my reach. When it came my turn to make my way through the intersection I just drove right on past him without a second glance. The apple stayed in my bag and my conscience face palmed if that is possible. A few days passed and I had that same apple in my bag (don't judge, apples aren't the easiest to eat without making a mess... or is that just me?). The same man was holding his sign, wearing the same backpack and clothes as before. This time my lunch bag was within reach and my inner voice was impossible to ignore. By the time I rolled up to where he was standing, I had my window rolled down and the apple extended to him. He took it and told me to have a blessed day, and I drove on home. I thought I would miss that apple. After all, it was a honeycrisp apple, one of the best varieties and expensive and a treat to have. But you know what? I didn't miss it one bit. I'm glad I gave him that apple. I felt light and happy the whole way home.

An apple a day. What a small thing, and yet a huge blessing, not only to him but to me as well. Whatever you do to the least of these you do to Him Who created you. Don't hesitate to be a blessing to those who need it most. Who knows what may happen.

-C

The Lion and the Eagle

Hello world.
 
Today is the day that we have been building up to as a nation for nigh on to two years now. This is perhaps the most important election that any of us have participated and possibly will ever participate in. Our nation has been on a rocky road climbing up a mountain the past few decades and now we have reached a T, not a Y. One way will, eventually, lead us to destruction and the other will, eventually, lead us to a more peaceful future. Neither is the best choice for our nation, but they are our choices nonetheless. I don't want to see any ostriches around me. I want to see lions using their rights to fight for what they believe in. If a lion does not use his teeth and claws, then what sort of lion is he? If he doesn't roar and let himself be heard, how does he establish his territory? I'm not going to tell you to vote for Hillary and I'm not going to tell you to vote for Trump. Who you vote for is your choice and none of my business. Yes I believe one candidate is far better than the other. Yes I will probably be upset if my candidate doesn't win. But, I urge you to consider not just the surface issues that have come to light these grueling past few months, but also what lies beneath. A river may look peaceful and inviting on the surface, but underneath it may be home to many dangers to any who jump in. It's not the surface, the outside that will harm you, but the heart and what lies beneath that will always bring harm. As For King and Country said Sunday night, let's not fix our eyes on what happens today. What will happen will happen. Regardless of the outcome, let us fix our eyes on the King of Kings, the only One Who really controls this earth. Our ruler is not the president of the United States and certainly no official set in place by man, but is God in Heaven Who created this earth and established the nations and their rulers. Today, let us be in prayer for the fate of our nation, as it is the fate that is being decided today. Don't be led astray by what the enemy wants us to believe and hear. Listen to your heart. Let the Spirit guide you. And be at peace. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Don't let the Founding Fathers' efforts be all for naught. Roar, and let yourself be heard. Don't hang back because you don't think your voice matters or that you don't see a better way. Your voice does mater.

Blessings.

Building Walls

Hello world.

It has been a while since I've posted anything on here. Life has been crazy and busy on this side of the screen.

In that time though, I've found quite a bit of inspiration to write about here, thoughts to dump, wisdom to pass on. One such piece of inspiration was in my memories on Facebook from two years ago. I saw it and decided to expand a little bit on it... The original post was this:

In the book of Nehemiah, we see heartache and discouragement as the children of Israel are coping with the loss of their home and the desecration of their beloved city of Jerusalem. But this is more than just a low time; it is a set up for faith and trust, as so many situations in the Bible are. Nehemiah was a cup-bearer to the king of Persia when he learned of the horrors that had befallen the holy city. He was devastated at the news, and he could not hide his grief from the king, who asked him what was wrong. When Nehemiah told him the reason behind his low countenance, the king asked what it was he wanted. This is the first test of faith and trust in this story. Nehemiah prayed to God in that moment, and asked the king for permission to leave the kingdom and travel to Jerusalem to rebuild his ancestral city. Now, the king could have refused and made Nehemiah stay. But he didn't. Instead, he asked how long he would be without his trusted cup-bearer. Nehemiah made arrangements with the king to leave, and left for Jerusalem with letters of safe passage and soldiers in his possession.

The king didn't have to let him leave; he didn't even have to send soldiers with him. Yet he did. In fact, this particular king was known to be a more compassionate king than most others were; that's not to say he didn't have a temper, though. So, it is because of his kinder heart, and the favor which he bestowed upon Nehemiah (which I will talk about in a moment) that he allowed his cup-bearer to leave with the assurances of safe travel and supplies.

Now, for the favor of the king. For a person to win the favor of the king was, and is, a high honor not experienced by many people. To possess this favor is to have a closer relationship with the king than all but the advisors and the queen. And to be the royal cup-bearer meant that a person was trustworthy and could be relied upon (for those who aren't quite sure what a cup-bearer did, he would serve the royal drinks and taste them for poison to ensure the king was not threatened). Nehemiah didn't just wake up one day and discover he had the favor of the king; he worked to earn it, proving himself trustworthy and dependable. That in itself says a lot about his character. And judging from the way he interacted with the king in this very brief bit of scripture, he had a good relationship with the king, although I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a personal relationship. So what exactly does this mean for the story? Well, as I said in my original post, God provides what you need when you need it. So what I see happening here is God placed Nehemiah in the position to catch the attention of the king, long before Nehemiah himself knew he would need it. He didn't rise to this prestigious position by accident; he rose because it was God's plan for him to rise. God turned the king's eyes to Nehemiah so that he, and not some other servant, could be in a place of honor that would allow him to lead the Israelites in rebuilding Jerusalem. As Nehemiah himself said "And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests." God does not allow accidents to happen; everything happens because it is supposed to happen.

There is one part of this story that I love, and it shows Nehemiah's strength of will and his determination. It happens at the end of the second chapter. Here are the verses:
 
¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”
²⁰ I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”

 Look at how Nehemiah responds to this challenge. He doesn't back down; he doesn't leave; he doesn't even try to reason with them. He steps up to the challenge and claims the authority of heaven to rebuild the walls. But what I love most comes after it. He essentially tells them they are trespassing, that they don't belong on that sacred ground. In no way is Nehemiah timid about this claim. I imagine him saying the first part of his response calmly, and as he begins to reference them his tone starts getting more fierce and his posture becoming more menacing, defending the ground which God gave to his ancestors and upon which he would rebuild what had been destroyed.

This is somewhat of a constant theme throughout the building process. Someone will challenge or doubt Nehemiah's actions and intentions, and Nehemiah will tell them that God is in control of this and He is the only one Who can say what will happen. Throughout all of these events Nehemiah never stops trusting God, he never loses his faith. He believed God would send him what he needed when he needed it, who he needed when he needed them. It was this belief, this trust, this faith that inspired the children of Israel to rebuild their wall.

So, what can we learn from Nehemiah? Three things: Listen to what God puts on your heart and never let it go; trust that He will provide what you need to accomplish what He puts on your heart to do; and to never pass an opportunity that may possibly lead to greater things.

Nehemiah listened to God's calling to rebuild the wall. He didn't simply push it to the back burner and think that someone else would do it. No, he acted and didn't back down once he started.

Once he decided to follow God's direction, he never lost faith that everything would be provided. From the bricks for the wall to the timber for the gates to his house to water and food for the people, he trusted that God would provide exactly what was needed. This can be seen when he petitions for different letters from the king for safe passage and for supplies; he trusted that he would receive what was needed.

Nehemiah didn't see his time in Persia as a terrible thing. In fact he made sure he flourished there. This is made clear in the fact that he was the king's cup-bearer. He didn't just sit around and wait for a divine sign to appear in the sky; he made himself worthy of the king's attention and worked his way up the ranks to a trusted position by the king's side. How can we apply this to today? Simple. Don't let yourself be one of a crowd, don't blend in. Instead, let yourself stand out and shine, make yourself worthy of the attention of others. You never know, it could take you places you never thought were possible. Trust God, and He will make your path straight and guide you to where He wants you to be.

That's all I have for now. If you have anything you'd like to add to this, or any other comments, please put them in the comment section!

Go make yourself shine!

Merry Christmas

Hello world!

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted. These past couple of months have been hectic and busy on this side of the Mason-Dixon line, between finals and work and the overall Christmas season. But, I wanted to take a few minutes to wish you all a very merry Christmas.

Now, to make my post a little longer, I wanted to give you an idea for decorating next December (or November or whenever you start decorating ;-) ). This year, the tree that I usually put in my room was not brought up with the rest of the boxes of ornaments. So, instead of just letting that corner of my room stay empty I decided to do something new: I made a book tree. There are enough books in my room that I could easily pull this off and still have books to spare. So I did it. Unfortunately, I could not get a picture to put on here (I still haven't figured out how to get pictures off my Kindle Fire onto my computer so I could put them on here), but I can tell you how I figured it out.

Basically what I did was pull most of my books off my shelves and stacked them around the corner where I would build my tree. Once that task was accomplished, the fun part began. I started my tree with a circle of about 5 of my biggest books (this was to make sure I had a sturdy base) with one in the middle. Then, I took more books and stacked them around the circle, kind of like building a cone structure with cups, making each layer a little less wide than the one below it. As I built up, the books got smaller, and the number of books in each layer got smaller until I got down to stacking one on top of the other. These I offset the corners a little to give a little stability and to give it a little visual interest. This sequence I started once more with a large-ish book and worked my way down from there. For the top, I took one of my Christmas books and stood it up with the pages fanned, to give a little interest and add to the bookish theme. So there you have it, my book Christmas tree. I must say I will be doing this again next year. If you have any tips for me, let me know, or if you have done a book tree, I'd love to hear about it, how big, what theme (if any), etc.

Merry Christmas everyone! May your days be merry and bright!

I Am a Feminist!

Hello readers.

Wow, it has been a while since my last post. Two months to be precise. I must say it has been a crazy two months, to say the least. October went by so quickly for me, I don't even know what happened to it! There were about a hundred (or at least that's what it felt like to me) school assignments, appointments, meetings, etc. within the span of a single month. But I have had some leisure time, thank goodness. And that is sort of where the inspiration for this post came from. A few weeks ago I went to play laser tag with some high school friends, and a new friend. In between games, one of my long time friends asked me an interesting question. I cannot remember the exact conversational context this question came out of, but I do remember thinking it was somewhat relevant to the topic. His question was this: So, Catherine, what do you think about feminism? Granted, those aren't the exact words he used, but the meaning of the question is still there. It caught me off guard, but thankfully that is one of the things I know my stance on very well. It is something that I have had plenty of time to think about and pick apart to determine exactly what I think about it. So, my answer was this: I believe in feminism; but not the way it is defined today. We didn't have much time to expand on that answer, but he understood what I meant by that. Well, the past few days it has been bouncing around in my head, so I decided to let it bounce off my fingers and into this post.

As I mentioned, I believe in feminism, just not modern feminism. What do I mean by modern feminism? For starters, today's feminists, in general (and this is just part of the reason why, when I hear the word feminism or equal rights or anything along those lines, I cringe and back away mentally), have this mantra where women are superior to men and don't need men in their lives, and a common theme that I see is "if men can do it, why can't we? Why do we have these standards that men don't have? Both genders are exactly the same". This is where we get into the difference between what I call old feminism and new feminism. New feminism says that women are the same as men in every regard. Old feminism says that women are equal to men in all areas. These are two completely different ideas. Now, before you get your hackles up and start hissing and clawing and saying that I don't know what I'm talking about and these are one and the same, let me explain why I think this way.

In the beginning of the feminist movement, women were seen as merely ornaments to place in a man's home, to be seen and not heard, to entertain but not think, especially among the nobility. This is where the fight for women's rights first began. Women were not allowed to attend any university or school of any kind; they were not allowed to read, in most cases. The only education they were allowed, unless their family was particularly unconventional or very rich, was a base education in the general studies and a thorough education in domestic arts, such as spinning, weaving, painting, homemaking, etc. If girls were not wed to a man of their parents' choosing, they spent their days as either an old maid keeping house for their siblings or in a convent. Very few options were given women, while men had the world at their fingertips. Granted, even men had limitations on what they could and could not do, but their options were more open than those for women.

The first known feminist, according to my research, was Lucretia Mott, a quaker-born teacher in Massachusetts. She first became an advocate for equal rights when she noticed that, even though the cost was the same for their education, men received a much higher pay than women did in the teaching profession. The injustice of this caused her to advocate for gender equality.

This is just one of many examples of women being the leaders that they were created to be, and stepping outside of the conventional boundaries that society set for them, to be treated as worth less than men, and doing something about the injustice. The problem that Lucretia saw in her time is one that we are still facing today, although it is not discussed much. On a side note, it has been a topic of discussion more than once in my business classes, and my opinion in these discussions is no matter what your gender is, if you do the work, you get paid for it, end of story. Some may call me a hypocrite or two-faced when I support this movement but don't support the other new movements, but that's okay. I'll explain why in a minute. But, back to the topic, this is what I believe is the true feminist movement, pushing for equal legal rights and paving the way for women who will come after us. This is why I support old feminism instead of new feminism. I believe that feminism has been and always will be the equal legal rights of women to men. In fact, the Merriam-Webster definition for feminism is "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities". This does not say that it is the belief that men and women have the same physical rights, or that women should not care about how they present themselves, or that men should lower their respect for women, or even that chivalry is no longer applicable. Oh no sir.

Women like Lucretia did not start this movement so that girls today could use their independence to "make a statement" by not practicing general hygiene practices that have been a part of the typical self-respecting woman's routine for a very long time (I won't state an amount of time, simply because it is so easy to misstate something like that). And going along with self-respecting, that is what I do not see in today's feminist movement. Sure, girls can call it what they want to, being "an independent woman who don't need no man" and refusing to let a man or boy act the way his mama taught him by holding a door open for her or extending a little more courtesy toward the fairer sex than he normally would to those of his own kind. Sure, they can call it breaking free of the social norms and foregoing the oh so strenuous task of shaving underneath the ball and socket joint that is their shoulder, an area also called the underarm, or not taking the time to smooth up their legs (which I can almost understand, that is a pain, but oh it makes me feel pretty after the grueling task is done!). Or even call attention to themselves by baring their chests for all the world to see. But you know what I think about all of these things? I think they are just what I said two sentences ago. They are trying to get attention. Yes, feminists of ages past did participate in parades. Yes, they held signs and picketed. Yes, their tempers may have gotten a little out of hand. But, not once did they take their clothes off, not once did they mention things that are meant for the ears of close female relatives only, and I have yet to hear of a lady refusing the assistance of a man in getting in and out of a carriage or holding a door.

And that is what is wrong with the feminist movement today, I think. Women have lost their self-respect. There is a quote that my mother wrote down for me years ago. It is in regards to dating, but I think it can hold true to this particular topic. The original quote is "if you like yourself more, you will like him less. If you like him less, he will respect you more." For my purposes right now, I can reword it as this: "if you like and respect yourself more, others will like and respect you more." In other words, the more you respect yourself and don't pay attention to what others may say, then that is a surefire way to gain the respect of those who are watching you. The keyword here is respect. That is something that today's society is severely lacking. Sure you might hear about a story or two every day about some good Samaritan doing an act of goodwill for someone who didn't ask for it, but then you turn around and the majority of society makes you think that story was made up or is an old story. People have no respect for themselves, and they certainly don't have respect for others. 100 years ago it would have been unseemly for a woman to show her bare elbow or ankle, much less a whole arm or practically a whole leg from hip to toe, as is the norm today (granted there are exceptions to these, but I am speaking about society in general). Women complain about men showing them no respect and treating them like a piece of meat, and yet they don't do anything to rectify the situation, other than posting pictures and saying they don't need a man, or coloring their underarm hair, or any outlandish thing such as that. What this tells me is these girls don't respect themselves, and so they couldn't care less what people think, all they want is attention. But what it could really boil down to, and I'm not saying it is, is insecurity. They are not comfortable with themselves or their bodies, and so they feel like they must draw some sort of attention to them in the hopes of getting something positive.

I don't think that feminism is inherently a bad thing. In fact, I think it is great for women to fight for their rights in a world built around men. Man and woman were created together, side by side, and were created as equals. God told Adam that Eve was to be his helpmate; she was created from his rib, and so like the rib, she would be there by his side to support him as he walked through life and set his hands to the tasks laid before him. God did not say that they were two completely different kinds of people, with one being over the other. Not on your life! He told them to help one another, that they were to be each others' companions. Now, I won't go so far as to explicitly say that feminism is Biblical, and that is why we must embrace it. No. But, there are times in the Bible when a woman stepped forward and took into her own hands what any man could have undertaken and accomplished just as easily. We see Deborah leading the nation of Israel as one of the judges; she took up the sword, leading her people to battle; she was snarky when it came to dealing with men (see Judges 4:9; I laugh every time I read that verse); she delivered wisdom; she was respected among her people. We see Esther saving the nation of Israel; she stepped up and took upon herself the daunting task of becoming queen of Persia and all the political implications therein; she did not back down, but rather demanded respect by her actions; she was and still is respected. These are but two of the women in the Bible who did not back down from what they were called to do. They demanded and received respect, whether consciously or not, and they did not let the world tell them that they could not do it just because they were women. And neither of them intentionally drew attention to themselves by making themselves indecent or doing something completely improper. I think if they could give advice to women today, it would be this: believe in yourself, have faith that God will give you what you need to do what He has called you to do, respect yourself and others, and don't be afraid to set a man in his place if you have to (okay, maybe that would just be Deborah).

All in all, feminism is not a bad thing to believe in. To sum it up, I think feminism at its roots is simply an instrument with which to gain respect, and to regain the equality set in place by God when He created man and woman. The purpose of feminism is not to belittle men and make ourselves look like the superior sex. Oh no! It is to keep men in their place as our guides and raise us back up to their sides as helpers and equal companions.

I may come back to this in the future. Who knows? I might do that for every topic I write about. I just know that there is still more bouncing around that didn't quite make it to the keyboard that will come out sooner or later.

Anyway, I hope this post got you thinking. And if you want to tell me you agree with me then comment away, and if you want to tell me that I am a complete eejit and don't know a thing about the way the world turns then post your comment too. I love to hear from my readers, even if the comment is an unpleasant one.

Until next time!

All You Need is Love

Hello world!

You may or may not have been reading my blog where all I talk about is books and things to do with books. (If not you can check it out here) If you have, then you already know a bit about me. For those of you just now joining me on my blogging journey, I am a pure-bred Southern girl who decided to start blogging right smack dab in the middle of college. Crazy right? Well, believe it or not, it actually helps keep me sane (kinda). So a little about this blog. I decided to start a blog where I could talk about anything that came to mind, from curly hair (which I have in abundance) to the Bible to politics to whatever else may pop in this head of mine. You as my readers won't know what the next post will be about, even I won't know until I type it out. Hence the name Box of Chocolates, because, as a certain wise man once said, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. ;-) I've had a few things bouncing around since I named the blog, and just haven't sat down to write anything. But today I found an essay I wrote for some forgotten reason, and thought, you know what, what better post to start off a blog than one about love? I can guarantee this particular subject will come up again in later posts. ;-)  So here is the essay. I hope you enjoy it.

There are many things that I could say about myself. I could talk about my dog or my favorite music; my love for reading or my family; my best personality trait or my worst personality trait. However, I do not have enough space to do all of them justice. There is one thing that I would like strangers to know about me. That one thing is the fact that I believe in love. Now, before you start tuning me out, let me clarify that it is not just romance that I believe in. It is also love for others, love for family, love for those who are not fortunate enough to know what love really is. That is what I believe defines me, and what pure religion, pure life is based on. It comes in many different forms, yet I will not explain them all.

Love is described as a strong emotional tie to someone or brotherly concern for others. I feel this is not shown in our world often enough. Yes, there are occasional displays of kindness and goodwill, but there is not enough love. We lack the most important element of life, yet we wonder why there is no humanity in the world. If we were to show genuine love for others, I believe we would see less hostility.

We should love more - not only because it could reverse many of the problems in the world today, but also because Jesus commanded us to do it. He said to love our neighbor as ourselves. To love someone as we love ourselves is to love like He did, sacrificially, unconditionally. Why don’t we do this? Our world has become more focused on self and not on others. The Bible tells us that true religion is caring for the orphans and widows, to love them and show them hope. That is what it is all about.

I will say that I do believe in romantic love. We were created by a loving God, Who wants us to love each other in return. This is why He created marriage. It is a reflection of His love for His Creation. I will go ahead and admit that I am a romantic at heart.  What girl isn’t? But I know that this is not something that came about by chance. It is inbred in me, like it is inbred in every other human being. We have the need to love and to be loved

Love, in all its forms, is created by God. This is why it is so important to me. It is part of who I am, who we all are. If we would let our love shine and give it to those who do not have it, the world would be a much happier place. This is why I believe with all my heart that love is the most important thing in the world.

Thanks for reading! I am open to any comments you may have!

-C