Myth #1: I'll never be free from my past.
02.01.06 (1:15 am) [edit]So I've started a new devo. It resides amongst the pages of my Bible. I got a new Bible for Christmas, so I thought I'd use the devo pages in it. The one I'm doing is called "100 Myths". The intro section describes the "myths" as follows: "Everyday you hear (and subconsciously believe) myths that the world tell you. Satan's trie-and-true weapon against you is lies. In True Identity [name of my Bible], 100 of the most common myths are exposed. For each "Myth," you'll read a story (based on true stories of women's lives)[this is a women's Bible, by the way.] about how believing that myth affected the woman's life. The you'll explore what God's Word says so taht the next time you hear the muth, you can name the lie and replace it with truth." There wasn't a place to "journal" or "questions" to answer, so I thought I'd blog about each myth and see what writing brings to the surface; I often don't fully understand a concept until I write it down. So anyway, I figure there will be many late night posts for a while, along with the random stuff that floats through my brain cells. So, without further ado, here following lies my thoughts on
Myth #1: I'll never be free from my past.
Interesting Fact: "'Sometimes it take time to forgive ourselves for our past. About eighty percent of adults ages forty-five and older said they knew that God forgave them for their sins and that this knowledge gave them the strength to fave their faults and be a better person, compared to sixty-nine perccent of those ages eighteen to forty-four.'"-University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research
Key Verses (in no particular order): Romans 5:12, 17; Hebrews 7:27; John 8:36; Romans 8:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:1 I get bouts of fighting huge amounts of guilt for past descrepencies. They hit like a ton of bricks and weigh heavy on my shoulders until I can quit wallowing in my self pity and realize I don't need to continue torturing myself for my past; the debt has been paid in full. (Praise God!) Jesus paid the debt to Satan racked up due to sin for everyone past, present and future. I don't mean to be critical of anyone who happens to stumble across this and their inflictions with such guilt. After I come to the conclusion that I am set free of my bondage I want to smack myself for EVER forgetting that. It's not entirely the fault of my own for forgetting, but the lies and tricks of Satan that bring the guilt on in the first place are to blame... fully to blame. Don't let Satan get you with this nasty myth!
Jesus' cross didn't have wheels
01.28.06 (1:32 am) [edit]I was driving home from school today when I came across an interesting sighting. There, on the shoulder of the highway tred a man with a large white cross resting on his shoulder. At first, I commented to myself, "That's a nice random reminder of our Savior." (Random and a little odd acts of faith such as this are pretty common place in this community, because the population is probably 98% "Christian.") Then I studied the man more closely. He was bundled in a large jacket--it was a tad bit nippy out-- carried a large hiking backpack, and the cross had tricycle type wheels attached to the bottom, so the cross rolled along behind the man. That's kind of lame. Don't get me wrong; this man has some guts walking on the shoulder of a highway with a gigantic cross on his back with cars whizzing by at 70+ mph. I believe he's missing alot of the beauty in Christ's passion. Jesus wasn't wearing a coat when He drug His cross to calvary. He was wearing next to nothing because the Roman soldiers took what little He had. I would imagine that big, fluffy coat took a little of the lack of comfort of the cross off this man's back, but Christ had nothing, except the help of an unwilling stranger. Today's man was obviously healthy. Christ was beaten nearly to death prior to dragging the cross up to Calvary. I think the man was hiking around the area, which is why he was carrying the pack which probably contained a few possessions. Jesus had nothing but a the clothes on His back, until the soldiers took that too. The highway man's cross was lovingly hewn, and carefully painted pure white; Jesus' cross was nothing but two pieces of timber strapped together. I'm sure they were probably rough with a bazillion splinters poking out and becoming lodged in Christ's body. I just about bawl when I get one splinter; I can't even imagine the pain of the splinters alone, much less the beating, or the hanging upon the tree to come, or the emotional and spiritual drainage of the people spitting and jeering at you the entire way up the hill. Today's cross had wheels; Jesus had to drag that heavy cross on bricked streets,(Can't you just feel the agonizing jolt when the bottom of cross hit a crack in the Roman brick road?), up a hill which was either grassy, which would provide resistance, or was sandy, which would have acted like quick sand in the instance of a heavy cross. The man on the side of the highway today might have been brave enough to walk alongside speeding cars, but Jesus went willing to be nailed to a pair of rough wooden beams, dragging them all the way to die for every mistake I've ever made, you've ever made, the whole entire world past, present and future has or will make. Highway man was a nice reminder, but totally missed the point of Christ's passionate love for all man kind.
Over Half of All Marriages Succeed!!
01.26.06 (9:33 pm) [edit]I know everyone has heard from every corner of the globe, every news article, and every talk show host "half of all marriages fail." The fact is, that fact is not a fact at all; that statement is based on false conclusions drawn from a study on marriage and divorce rates. The late 70s study from the Natioinal Center for Health Statistics counted the number of new marriages in one year, and the number of divorces. The number of divorces, at the time, was half of the new marriages; the kicker here is that the study did not take into account the marriages that were already in progress and did not terminate that year. The actual numbers are more like 3/4 of marriages succeed. Nothing like looking at the glass three quarters full when you had been told it was half empty!!
-I got this information out of my Bible--True Identity. The Bible for Women. Becoming who you are in Christ. p. 95 (2005: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan), and also heard this stated on some t.v. show, but I forgot which one.
You know you're a hick when... (#4)
01.24.06 (5:32 pm) [edit]"TEXAS
When you're from Texas, people that you meet ask you questions like, "Do you have any cows?" "Do you have horses?" "Bet you got a bunch of guns, eh?"
They all want to know if you've been to Southfork. They watched Dallas.
Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas with me just for a second. That picture, with the Panhandle and the Gulf Coast, and the Red River and the Rio Grande is as much a part of you as anything ever will be. As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it they know what it is. It's Texas. Pick any kid off the street in Japan and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt and he'll know what it is. What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You might get it maybe after a second or two, but who else would? And even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you?
In every man, woman and child on this planet, there is a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride off in a pickup. There is some little bit of Texas in everyone.
Did you ever hear anyone in a bar go, "Wow...so you're from Iowa? Cool, tell me about it?" Do you know why? Because there's no place like Texas.
Texas is the Alamo. Texas is 183 men standing in a mission, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for freedom, who had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but stayed instead to fight and die for the cause of freedom. We send our kids to schools named William B. Travis and James Bowie and David Crockett and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to cross it and be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is the Spirit of Texas.
Texas is Sam Houston capturing Santa Ana at San Jacinto during his siesta.
Texas is "Juneteenth" and Texas Independence Day.
Texas is the huge forests of Piney Woods and the Davy Crockett National Forest.
Texas is the breathtaking mountains in the Big Bend.
Texas is the unparalleled beauty of bluebonnet fields in the Texas Hill Country.
Texas is the beautiful, warm beaches of the Gulf Coast.
Texas is the shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas.
Texas is world record bass from places like Lake Fork.
Texas is Mexican food like nowhere else, not even Mexico.
Texas is the Fort Worth Stockyards, Bass Hall, the Ballpark in Arlington and the Astrodome.
Texas is larger-than-life legends like Michael DeBakey, Denton Cooley, Willie Nelson, Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Landry, Darrell Royal, ZZ Top, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Sam Rayburn, George H. W.Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, and George W. Bush.
Texas is great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments, Lockheed Martin Aerospace, and Compaq. Home of the F-16 Jet Fighter and the JSF Fighter.
Texas is NASA.
Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops.
Texas is skies blackened with doves, and fields full of deer.
Texas is a place where towns and cities shut down to watch the local High School Football game on Friday nights and for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and for the Night In Old San Antonio River Parade in San Antonio.
Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies, and modern cities.
If it isn't in Texas, you probably don't need it.
No one does anything bigger or better than it's done in Texas.
By federal law, Texas is the only state in the U.S. that can fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag. Think about that for a second. You fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 feet in Maryland, California, or Maine and your state flag, whatever it is, goes at 17 feet. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview or anyplace else at 20 feet, the Lone Star flies at the same height - 20 feet. Do you know why? Because it is the only state that was a republic before it became a state.
Also, being a Texan is as high as being an American down here. Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in Washington, D.C. and we can divide our state into five states , or even suceed from the union at any time if we wanted to! We included these things as part of the deal when we came on. That's the best part, right there.
Texas even has its own power grid!!
If you are a REAL TEXAN you won't even need to be told to pass this on!"--myspace bulletin
You know you're a hick when this bit elicites pride in your heart, tears in your eyes, AND you pass it on.
A Different Life in a Different Time
01.23.06 (12:26 am) [edit]I was thinking the other day about how different my life would be if I didn't live in America at this exact time in history. I was imaging a life for myself and it went something like this: (I took into account historical evidence, relatives' lives, and lives of people I know from other countries.)
I might have finished high school, if I was lucky. Probably through middle school. So no college, that's for sure. I'd probably be a stay at home mom, seeing as how I would most definatly be married at 19. (My grandma married my grandad at 15, but I would have too in her circumstances--the middle of 7 kids or so. Then a friend of mine, Madison, from Africa is a year younger than I and she's married. She's currently worried about her husband because he hasn't been able to get into America yet. She came and he needs to come due to war in their country, which I can't remember what country it is right now. Do pray for them though.) I'd probably have a couple kids, and we'd be dirt poor. Probably farmers, fishermen, or bootleggers (from family history). I'd know how to cook, and probably cook well. (Maybe I should warp myself back in time to learn. 
) I'd have drastically different friends; probably people I'd known my whole life. (I do have a few of those currently: Daniel, Jared, Steph...) I would imagine we'd be alot closer than I am with those people currently. We'd probably have quilting bees (woah! I could sew!) and barn raisings (I'd be tough!) I would probably know how to shoot a gun. (*gasp* I know, a west Texas girl that can't shoot a gun. I'm horrible.) Could clean the kill too. Could probably catch a fish. (Still haven't done that.) Probably ride alot better than I do currently. Or maybe I'd be an Indian. (Got some of that back in my blood line somewhere.) Dressed in deer skins living on the plains or southern coast, depending on which sort of Indian heritage of mine I took. OOOO! Maybe I could carry my little baby in one of those backpack things. That would be kind of cool, except for the whole baby part. (The thought of me being a mother is frightening. I would totally mess up the kid for life.)
How different life would be!
Believing is Seeing
01.22.06 (1:07 pm) [edit]"One day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children. The teacher asked a little boy:
TEACHER: Tommy do you see the tree outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.
TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.
TEACHER: Did you see God?
TOMMY: No.
TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. He just doesn't exist.
A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions.
The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy:
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yessssss!
LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?
TOMMY: Yessssss!
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
TOMMY: Yes.
LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?
TOMMY: No.
LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school, she must not have one!
BURN!"
Found that in a bulletin on myspace. I think I've seen it before, but it made me giggle. :D
Apology to my readers
01.20.06 (11:56 pm) [edit]Let me apologize for the horrendous flowered background that has been appearing for the last few days. I didn't realize the picture had taken over the entire blog until Greg told me this evening. The preview I had been getting looked like what I'm assuming you are seeing now. So, I pray your eyes are relieved, and that the bad background didn't scare too many people away. I can't afford to loose readers when I've only got about five regulars. (I love you guys to pieces, by the way.) And a thanks is in order to darkangel06 ( http://darkangel06.tblog.com ) for helping me sort it all out.
Death in the Family
01.19.06 (9:02 am) [edit]*funeral march drolls on* Yesterday and today are days of mourning. At an undetermined time, the beloved betta fish, Erasmus passed from this world to the next. A moment of silence please...
Webpage Hit Facts
01.19.06 (9:00 am) [edit]It appears that my "lesbian anime video" has been removed from search engines as the title indicates, so no more visitors looking for such video. Awww; how sad. The only sad part is that according to my stats, I've gone from getting 50-75 hits per day to about 15. Oh well. Better than none at all I suppose. Another interesting web fact: on holidays, my hits go down drastically, usually in half or so. A similiar trend occurs on the weekend, although not as drastic as the holidays. I guess the majority of my hits come from people bored in the office or something, and when they get home and have time to "relax" they are put to work at home. HAHA! Makes me laugh.
Bria's Slice of Paradise Mission Statement
01.18.06 (9:48 pm) [edit]Bria's Slice of Paradise Mission Statement
In light of recent confussion about the mission of my pages, I submit the following mission statement to any visitors to my domain that care to read the following.
I don't do solicitation, i.e. I won't link to your page unless I like your page--no you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours-- nor will I be your "friend" on any service that has "friend" features unless I like what you're about as evidenced by personal contact, profile, blog, etc.; this only applies to businesses--both non-profit and for profit-- and people I do not personally know. I do not tolerate advertisement--selling a product-- or inappropriate comments--as I deem inappropriate for all ages-- on my pages, so they will be deleted with no warning. I do this because I feel a responsibility to my visitors--the few, the proud--they deserve discussion and links which are related to my webpage and with the same feel/attitude/theme. I strive to keep my pages safe for all ages. However, I do not strive for universality. In many instances, I wish I could be interesting and helpful to all people no matter age, culture, gender, etc. Every person has a bias due to their life experiences; in my pages, you get my bias--the bias of an American Christian college girl. I wholeheartedly suggest that if you arrived at one of my pages and find you cannot relate to my above discription, my pages may not be the place for you; proceed at your own risk. However, if such a view you find interesting, then blaze your own trail through my Slice of Paradise.
Bria, the webmistress of Bria's Slice of Paradise
Under Construction
01.16.06 (4:42 pm) [edit]
What do ya'll think about this nice lil number for a layout? I'm kind of liking it.
tBlog's new look=Bria's Blogie new look
01.15.06 (2:15 pm) [edit]So tBlog--my host-- got a makeover, which makes my blog look a little funny. I'll be tinkering with it every now and again the next few days. Any suggestions would be wonderful. I heard a "no" on the green suggestion; I'm still partial to those roses too. In the near future I may just put a list of background links on here and take a vote. We'll see what happens. Maybe get a new layout. That would be cool.
And does this size work better, or does the previous size look better to ya'll? I like it plenty big for those older folk that can't read type very well, and we younger kids that don't care to put effort into straining our eyes to see it. I'm thinking this size is more practical. Well, I'm going to go visit my friends that just arrived back in town for school. YESS!!! Later taters.
Hope in Blog Hit Despair
01.14.06 (12:41 am) [edit]The service I use to track my visitors-- http://www.statcounter.com -- is both a blessing and a curse. It's cool knowing that people across the globe regularly read my blog. By regularly, I mean that I always get lots of hits. The problem is that few visitors return. The problem is not mine though, because most of the visitors click looking for anime lesbian cartoons, which they more than likely sadly find to be an article by yours truly claiming how sick such material is. The funny part is that these people often will hit the same page again and again within 1-2 minutes, indicating to me they keep hitting the reload button several times to check their eye sight. Some even surf through my archives or my home page to try to find their anime cartoons. Makes me laugh *BWAHAHAHA* So it's depressing knowing that few people ever come back to my blog--a few that do return regularly scare me as well, lol-- but maybe I'm making an impact in the lives of these people. Maybe they need the rude slap in the face that article I wrote is. None of them have ever left a comment. Maybe they need some random stranger to tell them that what they are doing is down right disgusting. If that article or this blog or my webpage or my life for that matter helps just one person down the road to becoming a better person, or maybe even a Christ follower, or a better Christian I will feel like I have done something meaningful with my time here on this hunk of dirt.
Convicted of Censorship
01.12.06 (5:06 pm) [edit]I read for pleasure alot when I have spare time, which is rare, but not rare enough to say I never read. When I read, I always read with a pen at my side, and strike out the curse words and phrases I come across. I mainly do this to my own books, but when I get a book from the library, I sometimes do it to those too. I suppose that would be considered "damaging" other people's property, but I disagree. I'm increasing the value of the material inside the pages. Curse words and phrases are so overused they have no meaning. I'm thinking of a particular one that can be used as a noun, adjective, gerund, and just about any other way you like it in the english language, and this practice is accepted by the majority of the public. I may be "the public", but I am not the majority. Using words that have no meaning do nothing to further the story or even the sentence they are contained in showcases the stupidity of the writer. One of the first things I learned about writing is that a good writer should never use "junk"--words that do not further what the writer is trying to say. How about the word "nice"; it's not even a foul word, but it means absolutely nothing the same way curse words do. You could say, "That's a nice dress." Meaning to say the dress is asthetically pleasing to your eye. Then you could turn around and say to the same woman, "That's a nice baby," while wrinkling your nose, and stiffling a slap to the child's face to make the thing stop wailing. Ok, maybe you wouldn't hurt the kid, but the point is, words that have a blurred definition or lack one entirly have no place in literature especially, nor in the language itself.
On a little bit different note, I don't read stuff I don't agree with either. For instance, I picked up The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants at the beginning of last summer, because there was a movie and all my friends had read it, so I figured it couldn't be half bad. I couldn't even finish the first chapter before I was fuming, and literally threw the book across the room. As a result of this and other occurances, I generally keep my reading selections to books in the Christian genre and classic literature--which everybody needs to read to understand the majority of other literature and humanity as a whole in my opinion. This tends to severly limit my choices of reading material, limits which I detest, but keep chugging with anyway, because books that are riddled with curse words as if the words were cavities--black holes of meaninglessness-- or that rub me the wrong way make me physically angry--which most people who know me personally would agree is a difficult thing to do-- and makes my stomach lurch. Even in the Christian section of the library I have to be on my guard-- a terrible thing to be forced to do. I can't even find a safe haven amongst Christian novels. Makes me want to hurl. I picked up a novel about an Amish girl who seemed to have lost her identity few weeks ago; harmless right? Wrong. I was merrily reading along while waiting for my dad to get his haircut, when on about the third page I stumbled across a sentence or two which stated something to the effect that all religions are pathways to God, the Christian God. I would agree so far as to say that Judaism and Islam are pathways to the same God, but somewhere in their journeys have become incorrect in the way they each prescribe believers to get to God. The book failed to mention this. I immediatly shut the book, and hit the magazine rack, which was a mistake, because what I found there made me sick. I left the barbershop angry, sick and resolved to write someone about this mess.
So, here it is. My complaint against society and its usage of the english language. If I knew any other language fluently, I'd probably have a bone to pick with them as well, but seeing I only have a enough spanish in my brain to locate a bathroom or ask directions I can't complain. So I've complained, now for action. I guess I'll continue my lonely bout with language and demoralizing issues by censoring books, magazines, movies--I tend to fast forward through parts I don't like in those as well-- and whatever other media there happens to come my way.
Let me encourage those who have issues with the quality of the entertainment being produced these days; don't roll over and take it. Do something about it! When you just take it, the people who made the entertainment figure the public doesn't mind, and will continue with the "quality" entertainment they provide. I would suggest not purchasing offensive material; screen it before you buy, in other words. A purchase is a vote to keep going as is to entertainment companies. Read detailed reviews of movies before you go see them in the theater. http://www.pluggedinonline.co... seems to be a good resource for screening movies, tv, and music, but I haven't really looked at it much.
Happy hunting for quality entertainment!
"Old Fashion" Hymns
01.08.06 (1:05 pm) [edit]Living By Faith
Words by James Wells
Music by J.L. Hearth
I care not today what the morrow may bring,
If shadow or sunshine or rain.
The Lord, I know, ruleth o'er everything.
And all of my worry is vain.
Chorus
Living by faith (Yes, living by faith)
In Jesus above (in Jesus above)
Trusting, confiding (trusting, confiding)
In His great love (yes, in His great love)
From all harm safe (safe from all harm)
In His sheltering arm (His sheltering arm)
I'm living by faith (I'm living by faith)
And feel no alarm. (feel no alarm)
Tho' tempests may blow and the storm clouds arise;
Obscuring the brightness of life.
I'm never alarmed at the overcast skies,
The Master looks on at the strife.
Chorus
Living by faith (Yes, living by faith)
In Jesus above (in Jesus above)
Trusting, confiding (trusting, confiding)
In His great love (yes, in His great love)
From all harm safe (safe from all harm)
In His sheltering arm (His sheltering arm)
I'm living by faith (I'm living by faith)
And feel no alarm. (feel no alarm)
I know that He safely will carry me thro'
No matter what evils betied;
Why should I then care, tho' the tempest may blow,
If Jesus walks close to my side.
We sang that song in church today. Classic hymns often go overlooked in modern worship because they're deemed "too old fashion" or what have you. I whole heartedly disagree. Look at those lyrics; are they not beautifully penned and wonderfully true? But truly, let me suggest that each of us take a look again at the old hymns. There's some great stuff in there!
Blog color
01.05.06 (11:12 pm) [edit]Your Blog Should Be Green |
 Your blog is smart and thoughtful - not a lot of fluff. You enjoy a good discussion, especially if it involves picking apart ideas. However, you tend to get easily annoyed by any thoughtless comments in your blog. |
What do you guys think? Should I make my blog green?
Time Management
01.04.06 (9:36 pm) [edit]Since I'm the only human being on the face of the planet that's not watching the Rose Bowl, I thought I'd blog.
So my devo earlier this week challenged me to manage my time more wisely, and as a result, I resolved to only go through my normal web surf habits--as I outlined in a previous blog-- only one a day, generally at the end of the day. I have succeeded in this from then until now, and I don't plan on quiting.
My mom just walked by and read the first sentence, then laughed. "Managing your time more wisely does not mean sleeping 'til noon," she chuckled. Sadly, it's true and she's correct; I gotta stop that, especially since in a little over a week, I will be back at school with an eight a.m. class. So, as a result-- and also due to my grandma scheduling my hair appointment at nine a.m. tomorrow-- I will be getting up not later than 8:30 tomorrow, and everyday until school starts after that. I'll probably have to gradually make the time earlier, so the eight a.m. class doesn't sneak up on me. I'll get to that when I get there.
Well, wish me luck!
Southwest U.S. Fires
01.02.06 (6:28 pm) [edit]Please be in prayer for my area. There have been several of those firesin my region. The fire closest to me took 20% of a town and 2 lives. When there's only a few thousand people in the town, that's a lot. Then another one, a little farther off, has pretty much destroyed the entire town. My town hasn't been threatened, but lots of my family has land around and near here, so we're rather concerned about that because that's their livelyhood--they farm. So yes, next time you see the the fires on tv, shoot up a little prayer for all us in the southwest U.S.
New Years Resolution
01.01.06 (2:19 am) [edit]My New Years Resolution:
To not have a resolution. :D
Let's face it; we all say we'll keep one, but never do. As a result, my resolution is to not have one this year, so I won't have to feel guilty next New Years about not sticking to this year's resolution.
