Keep Calm And Write On

(First published on viewshound.com)  It often disturbs me how much the world looks down on specific groups of people or expects less of them just because of their age or race. Take teenagers, for example. I understand that many teenagers are moody, disinterested in their families, and unwilling to work hard, and I apologize on behalf of them. But please, do not judge us all by a few sour examples. The lower your expectations of us as adolescents are, the lower we will sink to meet them. Your expectations of us will determine what we will become. If you expect us to be mature, intelligent, productive members of society, we will rise to the occasion. If on the other hand, you don’t expect us to be anything more than bums who get along with the lowest possible amount of effort and spend the majority of our time eating, sleeping and texting, well that’s what we will become. And as for you teenagers, you’re not off the hook either! The reason that our society as a whole has

(First published on viewshound.com)  My mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas earlier today, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. Sure, like anybody I harbor a secret list of the things I would like to have, but I don’t truly need any of those things. A thought hit me suddenly. I’m content with what I have. I have enough food to eat, I have nice clothes to wear, I have a comfortable bed to sleep in, I have a roof over my head, and I have a family who loves me. Why would I want anything else? My current mood of contentment brings to mind an early memory of mine. My mother and grandmother had brought me to the mall, and as we passed Santa Claus, I just knew I had to see him. I had to tell him what I wanted for Christmas. Now, even as a young girl, I hadn’t bought into the commercialism that surrounded Christmas, I knew that “old Saint Nick” was a fraud, but still, I just had to see him. As I stood in line, I trembled with anticipation. I was almost there! I was about to

Note: This was written years ago, shortly after my eighteenth birthday. Try to take it with the appropriate grain of salt. Apparently, with my recent birthday, I am expected by much of the civilized world to behave with a certain amount of responsibility and adult-ness. But how is this accomplished? How do I manage to get done every thing that I should do, as well as everything that I want to do? Well, I'm quickly learning that this is impossible. I have long been my own worst enemy, and no matter how productive I am, there's always something inside of me that gripes and insists that I could have done more, or been more, or done it better.  Quite honestly, I could never please myself. Not completely. But here's the good news, I don't have to. I only have to please God. And even God isnt mad at me for not doing enough like I am. This is because God has eternity in mind, while I am still stuck on the here and now. Is it important that my room be clean? Yes. Will it in

There are quite a few things that I "should" be writing right now, but none of them are what I feel like writing. This is one of the things that I do not like about being a writer. I have an article to write for RealTeenFaith, and I have to rewrite my last one.  I should be working on an article for Viewshound, and I should be working on my novel. But those are all what I should be doing, not what I want to be doing. The reason I write is not for the recognition, or the money. It has never been about the money. Rather, I am writing so that I can be used by God to change lives. This is why I have refused to self-publish my work.  I feel that God, in his own time, will bring about a publisher who will consider my book(s) and provide a way to reach my audience. There are a million thoughts I want to convey to my readers, but none of them will cooperate with my fingers and allow themselves to be written.  Maybe its because all during November, I kept pushing myself, a