by Evelyn Bloom
A story is the record of a remarkable journey taken by its author, chronicled and concealed behind the fantastical tales of dragons, pirates, and the trials of everyday life. The finished product is a testament to hours spent toiling over the page – meticulously shaping thoughts and molding ideas, selecting words and phrases that will draw the audience in and create within them an interest that will manifest in a desire to see more of what the author has to say. The writer must therefore be like an artist, painting beautiful, engaging pictures with words that will effectively communicate the passions and beliefs of the writer in a way that will have a profound effect on the reader forever.
There are many ways for a story to be told – but whether written in prose or verse the author has to carefully craft the tale in a way that requires much thought and the skillful shaping of a master craftsman. Picture if you will the dwarves of many a fantasy world who labor deep beneath the mountains, expertly crafting gold and silver into exquisite masterpieces of finely wrought metal that would have glinted richly in the firelight of some great banquet hall. The dwarves would test each piece of metal thoroughly – weighing and considering before they even began to shape it into the most delicate of adornments. When the chalice or crown had been formed, jewels would have been carefully studied before being laid in the precious metal by skillful fingers.
Words should go through much the same process as those ancient treasures that were so fair and elegant and it is up to those of us that are writers to see that this happens. Everyone has a story to tell and they must craft their novel, their poem, or their essay with as much care as those dwarven smiths fashioned their rich metalwork. We are wordsmiths – people who can hold great influence over others’ minds and opinions through the power of the written word. For good or for ill we can sway someone’s thoughts on any subject, merely by utilizing the passions, skills, and knowledge that we have been gifted to possess to craft a gem of a story that will affect people for generations to come.
I Blossom
by Nere Eyeguokan
White flowers seem to blow in the wind
As I'm planted out in a nearby field.
They wither and die out as I blossom,
The black sheep of the flower pot.
I just want to breed, with seeds of
different shades.
*****
Divorce is a Dead Flower
by Raquel Love
you were never there;
you will never be there.
you broke my heart
and tore it to pieces.
you never loved me;
you left me hanging.
your love ran dry,
but the Lord stayed full.
When he wasn't.
God loves me more
than he ever did.
your love shines through me
and God will stay there,
'cause divorce is a dead flower.
you have hurt us all;
you left bruises.
you used your time
to run away,
but times run out,
but the Lord stayed.
God is always there
when he wasn't.
God loves me more
than he ever did.
your love shines through me,
and God will stay there,
*****
The Struggle
by Vince M.
When I walk in the room
all I see
Is many others staring at me.
They pick up their objects
like they don't trust
Not just me,
but people like me.
It's not a mistake;
it's a problem.
We thought it stopped,
but it still goes on.
Even with a 35 GPA,
that doesn't matter.
It's not just my struggle,
it's the struggle.
*****
Life's Alarm Clock
by Erin Jenkins
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Roll over and press snooze,
as I choose
to ignore the all consuming
ever fuming
world.
Emptiness in my robotic heart,
waiting for the start
of commands.
Satan flipped the switch,
and without a twitch
I rose.
Satan's circuit
My friends and I,
waiting for opportunities to pass us by
to consume the world.
Alcohol the fuel,
gossip the spark,
creating the flame,
always the same,
filled with pain and shame.
Complete and utter brain drain.
Until that fateful day.
My cell phone,
my worldly hell phone rings.
But it's God that sings
to me.
He says,
"Erin, your grandfather is dead,
but know that this is not the end.
He's here with me,
why don't you see?
In this life
You think you have it all,
but all you know is about to fall.
But it's your time to shine,
so drink the wine
of the soul.
Four you see,
if you break free,
you can be with me
eternally!"
Three months go by,
and I decide to let go of the lie.
I took the dare,
and said the prayer
to finally set my soul free.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I rise up and pray
that I'm more faithful than
I was yesterday.
Soul always growing,
God's grace forever flowing.
I implore you to see,
God's grace in me.
*****
Struggle
by Devon Hinds
When I walk in a room eyes grow an attention for me, but if my eyes meet theirs, there's an instant repel, like two magnets that are placed near each other. Their arms suddenly suffocate their valuables.
When I walk they stick their legs out to trip me and say, "I'm sorry. It was an accident." Then they slap their friend's hand in victory. If I speak they check their ears in the same fashion an old man does to see what's wrong with his hearing aid. They're shocked to know that I can speak like them, because I look so different.
I hate this world I live in. So I stick to the shadows. When I miss school, they think I got arrested. If I go into a hospital, they think I got someone pregnant . . .
But then there's the other side . . .
When I walk in a room, eyes give me a snarl. If I see their valuables, they flash me their metal. Whenever I walk by they bump me, then jump me.
If ever I speak, I'm told to keep my mouth shut, or risk me getting cut.
*****
Testimony
by Anjela Wieland
Jeremiah 20:11 says: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." This verse and many others have been a comfort to me. Hope is sometimes the only thing a person has.
I am most definitely a Christian and delight my heart in the Lord, but it wasn't always that way. I didn't grow up in a Christian family. I have a twin brother, two older half-brothers, and a younger half-sister. I also have two stepbrothers and a stepsister. (Don't worry, I only live with my twin brother.)
My parents divorced when I was six years old. My mother had an affair and moved to Arizona. She moved back to Michigan a year later. My dad took it really hard, but it wasn't noticeable until after my aunt died. The pain of abuse is like numbing of the heart. He was always a drinker, but he slowly turned into an alcoholic. He was both physically and emotionally abusive to my brother and me. This went on for years until Christmas night of 2006. He told my brother and me to leave, and we moved in with my mother.
Life with my mom was an adventure as well. I like to think she never grew up. We moved into a tiny, one-bedroom apartment as well as switched schools. My mother would have rather partied all night than take care of her kids. My brother and I learned to take care of ourselves, and convinced our mom to move back to our hometown when I was in the 8th grade.
Now this is where grace steps in. My grandparents are Christians, and have been the biggest influence in my life. They invited my brother and I to church when we were in the 3rd grade, but it never really stuck because of what happened. Grace was extended to me through a good friend. She never gave up on me, and invited me to youth group every day. I finally caved and loved it. That summer I went to Lake Ann Camp, and really rededicated my life to Christ. I was baptized, and became a member of my church a year and a half later.
Life is still full of ups and downs. I had the amazing opportunity to work in the snack shack of Lake Ann last summer, and counseled juniors for a week this summer. I also had the opportunity to go on a missions trip to Detroit, and came to TLC.
Unfortunately, my mother married a not-so-great guy last year. Yesterday will marth the fourth time he has been in jail since he married my mother.
Last summer, I was able to get back in touch with my dad. I just wish it could have been on better circumstances. While I was working at Lake Ann, he collapsed and almost passed away. After weeks of rehab, he committed to stay sober. Unfortunately, he didn't stay true to his commitment. Last week he called me, and he was drunk. I encourage you to pray for him.
Psalm 27:10 says, "Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me." I know that I have an eternal and everlasting Father in Heaven who will never give up on me. He was able to take an abused and broken girl and make her believe she is a beautiful daughter of Christ.
I hope you're encouraged by this.
*****
Death is a Wilting, Yet Blooming Flower
- Anonymous
We have all experienced death, whether it was a great uncle you didn't really know, a best friend, or a favorite pet gerbel.
But there is something different about the passing of a passionate, on fire for God, wise, old Christian. When they go, there is rejoicing and sadness. You watch them, like a flower wilting away, just to blossom into perfection when they see the eyes of Jesus. You see the pain of their eyes to leave their loved ones, but the undescribable joy to finally meet the Father face to face.
When I see someone I love that passed away, I don't see it as a funeral. I see it as a day of rejoicing.
*****
A Life Worthwhile
by Gabrielle Jackson
When I grow up, I want to be involved in politics, preferably to be a politician.
Becoming a politician has become a relatively new dream of mine. I first remember being at least somewhat interested in politics at the age of nine, during the 2004 presidential election involving John Kerry (who was from my then-home state of Massachusetts) and George Bush, the incumbent president.
It was not until four years later, at the 2008 elections, that my love of politics really began to blossom, to the credit of one of my favorite teachers of all time, Mr. Berger. Being an election year, our seventh grade history class was constantly being filled with current event news and political discussion (as in depth as twelve- and thirteen-year-olds’ discussions can get).
I started to love politics because of the way it makes people think and act; it has the ability to launch a topic of discussion anywhere. Since politics involve peoples’ attempt to almost read the minds of who they are electing, as well as attempting to predict the future, it was fascinating to me to see people really get bent out of shape for their beliefs for the first time. I also loved seeing the way candidates would conduct themselves in response to recent events and how they almost seemed to talk to each other without ever being in the same room. To me, democracy is the greatest form of representation.
Two other important events happened in my middle school career: I started to love history and I started debating. I loved history because of the age-old phrase “history repeats itself”. Once I really started paying attention to history, that little phrase become more and more blatantly apparent, like time is in a loop. It, however, would not be for a few more years that I learned to fuse my two loves (history and politics) with a third and a forth, even greater love, that I will mention later on.
My third love became debating. Not only did I love learning to write a convincing argument for something I believed in, but also having to do the same for a topic I didn’t believe in. I grew a knack for speech writing (and other persuasive genres) because in debate, many speeches needed to be written and revised over and over again. Also, debate taught me that even though things are not always black and white, you need to take a firm stand on what you believe (even though that belief may have been assigned to you). Also, with debate one has to do a lot of research and pay attention to the news. In doing so, I was able to assimilate a bunch of information and learn more things about the world that I never knew before.
However, up until then, politics was more of an interest than a possible career path. It was not until about a year ago, around the time I got saved (before or after that I do not remember). I realized that there were a lot of things corrupt and wrong with the world (particularly in America). I also came to another realization: I wanted to make a difference. My vision of “making a difference” used to go hand-in-hand with my dream of seeing my name in a history book. But with God, I realized that you did not have to be famous to make a difference. For the longest time, I felt that reaching my dream was attempting to reach a fruit on a really tall tree, nearly impossible. But God opened my eyes to realize that if I focused on his will by incorporating Him (my fourth and greatest love) into my other three, and making Him the priority, that it would not be so hard. I now know that making a difference and changing the world is a lot more than seeing my name in lights, it can be using the teachings of God to make other peoples’ lives better through His teachings, Word, and guidance; it would be seeing His name in lights.
Even though I am not one hundred percent sure of God’s plan for my life, I learned that if I change at least one person’s life for the better in the glory of God, that that would make my whole life worthwhile.
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