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Prepare Him Room
Joy to the world! The Lord has come Let Earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing And heaven, and heaven and nature sing! Every year at Christmas, we are reminded to not let Jesus’ incarnation get lost in the shuffle. And so we try and maybe find a few moments to reflect on His advent before diving into the wrapping paper and cookies. Of course, it’s important this time of year to prepare our hearts to focus on Christ, but we need to do this year-round. Let’s face it. Life is busy. We have deadlines to meet.…
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The Spurgeon Collection Pt. 2
How absolutely unexpected. Another post about Charles Spurgeon. What can I say? I can’t help it. I’ve been building a stockpile for you guys on my phone and now I get to share them with you! Once again, Spurgeon’s words are in bold and mine are regular text. All Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV. Consider how precious a soul must be when both God and the devil are after it. If a person’s soul matters so much to God that He sent His only Son to die to redeem it, why do we often look with apathy on the people around us? In this age of hate and…
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The Spurgeon Collection
I love Charles Spurgeon. Scroll through my social media, and you will find a plethora of Spurgeon quotes mixed in with memes and the occasional pet photo. I’m an auditory learner, so I was thrilled to find recordings of some of Spurgeon’s sermons! Obviously, they aren’t actually Spurgeon’s voice, but the reader’s name is also Charles. XD Over the past few months, I’ve built up quite the collection of Spurgeon quotes (in bold below). The commentary is my own. All Scripture quotes are taken from the ESV. Enjoy! The fact is, we oftentimes read Scripture, thinking of what it ought to say, rather than what it does say. Ooo, this…
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Fuchsia Violin–A Poem
Guess what? I have another poem for you! I wrote this one a couple of years ago at a writing conference. I attended a poetry workshop and we had to write something based on a random color and object combination from a list on the whiteboard. I picked “fuchsia violin.” Swish, swing, A fuchsia violin. It’s zipping, it’s swirling, dancing and twirling, an ecstasy of elation. Joy and power, gentle but strong, the music flows around me, like cherry blossoms in the wind, a rippling puddle of reflection. It’s dipping, it’s whirling, and then, it’s done.
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Birds–A Poem
I hope you enjoy this writing-inspired English sonnet! This was yet another piece I wrote for my creative writing class. (Can you tell I had fun with that course? 😂) It’s written in the style of Shakespeare’s famous sonnets. It was certainly a challenge to get the rhythms right, but it was a lot of fun at the same time. Quiet clink of metal on glass, a plink, he prepares to press the pen to paper. Figures dance on blank walls, blacker than ink, fantastical shadows cast by the single taper. He scatters words like seeds across parchment. Little birds take the thoughts and entrust them to penthouses and bleak…
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Upside-Down–A Poem
Good morning, friends! I wrote this free-verse poem for my creative writing course. I hope you enjoy it and it brings a smile to your face! My dad thinks poetry is stupid. He says poets simply decide to hit enter randomly without any good reason. Why can’t this all be one line? What makes this one word so special it deserves a line of its own? My dad likes things like right angles And strategy games And big books of theology And cinnamon cookies And Ohio State football He designs pumps and understands math, but when he reads poems, He wonders if they would make more sense Upside-down
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Departing–A Flash Fiction
I am late for my own funeral. The quick staccato of my heels on the tiled floor softens as I slip into the service. The only empty seat is in the front row, so I lean against the wall beside a planter of lilies. Their stench floods my nose and nearly chokes me. The elderly pastor, who congratulated me on finishing first grade so many years ago, is in the middle of a lengthy prayer. As a child, I squirmed and thought about the promise of McDonald’s after the service, but now I find a moment of solace in speaking to God. A quiet island in a storm of secrets.…
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Things on an Author’s Desk–A Poem
This summer, I’ve been taking a creative writing class for college. It’s been alternately stressful and fun. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been working on some poetry. After reading over the chapter in my textbook covering different forms of poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction, I decided to try one of them. I’m calling this a “Free-Verse List Poem.” I hope you find it entertaining. “Things on an Author’s Desk” ONE stuffed black cat, wearing a teal bowtie ELEVEN wooden pencils, all dull, FIVE with original erasers TWO tape dispensers, ONE shaped like a cupcake, the other empty ONE magnet bookmark, Grumpy Cat brand THREE tubes of chapstick, TWO…
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The Idol of Good Grades
Whether school winds up being in-person or virtual this year, there is no denying that summer is coming to a close. And with the fall come all the stresses (old and new) of studying. As we cling to the last vestiges of summer, let’s consider one of the biggest stressors of school: grades. As students, we are under constant pressure to get good grades. If we fail this class, we won’t be able to graduate. If we flunk this test, the teacher will think we are stupid. If we get an A on this assignment, we’ll earn our parents’ approval. This pressure can be external—parents, grandparents, teachers, etc. Sometimes, our…
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Fast Tips for Writing Flash Fiction
I’ve been writing a lot of flash fiction lately. Most of it I’ve shared on the blog, but some of them I’m still working on. And then, of course, are the horrible pieces that will never see the light of day. I’m doing a summer creative writing class through my college and I’ve been learning a lot about writing better flash fiction! I wanted to share a few tips with you, to help you write your own flash fictions. Focus on one thing Flash fiction, by its very nature, is incredibly short (usually less than 1,000 words). There isn’t time to dive into subplots or explore a fantasy world. When…
