Inspiration

 I have a lot of people in my life who inspire me, but the one person i'm going to mention who inspires me this week is my cousin, annie. Annie is more than just a friend and cousin, she is a fuzzin. She is also my teacher for school and runs a bookstore channeling her inner Kathleen Kelly. Annie is an intellegent, funny, and caring person who loves her family and friends. Annie has one sibling, a brother, named Chet, a husband named Jordan, and a cute dog named Junie B. Annie is also a fantastic bible class teacher for both little and older kids. I thought this would be a great way to let Annie know how she inspires me. I love Annie!

Just Thinking

Hi Everyone,

Caroline came to me a couple of weeks ago and asked if she could share her thoughts in an upcoming Ray of Sonshine. I told her yes and below is what she sent to me. She exemplifies 1 Tim 4 verse 12, Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit,^[b] in faith, in purity. (NKJV) I hope you enjoy her thoughts and get to know her better.We continue to pray for you and love you very much. Ray

Hello and thank you for letting me do this guest "post" on this week's Ray of Sonshine. I listen to spiritual songs in the car, and when I work out. It is inspiring stuff perhaps you could try it too. In my daily bible class I’ve been learning about an upper and lower story and it has called me to think more about putting beliefs into action.Where I belong is a song that I've been listening to recently. One of the lines in this song is, “take this world and give me Jesus.” I have three points to share with you all. Get away from all the distractions of this world and go from 7am-7pm without looking at a computer, cellphone, IPad, or IPod. My second thought is show people Jesus by helping others in need, help an elderly person put groceries in their car, invite someone to church. Last but not least, share a smile with those around you. So as I wrap up I offer 2 verses and 2 challenges.

1st verse is in Matthew 28 where it talks about going out into all the nations and sharing the good news. The 2nd verses are 1Timothy 4:15¹⁵ Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. (NKJV) Like the song says, take time to be holy.

My 1st challenge for you is to listen to some Christian music if you don't already, (I'm willing to make a cd if you like.) 2nd challenge is give up all the technology distractions for a day each week. Turn off all those devices from like 7am and don't get them back until 7pm and then use all that time you to focus on Him.

I will continue to pray for all of you and hope that you have a great rest of this week.

For a better walk with Him and each other, love all of you guys!

The Westing Game

 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin was about an apartment building called Sunset Towers. Sam Westing the owner of the property of this building was a guy who liked to play games with others..as in he was leaving his fortune to some unknown, unrelated person that he knew. There would be a competition to see who would get his fortune after he deceased. The game said that the last one alive in Sunset Towers would get the inheritance of Sam Westing. Turtle was the last one alive and turned the apartment building into the Wexler-Theodorakis mansion, where she spent Saturday afternoons with her niece, Alice playing chess.

Backwater

  Backwater by Joan Bauer, was about a girl named Ivy, who just wanted to find out about her family's history. Ivy was always reserching about her family in her free time. She also had a love for history just like her mother did. Dan, Ivy's dad, wanted Ivy to get a law degree instead of a history degree. Dan was always pushing Ivy to be serious about her studies, and to not research about her family until after her homework was done. Ivy loved to read, find out about her family, and long strolls admiring nature.
  One day Ivy decided that she wanted to go find out about one lost relative that none of her family wanted anything to do with. A few days later, Ivy set out with Mountain Mama, the ranger, who would guide her in the wilderness to her aunt. On the way to Ivy's aunt Jo, they met a guy named Jack who was training to become a guide. When Ivy got to her aunt Jo's house she asked if she could be picked up in two days, so Mountain Mama left her with her aunt. Ivy spent two whole days getting to know all about her aunt Jo. While Ivy was with her aunt Jo the roof caved in, and she rescued her aunt, but both of them ended up having to go to the hospital. Both Ivy and her aunt lived and recovered, and were happier because aunt Jo was back to being in the Breedlove family history.

poetry

 Reading poetry is fun. It can get you into an imaginative place and you don't want to put the book down. Prose is more like a short story. It can also get you into an imaginative place but you don't find out what happens in the end.
 I read a few poems last week but my favorite one was The Road Not Taken by Rober Frost. In this poem it was talking about two roads one being taken fairly often and one not really getting taken at all. Both of the roads in this story are the same and we should not all take the same road cause it will get busy. We need to be bold and take the road that isn't taken so we can be more like Jesus.

Play ball

  This past July I turned 16. It was one of the most memorable birthday weeks ever. Two days before my birthday my family and I headed to Tampa, Fl for a birthday present from my grandma. We got there and had some hanging out time at the hotel and then went to the pier. At the pier we all ate dinner with a view of water and the sunset. After we ate dinner at the pier, we went back to the hotel and visited until about midnight. The next day we woke up early, had breakfast, and then layed in bed until we had to get ready to leave to go to the baseball game that the Red sox were playing against the Rays. When we got to the park I was excited. One of the people there told a Red sox player on the field that it was my birthday and he threw me a ball during batting practice. After we had enough fun watching batting practice it was time to go find our seats. We got to the section our seats were for and asked which row they were for so the usher pointed us all the way down to the field (as in the front row). The front row was pretty cool but you really had to pay attention. Sitting with my dad,mom,sister,aunt,and grandma was the best birthday present a girl coud have ever asked for.

reading/listening

 Reading poetry and watching poetry are two very different things. While watching poetry you are seeing how someone else interpret  and feels about a poem. When you are reading poetry you can change your voice to sound like the writer wanted you to or you can even be graphic and use hand motions while reading poetry. Reading poetry lets my imagination go in action so then I get into it, while watching poetry might be nice I can't let my imagination go in action because I don't really get into it when i'm watching it. I enjoy reading poetry because I can be myself and it lets my imagination have fun while doing so.