Christmas Story

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their florcks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been to born to you; he is Christ the Lord. this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rest."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2: 8-20

image from: lisa-snapshots.blogspot.com


Merry CHRISTmas!!!!

Jesus is the reason for the season!!!

Funny Story: Cousins :)

Lipstick. Isn't that what every 8 and 9 year old girl loves? I would say that I loved it then... to quite an extent actually.

I was 8 and my cousin Samantha was about 9 years old. We decided one day to play a prank that I found in an American Girl Doll magazine. A prank that we thought was hilarious then. :) We were going to take all of my stuffed animals and strap them into my car. Since my family was home and we didn't want them to see us, we wanted a disguise. The best disguise we could come up with involved lots and lots of lipstick.

We went to the Bonus room with some lipstick that I had gotten from a little makeup kit. We took turns doing eachother's "make-up". It wasn't quite the make-up that you probably think I'm talking about though. I am talking about a face covered in different shades of lipstick! We put as much on as we possibly could hoping that we would not get caught and we would not get in trouble. Then we added our final touches: wigs, skirts over our pants, another shirt, and a few accesories.

We tiptoed downstairs with an armload of stuffed animals. As soon as we made it, my mom sees us and asked the dreaded question, "What are you girls up to?" Of course we could not lie. So, we told her everything.

Since our little "scheme" had been ruined, we made the best out of our once in a lifetime chance to have a lipstick coated face. We danced and skipped around my house showing anybody that we could our "disguises".

What does this all mean? What did I learn from this?

That you should never expect to get away with something when your parents are right down stairs.



This is a picture of Samantha and I with our "disguises" on! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Happy Turkey Day!!!!
I'm thankful for. . . . . JESUS, my family, friends, and thanksgiving dinner.

Here in America many people pass away of obesity. In Africa, many people pass away because of hunger. There is hunger, poverty, AIDS, persecution, terrorism, and all of this to an extent that we cannot even possibly start to comprehend. All of what I just mentioned though is a blessing. Here in America we have things. Things that distract us from the real reason we are here. Things that, without meaning to, we put before GOD and His purpose for us: to love, worship and bring honor to Him. When you have nothing though, all you can do is trust in GOD and place your faith in Him. Many people there though don't know GOD. They don't know His love, and they don't know the hope that He gives. This is why we need to do something about that. Whether it is becoming a missionary to sponsoring a child to simply praying. There is an organization called Compassion where you can sponsor a child. Sponsoring children helps them learn about the LORD, gives them an education, keeps them healthy, and keeps them from being hungry. You can go to compassion.org to see more about it. There are many other ministries and organizations that help them also. One is Invisible Children. Another is Amazima Ministries that a young woman named Katie Davis started that helps children in Uganda. The ministry provides school, clothes, food, school supplies, and best of all, love for the children. In the sidebar there is an icon that says Amazima. If you click on it then it will take you to the website for Amazima. Katie also wrote a book called Kisses from Katie and has a blog: kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com. Right now though something that we all can do is pray and love!

:)

Remember Abby C from third grade and a couple posts ago? That is who I'm talking to right now on Skype!!!!!

About the Nobel Peace Prize winner 2010

For Language Arts, I had the chance to research and learn about Liu Xiaobo from China. He was the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2010. Here are some facts and information about him.

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for... Liu Xiaobo worked for human rights and freedom in China in a non-violent way.

Work and Specific Contributions: Liu Xiaobo was speaking at Columbia University when he heard about the movement in Tiananmen square. He left to join them in China. On June 2, 1989 he encouraged students to go on a hunger strike with him. He has been in jail a number of times and is currently in jail right now. Each time has only been for speaking out about what he believes in.

What issues(s) caused this person to take action? He wanted a change in China. He wanted there to be freedom of speech, religion, and many other things.
Was the issue local or global? It was neither. His issue was national. He was wanted to gain freedom in China by taking non-violent action.
How did the person take action? Liu Xiaobo took part in movements, went on a hunger strike, and wrote books. He once even started a petition campaign for the Chinese government to rethink what happened in Tiananmen Square.
What media channels did he use to take action? How did he or she use each? Liu Xiaobo used books and speeches to take action. He would write books and use speeches to protest and try to gain freedom and human rights.
Some answers to some of my own questions. These are answers to a few questions I had myself:
- What were some of the specific reasons he went to jail? Liu Xiaobo went to jail because he seeked to end a party in China, defended human rights, he started the October 10th declaration, and for a few other things.
- What was he writing about? Liu Xiaobo wrote about human rights and political issues.
-What does Liu Xiaobo believe in? I did not get the answer I was looking for, but the main thing that it seemed he believes in is peace.
-Why or what is his specific reason he wants peace? He doesn't seem to have a specific reason for wanting peace, he just does.
-What was he talking about in his book and speeches that caused "quite a stir"? Liu Xiaobo was talking and writing about human rights and political issues.
How does this person inspire you? Liu Xiaobo kept working for what he was wanting no matter what happens or what obstacles come in his way.
Sources:-nobelprize.org
- liuxiaobo.org
-pen.org
-washingtonpost.org
-josieliu.blogspot.com