Born

The night was anything but
silent.
The night felt anything but
holy.

The darkness was pierced by a scream of pain.

A virgin in labor for the first time–
–       with her first child–
–       without her mother.

Blood spilled on the dirty straw.
Sweat smeared across two faces.
Fear twisted tendril claws into two hearts.

This was the moment that everything they’d ever known
was waiting for?
This was the King promised to David?

This was survival.

This was one
–               tight
–               pulled
–               breath
–               after another.

Another scream.

A third human heart beat in the shed.

The baby

was

born.

The Promise
was alive.

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: Immanuel :

–  God
–  with
–  us.

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CW Awards

Pen, meet Sword

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So, yesterday was our last Creative Writing class — and my last class of high school ever.  I’m trying not to think too hard about it.  😥  But more on that later. For the happy part– We voted on different elements of each other’s novels (btw — there are links to all these people’s blogs on the side of my blog), and here are the results:

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Best Title – TIE

1. The World as We (Don’t) Know It  (Julie L.)
2. Project Imperium  (Luke H.)

Best Female Lead Character

1. Rowan Atreus/Lacey Gorse — Subliminal (Sarah L.)
2. Nhi Dinh — Vượt Biên (Kayla N.) – RUNNER UP

Best Male Lead Character

1. Quinn — Project Imperium (Luke H.)
2. Zack Hollingworth — The Tower of Ogelz (Valari W.) – RUNNER UP

Best Supporting Female Character

1. Abihail — Only (me)
2. Pearl — Project Imperium (Luke H.) – RUNNER UP

Best Supporting Male Character

1. Mordecai — Only (me)
2. André — Through the Black (Mara R.) – RUNNER UP

Best Villain

1. Proctor — Project Imperium (Luke H.)
2. The Aurorans — Subliminal (Sarah L.) – RUNNER UP

Best Setting

1. The real world and the imaginary one — A World of Her Own (Kendra H.)
2. Space — John Tarlan (James W.) – RUNNER UP

Best Quote

1. “When the last things you have left on this Earth are taken from you, you have a choice: lose yourself in what was, or turn around and look forward. One is merely survival, the other is choosing to live again with purpose. Death forces us to make that choice, and what you choose dictates the person you will become.” — Vượt Biên (Kayla N.)
2. “Even in the midst of pain, there’s beauty. You just have to look for it.” — Project Imperium (Luke H.) – RUNNER UP

Best Opening Line

1. “Let me tell you what it feels like to die.” — The World as We (Don’t) Know It (Julie L.)
2. “It was dawn, and the sun and moon were busy fighting for control of the sky.” — Project Imperium ( Luke H.) – RUNNER UP

Best Closing Line

1. “And he had been looking at himself in a mirror.”– The Halved Knight (Sam N.)
2. “She thought she heard a faint “goodbye Rosa” coming from the box, but maybe that was just her imagination.” — A World of Her Own (Kendra H.) – RUNNER UP

Best Literary Device

1. Allusions — all Michaelangelo’s referenes. From Stealing Joy (Rachel R.)
2. Puns — “The girls ate some refreshments, but the animals did not; they said they were stuffed.” From A World of Her Own (Kendra H.) – RUNNER UP

Best Comedy/Comedic Moment

1. A World of Her Own (Kendra H.)
2. Stealing Joy (Rachel R.) – RUNNER UP

Best Drama/Dramatic Moment

1. The Halved Knight (Sam N.)
2. Unafraid (Kasey M.) – RUNNER UP

Best Mystery/Suspenseful Moment

1. Subliminal (Sarah L.)
2. Through the Black (Mara R.) – RUNNER UP

Best Historical Fiction

1. Only (me)
2. The Road to America (Jessica C.) – RUNNER UP

Best Fantasy/Science Fiction

1. The Tower of Ogelz (Valari W.)
2. John Tarlan (James W.) – RUNNER UP

Most Likely to Publish

1. A World of Her Own (Kendra H.)
2. Only (me) – RUNNER UP

Best Illustrator

1. Kendra H.

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Congratulations, everyone!!!  ❤

And congratulations even if you didn’t win one of these awards — you still made this the BEST class in all my years of high school!

Honestly, it was hard to vote simply because there were so many amazing elements in everyone’s stories!  Reading all most  of your novellas (I fell a little short of my lofty ambitions) has opened up my literary world to so many other genres and plots I never would have picked on my own, but that are really creative and really neat!

But I’m not saying goodbye until the next post…

Indeed

Christ is risen!

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and our very faith is in pointless.

We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testify that God raised Christ….

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But

in truth

Christ has been raised from the dead,

the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by a man came death,

by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also

in Christ

shall all be made

alive.

He's risen indeed!

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1 Corinthians 15:14-22

Christ is Born Today!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Below, I adapted the beautiful and joy-filled lyrics of an old Christmas carol, Good Christian Men, Rejoice! into a slightly more updated exclamation of praise.  You can find the original lyrics here.

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Christians everywhere — rejoice!  With all your heart, your soul, your voice!

Listen!  I’ve got something to tell you!

Jesus Christ is born today!

Oxen and donkeys bow before Him as He lies in the manger now.

Christ is born today! Christ is born today!

Christians everywhere — rejoice!  With all your heart, your soul, your voice!

Now you hear of endless bliss:  Joy! Joy!

Jesus Christ was born for this reason.  

He has made the presence of God accessible by removing the barricade of our sin, and we are blessed forevermore.

Christ was born for this! Christ was born for this!

Christians everywhere — rejoice!  With all your heart, your soul, your voice!

Now we don’t have to dread Death.  We have peace!  Peace!

Jesus Christ was born to save!

He calls you each; He calls us all to come into His everlasting life.

Christ was born to save! Christ was born to save!

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Christmas isn’t just about the manger.  It’s the beginning of the cross.  

Christ was born to save!