Category: Challenges and Awards

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Thirty

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Last Day: My Goals For The Next Thirty Days 

We made it y’all! Today is the last day of the challenge! Admittedly, I didn’t exactly go in order, and I sort of turbo blogged over the last couple of days (Due to two special edition Valentines Day posts on the horizon!) but I hope you enjoyed reading through this challenge as much as I enjoyed writing it! I believe it was a good way to kick off 2017 and I may do another one of these someday in the future.

Nonetheless, today I’m going to share some of my goals for the next thirty days—particularly related to blogging. 

1. Get on a schedule – As I mentioned in my New Years Resolutions post, I’d like to get on a consistent schedule for 2017. In the past, I’ve always posted rather sporadically, due to the fact that I often didn’t know when I’d get a chance to blog with my school schedule. But, as I’m entering into the new stage of life with college, I have more flexibility, which means that I’ll be able to blog on a scheduled basis. Thus, my new days are going to be Thursdays and Sundays. The rest of the week, I’ll spend my blogging-time preparing for those posts.

2. Be more active in my blogging community – For a while, I used to be pretty good about checking in on fellow bloggers and commenting, but lately, I’ve been sort of terrible about that. This is something I’d like to change over the course of the next thirty days.

3. Work more on my novel – This one isn’t about blogging per say, but it’s still writing, and I’d love for you all to read it someday—something that can’t happen unless I continue to actively work on it.  

How about you guys? Do you have any goals for the near future? If so, feel free to share in the comments section! 

Also, be sure to check out Emily’s blog from Fearfully Wonderfully Me! She just posted an awesome Valentine’s Day post that I’d highly recommend! 

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge Day #2: Thirty-Nine

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Day Twenty-Nine: Bullet Your Whole Day

  • I woke up (Although, considering you’re reading this, I guess that’s pretty obvious!).
  • I wrote a couple of blog posts (Which you can find in previous entries)
  • I ate lunch (Vegetarian chicken nuggets)
  • I brushed my teeth and washed my face (Yeah, the boring morning routine)
  • I drove to the grocery store (Three cheers for Wal-Mart!)
  • I began my application for Liberty Online (I’m going to start soon!)
  • I studied for the CLEP test (Yay?)
  • I emptied the dishwasher (My day just keeps getting more exciting…)
  • I talked with my mom (My day is finally looking up!)
  • I worked more on blogging (Hey, it’s my responsibility to keep this site going!)
  • I ate dinner (Spaghetti!)
  • I finished a book by Karen Kingsbury called Return (It was really good!)
  • I’m about to wants TV with my mom (The Middle, and than Black-ish)

That’s all for today! I’ll be back tomorrow with the last day of the challenge. Until then, I hope y’all have an awesome night!

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Twenty-Eight

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Day Twenty-Eight: Where You’d Like To Be In Ten Years 

Life goes by way too quickly y’all. Calculating this, I’ll be almost thirty in ten years, which I literally cannot. Even. Imagine. Nonetheless, if the next ten years go as quickly as the last ten, it will likely be here before I know it. Thus, here are my goals for the next ten years!

1. Have my series published – As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been working on a particular series since I was fourteen. I don’t want to say too much about it, but it’s basically a Christian series for teens with a strong emphasis on faith and friendship. This series is very close to my heart and it’s evolved so much since it’s conception. I’ll be sure to update you guys if anything changes with it!

2. Have a couple of songs published

From my early days of high school, I’ve been writing songs that I hope to someday see come to life. I can play instruments a little, but my goal is to become a lyricist—as the words are really my passion. I have been inspired by the lyrics to songs by artists like Britt Nicole and Francesca Battistelli and I want my words to be that inspiration for someone else. And, like with my novel writing, I’m willing to work hard to see this dream become a reality.

3. Work at a journalism company 

This will be, as some say, my ideal job to support my writing habit. I love writing and reading articles by companies such as Christianity Today and RELEVANT magazine, and hope to someday get the chance to write articles similar to the ones they regularly publish. In addition to writing, social issues fascinate me and I would like the chance to write about them in a way that is unifying rather than divisive, and that brings hope and healing to the people most affected.

4. Volunteer teaching at a youth group

In the midst of my middle school years, I was heavily involved in a youth group that I remember fondly to this day. During this time, I learned, grew, and connected with fellow students in a way that rarely happens in the world today. Because of this, I would like the chance to someday work at a youth group as a pastor or leader and create an atmosphere that would help other young people learn and grow in faith and fellowship.

5. Become stronger in my faith 

I think this is the goal of every Christian, right? Faith is a journey and as much as we grow, there’s always more we can learn. Whether it be through independent study of the Bible, reading commentaries by reputable Christian authors, or discussion with other believers, we can always take the steps necessary to grow in our faith.

6. Own a house and a car 

Though I’m in my first year out of high school, I still don’t have a car of my own. Nonetheless, I expect that within the next ten years, I’ll probably own a car, in addition to my own house. Someday, when I’m a little older, I’d like to room with a friend, so I can see myself in that type of living situation ten years from now.

7. Have most of my bucket list completed 

Like many people, I have a pretty substantial list of things that I’d like to do, and hopefully, ten years from now, I’ll have a couple more items checked off. Some of the things on that list include visiting New York City, attending a Passion Conference, seeing snow, and riding a roller coaster. I believe it’s safe to say that most of those items can be checked off within the next ten years.

8. Have my own website 

This one was actually inspired by a fellow friend and blogger, who also plans to start a website someday. I believe a website would give me more opportunities to share my faith and get my name out there as a writer—giving me a change to grow in my writing and voice through the process. Thus, I hope to have a real website to my name in a couple of years.

9. Have a BA in journalism and a Masters in Theology 

In an ever-changing world, education is becoming more important than ever, and I’d like to assure that I have a degree that would give me options for my career and opportunities down the road. I’m planning to start at Liberty University this summer, which will be the first step to achieving this goal.

10. Become more involved in my church 

I have been attending my church for about three years now, and have really grown to love it. I pray that I can grow and serve more there over the course of the next ten years.

How about you? What are your goals? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section! 

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Twenty-Seven

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Day Twenty-Seven: A Letter To Somebody

This is a letter to my thirteen year old self. During this time, a lot of changes began to happen, and if I could tell my younger self anything during this time, this is what I’d say.

Dear Younger Me,

Congratulations on making it all the way thirteen and preparing to embark on journey through your teenage years. As we both know, you’ve already seen a lot in your life. You’ve seen a near impossible prayer answered in a way neither of us could have expected. You’ve started attending church with your family. You’ve made a group of close friends in your classes. You’re already beginning to form in to the person you’re going to become. But, there’s more—there’s so much more.

I wish I could prepare you for something that’s going to happen soon. I wish I could warn you somehow, and numb the blow, but I have a feeling that you’re going to have to find out the hard way—the way I did. This may sound impossible now—as a Bible toting youth group student, but you’re going to start to struggle in your faith after watching Christian leader take a fall. You’re going to have a hard time going to church and become more aware of other problems you were previous unaware of. Your life is about to be turned upside-down, and you’ll feel a little lost for a while.

It will get better though. You won’t always be as jaded as you’re about to become. You’re going to meet two friends in high school who will help you stay afloat in your faith, and eventually, you’ll stumble upon a blog that will help you find the beauty in faith and church again. You’ll find your own voice and find that maybe you’re not a freak for asking questions—you’re human. What you’re about to witness would be enough to shake anyone’s faith, but it won’t remain shaken. You’ll climb out on the other side, victorious.

I want you to learn to humble yourself. I don’t know if this will change a thing, but I have to say it anyways. Please don’t let the reputation that you hold so tightly to, the reputation of being a good girl, stop you from being real. Don’t slip into the horrible habit of pretending to be fine when you’re crumbling inside. You’re not a bad Christian for having questions and doubts, and you’re not the first person to wrestle with their faith. You’re not the first Christian to go through a period where God feels distant—like He’s a million miles away. You’re also not loosing your faith. It may not seem like it right now, but you’re actually growing in your faith. You just don’t know it yet. God hasn’t turned His back on you.

Also, don’t be afraid to let people in. During your time in high school, you’re going to loose a couple of people, but you’ll also make some of the truest friends you’ll ever have. Don’t let one fallout ruin your desire to make new friends, and don’t let it dim your light. Pretty soon, you’ll meet a girl who’s also in a rough season. Befriend her. She’ll eventually become your best friend.

There’s so much more I could say, but for now, this is the best advice I could give you. Stay true to yourself, keep following God, and believe that it will all work out in the end. Your moment will come, and you’ll eventually find the confident version of yourself that you’ve been searching for.

Sincerely,

Future Courtney.

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Twenty-Six

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Day Twenty-Six: Write About Someone You Really Care About

Friends are the siblings God never gave us – Mencius

I’m blessed to be able to say that I have a lot of people in my life that I really care about. Many of them, can be described as friends.

I didn’t grow up with siblings to hang out with, but I can honestly say that my friends are like the brothers and sisters I never had. Some of them, I’ve known for years—since middle school, even. Others, are newer friends. Hopefully, all of them will stick around for years to come.

For me, my friends have been the people who have seen me during my best and worst times. Together, we’ve gone through crushes and heartbreak, successes and failures, and from zits to clear skin. I can also say that I’m blessed to have a very mixed group of friends—some guys and some girls, some introverts and some extraverts, some like me and some as different from me as possible. But, each one of them has made a mark on my life and helped shape me into the person that I am today. 

To me, true friendship is an extension of family. It’s staying up late when a friend has a problem, even if you’re really tired and want to go to sleep. It’s staying together even when you disagree, or when they drive you absolutely crazy. It’s praying for each other, laughing together, and vowing to be the insane old ladies hanging out together in a nursing home someday.

In my view, friendship is forever, and ideally, beyond if they share your faith. 

Things change in our lives, but I believe that if both parties work at it, friendship doesn’t have to end—especially when social media makes it so easy to keep in touch for years on end. Boyfriends and girlfriends come and go, college starts and eventually finishes, and most people go through various jobs, but I believe that if we truly see our friends as family, those ties don’t have to fade away. Too often, friendship is seen as something disposable nowadays, when it should be seen as something permanent, the way David and Jonathan saw friendship (1 Samuel 18:1-5), Ruth and Naomi saw friendship (Ruth 1:16-18), and Jesus seemed to view friendship, based on the closeness He had with His disciples.

Let us always strive for these kinds of friendships.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Twenty-Five

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Hey guys, sorry I was absent but I’m back today, and we might just end up finishing this challenge before the day is over! My goal is to finish soon because I have two very special Valentines Day Posts to share with y’all! 

Day Twenty Five – Your Best Vacation Memory 

This may not be my best, but it’s certainly the most interesting! I posted about it in a previous challenge here. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing about it!

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Twenty-Three

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Day Twenty-Three: A Book I’d Recommend 

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’m a huge bookworm. I love reading to see stories unfold and learn new things. Some of my favorite authors range from Karen Kingsbury, to Neta Jackson, to Charles Dickens, to Emily P. Freeman. I love seeing characters come to life and getting the opportunity to live a thousand lives all from my small, humble bedroom. Nonetheless, in the midst of all of the books that I love, there’s one that stands out in particular.

The Bible. 

Topping bestselling charts, the Bible is a piece of literary art. But, it’s so much more than that. It’s God’s written Word—and an account of His faithfulness in so many lives throughout decades of time. It’s His promise and a portrait of grace—promising Salvation to all who believe it and follow it. Mixing history, with poetry, with God’s words—I think even a skeptic would have to admit that it’s one of the most dynamic books of all time. 

It also contains all of the elements of a great story—even though it’s a recording of real events. It has action, with Paul’s dangerous missions across the world. It has romance, with Ruth and Boaz. It has raw emotional honesty, as King David’s laments in the Pslams. And, it challenges the status quo, as Jesus reaches out to the most marginalized of His time, bringing hope and restoration.

It also contains literary elements, such as foreshadowing within the Old Testament laws. It’s clear to see with a little bit of study that the sacrificing of lambs was a symbol, one that the people of that time would later understand as they learned of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It also contains alteration, anthropomorphism, and apostrophe—elements commonly found in many great works of literature (I’m geeking out big time here, y’all!)

Most of all, the Bible is a love letter to humanity—professing God’s sacrificial love for each one of us and pleading to adopt us as His children into one big family of believers. God used hundreds of authors throughout history to write this book under His divine inspiration, and it is up to us to accept this call. It is up to us to read the greatest story of all times, written by the Author and Creator of each of our stories. 

The Bible is the book of my life. It’s the book I live with, the book I live by, the book I want to die by—N. T. Wright

 

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Twenty-Two

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Day Twenty-Tw0: What do you collect?

In all honestly, I don’t really collect much at this point of my life. When I was little, I collected rocks, and I’m pretty sure at one point, I collected buttons, but within the past few years, I’ve mostly stopped collecting things. But, there is one thing that I still collect.

Memories. 

As I’ve been searching for a job and procrastinating CLEP tests, this is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. At this point in my life, I have both middle and high school behind me—two stages of life that I believe a person grows the most—which has given me a chance to do a lot of reflecting. What has shaped the person I’ve become? What made me who I am today? How is my past shaping my present and future even as I write?

Recently, I read a book by bestselling author, Karen Kingsbury, called Remember. In short, the theme of this book was how our memories shape us, and how our pasts help us move into the future. Remembering how God has walked with me through tough transitions in the past gives me faith for the future—faith that in the midst of the confusing college years, God will work everything out in the end. 

God has been faithful to me throughout my life. He brought me from an insecure preteen to a confident young adult, and from an experience that jaded my faith to a freshly ignited faith. He’s brought me this far, and I know that He has more planned for me.

Growing up is never easy. Oftentimes, it seems that once we figure out one stage of life, it’s time for us to move on to the next. Just as I was starting to get a grip on being in middle school, it was time for me to move to high school. Likewise, just as I was figuring out how to be a high schooler, I graduated and moved onto college. Change is inevitable, but holding onto memories, while learning into the moment, can help us remember God’s faithfulness. 

No stage of life is too big for God. Like the lyrics to the old Britt Nicole song, All This Time, God has been walking with us throughout our whole life. He has never left us and He never will leave us.

All this time, from the first tear cried, to today’s sunrise, God was there. He was always there…He’s been walking with us all this time. 

If we remember this truth, we can get through anything.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:31-39

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Twenty-One

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Day Twenty-One: My Cell Phone 

Like most millennials, I’m the bona-fide owner of a smart phone. Also like many people, I have a tendency to look at it way too often!

It can be so easy to retreat to our phones sometimes—between games, apps like Instagram, and the luxury of escaping awkward social situations, it can be hard not to develop a slight phone addiction. It can also provide the comfort of being able to contact friends at any given time, through texting and social media. Nonetheless, one thing that I’ve found is it can also be a distraction from the world around us. Far too frequently, I find myself looking at my phone when I should be engaging with the world around me. 

Cell phones aren’t a bad thing. They provide us with many great things that would have been unthinkable just a couple of decades ago. I remember back in the early 2000s when cell phones were barely a thing—during the times when they flipped up and could barely be used to text. The joys of being a nineties child!

Like most things, cell phones were meant to be used in moderation. I believe that like with everything else, God wants us to steward our use of technology. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” With technology at our fingertips, we have so many choices on how to use it. Will we use our spare minute to read a quick devotional or read angry twitter wars? Will we use our minutes on Facebook to rant or say something that may actually be productive? With so many choices, it’s important that we use our time wisely.

To put it shortly, What Would Jesus Search? 

Time is the most precious gift you have because you only have a set amount of it—Rick Warren