Statement of Faith

Author's Note: This May I am getting confirmed at my church. In order to be confirmed, you need to write a statement of faith, which is basically some long essay saying what you believe. It's been done for a while, but I feel like sharing it now. Here you go my lovelies.


I believe in God. I believe that He created the Heavens and the Earth, and everything in them.  I believe that Jesus Christ walked the earth as man and God at the same time. I believe Jesus was born to the virgin Mary, died on the cross for our sins, and now sits at the right hand of our Lord in Heaven.

The Ten Commandments are ten rules that God instructs us to live by. And when we break one of them, we sin. Some sins seem more serious than others, but a sin is still a sin. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, suffering in pain, he was doing it for us. He died for our sins so we would be able to have eternal life. Knowing that humans aren’t perfect, and will sin against His ruling, God forgives us for our sins. All we have to do is admit to the wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

I believe in the Father. I believe that he is the creator of all things on this Earth. I believe that without him, nothing would be here. There would be no world, no people, no life.

I believe in the Son. I believe that Jesus Christ was sent down from Heaven to die for our sins. I believe that he is the savior of all people who put their faith in the Lord.

I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe that God is with us today, wherever we are. I believe that his word is floating among us. I believe that God is actively in each and every one of our lives.

“For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,” John 3:16 states. I believe that there will be a day that Jesus Christ comes back to this Earth, and everyone who believes in him will go up to Heaven, where they will live eternally with the Father and those who don’t will go to Hell.

Everyone on this Earth is here for a reason. We all have a purpose in life, and the only one who will lead us in the right direction is God. Jeremiah 29:11 says,“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I believe that as a Christian, it is my responsibility to share the word of the Bible with people who don’t have faith in God. “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned,” is written in Mark 16:15-16. As a human being, we cannot force someone to think certain things, or have trust in the Lord, however I do believe that we need to share the Lord’s word with nonbelievers. Everyone deserves to know the Father. Everyone deserves to have a relationship with Him, some people just need to be introduced to him. I believe that is my job.

I believe that God has the answers to all of our questions. I believe that any problems we have, God knows how they will be solved. I believe that it is our duty to live up to the Lord’s expectations, and be as Holy as we can. I believe that because he gave us so much, the least we can give him is our trust, our faith, our life. I believe that anything we say, anything we do, any decisions we make, we should do all with God in mind. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

The things that God has done for us are breathtaking. The fact that he let his own son die for all of us, and now lets everyone live eternally through him, is really quite amazing. I believe that God wants us all to find hope in Him, have faith in Him, put our whole entire lives in his hands. I believe that if we trust completely in God, our lives will be nearly perfect, we will find ease in the struggles, and rejoice in the love of our Father.

N. 92nd Street

Please read this article. 

December 28, 2005 -- Mike 

"Twenty two, twenty three, twenty four," I said, counting the change I needed to give back to the customer. 

"Thank you!" A very happy happy customer, with very long brown hair said, as she sat down to eat her egg roll. 

It was a Wednesday night, the Wong's Kitchen was slowly heading downhill. We made a whole whopping $200.00 today, which means that if I want to get enough money for food, I have to stay later. I was supposed to pick Kristie up, however she was at the museum with Sherry's parents. 

Around 5:00 pm, a car pulled up. 

I had my back turned to the door. I was making some chicken, and had to turn the burner on. When I turned around, everything changed. Men dressed in black, with masks, holding guns.

I blinked.

"GIVE US THE MONEY, OR WE'LL SHOOT" they screamed. 

I had no choice, I went to open the register, but I was too late. I heard a gun shot, and felt immense pain in my chest. I fell to the floor.

I heard the door close, they got away. 

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me," she sang to me. I had no idea who she was, none at all, but she was there, holding me. Until the end. 

December 28, 2005 -- Sarah 

"Twenty two, twenty three, twenty four," he said, handing me back my change. 

"Thank you!" I smiley said, looking back at him, while taking a seat. I had just gotten out of work, and needed something to eat, so I decided to try Wong's Kitchen. So far everything was great, the food, the service, I decided that I would start coming here more often. I continued on with the meal, going up and down between my laptop and my meal. 

The door opened.

I assumed that someone was coming in to buy food, but this was no time for making assumptions. 

I was busy typing as I heard it. A gunshot.

I looked up, but not it time, they had already ran through the door, and the nice man who had given me my food, had already fallen to the floor. 

I sprinted over, and held him in my arms. I didn't know the man up until today,  but now I will remember him forever. 

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me," I sang to him, until he took his last breath. 

December 28, 2005 -- Darleen

I had just settled down after a long day, to watch the 5 o'clock news. This was my favorite news show, because you got all the inside scoop on the dirt that happened in Milwaukee today. 

"Hello, viewers, this just in, a man shot and killed at a Chinese food resturaunt today," I tuned into the TV, "for more information, stay tuned." 

"Larry! Get in here!" I called out to my husband. Just as he walked through the door, the screen switched to a live view, and there, in sight, was my son. He was laying on the floor; dead. 

Tears rolled down my face, crying so hard I was shaking. "Why?" I sobbed out, "Why my son?"

December 28, 2005 -- Sherry

Driving down 92nd street was a part of my everyday schedule. I started by picking up my dry cleaning, then I would get some grocery's and then stop in at Mike's work. I loved my husband, more than anything. We fought, all the time, but I still loved him. 

I was running a little late, because I had to drop Kristie off at my parent's house, because they were taking her to the museum, which then pushed my whole day back about 20 minutes. And of course, with my luck, an accident must have been up further on the road, because there were tons of police cars, and ambulances driving down the road. 

After I had ran my errands, I was on my way to stop in by Mike. When I got to the exit, I saw that it was blocked off, and all the ambulances and police were in Wong's Kitchen. 

"What's going on in there?" I asked a police, from inside my car. 

"Some cashier was shot. Dead." he said, "Sorry ma'am, but there'll be no dining in there tonight."

"Do you happen to know the man's name?" I said, praying that it wouldn't be him.

"Mike. Mike Tabbert. Why? You know him?" 

Tears ran down my face, in an instant. I ran out of that car so fast, I almost forgot to put it in park. "He's my husband, I hollered."

Walking in, I saw the unimaginable. Mike, my husband, the love of my life, laying there lifeless..and he wasn't coming back. 

December 28, 2005 -- Kristie

I loved the museum. I loved the fact that whenever I was there, I would be with my grandparents, even my cousins sometimes. But it was different that time. Grandma's phone kept ringing. It was mommy. 

"Hello?" Grandma said.

"Hi, hurry, leave the museum and come to the Chinese restaurant," I heard her crying trough the phone. 

We left in the blink of an eye. Traffic was bad. I kept on asking what was going on, and the only answer I got was that we needed to go see my daddy. 

It took an hour to get to the restaurant. When we showed up there were blinking lights and roaring sirens. 

I ran inside, only to see my other grandparents, my uncle, and my mommy crying. My daddy was there, too. 

But he wasn't crying. 

He wasn't moving, or talking, or breathing. He wasn't alive. 

I dove down onto the ground, and held my daddy's hand, asking him to wake up.

He never did.

December 28, 2005 -- Marissa 

We had just gotten back from my brother's indoor soccer game. Me and him were now watching TV.

Then my mom walked in. She was crying, and holding a box of tissues. 

"Kids, your uncle Mike has been shot, and killed." she said. And from that moment on, nothing was ever the same. 

Demons

Villains crowd our head with thoughts. You’re not good enough.  The demons surround us, praying that we’ll fail.  The devil watches our every move, hoping at some time we’ll mess up, and be on his side: the dark one. Evil is surrounding us, trying to trap us, trying to take us. They try to disguise themselves, hoping we think those thoughts and actions are our own, ours by choice. They try to get inside our brains, as deep as possible, so that when they leave, we still have those thoughts; but this time they come from you, telling yourself, I’m not good enough. 

Changing Gears

The impulse kicks in. For a second, my mind flashes to a memory. I see my dad, eye level, and in a moment, my father’s hand hits me, fair and square in the eye. Reality comes back. I am waiting. The clock ticks from 12:02 to 12:03. Caitlin, who is probably just getting out of class, is still not in the car. And I don’t like that. Something about being late..it got to my father, and now it gets to me.

I sit in the car, and wait for another 3 minutes, still no sign of Caitlin. Just as I am ready to change gears, and drive away, the handle clicks, and the door opens.

Scrambling in the door, Caitlin starts to ramble on, “Hey, I’m so sorry, Mrs. Johnson wanted to talk to me after class, and I told her I had to go, I really did, but she said –“

“Enough. I’ve heard it all before.”

“Rogerson, I know you’re mad, but I tried. I really did! I got out of this place as fast as I could,” Caitlin pleaded, as she knew what was coming.

“Wasn’t fast enough,” I murmured under my breath.

The drive to lunch was silent, in the most awkward of way. I was upset, and she knew it. I was right, and she knew it, too.

Twenty minutes past, when she finally decided to open her mouth.

“I’m still sorry,” she said, looking at me with those big eyes, pleading for some romance scene. For some reason, this hope, this happiness, this joke in her eye, it got me frustrated. I turned back towards the wheel, now parked in a parking lot. From the corner of my eye, I still could see her. Just as she was about to speak, something came in me. My second nature. I leaned in real close, and punched her. Harder than ever before.

As she sat there crying, I sat there driving. Maybe I should feel bad about what I did, maybe I should feel like such a horrible person, but I don’t. If anything, I think I let her get away easy…this time.

---

Dreamland is a book that shows abuse in a relationship. The whole story is told in the point of view of Caitlin, the girl who is being abused. It is great, we get to see how she feels, how she takes the pain. We get to see the struggles it puts on her life.

Then there’s Rogerson. All we know about him is he hits Caitlin. If the book was told in his point of view, rather than hers, we would see so much more depth to the story. We would see why he hits her, what it does to him. We would see his thoughts in the moment, not just hers.

Having the story be told in the point of view of Caitlin, automatically makes us think that she is the angel, and Rogerson is the devil. If the story was told differently, there would be a whole different vibe, a whole different setup, a whole different story.

Float Away

Author's Note: When looking at the picture that Mrs. Reagles showed us, this is what I came up with. 

When we’re born, we start perfect. We start with no flaws, no mistakes… noting weighing us down. Then we grow a little, and have more experiences. And with more opportunity, comes more failure. Parts of what used to be us, get lost – drift away.

As we continue to get older, we lose more and more of ourselves, our sanity. Soon, more is missing than what’s still here. We’re lost. Our brain and our bodies aren’t connected, we know nothing. We think one thing, do another. Any comfort, reassurance we had, now leaves  -- runs away.

And there comes a day, when we’ve made too many mistakes, when we can’t find ourselves anymore. When all the pieces are spread too far apart, vanished.  All in a moment, everything is gone. Our bodies can’t stay together.  So our bodies get picked up, find their way home – float away. 

In Cass's Shadow

When it comes down to the bottom of every situation, there are two options: let it happen, or don’t. In the book Dreamland Caitlin is in an abusive relationship. Rogerson hits her. If she is late somewhere, he hits her. If she talks to another boy, he hits her. If she does anything that he doesn’t like, he hits her. Why doesn’t Caitlin find the strength to leave him, because he is no good? Why is she staying in this abusive lifestyle, when all she needs to do is leave? Though she could have left, Caitlin stayed because this situation set her apart from her sister, gave her new friendships, and make her feel special, when she was being ignored by the ones she thought were always there. 

Growing up, Caitlin was always compared to her sister. Anything Cass did, Caitlin was expected to do, too. Then Cass ran away from home on Caitlin’s 16^th birthday. There was no one there for Caitlin to be compared to, she could finally be her own person. On page 146, Caitlin says, “All I’d ever wanted to make was my own path, far from Cass’s. And even after what had happened, I wasn’t ready to give that up yet.” Cass would have never dated such a mysterious bad boy. This boy, though he hits her, sets Caitlin apart from Cass, and she likes that.

Caitlin never had many friends. She wasn’t alone in life or anything, but mainly hung around one or two people. However dating Rogerson, Caitlin met someone who would soon be her best friend: Corinna.  Rogerson hung around with Corinna’s boyfriend, and eventually introduced the two girls. She knew that if she had to leave the situation, she would also lose her friend Corinna, and that wasn’t something that Caitlin was willing to do.

When her sister left, Caitlin’s parents interests all focused around finding Cass. Calling Cass. Cass this, Cass that; all Cass. In my opinion, part of Caitlin staying in this relationship was because she wanted a cry for help. I think a small part of her wished that her parents would find out, like they eventually did, so then their attention would be back on her. I think Caitlin was really hurt that even when her sister wasn’t there, that her parents still worried more about Cass more than her. All she wanted was attention that she deserved.

Those two options that you have may seem easy on the outside. Yes or no. Letting things happen, or not letting them happen. However, you have to take the whole situation into account. Yes, if Caitlin left Rogerson she would get out of being hit, but she would also lose her individuality, her best friend, and her parents' attention. Even if she wanted out of the relationship, I don’t think Caitlin would ever have the strength to leave. 

The Fight

There are many different stories of the Revolutionary War.  Many people have written their own version of what happened, with each one having different plots and characters. However, the more you look into it, many stories do in fact have the same general idea. The movie The Patriot  and the book The Fighting Ground are very similar, yet also have their fair share of differences.

Both of the tales told make the authors interpretation of what they think happened in the war come alive. In the book The Fighting Ground, Jonathan would do anything to be able to fight in the war, but being only 13 years old, his parents tell him that it is not safe, and he is not old enough to do so. In the movie The Patriot, Gabriel is completely convinced that he will fight in the war, because his father was a war commander in the past. However, Gabriel’s dreams get crushed when his father tells him that there is no chance that he will fight, because he does not want to loose his son. Both stories have a character who wants to fight, yet is held back by their parents.

Not only do both characters want to fight in the war, both end up going behind their parents back, and sneakily sign up to fight.  Jonathan realizes that if he wants to fight, he will have to run away and sign up for the war himself. Gabriel’s story goes a little differently. He is 17 and can sign up no problem if he wanted to, however he had to make the heartbreaking decision to either follow his heart, or follow his dad. No matter how you look at it, both boys in the end go against their parents’ wishes and decide for themselves that fighting would be the best decision.

After signing up, the only thing left for both boys to do is fight. However, being young can cause problems in war. Inexperienced fighters are more likely to get killed or captured. And for both boys, getting captured was the case. Thinking he was being spied on by the Hessians, Jonathan was taken by the British, and held hostage. Gabriel was captured by the British and being taken with them. Both boys eventually found strength, and got out of this situation, yet the both were captured. The boys both were too young to be in the war, and both of their lives were risked.

I would argue that the book and movie are very similar, or at least these two characters are very similar. Yet, if we look at how the books end, you will see that the boys journeys end differently. Jonathan escapes from the British, and then that’s it. That story is over, however the movie goes on a little more. Gabriel still decides to fight, even after being taken, and in the end Gabriel gets killed. Though both tales seem so similar, they still end differently.

The Revolutionary War was a very hard, yet victorious time for our country. Families went through different troubles and hardships, with no two exactly the same. However I think that The Patriot and The Fighting Ground are two very similar stories that show how families do fight, and kids do rebel against their parents, because if you really want to fight – you will find a way.