"I like people and I like them to like me, but I wear my heart where God put it, on the inside."
— F. Scott Fitzgerald (via vanished)
“God doesn’t want us to be an echo, he wants us to be a voice…” ~ Todd White
Took me long enough to post these! Here is the result of my sock knitting class. I was so proud of myself! And I will be posting the pattern for this as well as the knitted/beaded necklace as soon as I get a digital version of them. Sorry about my infrequent posts…I’m failing miserably at my New Year’s resolution.
So I took a class on how to make this knitted necklace using embroidery floss (I think?) at the new craft shop that opened in town and here is the result! As soon as I get permission from my teacher I’ll post the pattern.
How do you like the new name/header?
Made it myself using the free online photo editor, Picnik! Oh, and I also made the knitted necklace which is featured in it. Don’t worry, I’ll be posting about that ASAP. A lil tidbit of info: all of the Premium features on Picnik are free until April 19th, so take advantage! Seriously though, let me know what you think about the header.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails."
Love never fails."
— 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV) …Happy Valentine’s Day :)
- Me: You make my cheeks hurt.
- Him: Why?
- Me: Because I can't stop smiling.
Atlas Shrugged…and I scratched my head.
I’m reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
And as any Christian who has read this epic novel would likely agree: It’s difficult to reconcile Christian faith with this book. I read it four years ago (well, only the first couple hundred pages. It’s a big book!); the summer before I went away to college which also happened to be two years before I gave my life to Christ. The first time I read this, I had some sort of epiphany which I can’t quite explain the details of. I suppose to sum it up, I thought I had formulated the secret to life: only you can make yourself happy. Granted, I still had some issues with the novel which I won’t go into (it’s quite an involved novel with a lot of stuff going on and you can love some parts while hating others), but I was profoundly moved by it.
Ironically, I believe this little epiphany eventually played a part in my becoming a Christian. If you’ve read Atlas Shrugged and you know anything about Ayn Rand and her philosophy, then you know why this is ironic. Atlas Shrugged is based on a moral philosophy called “rational self-interest”. Now how’s that for the opposite of Jesus’ teachings?
Anyway, I’m reading it again and I’m still just as enthralled by the story line and especially by Dagny Taggart, one of the main characters, as I was the first time (probably even more so because I actually get what’s going on more now than I did back then lol). Ayn Rand truly had a gift. All of those moments which you feel intense emotion for some inexplicable reason and you can’t put them into words? She wrote those perfectly. She includes immense detail while still making it interesting and easy to follow. I don’t know how, and a lot of Christians might not be so enthused by this, but I feel God all over this novel. I feel as though Rand wrote faith into this novel in a big way; and I’m not quite sure whether she meant to or not. I’ll have to explain further once it becomes more clear to me.
In the meantime, I’d like to know (especially if you’re Christian): What have other people’s experiences with this novel been like?
"The best way to get rid of enemies is to turn them into friends."
— One of the footnotes in my Life Application study bible. It was referring to Romans 12:20 - “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.”
