On Beauty

The sidebar of a site I was on yesterday got me thinking...

Two words:

Who cares?

Two thoughts:

(First thought)

We are all made in the image of God. He designed and fashioned each one of us - we are all beautiful. Beauty isn't the perfect eyebrows or the right earrings or the skinniest waist or the boyfriend by your side. Yes, there is outward beauty, but beauty is also inside. I have a friend who has CP - she can't control her muscle movements and has been in a wheelchair all her life. She is beautiful. I know a little girl who has had leukemia multiple times. She is smaller than all the other girls her age and doesn't have much hair. She is beautiful, both inside and out.

(Second thought)

Where is our society's focus? Why are there even sidebars on webpages comparing one star's outward beauty to another's? In the whole scheme of things, it's not going to matter if Rihanna was more beautiful than Ciara (or vice-versa).

I'm not dissing outward beauty. I don't think it's wrong to want to be beautiful - to have pretty clothes, or wear makeup, or fix your hair just so - those can be good things! But our perception of beauty today is so awry that we shy away from my beautiful friend with CP and scream and yell for Rihanna. It's hard to flourish in a society that puts so much more emphasis on outward beauty rather than inward, and that's frustrating to me. Can't we just be who we are, without worrying about the pressure and the ideals society has put before us?

Okay, I'm done ranting. =) What do you think?

You can watch another relevant and very interesting video here.

City '09

Where I have been? July 19-24 I was in Lincoln attending City on a Hill, a youth leadership conference. While there I learned about hot topics for Christians today such as evolution, homosexuality, abortion, and the death penalty. I have never before been filled with so much information in one week's time. Someday I will write what I think about these topics, but for now I am still processing everything I have learned.

Along with discovering so much information relating to the Christian worldview, I also learned about how the Nebraska Legislature works. We divided up into two groups, and each group was presented with a bill. Then each group divided again, being either for or against the bill. On Wednesday we walked to the Capitol to present the bills and discuss them. Some of us were the senators on the committees, while others were testifiers. Then, the next day, we went to the Warner Chamber where we all debated the two bills. Not only was it delightfuly fun, but we also got to learn hands-on the process a bill goes through in Nebraska. I loved testifying and I also enjoyed being a senator debating my bill.

There is so much more I want to say and write about City, but it takes a lot of time for me to get my thoughts on paper in a presentable way. Hopefully you will be hearing more soon!

summer fun

Thank you for the backyard pool, Mom!

My little sis

Cousin Sophie

(pictures courtesy of Mom)

free rice

I love this site:

Free Rice

There are multitudes of questions in several different categories, and for each question you answer correctly, ten grains of rice are donated through the UN World Food Program to help end world hunger. The categories include Art, Chemistry, English, Geography, Language Learning, and Math. My favorites so far are English, Spanish, and Basic Math.

Under the English category, the words begin relatively easy and then become more challenging. I really enjoy attempting to pick apart a word when I don't know the definition. Example: specular. Specular sounds a bit like spectrum, which has to do with light. One of the options for specular was mirror-like, and mirrors have to do with light, so...I was correct! Specular=pertaining to or having the properties of a mirror. I think I should study Latin...

Identify Countries on a map is hard! My geography is extremely rusty, and Free Rice is a fun way to work on sharpening it up!

And, I have now donated 640 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program!

=)

night shot

Book Bag

Vienna Prelude - Bodie and Brock Thoene

I believe the best way to learn history is to read historical fiction. My mom's homeschool history curriculum? Historical fiction books. I have been reading historical fiction since I could first read - for school, aloud with my family, and just for fun. I think the Zion Covenant series is an exceptional learning source for World War II history, while capturing attention with excellent writing and an intriguing storyline at the same time. Vienna Prelude opens in 1936, with Hitler and the Reich gaining power in Germany. Elisa, who is a musician with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, is a part-Jewish German. Her Jewish identity hidden by her Aryan looks and fake last name, Elisa thinks she is safe - until her father is thrown into Dachau prison on his way to freedom in Austria. While frantically searching for a way to help her father, Elisa watches as the Nazi party begins to sweep across Austria. What can she do to help fight the gruesome power that is slowly overtaking the people and the place she loves?

I am now reading the third book in the Zion Covenent series, Munich Signature. All three books have kept me on my toes, and I am also learning an abundance of World War II history that I never knew before!

Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney - Paul Johnson

To my own shame, this is the first I have read of Paul Johson. Browsing his other titles, I am certain it won't be my last. Although I've only read a chapter and a half, I'm hooked. Creators opens by talking about what creation is, while briefly mentioning some well known creators. Then Johnson delves into the lives of thirteen different creators, some of which I am familiar and some which I am not. I can't give much of a review considering I have just begun to read this book, but I am almost certain it will prove to be a worthwhile read.

Soon to be Read/Other Current Reads - Reviews Forthcoming!