100 Followers

When I saw that I had reached one hundred followers (100!) I spoke out loud to myself: (yes, I speak to myself sometimes, no judging) "oh, awesome!" and then moved on to other things, commenting, replying to comments, editing somethings on my blog.

It only hit me awhile later.

This is kind of a big deal, guys.

100 people liked my blog enough to follow it. They like it. They like what I write and post.

They were inspired enough to follow it. 

Just. Wow.

Because, let me tell you all, that I want to inspire people so badly. I don't know when it entered me, but it's in me. When someone leaves my blog, I want them to leave inspired. When someone comes seeking inspiration (whether they know they are or not), I want them to go away, satisfied. I crave that. When I post, it is for me, but the whole time I'm typing, I'm also thinking of who's going to read it. What they'll think of it. If they'll like it.

And so, people, I want you to know. I am honored every time I gain another follower. It sparks off something inside of me that lights my face up in a smile. Every time you read one of my posts, or comment, or follow.

It means a lot to me.

Every single one of you are appreciated by me. Thank you. ♥

every minute of it

{my own image, taken with my iPhone -I am going through a stage in which I am constantly obsessing over daisies}

It's October, October 2014. This month will never happen again. This day will never happen again.
Just the way I probably won't be able to pick up my younger brothers for much longer.
Or the way I won't always be able to tell the people I love that I really do love them.
Or the way I will never be the same person again, the same person that I am today.
Or even the way that the daisies that are blooming in our garden will die eventually and will never come back to life or be able to bloom again.

We live in a universe that is full of goodbyes and endings.

My advice? Savor it. Enjoy your life, every minute of it. It's a gift from God.

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

taking the chance

Hey. You know that you're an extraordinary, beautiful human being, shaped by God's very hands? So, let me rephrase my intro.

Hey, you extraordinary, beautiful people. 

I have been finding more and more that whoever said 'time flies' was utterly correct. Strange, isn't it, how you don't realize that time has spread it's wings and taken flight until awhile after? Or, at least, I make that mistake. Often. And now, I'm finding that I'm getting behind in so much, and there's so much I still need to do, and so much I've ruined, and it's all very messy and overwhelming. 

That's why I'm here. To clear my mind, by writing. 

And so, I hope you keep in mind as you read, that this piece of writing brought me joy, not because I think that it's well written, but because writing it did me well.
I hope that you enjoy it as well.

---

It's a yes or no question. Simple, right?
You're waiting patiently for my answer, which makes me think that maybe you know how hard it is for me to make this decision. 

Everything stops, and there I am, standing quietly and without movement. I wonder if you notice the battle I am fighting with myself inside of me. If you notice how the war rages on, with my greatest weapon being the way your green eyes hold my gaze steady.
Comfort zones, I was taught, weren't meant to be left. But who was it that taught me? I'd like to say I don't know. But I do. 

It was me.
And now I'm rebelling against myself, every fiber of my being wanting to break free of what's meant to be safe. What is the point of safe, when it causes you to not live?
And I want to live.
I turn away for a moment.
I can feel the wild air around me, and I breathe it in, absorbing the oxygen it offers. My head feels dizzy with a tender excitement. 

Could I..? Really...? Am I going to...?
I take a step forward. I stop. I look at you again. The green in your eyes is still just as intense.

Then, it becomes clear. So clear, like someone cleaned the window of my mind until it gleamed.

You're still waiting.
I say it. I almost whisper it, but I say it.

"Yes."
And you smile, causing fireworks in my heart.

your song

{Every bit of you is a wonderful, incredible piece to the puzzle of your happening. Your quirks, your flaws, your ups and your downs, the way you look, all of it.
And so, I want to see you be you.}

---

Look at her.

I listen to myself and glance at her.
Look how perfect she is.
It's true. Everything about her is so...perfect.
Why can't I be like her?


---

No. Stop thinking like that. Darling, comparison is the thief of joy. No one is perfect. Not even her.

But, that is not the point. We were not made to be perfect.

You. You can be yourself. You must be yourself. Because you do not know how lovely you are when you start being yourself.
 You are a gorgeous package - your quirks, your flaws, your ups and your downs, the way you look, all of it. God knew exactly what He was doing, when He made you. Every bit of you is a wonderful, incredible piece to the puzzle of your happening.
If no one ever hears it, how are we going to learn your song?
So put it on and turn it up, because I haven't heard that tune in a long while and my ears are craving that beautiful melody. Let everyone hear it. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You have nothing to hide.

Chapter Two | Kittens and Cupcakes Writing Challenge

Hey! I was tagged by June for this. The idea is that a whole bunch of different bloggers work together to write one story - each of them writing and posting their own chapter. It's wonderful, isn't it?
Firstly, I want to tell you where you can find the first chapter, written by June.
Wanna follow this story?
Find June's amazing chapter 1 here,
and Madeline's brilliant chapter 3 here.

So. Bree from Introducing Inspiration has created this lovely tag in which everyone takes turns to write a chapter, adding on to the previous one. June's chapter was amazing.
I'm gonna post the rules, but I suggest you pop over to Bree's original post, here, on this writing challenge, to really understand how this all works.

Rules:

1. If you agree to doing this challenge after being tagged, continue on the next chapter of the story (chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, etc.). And tag the previous chapters.

2. Write the chapter, incorporating the challenge words and situations.

3. If you would rather not do it, pass it onto someone - but if you aren't going to do it, don't add your own challenges.

4. After writing your chapter, tag someone else and state your own challenges.

5. Add the picture above your post. (optional)
///

The next person I tag is Madeline, from In The Wind. I'm pretty sure that her blog was called In The Wind because of this reason: her writing blows me away. I'm sure if you pop over there and check it out, you'll be blown away as well.

The challenges I received to write this chapter:

Gratefulness
Former
Raven
Caught___ing
"I finally got to __"

My challenges for the next writer of the next chapter:

Include the words:

Galaxy

Friendly
Wild
Tears

Situations:

An accident

Here is my chapter:

CHAPTER TWO

I found the second note in the same place.
This time,

I know your secret, Emily. I know what you did.

I could not say that I was not intimidated after I read those words. Because, whoever this was, they knew my real name. The one I had begged my parents to allow me to change for months, before they finally gave in and let me. I finally got to get rid of Emily, and Francesca was born.
So how much more did this person know about me? About my life?

I was only nine when I changed my name. But I knew it was what I wanted.
Right after I became Francesca, I worked hard to lose all of my old friends, to hang out at different places, to build up the new character I wanted to be by the time I got to high school, where no one would ever know me as Emily. I was determined to be one of ‘popular’ girls, and now I was. No one at my high school had the faintest idea that I had ever swapped boring, plain, naïve Emily for flashy, glamorous, sassy Francesca.
I didn't even have any grandparents, let alone cousins and aunts and uncles.
My mom had died when I was eleven, and when my dad married again, we never told my step mom. Only my dad knew.

At least that was what I had thought. Until now.

-

-

-

My head was throbbing as I walked along the pavement. All the thoughts, swimming in my brain like fish in a pond. What was going on? Who was stalking me? 

Surely it had to be one of my former friends.

Stop! It’s nothing to worry about, Francesca. Just keep your cool.
Somehow calling myself Francesca in my head gave me comfort.

I let out a deep breath. I tipped my head to the sky, where I saw a raven in flight. Or was that a crow? I couldn't really tell.
I kicked an empty Coke can. I brushed a piece of my blonde hair behind my ear. I stopped. I looked down at my All Star sneakers. The right shoe had a splash of Coke on the tip – it appeared the can wasn’t empty. I sighed, slowly. I carried on walking.
Everything felt so surreal.

I finally got home, after the twenty minute walk that seemed to take forever. I went straight to the fridge to find a sugar free soft drink.
From the kitchen I could hear my step mom, Greta, ranting about something to my dad. I caught a few of her words.
“I’m just telling you, you should teach her something about gratefulness!” she was saying.
And my dad’s answer, steady as always, “Of course, dear.”

Greta came into the kitchen. She turned and caught me giving her a fake, sweet smile. She frowned and shook her head. Then she left to go to her den, her room, with a bar of chocolate.

I took my drink and went to my own room, where I flopped down on my bed.
I won’t be coming downstairs for supper. Besides, it’s probably leftovers or takeaways again, since our maid, Ella, is out tonight, and Greta can’t cook to save her life.

I fell asleep almost straight away.

_____

Thanks for reading. :)

Note to June: I hope you don't mind, but with your challenges, I compromised a wee bit. Do you think it's okay? I have put where I used the challenges in underlining. They're not exactly right, but, like I said, I compromised a little...is it fine?