World Cup Soccer and the Christian Life

As I'm sure none of you know (unless you know me personally or read my quote blog), I am a World Cup soccer fanatic. I love soccer, and especially the World Cup.

Perhaps you couldn't care less about soccer. Bear with me: I'm going somewhere with this; and hopefully I'll go easy enough on the soccer jargon so that everyone can understand, whether you've ever watched a game or not.

Quick explanation of the World Cup: the soccer teams of thirty-two countries are split into groups and play against each other until there is only one team left, the winner (usually Brazil).

Okay, not exactly usually, but Brazil is amazing.

*ahem*

The United States played a knock-out game yesterday versus Belgium. (Knock-out simply means, if you lose the game, you go home. No more World Cup 2014 for you.)

Our defense was decent for most of the game. (I hope you have at least a minor understanding of defense and offense.) The offense definitely needed some work. By the very end of the game, we started playing offense the way we should have been the entire game, but it was too late. By then, our defense had broken down (besides the goalie, who saved more goals than he should have been able to). Though we managed one goal, we gave up two. And we lost.

That's the basic idea of what happened. Now, for the point of this post:

1. Defense is great, but it can't last forever

The best offense is a good defense, right? Sometimes. But as I said, you can only play defense for so long before said defense falls apart. Especially against an offensive opponent (in the case of Christianity, the devil).

You can't expect to always be playing defense and get anywhere in your Christian life. You have to also put up a good offense.

Now, when I say "offense," I don't mean unnecessarily offensive. If you're doing it right, some things about your life will be offensive, simply because they go against the grain of the world. There's no need to add to it by being a "jerk for Jesus."

However, I do mean fight offensively against the devil and temptation. Like the game yesterday, if you have nothing but a decent defense, you will lose. Even if you have a great defense, perhaps the greatest defense humankind has ever seen (which I doubt), you will still lose, eventually. As I pointed out in bold, even the greatest defense will eventually fail if that is all you have.

2. That said, you do need a good defense

In the same way you can't expect to stand without a good offense, you can't expect to stand without a good defense.

As I've mentioned several times, the USA team had a decent defense for a little while. But eventually it broke down, and that's when Belgium scored — twice — and the game was lost. I've already talked about offense; if we had kept up our defense, Belgium wouldn't have scored. And without a goal, they couldn't have won. Of course, it would have eventually gone to penalty kicks, because someone had to win. But that is, for the moment, irrelevant.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith," 

I Peter 5:8-9a

3. You can't expect "someone else" to do it all

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that Tim Howard (our goalie) did more than his part. Not only did he do his job, he did it better than could have possibly been expected. Yet we still lost.

You can't sit back and think, "I don't really need to. God can use someone else just as well as me." Because, what if everyone says the same thing? Then you're left with no one but Tim, doing more than his part, yet not enough.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. 

Galatians 6:9-10

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. 

Colossians 3:23-25

4. In conclusion: the whole armor of God

If you don't have the whole and entire armor of God on — both offensive and defensive — you won't "stand against the whiles of the devil" for long. Be sure you're wearing every piece at all times.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the whiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all your prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 

Ephesians 6:10-20 

             

Talk To Me

Hi everyone. This is Alex.

Jessy has written a few times about how I don't talk to her. Well... last night, I did.

This is a post about myself. I don't usually talk much and I'm not sure what to say, so I'll do my best.

First, I'm going to get my flaw out of the way. That's right, I told her my flaw. She wasn't sure whether to post it or not, for fear of embarrassing me, which is why I'm telling you. That way, she won't have to worry about it.

My flaw is cowardice. I'm a coward. She never thought me one, which is why it took so long for me to tell her. I didn't want to disappoint her. But it's true. I know, because of what happened with Ken. But I'm not going to post about that right now.

Actually, that's all I wanted to say. If you want to ask me a question, leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer you.

Alexander Kyle Jones
(that's the name I'll be posting under)

Beautiful People Linkup II

After I wrote "Myrna", I decided to do Beautiful People's June linkup for Jainie.

I know, I know, I already did this month's. But where is it said that I can't do it twice?

So, here's June's "Beautiful People" for Jainie.

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1) What is her full name and is there a story behind why she got it?

Jainie Ruth Alexander

Jainie: I made this name up. No reason other than she whispered the sounds of her name to me, and when I came up with "Jainie", she told me that was her name.

     (meanings based on the name "Jane")

     Origin: Hebrew

     Meaning: God is gracious

          • already explained

          • we made it up together

Ruth because it sounded good as a middle name with "Jainie."

     Origin: Hebrew | English

     Meaning: friend | compassion

          • as I said, it sounded good with "Jainie"

          • I also liked the meaning, which goes with her personality

Alexander, being her father's surname, became her own

     Origin: Greek

     Meaning: defending man

          • I think I said something about this here

2) How old is she, and when was she born?

That depends on what part of the story you're in. She's either almost 11 or dead.

She was born on 24 August 2001.

3) Describe her physical appearance.

Long brown hair. Light/dark brown eyes (they're darker than medium brown, but they have a certain light to them which makes them seem lighter-colored). Shapely face, naturally shaped eyebrows. Slender nose; graceful, nicely reddish-colored lips. An almost invisible dusting of several freckles. Tall and slender yet petite; seemingly delicate but insanely tough.

        Bonus Questions:

          1. What is her race/nationality/ethnicity?

                    She's Alex's sister, so I'm not sure yet except that she's American.

          2. Do you have a picture of her? If so, include it!

                    

                                         

4) Describe your character's personality first in one word, and then elaborate with a few sentences.

Giving. She's extremely generous and tends to think of others first. She wants to help however she can.

5) What theme song(s) fit her personality and story arc?

I'd never given this any thought but as soon as I read the question, "Who You'd Be Today" by Kenny Chesney popped in my head.

After listening to it, that's definitely Alex's theme song. I'm still not sure what Jainie's song would be.

6) Which one of the seven deadly sins (gluttony, greed, lust, envy, slothfulness, wrath, pride) describes your character?

Jainie isn't a lazy person, but she does struggle with a certain amount of slothfulness.

7) If she was an element (fire, water, earth, air), which one would she be?

Water. She's flexible. (That's not all but the words aren't coming for me.)

8) What is her favorite word?

Brother. He was her stability growing up, the one she looked to, the one who care for her and told her stories of their father. If there was a god in her life, it was her brother. Not in an idolatrous way, but more in that he was the god-figure. She knew nothing of God and so Alex was the one who filled that gap. (Is this sounding the way I'm wanting it to?) 

I guess what I'm saying is that the word "brother" stands for everything good in her life. Every good memory, every good thought, anything that was good always included her brother. And so, of course, when she thinks "good," she thinks "brother" and visa versa.

"Brother" is synonymous with "home."

9) Who is one person she really misses? (It could be someone who's passed away, or someone she's not close to anymore, or someone who's moved away.)

Jake Tanner. He still lives next door, but things have changed since she was small. Jake is in the same grade as Alex, and since there's a 5-year age difference between him and Jainie, it makes it very difficult to spend any time with him. Especially when you've got Uncle Ken expecting you to be back as soon as school is over; cook, clean, do your homework, do whatever Ken wants. She still gets time with her brother, and Alex still hangs out with Jake, but the three of them are never able to do anything together anymore, especially not Jainie.

10) What sights, sounds, and smells remind them of that person?

Small bodies of water; anything that's linked to something they've done or somewhere they've been together. I don't really know specifically, because the only memory I've discovered is the one in "Myrna".

Chatterbox: Myrna

I walk along the dirt road, trudging back to a place I'm expected to call home. We got out of school early today, so I have enough time to take the long way. I glance quickly around me to make sure no one important is watching. Uncle doesn't want me to take the long way; he wants me home as soon as I can get there. He wouldn't let me go to school if it wasn't required that he does.

No one is there. I veer off my usual path and follow the narrow trail into the nearby forest. The trees are tall and strong, like my brother. I wish I could be that way. I tend to slip through the pieces and cracks that web the small semblance of the life I call mine.

The path turns and zigzags softly through the forest. I love the way it seems so whimsical, carefree. It goes where it pleases without a care in the world, yet it's thoughtful of the trees and the rocks and the other creations sharing its earth; it doesn't push them around or attempt to crush them, but winds its way around so as not to disturb their existence.

I walk slowly, with my eyes on the trees, studying them for their signs of life. A squirrel jumping from branch to branch; a bird in its nest, feeding its young; an inchworm crawling its way up the tree. I smile to myself and look down at my feet, glad for the animals and pondering their joyfulness.

The moment past, I look beside me. There's a lake; a pond, really, and a small one. But it's enough.

A picture. He's smiling at me, surely thinking me silly for my youthful questions, but loving me just the same.

A thought. She really was lovely.

A memory. A new one I've not remembered before.

"There she is," Jake says as we approach the lake. "She's lovely, isn't she?"

"Who is?" I ask. There's no one here but us three. 

My brother answers for him. "He means the boat, Jainie." 

I look to the lake and see a small boat tied to the wooden floor that's standing over the water. How did they get that floor to stay there, why doesn't it sink?

"Oh. Then why'd he call it a 'she'?" Boats aren't girls or boys, just boats. My child's mind doesn't understand. 

"Because she's a she," Jake says, giving me his impish grin. 

I'm not sure how to respond, so I ask another question instead. 

"Do we get to ride in her?" I figure if Jake says the boat's a she, then he can't be wrong, even if he isn't right. So I'll call the boat a she. 

"Of course we do!" Jake's voice holds a note of excitement I can feel, and I'm suddenly more energized than he. 

I begin to skip between my brother and Jake, my hands in theirs. "Who's going to drive it?" 

"Your brother and I will. You can help us if you want." 

I feel my heart skip in anticipation. "I can?"

"Sure! In fact, we're going to need someone who can make sure we don't get too close to the edge of the lake. If that happens, the boat might get stuck. Sometimes we'll get distracted and forget to watch where we're going, so you can make sure that doesn't happen by telling us if we're getting too close. Do you think you can do that for us?" 

"Yes!" My young heart is thrilled to be needed by the bigger kids, especially when they help me with so many things I can't seem to do without them. 

I have another thought. "But if she's a girl, what's her name? Every girl has a name." 

Alex laughs his strong, happy, affectionate laugh. It's made my day that I've made him smile. He does that so rarely, and I love it when he does. That laugh is my favorite thing in the world. 

"I don't believe she's got a name yet." Jake thinks for a moment. "How about Myrna. What do you think, Jainie?" 

I look at the boat for a minute before answering. "She says she likes that name. And I think it's the prettiest name ever." 

Jake smiles again with a curious face and Alex looks at me, his eyes still dancing with the laughter. 

"Myrna it is, then!" I give them my childish grin, the brightest smile I have. 

Soon we're all in the boat, they rowing and I dutifully watching the shoreline.

That was when we were happier; back before Mom left us, before Uncle started doing such horrid things to us. I remember it so vividly, though it's a memory I'd never reviewed before; one hidden so deep in the archives of my life I never had time to come to it yet, though so easily pulled out by a single glance at this small body of water. I can almost see Myrna out on this pond, the three of us singing our hearts out and rocking the boat, living in the moment, as if those two things were our only purpose and we were as glad of it as we could be.

The next time we went to the lake, Myrna had her name written wonderfully down each of her sides. Jake told me later my brother had painted it there. He never said anything that first day I saw it, my brother, but I could see the humble pride behind his eyes as I expressed my innocent pleasure in his beautiful gift.

I realize I've stopped walking. I'm still standing here, watching the lake, thinking of my brother and his friend. Our friend. I'm going to be late now, and that I can't afford. He'll hurt my brother if I'm late and he'll punish me again when he's done.

I tear myself from the lake, my reminiscence, and reluctantly follow the trail as quickly as I'm able to force myself, back to the place I'm expected to call home.

view Rachel Heffington's "Chatterbox"

Help, Please!: Blogger Background Music from Windows Media Player

My sister has finally gotten her piece onto CD!

She wrote a classical piano piece called "Sovereignty" quite a bit ago, and I've been waiting for absolutely forever for her to get it in a form which could be put on my laptop. Why? Because the instant I first heard her playing it — before she'd even finished the rough draft of it — I claimed it aloud for my blog.

However, I can't seem to figure out how to get it embedded on my blog (short of making it into a YouTube video or something of that sort, which I do not want to do).

Does anyone know how to do this? I've tried several HTML codes and none of them have worked.

           

Beautiful People Linkup

I've known of Beautiful People for quite some time, but I've recently discovered they've just started a monthly linkup! This is the first one. And I've decided, why not? Sounds like fun.   *I get to be one of the fi-irst, I get to be one of the fi-irst...*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) What is his full name and is there a story behind why he got it?

Joshua Kyle Alexander (Alex Kyle)
Joshua, simply because I love that name.      Origin: Hebrew      Meaning: God rescues           • pretty self-explanatory
Kyle because that is his father's name.      Origin: Gaelic, English      Meaning: straights of water           • refreshing

Alexander because he was born to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander, obviously.      Origin: Greek      Meaning: defending men           • do I need a reason for liking this meaning?           • (really, I just liked the name... the meaning just happened to be good, too)
He calls himself Alex Kyle after he runs away from home so that it's less likely he'll be found by his uncle. Before that, he was usually called Josh.
I like the name Alex too much for him, though, so I'm thinking that maybe it was a pet name his younger sister, Jainie, called him...
Can you tell I like names?

2) How old is he, and when was he born? He is 15 years old. His birthday is 3 April 1997.

3) Describe his physical appearance. The picture below. Except that he has super-dark blue eyes, and his hair is maybe a little lighter (not much, but a little).
        Bonus questions:           1. What is his race/nationality/ethnicity?                     Hmm... haven't really thought about that much. I do know he's American.
          2. Do you have a picture of him? If so, include it!                                              












4) Describe your character's personality first in one word, and then elaborate with a few sentences. Closed. He doesn't talk much, doesn't give much away (not even to me). He can be a great friend, he's very loyal and loves deeply, but it doesn't necessarily appear that way until you get to know him. He seems very stand-offish and shy.

5) What theme song(s) fit his personality and story arc? I'm not sure.

6) Which one of the seven deadly sins (gluttony, greed, lust, envy, slothfulness, wrath, pride) describes your character? I don't know. Maybe this sounds a bit cruel, but I need to reveal more of his flaws. He's too perfect. Of course, it'd help if I knew what they were... But he's so...closed...he won't tell me what they are. He doesn't trust me yet.

7) If he were an element (fire, water, earth, air), which one would he be? Earth. He would be earth. Strong, steady, yet unpredictable; and mysterious in the way that you never really know what's hidden beneath the surface until it's been revealed.
8) What is his favorite word? Family. I believe it's family.

9) Who's one person they really miss? (It could be someone who's passed away, or someone they're not close to anymore, or someone who's moved away.) His sister, Jainie, who died at age eleven. His father, Kyle, who is a MIA Navy SEAL.

10) What sights, sounds, and smells remind them of that person? He pretty much blocks those memories out, except for sometimes at night before he falls asleep. Then he can hear the pummeling and her cries and silence in the quiet and darkness.
He doesn't remember too much about his father. He went missing in action sometime before Josh was seven, and before that he was gone a lot (in the military).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's that: my very first linkup (ever) and the very first Beautiful People linkup.
Please criticize (constructively)! Any opinion or advice is gratefully welcomed and greatly appreciated.
             

An Ocean Raging

So... I've created a new blog!

This time, a quote blog called An Ocean Raging.

I plan on posting every day.

I've already got about a month of posts scheduled to post automatically.

No particular subject, just whatever quotes I happen to find:

                                                      •    Goodreads Quote of the Days

                                                      •    humorous quotes

                                                      •    historical/political quotes

                                                      •    Bible quotes (Scripture Sundays)

                                                      •    book quotes

                                                      •    movie quotes

                                                      •    television show quotes

                                                      •    personal quotes

                                                      •    other quotes and fun things

I explain the name and purpose and such on there,

so follow the link and check it out!