June 18, 2017

So what’s going on in my life right now?? Well, quite a lot! I won’t expound on all of it, but I’ll give some updates. 😉

We tried out for the community summer musical again and are part of that now! The musical is “My Fair Lady”. I actually landed the role of Eliza Doolittle, to my great surprise and pleasure. Rehearsals have been so fun! We’ve worked mostly on music so far and have recently begun choreography. I don’t know when we’ll do a full script run-through, but I eagerly anticipate it! 🙂 Sidenote: For those of you who have seen the musical, I’m actually attending a rehearsal tonight for the song “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”. I’ll be working with my amazing cockney quartet mates!

Here soon enough, I’ll be going to Colorado for a couple weeks! Why? Well, there’s a wonderful Christian youth conference called Summit going on all summer, and I have been given the privilege of attending this year. It will be such a new and wonderful experience for me, as I probably won’t know a soul there, giving me plenty of opportunity to make new friends. It’ll be a little scary at first, I’m sure, but I’ll settle in soon enough. I look forward to two weeks of some intense Bible training and fellowship with believers from all over the country!

Well, I think I’ll sign off for now, but I’m going to try to keep up with this blog better than I have been. Can I promise I will? Not really, but I will try! 😉 Have a wonderful weekend end (haha! Weekend end 😉 )!

Your blogger friend,

Nellye Jane

A Remembrance

Hello! Long time no see!

Well, today I actually have a couple posts for you. That’s right: not just one, but two posts! The following words I wrote in my journal a little over a year ago and I’d just like to share them with you. For those of you who read my post about being in the “Fiddler on the Roof” musical, that is when this took place. I have changed names for the identity protection of those I mention.

 

May 30, 2016     Monday

I never knew I could come to love these people so much. I thought that, as the only homeschoolers, we would have it rough. We’d always be alone, nobody would really care about us, we might even be made fun of. But I was so wrong! Most of them have been very welcoming! Linda loves telling jokes to us, Wade loves to tease, Ann enjoys hanging out with us, Jamie likes a good conversation, Al makes me laugh, Evelyn likes to snuggle up and sit on my lap, Leo enjoys talking, Ginger likes to chill with us, Erin loves sitting by me, Ellie asks us questions, Jessie shares a lot of cat pictures, Kat likes to laugh with us, and Phil, well, he just likes to play. I’m not going to turn my back on God because of them; rather, I’ll draw closer and just love those kids as much as I can, and hope to lead them to the Truth, to Jesus, through that. May I live up to my name: Nellye–Torch!     Luke 8:16

 

And that is part of a journal excerpt from May 30 of last year! Not super interesting, necessarily, but it may be that some of those I mentioned will see this and smile. I may have changed their names, but I have a feeling they would know who they are. 🙂

On to my next post!

Nellye Jane

 

 

Let the Waters Rise

Writing Prompt: You are slowly running out of oxygen, but you have a smartphone with you. What are the last words you write? (I didn’t completely follow the prompt, but it is the foundation for my short story) Here goes!

I can’t typically hold my breath any longer than the next person, but with adrenaline surging through my body, flowing through my veins, I’ve found that changes. Because when you’re trapped inside a waterlogged vehicle on the river bottom, and only a few miles away your family awaits your arrival, your body fights for the unreal, for the impossible. I’ve been here at least a couple minutes now, although it seems like it’s been hours, and my chest feels like a balloon that’s on the verge of bursting. I struggle to keep that precious oxygen residing there.

I had been driving fifty-five down this narrow counrty road, singing along to the radio, when a deer leapt from the treeline just before a bridge. I swerved to avoid a collision and, to my horror, careened into the river. At this time of year, the waters are up and the current is swift, and for a short amount of time, my car was carried with the flow. But once it started filling with water, it sank like a rock. I had tried to open the door, but it was stuck, and the window wouldn’t roll down. I soon found myself with the opportunity for only one more breath. I inhaled deeply before my head went under.

For about a minute, I beat on the window, trying to break it, but the water impeded my momentum and I couldn’t build up enough force. I jiggled the door handle again, kicked against the door, the windshield, but it was all to no avail. As I sank down into one of the seats, my hair calmly floating around my face, I had only one thought: “I’m going to die.” You’d think that with that thought, I’d release what little air I had left, close my eyes, and submit to death; but the survival instinct is quite influential it seems. Even though death was inevitable, I was not ready for it just yet.

So now I’m here, air bubbles slipping past my lips as I stare out the windshield at the murky waters surrounding me. I feel…numb. Is this how everybody feels before their life is taken from them? The water is cold, but I don’t mind. I close my eyes and relax. Another air bubble escapes…

A harsh light glares across my eyelids and I open my eyes to see my phone very alive beside me, flashing a text on its screen: Where r u? I forgot I had gotten one of those waterproof smartphones about a month ago. An idea forms in my mind.

I grab the phone, tap on the email icon, then press “Compose” and add all contacts to my recipient list. My thumbs fly across the keypad as I desperately try to say all I can in the time I have left. My lungs begin to burn from lack of oxygen, but I ignore that and hit “Send.” My heart beats harder and faster as I wait. Please, please, please. A white box pops up in the middle of the screen, black type reading, Sent succesfully. I sigh, releasing the last of my air, and I watch the bubbles float up and out through a crevice in the sun roof. I close my eyes…

Yes, readers, that is my conclusion. I allow you to be mad at me, but before you get too angry, I urge you to think harder about those ending sentences. Or maybe, you’ve been thinking too hard. 😉 The ending may not be as depressing as it seems…

Your blogger friend,

Nellye Jane

The Armour of God

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that he may be able to stand against the wiles 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 in 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 the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” Ephesians 6:10-17

I Suppose…

“…I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.” John 21:25

I smiled when I read that. 🙂

Can’t Have a Rainbow Without a Little Rain

Many of us know what it’s like. You’re weathering a storm with someone close to you when that person seems to become someone so different from who they once were. You’re heartbroken and confused, wondering how this person you thought you knew so well could change so much. In this moment of pain, you think to yourself, “I guess the situation revealed his/her true colors.” Then you move on in life, believing you may never trust so deeply again. That moving on part, it can be hard! You fight a bitterness toward the person who seems to have “pulled off the mask,” maybe you give into it. You may live the rest of your life with a wound that refuses to heal as you are reminded of the colors you never thought you would see. Those dreadful colors of horrid truth. And for that reason I am writing this, to maybe give some hope and help heal. So please, get a taste of this food for thought.

As humans, our days are filled with trouble. So it says in Job! I don’t have to say that for all of you to know it. We all have our struggles and our storms, and those can really get ahold of us and toss us around. I thank God that I have Him to help me withstand the waves, for I feel I would drown without His saving strength. But not everyone has God in their lives, not everyone wants to live for the One that made them. Fellow Christians, imagine the magnanimity of their struggles and pain! What may seem minor and petty to us, can be dragging them under! I know, they have the option to cry out to Jesus and oftenttimes don’t, but I cannot help but feel compassion when I witness them writhing under the weight of their chains. I was once in the same position, fighting my battles alone, always losing, growing more weary every day. Sometimes, you get to a point when you wonder if life is truly worth it.

At this time you must be scratching your heads, muttering, “Come on, Nellye, get to the point! Please don’t take us on a rabbit trail…” Ok, for your sakes, I won’t. 😉 On with it! Imagine this: This insecure person who has been struggling on for quite a while with secret problems he/she buries deep inside, is suddenly overwhelmed when the next storm comes. They snap under the pressure. The rumors spread: “I suppose So-and-So wasn’t who we thought they were” or “They say hard times reveal your true colors. Seems to me that So-and-So’s are quite ugly…” That can be true sometimes. Not everyone has good intentions. But think about our weary friend described above. Maybe it’s not the circumstances revealed their true colors, but that they muddled up the true colors and it’s going to take some time to get them back the way they once were. And since hardships tend to bring us out stronger than we were before, those colors may become even brighter and more beautiful in the end! But it takes time, especially for those who live without Jesus and war against life’s problems each and every day, shoving it all beneath the surface, unseen by an indifferent glance.

I challenge you, before you jump to the conclusion that someone has revealed their horrible true colors, to truly contemplate things. Remember being around that person. Did he/she ever seem distant and distracted? When she smiled, did it reach her eyes? When he laughed, did he turn his face away to hide what he was truly feeling? Look for things that could indicate an internal struggle that could cause a “snap” when trouble rolled around. And of course, if he/she doesn’t personally know Jesus Christ, pray fervently for that person! Because even if those colors found that old luster they once had, only Christ can keep them shining and actually use them to paint a breathtaking masterpiece. And how he wants to make them into dazzling pieces of art, if they will only learn to love Him!

And that, my friends, is today’s food for thought. It’s looking at your circumstances through a different lense, assuming the good and doubting the bad. Of course, that can feel impossible when you’re dealing with a lot of hurt. It’s all a matter of deciding between bearing it alone, or giving it to God; putting on Christ by having a loving and forgiving spirit, just as He did amidst the hateful glares and scornful outbursts of a multitude who despised and rejected Him as He bled on a cross.

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10

Your blogger friend,

Nellye Jane

The Sound of Silence

The young boy gasped softly at the power he felt surging through his fingertips, into his hands, and throughout his whole being. His long, slender fingers clutched the windowsill more tightly, seeking to feel that power once more. Intensely, his curious blue eyes gazed out the window at the flashing and churning sky.

The dark, angry clouds seemed to be alive as they rolled slowly across the sky, gathering in boiling masses. Seams of intense light ripped through the thick blanket of clouds as jagged lightning sought a temporary resting place every few seconds. With lips slightly parted, the boy leaned forward, his nose lightly pressing against the windowpane, his breath fogging up the glass.

His pupils constricted considerably as a blinding flash lit up the dim room in which he stood. In fear, he leapt away from the window. The glass had rattled and the sill had shuddered violently. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look up into the concerned eyes of his mother. His eyes dropped to her lips as they moved without creating a sound. “Are you all right, honey?” Although he hadn’t heard the words, he knew that is what she had said. With a small smile, he nodded and pointed toward the window, his gaze returning to the violent storm.

Pulling his mother to the window, he pointed once more at the outdoors, glancing to her mouth to get her reaction. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” His eyes met hers once more, and he nodded enthusiastically, a grin of wonder and awe lighting up his face. Both mother and son turned back to the window, and the boy continued to carefully watch the battle of wind, and lightning, and rain; soaking in the sound of silence.