Weekly Update: Some fun stuff · 4:10am Jun 15th, 2015
Hello again! It's Sunday (well, actually Monday now, but let's not get technical). Since my last post, I'm feeling a lot better. I got out Saturday and actually made myself a tie blanket! Check it out . . .
Anywho, yeah, so I did that. Today I went out with the family and saw Jurassic Park. O_O I'm just not a movie girl. It was my first time in a theater in months. Not enough characterization and character development for me, but the dinosaurs were cute. ^^
Good news, I figured out what might be causing my current wave of exhaustion. Now with medicine and rest, I'm hoping to get back to my "normal" level of exhaustion. So, hazzah!
Anywho, story wise I'm still having trouble. Don't be expecting a new chapter of Good Company this week. I'd rather have you pleasantly surprised to see one than disappointed when you don't. It all depends on my fluctuating mood. But, I will be writing something this week. I've actually been a Cogitation kick, so I'm actually starting to write that bad boy up. Progress is slow with that one as I am writing in dialect and have to keep researching how they'd say stuff and how to write it so you'll read it that way. But, oh my stars is it FUN! 
I just adore writing this story. It's heavy with the feels, let's say that much.
As for the fun news, I'm running a drawing contest with a story prize. Check it out! All you have to draw is one of my OC's from the list I provided in the journal or a TrenderDash pic. That's it. The prize is a 2-4k word short from yours truly (with a picture). There are prizes for second and third place too. Artists of any level are welcome! I'd love to have as many people get involved as possible. Entries due by July 6th. Plenty of ways to submit too! You can send your entries in via a link in the comments on here or deviantart, a PM here, a note on deviantart, or via an email sent to bluegrassbrooke@gmail.com
And that's it for news. Stick around for a preview at the end. ^^
Bible Passage of the Week comes from the book of Job. For those that don't know, this book is an account of how one man who God allowed to be tested. Job was a "blameless and upright man" who feared God and did what was right in his sight. Throughout the book, Job suffers again and again, losing everything and everyone he ever loved in the process. Eventually he breaks down, calling out God for allowing all these horrible things to happen to him. "Why would you let this happen to me?" "How do I deserve this?" Sound familiar?
God answers him with what I consider to be one of the most beautifully worded speeches in all the Bible. But God didn't just leave it there, oh no. He not only forgives Job for doubting Him, but restores to Job everything he lost and more.
God's speech in this passage highlights how small we really are in the grand scheme of things. And, despite our being no better than a speck in the universe, despite us continually turning away Him, God humbled Himself to earth to live as one of those specks. To suffer and die for us that these sinful and broken creatures might be with Him. If that isn't love, I don't know what is. That's why this passage is so near and dear to my heart. As it's several chapters long, I'll hit some of my favorite lines.
Chapter 38
4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!12 Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, 13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and wicked be shaken out of it?
19 Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, 20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? 21 You know, for surely you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
25 Who has cleft a channel for the torrent of rain and a way for the thunderbolt, 26 to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, 27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28 Has the rain a father or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a floor of waters may cover you? 35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are?' 36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?"
Chapter 39
9 Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger? 10 Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes, or will he harrow the valleys after you? 11 Will you depend on him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor? 12 Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?19 "Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 20 Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying. 21 He paws in the valley and exults in his strength; he goes out to meet the weapons. 22 He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the sword.
26 Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? 27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?
Chapter 40
1 And the Lord said to Job: "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it."Job ESV
Bluegrass Song of the Week is an extremely powerful one that never ceases to move me in some way. This song is the inspiration for my character Stalactite and all of Cogitation. When you read Cogitation, you'll understand how it's been influenced by it.
The introduction section to Cogitation.
The ponies of Marshall’s Creek were no strangers to hardship. Most every family lived in a state of “just getting by,” and it was not uncommon for even the youngest children to worry about finances, though they understood little. What they did know was this; their fathers, brothers, cousins, and neighbors would go down into the mine five days a week without fail and return covered from head to hoof in coal dust. It brought the money, but it also brought the coughing. Then again, they weren’t supposed to talk about that.
Every family save for the mine owner’s lived in run down shacks clinging to the side of the mountain. There wasn’t a lot of arable land, and most was covered by dense woods. Some folks might have called it beautiful, but Stalactite and his siblings knew that it was just gilding to cover the ugly scar winding its way through the earth beneath them. None of them even dared to deny the truth. They, like their father before them and his father before him would spend the remainder of their lives digging up coal from that hell hole; a reality as inevitable as Marshall’s Creek rising in the springtime. And so, every child in the hollow relished what precious little time they had on the surface.
Sorry for the rambling post, everyone. Next week's shouldn't be as involved.
Have a safe week and God bless,
— Bluegrass
nice blanket
That's adorable! But I am conflicted! Gravitas vs. cuteness:
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[Playfully upset] Gosh darn it! Sadly I have no talent for art, at any level. Even with stick men I manage to screw up.[/Playfully upset] Everyone have fun though.
Nice blanket.
I love the concept and picture for Ambit. If you've written more of him, I wanna check that out.
3150949 Thanks! I had a lot of fun making it. ^^
3151429 Lol, I'm the same way drawing people. XD And thanks, it was a nice project.
3151497 Yeah, I wrote a bunch more on Ambit as he's the main character in a "short" collab I'm working on. I'll send you some more info via PM if you're interested.
3150992 Yeah, atheists love to take passages out of context and this is one of those.
Secondly, the ESV is used by my pastors and church regularly for its accurate translation. Just because it's not Catholic, doesn't mean it's not right. The important thing is that it brings people to Christ, is it not? So why bicker over whose version is better? There's people that need saving.
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Sure, I'll do this competition, it sounds like it could be fun. Perhaps I could draw my own version of Jazelle. It seems like a little bit of a toughie, but I enjoy a good challenge. So I guess I'll PM you once I'm done drawing it.
Glad you're feeling better. Oh, and I also love your blanket.
3151923 Awesome! Super excited to see what you'll come up with for Jazelle. She is tricky to draw, but still a lot of fun. And a PM will work great for the entry.
3151802 ya welcome