Anna's Ideas

Battle Cry Written by Kimberly Grace -=- Flags being torn, & flags going up. . Red and blue, lines drawn across     the field of brothers. . Words of hate, and words of pride. Pushing, shoving, hearts moaning a battle cry. . This is us, we the people. Of different blood, but one family. . United we stand, divided we fall. In God we trust, our All in all. . But do we? The gods, ourselves, we serve. . Our hearts ache, our hearts cry. Why, oh why? . It is our own fault. It is our own fault we die.

There are certain questions that everyone, especially those of us who consider ourselves Christians, will come face to face with at some point or another. Sometimes we ask those questions ourselves, and sometimes, the questions are asked by a non-believer. One of those questions is one I hear often asked by atheists who are trying to prove that God cannot exist: "why does a good God allow bad things to happen?" This question can be challenging to answer. Too many times, Christians shrug their shoulders and slouch down in their seats, maybe hesitantly saying something about God being in control, or sinfulness, or anything else to get the focus onto someone or something else. Thankfully, there is an answer to this question that is rooted in the Bible. It Starts With Creation In the beginning, God created. That first sentence in the Bible is so familiar that many Christians often overlook the power of it. God created everything. That includes you and me. This means that as Creat...

I wasn't there when it happened, I don't have the memories. But that doesn't mean It's not remembered. Every year, on this day, I remember. I listen. I watch. I will never forget. Every year, on this day, I think. I pray. I remember. I will never forget. I hear the stories, I hear of pain, And even though I wasn't there, I remember. I will never forget. I watch the footage, I listen to the news, And I will remember. I have not forgotten.

Most of us are familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan as found in Luke chapter 10.  You know, that story Jesus told about the man who was traveling on a road when he was attacked by robbers and beaten badly.  Not long after, a priest saw this man, but not wanting to become "unclean," or ruin his reputation, he passed by on the other side of the road.  A Levite also chose to ignore this man and crossed to the other side of the road to be able to walk around this man.  Finally, a Samaritan, who was not regarded highly in that culture, saw this man and took it upon himself to help this man, and even paid an innkeeper to take care of this man and his wounds.  Yep, that's the parable I'm talking about. Jesus told us to let this be an example of how we are to treat others.  And yet, there are so many people around us every day that we often don't give a second thought.  I'm thinking of that quiet girl who has a locker next to yours, that homeless ma...

Hope Which leaves me with Regret I can't hold on to Hope and love All that's left is Empty feelings No more Faith... [Now read it backwards, with the last line first and the first line last] https://storybird.com/flash-fiction/faith-hope-love/d1ssxn

In the beginning, God created a perfect world. He then created humans in His image to have a perfect relationship with Him. After came the fall, where our perfect relationship became broken because of the sinful choices man had made. We became separated from God. The Lord promised a New Kingdom to his people, which includes all the nations, for the first kingdom was lost. He chose to create a Holy Nation through Abraham, which became Israel. The Israelites came to live in the Promised Land and live under the law and king, which God gave them. God then sent prophets to tell all that there was a Son of God who would take the form of man to live the life we should have lived and die the death we should have died. Jesus Christ came and fulfilled those prophecies, living a life of service and miracles, proving His position as the Son of God. He then died a sacrificial death so that whoever believes in Him can be reconciled with God and live an eternal life with Him in heaven. He came back t...

"To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord , that He may be glorified." Isaiah 61:3 Recently, I came across a TED talk video that discussed four different lessons of creativity: letting go, paying attention to the world around us, embracing challenges, embracing loss. I was challenged to decide which of these four lessons was most meaningful to me. After much thought, I finally came to a conclusion. Although each message is important, it is the last item in this list that most resonates with me. In that video, Joel Meyerowitz talks about photographing the World Trade Center after 9/11, and he realized that that record would be erased unless we made a point for it not to be. I think we all need to remember that, right now especially, time may heal all wounds, but it also erases them. It can be ...