Back to Blogging

Hello blogging world! It's been a long time. Much longer than I ever imagined really. I did post around a month ago, but I really haven't been paying much attention to this blog for the past three months. So, I'm going to give a little update first (because the majority of my blog is updates anyway, lol).

Where I've Been

My blogging troubles started in March, I think. March brought a lot of unknowns to my family, and so I was focused more on the present than on blogging at the time. But then after, that, I just got busy :-). April and now most of May has felt a little bit like a marathon as I wrap up the school year.

    My whole family traveled to California in April for an event for my sister. It was a very rushed trip, but very interesting and fun. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures, so no, that will not be an upcoming post. 

    Then, at the beginning of May, I was busy studying for and taking two AP tests, as well as finishing up finals for most of my school classes. 

    In the meanwhile, I've also been *trying to* practice piano, get my garden ready, and just survive school *cries*.

    Anyways, it's been a hectic few months, but I'm happy that most of my school is now finished, and I'm looking forward to the summer.

What to Look Forward To

Lord-willing, I plan to return to blogging more often, starting this week. I have some school-related posts coming up, considering that school is almost over. After that, I'm not sure what I'll be doing, but I'm sure there will be new things to write about.

    As for my positing schedule, I'm not great at setting specific days for new posts, but for now at least, the plan is to post every Thursday, or every-other Thursday (there could still be some random other posts too, though).

    That's all for now. See you next Thursday, Lord-willing 💗

Linnea 

A Tale of a Gas Station, a Puppy, and a Science Fair

Soooooo, I disappeared. For a couple weeks. Don't say I didn't warn you though. Because I did. In my very first post. I knew better than to promise I'd blog regularly. 

    Well, enough short, tiny, three-word fragments and sentences. I am going to explain my absence now. I call it "A tale of a gas station, a puppy, and a science fair."

    It all started about a month ago, (before my last post, actually) when my family made a trip to Texas. It was only a four day trip, but we managed to see some of San Antonio, eat barbeque, and spend about $300 dollars at a gas station. (Ok, I'm kidding. I have no idea how much we payed. And anyways, money isn't the point). The point is a great deal of our time was spent at a gas station.

    No, it (usually) wasn't because we actually needed gas. It wasn't because our car broke down. It wasn't because we are really strange people who enjoy hanging out gas stations. It was because it was a Buc-ee's!

    What is a Buc-ee's? It's a very, very, very large gas station, that is surprisingly neat and tidy, and sells all the snacks, candy, meat, clothes, and anything else you could ever need (well, almost). And because I was so much in awe of such a nice, clean, and yummy gas station, I forgot all about blogging. Ok, not really... but this is what I did while I wasn't blogging.

Buc-ee's! It was hard to fit the whole gas station 
into one picture!

This is the side entrance to the store. The front 
of the store ran the whole length of the gas
station I showed above!

"Not all who wonder are lost. Some 
are looking for Buc-ee's."

  

  Now, we could have stayed the whole time at Buc-ee's, but we had other important things to do too. Which is where the next part of this tale comes in... on the last full day of our vacation, we picked up a puppy. No, it's not ours. It's my grandparent's! 

    Happily, though, she came back to stay with us for a couple days, before she flew off to her new home :D. I got to take a couple pictures while dog-sitting.

Hi, spunky! (No, her name is not spunky, but it sure fits her anyhow)

    

My dog is the one laying down in the
background. He's not so sure about her.

 

   Well, that was all fine and dandy. And a couple days later I even posted a blog post! So what delayed me after all this?

    You guessed it. Science fair. Now, I love science fair, to a certain extent. And it's a good experience, even as a homeschooler. But if you've ever done a project, and I mean really worked on this project, and made a board for it, and done all those science fair things that you do, then you know how much work it is--especially when you're in a time crunch! I may or may not have suffered a panic attack in the process... don't worry though, I'm fine now.

An accumulation of the many papers I gathered in the process.

    Anyways, with all of the stress and work going into that, I honestly didn't even think about blogging. But the first fair is finally over, and I'm very thankful for that. I have two more virtual fairs coming up, Lord-willing, but hopefully those will be easier, and I will be able to blog more soon. Comment down below if you have any post ideas for me. I would really appreciate it!

Linnea 

Entering 2022, and Some Thoughts...

Well, I haven't posted in a little while, I guess. But I hope you have all had a very blessed January💗. To start off the New Year, I'm going to try to keep this post short and sweet...and a little random!

    It's hard for me to believe that it's already 2022. In a lot of ways, 2021 felt really short! I chose a word for this year: gratitude. It's easy to look on the bad side of things, and not so much the good side. My hope is that this year I remember to thank the Lord for what I do have, and not worry so much about what I don't have.

    Now for the "some thoughts" part of this post :-). Not too long ago I wrote a post titled "Resetting My Priorities."  I was really despaired at the time. I saw all my mistakes at once, and it felt like I could never fix them. To be honest, some days it still feels that way.

    So many times I've questioned myself as to why my priorities felt so off.  So many times I've compared the growth I experienced when I first became a Christian to the despair I felt recently. A phrase I came to repeat was "when I was first saved...." Then I would think of things that happened right after I was saved, and ask myself why things were different now. I wanted things to go back to the way they were.

    The truth is this: yes, I was saved. I had finally laid down my own will, and I will never forget that. But I don't need to go back. I am following Christ: I am still saved. To anyone else who struggles with this too, know that you don't need to go back either. As Christians, we have the choice everyday to take up our crosses and follow Him. True surrender does not only happen once in our lives; it is a choice that we must continue to make day after day. And in the same way, His mercies are new everyday! 

    Yes, we may make mistakes. Thousands and thousands of them! But God is merciful. So, continue to surrender your life to Him, and live life for Him in the here and now. 

    He is faithful.

"Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord; Revive me according to Your judgements." - Psalm 119:156

Linnea 

Resetting My Priorities

So, I thought I would give reason to why I haven't posted in a little while. I know it hasn't been an extremely long time I've been away or anything, but my posting has been irregular, so I want to give an explanation.

    This year, I've had a lot more school work, as well as other responsibilities. And lately, I've come around feeling empty, struggling to hold on in this new season. I've been walking a tightrope between what I want my life to look like, and what it does look like... along with the downward spiral it could easily be. 

    I'm finding that this is a terrible place to be. It's a place where nothing happens, when you are so stretched between the two sides, that it becomes impossible to move at all. 

    I've realized that my priorities are off. God needs to come first in life. Then I need to honor and respect those God has put above me as authorities, because He tells me too, not because of how they act towards me. I'm also realizing sometimes I tend to put these people before God, which is not right either. They absolutely need to be honored, but that is not the same thing as worshipping them, as if their opinions were more important than His. 

    Finally, I need to fulfill my responsibilities, because they are the responsibilities He has given me. 

    I've heard all of these things before of course, but it never occurred to me that I might not be following them as I ought too. In the past couple weeks, I've had to really face these things, and realize that I need to leave this tight rope I'm standing on altogether, and pursue after this order only.

    In light of all that, I've found it hard to jump on and blog. I don't want to share things just for the sake of sharing. I want to make sure everything I share is for God's glory, and really true for myself first. I would appreciate prayers that I would keep working towards resetting my priorities, and that I wouldn't fall back. Also that God would give me the strength I need to stand strong for Him.

    I hesitate to share this at all, but it is where I am right now, and I don't want to sugar coat things. 

    On the lighter side, I do hope to share some holiday posts soon, and I'm definitely looking forward to that!

For now,

Linnea

Life Lately...

 Hello, to anyone who reads this!

    Well, it's been a little while since I've posted, but I've *ahem* had very few ideas lately. So I decided to give a quick peek into what life has been looking like for me.

    First of all, I am on break from school this week! Now, that does not mean I don't have homework... *wishing I had finished all my homework this week...* but it does mean I have a little more time for other things.

    The past couple of days have been especially exciting and crazy. My sister celebrated her birthday, we finished up our last week of classes before break, and I participated in a piano demonstration. Also, the weather is finally getting a little bit colder. Winter is on it's way! Life is definitely moving quickly right now.

    Finally, before I go, I just wanted to share a little bit of encouragement. 

    Life isn't always easy. Things don't always work out the way we want. It's easy to feel discouraged, weary, and lonely. I know for me especially, I struggle with these feelings. But as I was reminded recently, we have been given Christ, "the most greatest gift." Nothing can compare to this Gift. So even when life feels hard, we can rejoice and praise God for what He has given. He is so, so good. 

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

Linnea