"And seeking for no other footsteps. . ." | a few wintery things

Ely church

“Be guided, only by the healer of the sick, the raiser of the dead, the friend of all who were afflicted and forlorn, the patient Master who shed tears of compassion for our infirmities. We cannot but be right if we put all the rest away, and do everything in remembrance of Him. There is no vengeance and no infliction of suffering in His life, I am sure. There can be no confusion in following Him, and seeking for no other footsteps, I am certain!” 

― Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit

It had hardly been my intention to take a month-long break from blogging leaving off in the middle of a blog-party and all that, but I have discovered this past month just how much a three-week trip overseas can wreak havoc to any of one's orderly plans :). I will definitely be sharing more about that, in my next posts (how could I not?), but for now, I am going to write a few random wintery things I am up to to get me back into the rythme of things (I feel like I have been away from the internet for so long!). Also part of this post is to share the upcoming release of the planetary fantasy novel, "Plenilune" by Jennifer Freitag, which I am very much looking forward to. So with the preliminaries out of the way, here we go:

The fate of Plenilune hangs on the election of the Overlord, for which Rupert de la Mare and his brother are the only contenders, but when Rupert's unwilling bride-to-be uncovers his plot to murder his brother, the conflict explodes into civil war. To assure the minds of the lord-electors of Plenilune that he has some capacity for humanity, Rupert de la Mare has been asked to woo and win a lady before he can become the Overlord, and he will do it--even if he has to kidnap her.

                                                   En route to Naples to catch a suitor, 

                            Margaret Coventry was not expecting a suitor to catch her.

                                                                               *****

Since 2012, I have been following Jenny's blog, The Penslayer; I read and was inspired by her wonderfully stirring debut novel, The Shadow Things early on, and from then on I eagerly kept up to date with the magical bits and pieces she's shared of the works she has been penning on her blog- we've been waiting for her to share her full work, and now the day has finally come! Plenilune, a planetary fantasy novel, by Jennifer Freitag (author of The Shadow Things) is coming out on October 20th, 2014. Mark the date on your calendars; keep your eyes peeled for the cover-reveal too! 

                                                                         {writing}

Want the truthful answer? Well, I have written very little in the past few months. Nothing to be perfectly frank - I have jotted down a few scanty notes for A Love that Never Fails, and ideas for an entry in Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Beauty and the Beast retelling - still toying with the ideas and seeing if I can manage to fit something like that into my crazy busy days ;). But I have attended a writer's workshop during July which was really good, and it has inspired me to get back into writing seriously on my novel, and to stop "dabbling"; with God's help, I can do this. . . Hopefully this feeling will help me stay motivated through the next few months of schoolwork to fit the time for serious writing. (Fingers crossed!)

                                                                         {reading}

Ah, yes. I am right now near the finish line of "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens - yay! I have actually really enjoyed reading this classic work, and am gaining a whole new appreciation of Charles Dickens' writing, in comparing it to some of his other books "A Tale of Two Cities" and "A Christmas Carol". I am quite looking forward to reading more of his works too, especially "David Copperfield" and "Great Expectations" in the coming months, Lord willing. 

For devotional, I have just started "The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ" by J. G. Ballett, which I've borrowed from Dad's library; it is one of those books he's highly commended for me to read, so I think that will be really good! 

Having finished Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis recently, and hearing an amazing dramatized reading of his powerful article "Weight of Glory" I've wanted to read more of Lewis' books so I have some more of his non-fiction books in my pile right now, as well as George MacDonald's "The Princess and the Goblin" and "Phantastes"; some modern authors I am eager to dig into in the coming weeks are Davis Bunn, Kim Vogel Sawyer, Anna Schmidt, Melanie Jeschkie and Janette Oke. We'll see how much "modern fiction" I can take for a bit ;).

                                                                         {listening}
I haven't listened to music in a few days. . . dear me, that's bad. I remember recently putting on a YouTube playlist for Sons of Korah, and also listening to some classical music on the plane-trip but that's about it. *frowns and shakes head*

                                                                         {watching}

Well, first of all, there was the "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" teaser trailer which I got to see while I was sick with a tummy bug. It made me feel almost immediately much, much better- it also made me want to cry, because it is the end of the trilogy, and some of my favourite characters are going to die, and dear Bilbo will be so scarred and sad. . . *tears up* I am so full of anticipation, how must we wait till December to see it? Thus, feeling very much in a hobbit-ish mode, I watched "The Desolation of Smaug" again last week - that was great. There was also a clip from the extended edition which is coming out soon; did you all see that. . .? 

 And also I saw the Disney animation "Brave" for the first time. . . 

It was strangely captivating. and weird. and I loved the Celtic stuff!

                                                                         {the weather is...}

The weather is quite cool and sunny - lots of people are having colds though, so we're all trying to stay warm and cozy. . . 

                                                                         {looking}

I am looking at the things in my life right now, the lessons I am learning, the people I interact with, the experiences I am going through, and then looking back from where I was and where the Lord is bringing me to - treasuring it up, learning from the mistakes and quietly meditating on what God is doing in my life - I then look ahead and see that the paths in my life are so full of possibilities, hopes and fears and dreams. . . and I realize I must lay it all up at the feet of the Lord Jesus and look to Him for my all. It is a daily thing, this learning to look unto Him. . . 

                                                                         {learning}
There are so many constant lessons I am learning, it is really hard to pin it down to one thing - also I am a very bad student in my walk with the Lord, and keep having to repeat the lessons given to me, struggling with things over and over again. But I have a very patient and loving Teacher, and that gives me hope.

                                                                         {feeling}
A little tired, physically and mentally, but mostly thankful and refreshed in spirit, praise the Lord.

                                                                         {anticipating}
Hmm. Many things that I am very much looking forward to, Lord willing,in the coming months - completing my school-goals, finding time to sit down and write, taking up driving lessons maybe, reading more books, completing my violin exam, Christmas-time with all its joys, and the last Hobbit film, of course. (you knew that was coming.)

                                                                         {wishing}
Wishing I had more time to do everything I would like to do. . . 

                                                                         {loving}
I am loving the fact that God surprises us with the unexpected things - we have our made-up plans and worrying over them so much, but He really knows what is best and does everything so beautifully in His perfect time. . . it is wonderful! 

{praying}

And now. . .  it comes to the really painful part. But we have to share it - it is the sufferings and persecution of the Christians in Iraq right now. Oh! What horror our brothers and sisters in Christ are enduring. . . how we need to pray for them! Such suffering that can hardly be named, - it is so, so terrible, and the world is so silent. Articles like this one, just break my heart. There are really no words to say - only to cry out to God, and pray "Lord, have mercy".

 "When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed." (Revelation 6:9-11 NKJV)

Why the Arabic letter 'n'? "In the Koran, Christians are called Nassarah. Islamic militants single out Christians in Iraq for attack by spraying the Arabic letter ‘N’ for Nassarah on their homes. Join us by changing your Facebook/Twitter profile picture to the ‘N’ icon found on this page." 

-Voice of Voice of the Martyrs Australia