One nice evening..

This is my little sister Sarah. She's pretty cute. huh? I make her pose for the camera quite often.

This is my other little sister. Well, not really, but I'll claim her. :) She is very beautiful as well.

Here are a few pictures I randomly snapped a couple of weeks ago. Who else thinks water is REALLY cool? Just think about it.

Ha Ha Tonka State Park

My family went on a trip to Ha Ha Tonka State park at the end of this summer. It was BEAUTIFUL! 

Here is the old water tower.

Here are some of the old castle ruins.

This is the natural spring at the park. 

This is the "Natural Bridge."

I took these three pictures one day last winter. One of those days when there is a gorgeous blanket of snow on the ground and the sun is bright making it sparkle and shine. 

More Pictures. Less talk.

Hey! Its been a while.. I know. 


So, I'm going to turn this into more of just a photo blog. More pictures. Less talk. How does that sound? Here is my first go at it. These pictures are from a photo shoot for a family in my church. These boys are darling. :)

2010

Hey all! (If anyone reads this..)
It's been so long since I've written.. It's crazy!
A lot has been happening.. I'll list a few things..

• I'm graduating this year! May 8th 2010 to be exact.
• The camp dorm burnt down Dec. 10th 2009.
• I received 3rd place in a photography contest in the fall!
• I turned 18 and am now officially an "adult!."
• I gave up pop for this year.
• I'm teaching myself to play guitar and have fallen in love with it!
• I went to the ER for the first time in my life at the End of October.
• I spoke in front of everyone at church about seeing a need for HUGE spiritual growth in the youth. Asking for prayer. (And balled my eyes out...)
• I started monthly youth events at my church.
• I am applying for my first job! (I was actually going to take my application today and meet the boss but I'm currently snowed in..)
• I've turned into a human pin cushion because of having so many blood test to try and figure out why I'm always tired and sore.

Anyway.. That's all I can think of for now.
Hopefully I'll write again soon.
Faith Williams

In Literature last week I had to read Henry David Thoreau's essay "Life Without Principle." I got SO frustrated with it because it was just a bunch of words all jumbled together that just kept going on and on and on and on and on and on... Yes, every once in a while I would get something out of it, but for the most part I thought it was pointless. I even told mom one day "This is so dumb. Its just a guy complaining about people being selfish and not doing anything worthwhile."

DUH! That was EXACTLY his point! And it is so true. But I didn't realize any of that until after I read the analysis.

After about a page and i half of the analysis, the words "want fewer things" popped out at me. Pretty much bit me on the nose..
Thoreau's philosophy is that people should labor not for money but for the love of what they're doing. He argues, "There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting his living." Most people do just exactly that. Their lives revolve around their jobs. Making money. Yes, work is necessary to buy and pay for the things we all depend on to live. But the word "need" has become GREATLY confused with the word "want." Thoreau's simple solution? "want fewer things."Well that's easy. we are so consumed with the things we think that we absolutely HAVE to get, that we really don't need at all, that our time and thought is completely caught up in it. Wasted. Most of our wants are pointless things that won't last long, not even to mention last for eternity. So why even bother? We are wasting our precious little time we have here on this earth trying to earn money for these things we don't even need.

"If you don't want much, then you don't have to waste your time working to buy it."

Yes, I know that work is necessary. Just not quite so much of it. Like the father who works all day everyday so he can pay for cable TV, new toys, movies, video games, that new car, the coolest house, the best clothes.. Or the teenager that works on Sundays so they can get some extra money for those new shoes or go to that concert or get that latest movie or game.
Tell me, in the end, would spending that time with those kids daddy, or those new toys benefit them more?
Thoreau admits that without working a lot you WILL have less, but he values his time more than his paycheck.

The 2nd thing that stood out to me:
Wasting time with media and games... things that are supposed to be an occasional treat. But instead have become an everyday occurrence.

And that goes right along with the 3rd thing that stuck out to me!
"Read not the Times. Read the Eternities." In other words, don't focus our attention on what seems so important today, at the moment. The stuff that we'll forget about in a few weeks, or days.. or hours! We need to focus our attention on things that will really matter for a very long time. Like say... oh... our LIFETIME?! or how about... try... ETERNITY! Good healthy Relationships, people in need, furthering the kingdom of heaven, taking care of ourselves and our world.

4th point:
Lots of that precious time I'm talking about that we waste, is wasted on other peoples problems, their business. Something that has nothing to do with us! WHY? I don't know... but we all do. We just HAVE to get involved..

Just some things that made me think. And I know that some of these things don't apply to all of us. But most of them do.

And I don't agree with everything Thoreau said. But He's on the right track.

Faith

Schoooool

I started school on Monday and finished a whole physics book in one day! Exciting stuff right there! Now just 3 left. The other 3 are quite a bit larger though.. so they'll take longer. That's okay though. Band is going well! I like the songs we're playing. I'll like them tons better when I can actually play them too! :) Choir is... well... Lets just say I didn't exactly want to be in choir but its still going pretty well. I'm excited about starting my photography class again!

Sarah and I are re-doing our. EXCITING! I've never gotten to do that before. :) It should be fun.
I bought two paint canvases today at hobby lobby so I'm hoping to have some fun with that sometime soon too! :) Painting a canvas is on my "to-do in 2009" list. Along with.. painting an old wooden chair, Paint my room green, (which I am in the process of doing!), read through the Bible, volunteer at the pregnancy crisis center, and lots of other stuff. So far I have 3 or 4 things crossed off. Anyway.. I gotta go. Thanks for reading!

Faithy

Senior Year

Well, today is the first day of home school classes for this semester. (Ugh..) I'm taking band, choir (by force) and photography. Photography doesn't start for 4 weeks though because it is only an eight week class.
With my PennFoster high school program I'm doing I have 39 lessons until I'm completely done. Its a do it at your own pace kind of thing so I'll have to be very diligent this semester to get it all done in order to graduate and go to cosmetology school this spring. I think I can handle it though. :)

This has been the best summer ever! Although, it went by extremely fast! I have yet to stay in the new dorm at the camp (its on my to-do list!) I'll also have to have a party in the newly re-done managers house! (Thank you Eternity Focus!)
We had yet another summer of AMAZING camps where lives, hearts, & attitudes were changed. Although it was extremely hard at times, all of the decisions for Christ made it WAY more than worth it!
It sad that camp is all over for the year and that its time to go back to school but I think I'm finally almost ready for it. I'm excited about seeing the trees change colors, the fall decorations come out, and the summer clearance to go on sale!

With this being my last year of high school my verse for now is Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

Thanks for reading,

Faith Myranda

Summer Wrap-Up

Summer was SO great! It went by extremely fast though. I finally got my Ipod and money and everything back this week though! That was nice. I have about half of my senior year left so I'm finishing high-school then planning on going to Adam and Eve School of Cosmetology in Independence Missouri. That should be fun! Also very helpful.

That's all I have for now.