Potamiaena’s Prayer

This is a short-short story that I wrote as a project at the beginning of last school year. We were reading The Church History by Eusebius and we had to write a story about one of the many martyrs in the book. I chose a young woman named Potamiaena. Her story was only a page or two long, but I really liked it and wanted to spend more time thinking about it. So this is what I came up with . . .

* * *

Potamiaena stared up into the face of the judge, fear clouding her heart. She struggled to keep this same fear out of her voice and countenance. Her entire body ached, burned, and stung from the tortures she had already endured prior to this so-called trial. “I shall never worship your childish gods. They are invented only to provide something primitive and sinful for you to chase in ignorant hopes of fulfillment. I worship the one true God, the Creator of heaven and earth and His Son, Jesus Christ, now and forever!” Immediately, Potamiaena felt courage wash over her and she was now only faintly aware of the pain filling her body as she continued to stare at the judge, defiance on her face and in her stance.

The official’s look of shock and indignation rapidly evolved into one of anger and hatred. “Then you shall die! No one, not even a woman, can defy the gods and go unpunished!”

A soldier stepped forward to lead her away and Potamiaena willingly followed. As they made their way through the crowds to the road, he whispered her some comfort. “My name is Basilides. May I pray for you?” He began at Potamiaena’s nod of assent. “God, give this brave soul courage and faith through the end and keep Yourself at the forefront of her thoughts. Bring her to Yourself quickly and as painlessly as possible. In Your Son’s Name, Amen.”

Potamiaena whispered her thanks to the ground, so as not to endanger this kind young man.

Coldly, the crowd began jeering at her as she walked toward her imminent and torturous death. Basilides pushed the crowd away, driving them back and giving her room to walk, despite the oppressive nature of the bystanders. “Thank you for your kindness!” exclaimed Potamiaena, when they reached the place she was to die. She claimed one last glance at the single kind figure being swallowed by citizens of her former home. “I will ask the Lord for you and very soon I shall repay you for everything you have done on my behalf.”

With these faith-filled words, Potamiaena turned into the arena where she was to die. A tear slipped down her cheek, but she quickly brushed it away. Lord, she thought. Give me the strength to endure this for You. Help me to show them that I am not afraid to die for You. Let my death impact someone’s life. I look forward to seeing You soon. Oh, so soon. Potamiaena’s  prayer stayed in her heart through the last moments of her life. The thought calmed her from the fear of death and gave her a final smile at the thought of being martyred for her Savior.

-Kira

Not Today, But Don't Stop Asking!

"I really want to hang out with people and keep relationships strong, but I also really need some time to recharge after even a few hours of socializing. What should I do?"

This is the dreaded dilemma that every introvert faces on at least a somewhat regular basis. We don't want to hurt people by turning down invitations, but we also can not keep functioning without time to ourselves to recharge.

What to do, what to do?

We could accept every possible invitation to be social that we ever get. But then, we would get burned out quickly and everything from schoolwork to relationships would suffer. So that option's out.

We could deny every invitation that we don't feel like accepting and just keep to ourselves. But this brings to light a whole new aspect of the problem. What if we deny too many social gatherings and people think we don't want to hang out with them so they stop inviting us? This is a secret fear that can creep its way into any human being's mind, introvert or extrovert. Because humans are social animals. Some more than others, but it is still true of those of us content to spend long hours alone in our room with a good book.

We don't want to stop being invited places, but we also don't want to accept all the invitations. So what should we do?!

Well, I have an amazingly simple answer to that complicated question, and it is: I have no idea. None whatsoever.

So since I can't come up with any good solution to this problem, I have decided to beg, on the behalf of all the introverts who feel the same way, that you don't stop asking! We love spending time with people and we are not trying to avoid you. So don't be offended when we turn you down. We just need some recharge time before going out into the world again.

So please don't stop asking us to hang out with you!

(Quite) Sincerely,
Kira

Eye Drops and Chocolate Cake

Have you ever felt really guilty about something and then been easily manipulated into things later? Like giving a two-year-old eye drops and then chocolate cake?

Marie came home from the doctor in an okay mood for a two-year-old on a Monday morning. She was sleepy, but other than that feeling alright. That is, until she was laid down on a towel on a bed. She knew something was wrong, so she started crying. It was the only reasonable thing to do under the circumstances.

"Shh shh shh. It's okay sweetie." Sara was cooing at her. That just made her scream even louder.

"Hey, calm down. I'm going to tell you what we're going to do sweetie." Now Mommy was talking. Marie quieted. "Okay sweetie. I'm going to put these drops in the corner of your eye...." Marie didn't like where this was going. She started to cry again. Mommy's voice rose to be heard. "Then I'm going to open your eye so that the drop can go in. Okay?"

This was not okay. Not in the least. Marie squeezed her eyes shut tight so that no one could get any sort of drops in them.

Sara grabbed her hands and held them down and Kira kept her from rolling over while Mommy did just what she had outlined. Marie screamed and screamed.

It was soon over, but the sympathy was still evident on Mommy's face. Marie decided to take advantage of it. "That, me?" She pointed to the piece of chocolate cake sitting on the counter. It was a long shot, but Mommy felt bad for putting drops in her eyes.

"You want cake?" Mommy was somewhat surprised.

Within a minute though, Marie was seated at the table, fork in hand, ready to consume her very own moist slice of cake. It was soon polished off.

"Me, more?"

* * *

The moral of the story is get eye drops so Mommy will give you chocolate cake.

-Kira

God's Got It

I've been thinking a lot lately. Especially about the next four or five years as I'm about to start my first year of high school and prepare for college. I've been trying to come up with all sorts of different things I can do to prepare and make lots of goals to meet and go above and beyond what my mind tells me is "average."

I want to start a business, get scholarships, and make good grades. And I've been trying to do all this by myself. I've read books, blog posts, and asked people questions. But I haven't asked God to take the wheel. Sure, I've prayed. But it's been more along the lines of asking God to make things go the way I want rather than following His plan and reaping great rewards.

About two and a half years ago, we found out that a baby that we had been taking care of since she was born would be going to live somewhere else. It was heart-breaking. I didn't understand what God could possibly be thinking. We loved her so much and took such good care of her. Why would He take her from us?

A month or so later we got a phone call. It was the grandparents of the baby girl asking if we wanted to come see her. Now we see her all the time. As I write, she's napping about five feet from me. I didn't see God's providence in letting her be taken at the time. I still don't see all the reasons, but that lesson in faith is one I'll never forget. God's been reminding me of it as I push past Him and try to make my own plans. I can't ignore it any more.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11

God has proven Himself faithful to me personally before and He will do it again. I just need to have faith and believe that He will take care of my high school years. God's got complete control of my life and He knows what He's doing and can see all of the long-term consequences when I can't.

-Kira

P.S. For anyone interested, I would recommend the book The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. I read it for school last semester and it really opened my eyes to God's providence in everything that ever happens.

Smoothie Challenge

So my lovely little brothers wanted to supply me with something to post on here for you, so they took the smoothie challenge. There were eight ingredients for the smoothie - four good, and four less so. They were numbered and the boys had to choose a number at random then they were told what it was and it was added to their lovely creation.

1. mustard
2. chutney (5 years old)
3. peanut butter
4. basil
5. ice cream
6. horseradish
7. whipped topping
8. syrup

They ended up choosing mustard, chutney, peanut butter, ice cream, and syrup, but when we opened the chutney, it had gone bad (go figure). So they re-chose and got horseradish. Then they added ice and milk and I managed to get the reactions on camera.

awaiting their fate

looks appetizing, huh Eric?

the first surprisingly willing volunteer

this one actually liked it, believe it or not

he liked it too which is really surprising - and disappointing
because his disgusted face is the best of the four

the first sip.....were his big brothers lying about it being good?

he actually drank the whole thing

Which was your favorite? I think mine was the face-palm.

-Kira

Catch Up

So today I am finally doing a post summarizing a few of the many things that have happened lately.

The Ball
Daddy took Sara and I to the Heritage Ball at our church about a week and a half ago. There are live musicians and colonial line dances. We stayed out until midnight and were dead tired the next day.

The Walk for Life
The Walk for Life was a huge success!!! Over all, $32,050 was raised for the Pregnancy Resource Center - 107% of their goal!

Camping in Washington DC
We just got back from camping in DC about an hour ago. We got to go to the Air and Space Museum, the American History Museum, and the National Zoo. Marie LOVED the zoo! I mean, how cool is it to actually be able to see those elephants that are on Wild Kratts?

So that's that!

-Kira

Walk for Life Update

Only a couple days left to go until the Walk for Life! A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me and my team so far this year! The Pregnancy Resource Center is at 66% of their $30,000 goal at the time of this post. So close, but not quite there yet! If you haven't already, please consider signing up as a walker or supporting someone who is.

Sign Up

Support

More Info

Thanks!!!

-Kira

Walk for Life

 

Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
    you have prepared praise.

But how can they praise Him if they can't even be born? The Pregnancy Resource Center in Radford, Virginia is working to help women and couples with unplanned pregnancies by offering free services and supplies (such as diapers) to those who need them so that they are more encouraged to choose life.

Volunteers at the PRC not only help with counseling and services, they also share the gospel with those who come through their doors, giving women hope and love. They serve as Jesus would serve, willingly and lovingly.

The PRC relies heavily on donations and fundraisers such as the Walk for Life each year. The Walk for Life is an event where "walkers" sign up and are sponsored by others. On May 2, all of the walkers will meet to walk two miles. Beforehand, however, they must obtain said sponsors.

So, what I'm asking of you, is that you would consider either sponsoring someone participating in this event, or, if you live nearby, participating yourself. Any amount helps! It only takes a few minutes and would make a huge difference to these unborn children and moms-to-be. Also, share this post with friends and family and encourage them to help out too.

If you would like to donate, you can do so here: https://secure.ministrysync.com/ministrysync/event/website/?m=2184154
That is the link to my fundraising page, but from there you can search and find any walker that you might be interested in supporting. Once you find that walker, just click the yellow "Give" button on the right-hand side of the screen and follow the instructions.

If you would like to participate or get more information, you can do so here: http://www.prcsupport.com/events/walkforlife

The PRC's over-all fundraising goal for this year is $30,000. Please think about whether you can help them to reach this goal and don't forget to share!

  -Kira

Wise Power

So I had to write a paper for a school project recently in a format used by scholars in ancient times. The format is called a chreia. A chreia is a type of progymnasmata (pro-jim-noz-mot-uh), a writing exercise meant to equip the student for on-the-spot situations where the skills involved in this paper might come into use.

We have been reading Dante's Inferno lately, so this chreia is about the inscription on the entrance to Hell in the epic poem. One of the goals in writing the paper was to write it so that an audience could understand it, so I thought I'd put it on here to maybe see if I fulfilled that goal. Please feel free to ask questions if you have any!

By the way, I have no idea what's up with the highlighting and line spacing at the end - I tried to fix it, but it didn't work....

***

Wise Power

Through me the way into the doleful city,

Through me the way into eternal grief,

Through me the way among a race forsaken.

Justice moved my heavenly Constructor;

Divine omnipotence created me,

And highest wisdom joined with primal love

Before me nothing but eternal things

Were made, and I shall last eternally.

Abandon hope, forever, you who enter.

    Dante of Florence was a wise and respected man. He wrote his thought provoking views on life after death in an epic poem entitled The Divine Comedy, a book which is still studied and examined in modern times. Dante was admired in his day and continues to be renowned today. Students and teachers for many generations to come will honor Dante with the study of his Divine Comedy.

    When Dante wrote the inscription on the gate into Hell, he was conveying the message that God created Hell. There is no power other than God who could have created any place at all, Hell included. Dante’s motivation for writing this inscription was to show the authority held by God over all of Creation. He wanted to demonstrate that God alone holds jurisdiction over Hell. Satan may seem powerful, but it is God Who is in control.

    If the opposite of this inscription were true, that God did not create Hell, there would be no reason to believe that Jesus can save us. Jesus is God, and God has power over Hell. But if He does not, then He is not all-powerful. A God with no power over death, has no power to save His people from death. If God did not create Hell, then there is no assurance that He has the power to save His children.

    The government builds prisons as places of punishment and sends those who commit crimes to serve their punishment in those prisons. In the same way, God created Hell as a place of punishment and sends those who have committed sins to serve their punishment in Hell. God’s authority and law is echoed in the way justice is administered in the United States of America.

An example of God’s power over Hell is given in 2 Peter 2:4, 9. “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into Hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment….then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.” God has had power over Hell since before the moment that the first sin was committed.

In the Bible, God is said to have created everything. Psalm 89:11-12a says, “The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. The north and the south, you have created them.” God created everything. That includes Hell. The Psalmist recognized this. Jesus also testifies to God’s power over Hell in Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in Hell.” The pronoun “Him” refers to God. We are to fear the Lord because He has power over body and soul, life and death.

    The inscription on the gate of Hell is a proclamation of God’s power. The Lord has authority over the deepest depths of Hell. He is the most powerful being in existence. He created Heaven, Earth, and Hell. He will create a new Heaven and a new Earth. God is all-powerful, all-wise, and all-just.

***

 Well, that's it! Let me know what you think.

-Kira

"Break Her Trust" Part Three

The last piece!!!! It turned out really short.... Hope you like it!

You can find Part One here and Part Two here.

The next morning, Megan left for school after ensuring that Justin looked presentable. She did. Once Megan was gone, Justin changed back into jeans with holes and a dark sweatshirt. She threw the nice clothes into her backpack to change into before coming home. She couldn’t let Megan see her without them. She even remembered to grab a brush on her way out the door.

    Justin shared a bus stop with Charlotte and she couldn’t start the day with teasing and questions. Instead, they talked about whatever came to their minds, including how poorly school was going. “I can’t get any of it!” Charlotte began. “It just won’t stick. I don’t know why they even try!”

    “Yeah. I just don’t get it. Especially math. What a pain!”

    “I know, right?” Just then, the bus pulled up and they climbed on, unhappy with the day planned out for them.

    Justin did not live up to the deal. She was late, she was dirty, and she still hung out with Marty’s group. But never in front of Megan. Things were going great until the next Wednesday when Justin’s mom got a phone call. From the school.

    Justin slouched in the cold plastic chair. She wasn’t so upset by the fact that she had been caught. That had happened plenty. It was the fact that the rest of Marty’s gang had split at the first sign of trouble. They had always got in trouble together if they did something together. If one of the group did something by themselves, it was on them. They weren’t getting bailed out by their friends. But they had never just left one person to suffer - it was usually at least two.

Justin hadn’t even noticed they had left. She was too busy reaching her thin arm up the vending machine and grabbing a soda to think of much else. That’s where Mrs. Newman had caught her. With her arm up the vending machine. It had been a short walk to the principal’s office, followed by a long lecture with a lot of “You’re better than this!” strung through it. The whole scene had been topped off by a phone call to her mother.

It wasn’t worth explaining things to her or the principal. They wouldn’t understand that it had been Marty’s idea, that the rest of the group had split as soon as Mrs. Newman had shown up. So she just sat and listened. She nodded and looked guilty when she needed to, but she didn’t think any of the adults were fooled. She was sitting there half listening when something caught her ear. “Since this is a third offense,” Principal Bright was saying. “I’m afraid it means a two day suspension this time.” That caught Justin by surprise. It had never been more than a week or so of detention before now. What would her dad say? Worse, what would Megan say?

    That’s what she was thinking about on the way home: what to say to Megan. Dad was like any other adult. Nod and look appropriately guilty. But Megan. She was not an adult. She really believed that Justin had been keeping up her end of the deal. She would be so disappointed. And Justin didn’t want to disappoint her. She didn’t want to break her trust.

 -Kira

Worth It

 
In a lot of movies, TV shows, and books, the main character at one point or another starts whispering to themselves, "I'm not good enough. I'll never measure up to what I should be. I can't do anything right." These thoughts creep their way into plots over and over again and with good reason. People think those things about themselves in real life too.

Often when the character begins thinking this way, you start to watch their actions and think, "If that's not good enough then I don't know what is," because they look awfully perfect from your perspective. The character will continue to think this way for a while before either encountering a situation that convinces them otherwise or a person that gives them a really great pep talk that makes them feel like a million bucks again.

You come away from the story either super encouraged or really depressed. The reason for that is because that's not how it always works in real life. You don't start thinking about how you can't do anything and a few scenes later save the world and think you can do everything. It just doesn't happen that way.

You're not going to feel amazing at the end of every story in your life. Because it's life, not a story. Sure, you are living out your own story. I don't mean to say that you're not. What I'm trying to say is that the stories we live in aren't always perfect at the end, like those of a book character. We won't always end up feeling great about ourselves and having the praise and adulation of those around us. We're going to get hurt and it's going to hurt for real. It's not always going to leave in a day or two. Life is not always pretty.

So far this sounds like a pretty downer post, but that's not what it's meant to be. Because, while it sure feels like the characters we read about lead ideal lives, we really have better opportunities than they. We have better reason to stop thinking, "I'm not good enough." Because guess what?

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 

Matthew 6:30 says it pretty well. If God cares so much for the flowers and grass in the field, how much more must He care about us? We were made in the image of God. Doesn't that make you feel more special already? But that's not the only reason for us to stop putting ourselves down.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins

1 John 4:10 shows us that we are worth so much to God that He sent His own Son to die for us so that we could spend all of eternity with Him. How cool is that? I mean, how many people do you know that would send their only family member to die the most humiliating death possible just so that they could spend an eternity with someone that had wronged them again and again?

We are worth something. I mean, if even after all that we've done wrong over and over again, God still wants us to be with Him forever, we must be worth something to Him. Which is honestly about as good as it can get.

-Kira

"Break Her Trust" Part Two

Here's the unedited and unabridged part two of "Break Her Trust." You can find part one by clicking on the words "Break Her Trust" Part One. Enjoy!

The right time did not present itself that afternoon, though.

As soon as their little brother, Ben, got home, Justin withdrew from the world. This happened whenever she was around  Ben and their parents. She just felt so inferior to them. Her brother was a goody two-shoes, her mother a successful real estate agent, and her father an accomplished lawyer. Megan outshone her too, but she also had a way of making her feel a bit better about herself.

About an hour later, Justin’s parents got home within a few minutes of each other. Soon, they were all sitting down to dinner. All except Justin.

“Justin!” her dad called. “Dinner!”

“I’ll get her,” offered Megan.

She came back a minute later with Justin in tow. They sat down.

“Let’s say grace,” her dad began. “Father, we thank You for this food. Please bless it to the nourishment of our bodies. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Justin sort of listened as she went through the motions of dinner. Get the food. Eat the food. Don’t listen to the conversation. But then something unexpected happened. “What have you been learning in Sunday School lately, Justin?” This was from her dad.

“I don’t know. Stuff,” she mumbled, without looking up from behind her hair. She knew what was coming and she didn’t like it. Sometimes she could come up with a satisfactory answer quickly enough to quiet his questioning, but tonight would not be one of those lucky nights.

“Why don’t you know?”

“Just ‘cause.”

“Do you mean because you haven’t been paying attention? At all?”

“I guess.”

"Why Justin? I thought we had talked about this before. You promised to pay more attention. You promised.”

Justin was silent.

“What else can we do to get you to pay good attention?”

She shrugged. Now for the promise.

“I want you to promise me you’ll start paying better attention and be respectful to the teacher.”

“I promise.” They both knew that the promise would not be acted upon. She was the only one of her friends that had to go to church. So she made up for it by texting Charlotte all through Sunday School, but there was nothing she could do during service under her dad’s watchful eye.

She tried to be even more invisible through the rest of dinner and excused herself as soon as she was done eating. She went straight to her room and lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

That’s where Megan found her 20 minutes later.

“Want to start back in with English?”

“Sure. I guess. But it’s hopeless. I’ll never understand it like you or even Ben. Why should I try?”

“Because you can. I know you have it in you. Just give it a shot. For me?”

“I said sure. May as well get good grades so Dad can’t get at me for that too.”

“Okay. Let’s get started.” It was a beginning at least. Maybe Megan could talk about Justin’s “friends” later.

After about an hour of English, Megan decided it was time. “Hey, let’s take a break. You’ve been working hard.”

“Okay. And do what?”

“Well, there’s something that I’d like to talk about.”

“Alright.” Megan looked determined. It must be something important.

“Your friends. Who do you hang out with?”

“Marty and the gang. Why?”

“Well, I think you should probably stop hanging around with them. They’re not a good influence.”

“I know that. But they’re the only friends I’ve got. I can’t stop hanging out with them! Anyway, Marty would kill me on the spot if I told him that. And he would have three helpers.”

“You don’t have to tell him. Just find some new friends.”

“It’s not that easy, Megan. You don’t just walk up to some kid and say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I laughed all those times Marty shoved you down since sixth grade. Can we be friends now?’ ”

“Look, I know that. But I have an idea. Dress neater. Pay attention in class. Work hard. And don’t hang out with Marty!”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“Wear jeans without holes in the knees for starters. And brush out your hair - like this.” Megan grabbed a brush and started pulling at Justin’s tangled mass of hair. Soon enough she had it smooth and shining. She parted it on the right. Megan sat back proudly. Justin looked like a new girl already. “Try being on time for class too.”

“Why should I do all this?”

“I honestly think things will turn out better for you if you just give it a shot. Please?”

“Just a trial run?”

“Just a trial run. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Great. Let’s find you a nice, neat outfit to wear to school tomorrow.” They proceeded to do so. Soon the whole day was planned out nice and neat, just like her clothes.

-Kira