Saying Goodbyes...

I've waited to announce it here until the updates were made...but the time has come to say "farewell" to Perfecting113.

This site has been a joy and a challenge to keep up on and it has helped connect me to some very dear friends. God has used it to teach me, to humble me, and to make me think. I've learned so much through the work it took and its an experience I will never regret. Unfortunately, its become too much upkeep and merely adds to the stress of having "one more thing left unfinished". I know its just time to say goodbye.

Thank you everyone who has signed in the guestbook or read the articles or passed the word along about Perfecting113 over the last two years. Please help us say goodbye by writing in our guestbook. www.perfecting113.com.

One of these years I will catch up on all the blog posts from you that I have been missing out on. I'm sorry for being such a poor reader. =( I shall try to improve!

God bless and I will try to post again soon!

~Chelsea~

Miss Potter

"There's something delicious about writing those first few words of a story. You can never quite tell where they'll take you."

~From the film, "Miss Potter"~

For my birthday, my parents bought me the movie, "Miss Potter". This is one of my favorite movies and it tells the tale of Beatrix Potter. Beatrix Potter is one of my favorite authors. Her artwork and stories hold such charm for me and one day I plan on reading her stories to my own children. Her ideas have held people's attention for decades, her characters have never grown old or tiresome.

For those of you who write, this is the ultimate goal: to strike a chord somewhere inside the reader, to keep them coming back to read your words over and over and over again. To give them something to walk away with that will positively affect their lives.

What I find interesting though, is not so much the affect words can have upon the reader, but rather upon the writer. So often, stories can take the author upon a journey they never expected. I know this is the case with me - and my books aren't even close to being finished! Life teaches me lessons and those lessons somehow worm their way into dramatized revisions in my story. I find myself re-pondering and analyzing what I've learned in real-life, looking at it in a new light. I hope one day these lessons will make my readers think...but I doubt they will get more out of it than I have.

As I write my stories, I create characters - each one a small part of me and my imagination. I connect with them, I do my best to get inside their thoughts and emotions. I spin a tale, often making a mess of things (further proof its a good thing God is in charge of my life story, and not myself =)). And as my characters travel and learn, I find myself there beside them. Learning, hurting, dreaming, traveling. And I am a different person now than when I first began to write. Time will tell what happens next.

"There's something delicious about those first few words of a story: You can never quite tell where they'll take you. Mine took me here. Where I belong."

~Miss Potter~

Life...

In case you wonder what I've been doing lately...

My 20th birthday...

Soaking up the colors of Autumn...

Hiking...

Enjoying the sweetness of young life...

Spending time with friends and family I love...

Music...

And enjoying this crazy adventure called...

Life.

Thrown Together Thoughts...

You want to know the one word I hate more than any other in the English vocabulary (other than boredom)? The word I hate is, wait.

You are talking to the girl who hates standing around waiting for cookies to come out of the oven, let alone be patient when God or parents tell her to chill out and wait. Its people like me who invented the credit card so that they wouldn't have to take time to save up for their merchandise. I can never wait to give people their birthday gifts, and as a kid, I would pester my parents two weeks before Christmas to "please let me open just one!".

My lack of patience can be linked to failures in school work, not finishing a task properly, losing my focus, getting irritated with my siblings and being a tad obsessive compulsive. If it takes too much time or doesn't hold my interest I prefer to bail. When I want something, I want it pronto. Thankfully, my parents instilled in me the importance of working through things while growing up, but to this day I will still grumble about tasks that require too much patience.

But my lack of patience isn't just a part of my personality, its a character flaw. All throughout Scripture God says to wait on Him. Abraham waited most of his life for the son promised him. David spent years of his life as a shepherd and then hiding for his life before becoming king. Jacob waited and worked 7 years for Rachel before being tricked and having to work and wait another 7 years.

Waiting is a part of life, but often I find myself wishing the waiting seasons away. Problem is, if I wish through these times in my life, I will wind up wishing away my entire life. Because really, life is all about waiting and learning. The longer the wait, the sweeter the reward will be. I read this quote the other day and it really spoke to me,

Do not fear or resent the waiting periods in your life.

They are the very gardens where seeds of faith blossom.

This quote came from a book I read last year titled, "A Lady in Waiting". This book deals with what a girl should do/how to handle her time during her single years. (Its a very good book by the way for girls 18+) I love books that help me know how to handle various waiting periods in my life. But something I realized is that too much time spent on books that deal with "How to Wait for "Prince Charming" or "How to Survive School" or "How to Survive Your Siblings" or "How to Survive Your Job" will pull your eyes off the proper focus. Instead of focusing on how to merely "get through" the waiting periods, we need to be concentrating on how to live through the waiting periods, to rejoice in the time we have to accomplish other things in our lives and to prepare ourselves for when the waiting is finally over. Waiting periods give us a wonderful opportunity to draw closer to Christ and so often we (or at least I) miss that.

So for now, I'm going to put away all my books on waiting and I'm going to focus on moving forward. There is a great, big, beautiful world out there God created for me to discover. And maybe, just maybe, instead of pacing the floors while I wait for the cookies in the oven, I'll take the moments to praise God or accomplish something that needs to be done. Patience is a virtue and its something I'm going to do my best to let God work on with me. Because in reality, waiting is an opportunity we should seize with two hands and not something to be dreaded. I just wish I would remember that more often...

Have a great week!

~Chelsea~

Computer Crashed =(

Updates for Perfecting113 will be a bit later than usual this month. The other day, my PC crashed on me due to a virus of some sort. My dad has taken it in to resolve the issue, but until then I'm working off my dinosaur of a laptop that has absolutely *zip* of my photos/writing on it. Thankfully I have my most important work backed up, but if I can't get my PC to work again, there's no telling how much of my work I've lost. =( I can't make any updates to the site for now, so thanks for being patient. =)

~<3 Chelsea <3~

The Opposites of Life...

Below is a poem where I put to rhyme some of my recent thoughts. =) Life can be so confusing sometimes, but its such an incredible journey. Its amazing to see the steps God takes to lead me closer to Him.

The Opposites of Life

____________________

One foot in a fairytale

One foot on the ground.

A moment lost in solitude

Another caught in sound.

One moment I’ve gone crazy

The next I’m just plain sane

But I guess if there’s no loss

There’s bound to be no gain.

‘Cuz every second spent is a second lost or earned.

Sometimes you’re bound to win, sometimes you just get burned.

But you’ll never know what lies ahead until the day you get there.

Life is beautiful, crazy, sweet, but it’s not always fair.

One thought’s hate, another love

The two, they often meet.

But when they mix, become a passion

The result is hard to beat.

And every second spent is a second lost or earned.

Sometimes life rewards you, sometimes you just get burned.

But you won’t know what lies ahead until you take that shot.

Life becomes what you invested in, not just what you bought.

God help us all to make the most

Of time that we’ve been given.

To waste His grace, abuse His love,

Is to lose what’s worth the livin’.

Life is beautiful, crazy, sweet, but it’s not always fair.

God help us reach our destination, I know we’ll finally get there.

Life...

Jessica Hope will be two-weeks old tomorrow. We were able to spend the last 7 days with our grandparents. It was wonderful being able to adjust to a new baby with close family. It was difficult letting my grandparents leave! Baby Jessica is doing fine and her favorite thing to do is nap. =)
Napping happens to be perfectly fine with me because when I'm the one holding her, it means I get to take a snooze as well. =)

To catch up on what I've been doing with my life (since its obviously not been used to update this blog), I started my first part-time job. I've been praying for months about work opportunities and throughout the summer, God's provided me with many odd jobs that have fit perfectly around my mother's pregnancy. Thanks to my brother's recommendation and just a touch of God's perfect timing, I am now training as a Vet Assistant at a clinic about 5 minutes away from my house. I will be able to work my school schedule around it, be close to home, and learn some life-long skills. I've learned something new every day so far and that is what I love most about my job. Its an all-female staff (including one of my close friends!) and I've really enjoyed and felt comfortable working with the people there.

Even though its fun, there is also a LOT to learn during the day. Sometimes I feel like a complete idiot, but I think maybe its God's way of humbling me and reminding me, "you don't know everything". I know I'll get the hang of things eventually, and that's what I keep reminding myself.

Life has been very busy and will only get busier when school starts. Updates to Perfecting113 will be made during early September and I hope you all enjoy them. =) And if you happen to think of me, please pray for perseverance and that I will make the most of my time amidst the busyness.

God bless,

~<3 Chelsea <3~