Day #5 Voices

       What are some of the voices you’ve been listening to? We all have a voice, but there are also voices that we listen to, it could be from your head friend, or even your gut. It’s your decision to which voice you want to listen to and have an effect on the way you act. In today’s society girls have struggled with the voice inside their head that says there not good enough or they will never make it. But we can’t listen to the negative voices in our heads, instead listen to the positive voice of God saying “You are beautiful, I created you in my hands and I have set you apart.” We can’t listen to the negative voices, because they will only bring us down and hurt us. But instead we need to listen for the Holy one. We can also hurt each other with our negative words that we might say to one another, instead why don’t we lift each other up in positive words. It says in Mark 12:31 “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ‘There is no commandment greater than these.” This is a powerful verse, remember we all have a voice but it’s your decision on how you want to use it. I encourage you today to use your voice in a positive way and give someone a nice compliment today.

Voice

           Everyone has a voice, but its up to you to use your voice and make in imprint on someone through your writing. Voice is the writers personality on the page, the style in which a point of view is conveyed. In the book "The Great Gatsby" the author has a very unique voice in the book. In many examples like Jay Gatsby making an impact on Tom, who is the writer. He uses voice by giving his opinion on things in the story.

Voice is not literally speaking, its the authors point or writing style on the reader. Why would you want voice in your writing? Does it even change your writing for the better?
You want voice because it makes your writing style stand out from the others. People want to read a book, an article, a blog post, and people want to see how that authors writing stands out from other writers. They want to be intrigued, interested, and sit back and say wow that was an amazing story, the author did so good on having a unique writing style. Voice can be very important because you want to leave an impact on a person by sharing your story. We all have a voice but its up to you to use it in a great way.

     In this weeks reading of "The Great Gatsby", Jay Gatsby is warming up to Nick Caraway. First, he invites Nick to his party. Which this is unusual because people don't usually get personal invitations. After the party Gatsby wants to stay in touch with Nick. So a couple days later Nick wakes up to a loud car sound, and Jay Gatsby pulls up and asks him to hang out with him for the day. At this part the author does a really good job describing what the car looks and what is going on. While this was going on Gatsby is trying to become friends with Nick because he is trying to get Nick to invite Daisy over so he can talk to daisy again. Everything is starting to make sense of why Gatsby is having all of those parties and why he is trying to become friends with Nick. Gatsby is trying to get to know Nick because he knows that Daisy is his cousin. After reading a little more I liked how the author described in great detail what Gatsby did to set up for Daisy to meet her again. Gatsby sent over his servants to mow Nick's grass and trim the bushes. He also has tons of flowers in his house waiting for daisy. This showed how nervous he was to see Daisy once again, he wanted everything to be perfect for her.

Day #2 This Day

       "Who is in control of the car when it’s moving? Duh, the person driving the car, right?" This was a question asked in today’s reading of "Even More". I can also relate this back to my church lesson a couple months ago. This statement wasn’t supposed to be taken literally; it was a way to show a representation of you and the Holy spirt in your life. This representation is trying to show who is in control of your life. I can connect to this question because there has been times where I have struggled with letting God take control of a situation, and just giving him my worries. But there have been other times where I know I can’t do it on my own and ask God to help me. In day 2 there was a line that really stood out to me and I really liked it. It says, “If you aren’t sure who is in control, consider this: when you’re influenced by the spirit, your mind-set is I surrender all”(95). This was a very powerful statement and it really made me think, that if God has a plan for me, he wants me to give my worries to him and let go. I encourage everyone today to let God take over and handle ever situation no matter how big or small it is.

Day #1 Start Small

       Are there any times in your life where you just feel like you can’t do it anymore? While reading “Even More” in proof read number five Day 1 I have learned to not give up in one of the smallest situation. Lately, while school has been coming down to the wire many kids feel burnt out and can taste the summer. But many other kids feel overwhelmed by all the testing and projects due. These last grades can either make it or break your final grade. While the past couple weeks have been stressful and keep getting more stressful.

       Over the pass couple weeks I have been really applying my daily reading to my life. At the moment when I don’t feel like I have strength to do something, God helps me and shows me exactly what I need, to reassure me that everything is in his hands. For example in day 1 it said, “And as believers, we are victorious. Not because of anything we have done, but simply because we trust that Jesus has won the victory for us” (91). This was such a great impactful saying. Even in the small situations of when I feel like I can’t do it, I know that God won the battle, and has already taken care of my problem, but I have to have faith in the small situations. Also in the reading it has a bible verse that really helped me and stuck with me. It was Luke 16:10 which says, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” This bible verse just showed me to just trust in the Lord. But I encourage everyone today, to just give it to God and just let him take care of your problems.

Even more

Bible study

Today I am going to switch it up and talk about my bible study. I’ll be talking about my girls bible study group I have each week! Being in a bible study group is amazing! Each week we go through and read the book “Even More” by Rachel Lovingood and Jennifer Mills and it gives us a teaching and then we answer some questions. Our book is a 40 day experience for girls and young women. What’s unique about this book is it helps girls come together and grow a relationship with God. Each day it gives you a teaching and then a bible verse. After that you answer some questions that it asks you and you write them in your journal. Not only does it give you that but also it has a section that you do with your group! I encourage all teens and women to read this book. Come together with one another and learn and grow with it.

Jay Gatsby

         As the characters and the story are developing this week in The Great Gatsby, I am learning the main character Jay Gatsby throws very large parties in his mansion. He doesn’t even invite anyone but everyone just knows his routine and shows up. Many people have been going to his parties for years and have never seen Gatsby. But, Nick Caraway, who is Gatsby’s neighbor, got a special invitation just from Gatsby. This is unusual for him because no one ever gets to meet him or gets invited to I wonder what this means. F. Scott Fitzgerald describes it as, “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited-they went there” (41). If Gatsby doesn’t usually invite people to his party then Nick must be really important to get a personal invite. So far while reader he is looking for Gatsby and no one never sees him but suddenly he comes out of nowhere and talks to Nick. I’m going to keep reading and see why he got a personal invite.