We had just finished "A Raisin in the Sun" in my Juniors Honors English class. My teacher assigned us the task of evolving into the persona of one character, whether major or minor role, into a three stanza poem. I automatically decided to choose a character a knew a lot about. The first stanza was based on the past (facts/events taken from the play, or my own imagination), the second on the present (facts/events solely based on the what happened in the play), and the third on the future (again, facts/events based in the play or what I thought would happen after the story. My teacher based our poems on 7 categories on different point values.
1) creative title - 5 pts
2) three stanzas (the first on the past, second on the present, and third on the future) - 15 pts
3) each stanza is 10 lines long - 10 pts
4) stanza two contains overt references to specific events from the play - 10 pts
5) the poem as a whole reads smoothly; the language is fluent - 20 pts
6) the poem as a whole reflects the true essence of the chosen character - 20 pts
7) the language in the poem is poetic and contains a minimum of five literary devices - 20 pts
I thought since I was rewarded a perfect score, this poem was worth sharing.
If you have read the play, this poem will fairly easy for you to follow.
My character was Ruth Younger.
Will He Still Love Me in the End?
I was just like most girls
Who dream of a man to spend my life with
This man is my knight in shining armor
He is my stronghold, to whom I entrust my life
Then I hope he can feel the same about me
This is the love that I long to keep for him
With this deep love and loyalty, we can overcome any obstacles
I know there may be plenty of times,
For us to agree to disagree
But I know we can work through anything that comes our way
My man has found this check in life, to cradle like a newborn baby
How can he find material things, like a check,
Even more important than the love he must share with his wife
His own mother is like his dog to hand over the check when she gets it
He pretends to care for his beloved sister,
Can't he figure out she longs for a future too?
Her dreams and desires are meant to come true
Our lives and things we long for should not be put on halt
What about these friends on Walter's?
What if something happens with the money, or Walter's plans?
Will he then come back to loving me?
My prediction came true, exactly what I imagined
But my husband, oh how I love him,
Made up for his mistake
I knew he had it in him the whole time, it was only a matter of finding it
Like the Lord Jesus to his children, my husband showed his love for his family
I could never ask for a more beautiful home with my beautiful family
Even if the people of this world are not perfect,
I know in life things will get better
We will prosper as one people and live the lives we were meant to
Joined altogether with the unconditional love my husband
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Lessons from little kids
Lessons and ideas are constantly being taught to us about people and ourselves in our every day lives.
Yesterday was my 4th day of my first job at the Orange County Fair. I am working in this huge tent with a bunch of games, activities, and contests for little kids. So every day I switch to different stations or games where I am supervising children. Like in the sandbox or the play-camp.
Well anyway, the act of just sitting there making sure these kids don't hurt themselves or do anything they are not supposed to, is also an opportunity to enjoy them. I really enjoy (and this might sound a little cheesy) watching kids just smiling and running around having fun. It makes me smile and feel good inside. Other times kids just do things that are so darn cute that I can't help but laugh!
I had to approach a little boy about climbing on top of part of the play gym. When he got down, I think he wasn't sure whether the next thing he was doing was okay, so every time he did something he would look back at me maybe getting my approval for it.
I believe this scenario can be turned into our walk with God. In a way we are usually turning back to God to get his approval. Everything in life happens in his timing so when we try and make something happen they is a chance it won't work out. We must pray about it and realize if it was meant to happen or if it is in his will, it will happen.
Or the little girl on my first day. She was maybe eight. I think I saw her for about an hour playing at my game. She just loved, she kept coming back. She was soon taking over and showing the other kids how to play the game. I didn't even have to help, she had it all covered. I remember thinking if I walked away (which I would NOT do), this eight-year-old could take my job. And that is exactly was she pointed out, "I could have your job in eight years!" This eight-year-old said with so much enthusiasm and excitement. We all need to have this same kind of attitude and perspective of this eight-year-old in our daily lives. When something comes up that we don't want to deal with, observe the situation but figure out a way to come out in the end learning something and feeling happy it happened. If she still wants the job in eight years, I sure hope it works out for her!
Not everything these kids do is so relatable to life though, most of it is just funny or really cute!
Yesterday was my 4th day of my first job at the Orange County Fair. I am working in this huge tent with a bunch of games, activities, and contests for little kids. So every day I switch to different stations or games where I am supervising children. Like in the sandbox or the play-camp.
Well anyway, the act of just sitting there making sure these kids don't hurt themselves or do anything they are not supposed to, is also an opportunity to enjoy them. I really enjoy (and this might sound a little cheesy) watching kids just smiling and running around having fun. It makes me smile and feel good inside. Other times kids just do things that are so darn cute that I can't help but laugh!
I had to approach a little boy about climbing on top of part of the play gym. When he got down, I think he wasn't sure whether the next thing he was doing was okay, so every time he did something he would look back at me maybe getting my approval for it.
I believe this scenario can be turned into our walk with God. In a way we are usually turning back to God to get his approval. Everything in life happens in his timing so when we try and make something happen they is a chance it won't work out. We must pray about it and realize if it was meant to happen or if it is in his will, it will happen.
Or the little girl on my first day. She was maybe eight. I think I saw her for about an hour playing at my game. She just loved, she kept coming back. She was soon taking over and showing the other kids how to play the game. I didn't even have to help, she had it all covered. I remember thinking if I walked away (which I would NOT do), this eight-year-old could take my job. And that is exactly was she pointed out, "I could have your job in eight years!" This eight-year-old said with so much enthusiasm and excitement. We all need to have this same kind of attitude and perspective of this eight-year-old in our daily lives. When something comes up that we don't want to deal with, observe the situation but figure out a way to come out in the end learning something and feeling happy it happened. If she still wants the job in eight years, I sure hope it works out for her!
Not everything these kids do is so relatable to life though, most of it is just funny or really cute!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
God laughs when we make plans!
Life has a funny way of, metaphorically, bringing you from a bottomless pit to never-ending sunshine. In other words from the darkest place you thought your life could be in to thinking your life just couldn't get any better.
God has a funny way of bringing us out of dark places. Tuesday night is youth group at church which I usually go to. Although last night I wasn't planning on going because my aunt had the idea to go out for dinner. On the way home we stopped by the church to pick something up and I just decided to stay. So I may have planned to not go, but remember God always has something else (usually better) in store (Jeremiah 29:11).
I happened to arrive soon after worship and the sermon was just being started. Caused by a sudden turn of events, the speaker was even switched to a different person. Since I was a little late I quickly tried to catch onto the sermon.
I was surely reminded of two scriptures that I have known but haven't paid much attention to lately.
Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for my Lord is with me."
Romans 8:38 "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fear for today nor out worries for tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can ever separate us from God's love."
Take a good long look to remember what God's word has just promised you!
When I thought about it afterwards I was reminded of Romans 8:28, God lets all things work together for our good.
Think about this:
Imagine a tunnel. At the end is the shining light of God beaming through. Inside whipping at your feelings and emotions is discouragement, stressful situations, arguments with your parents, disagreements with your friends, problems at work, and you can fit in whatever you may be going through in there. Well remember that light, that right there is God's "good" that he has already planned out and promised you way before any of it started. He wouldn't put you through something just to make you feel worse than you did before. He sets these trials and tribulations in front of us to teach us a lesson that usually in turn brings us closer to him.
Okay, now try to apply this logic to life's trials.
God has a funny way of bringing us out of dark places. Tuesday night is youth group at church which I usually go to. Although last night I wasn't planning on going because my aunt had the idea to go out for dinner. On the way home we stopped by the church to pick something up and I just decided to stay. So I may have planned to not go, but remember God always has something else (usually better) in store (Jeremiah 29:11).
I happened to arrive soon after worship and the sermon was just being started. Caused by a sudden turn of events, the speaker was even switched to a different person. Since I was a little late I quickly tried to catch onto the sermon.
I was surely reminded of two scriptures that I have known but haven't paid much attention to lately.
Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for my Lord is with me."
Romans 8:38 "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fear for today nor out worries for tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can ever separate us from God's love."
Take a good long look to remember what God's word has just promised you!
When I thought about it afterwards I was reminded of Romans 8:28, God lets all things work together for our good.
Think about this:
Imagine a tunnel. At the end is the shining light of God beaming through. Inside whipping at your feelings and emotions is discouragement, stressful situations, arguments with your parents, disagreements with your friends, problems at work, and you can fit in whatever you may be going through in there. Well remember that light, that right there is God's "good" that he has already planned out and promised you way before any of it started. He wouldn't put you through something just to make you feel worse than you did before. He sets these trials and tribulations in front of us to teach us a lesson that usually in turn brings us closer to him.
Okay, now try to apply this logic to life's trials.
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