My Testimony

A night or two ago I felt compelled to write an essay describing why I believe what I believe about religion, and though I intended it to be a short essay, it accidentally became ten double-spaced pages. Whoops. Anyways, here is the result. All quoted scripture comes from the NASB, by the way.

Every Christian has a personal testimony. Generally speaking they probably even have a specific spiel to go through, given how common it is in Christendom to ask someone to spontaneously give their testimony. This is mine. Well, no. Not quite. See, this is my testimony, but it isn’t like a normal testimony. This isn’t my personal life story as relating to religion. I honestly have the quintessential boring testimony when it comes to those. Raised in a Christian home, accepted the Lord at an early age, have tried to live for Him since. Your typical stuff. No, instead, this is an essay on why I believe the Bible. This is an essay pertaining not to my life story but to the reasoning behind it.

I believe the entire Bible. This means that I believe 2 Timothy 3:16-17 when it says that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” But why? Why did I decide to have faith in this book that can’t be proven, and that is opposed to so many of humanity’s natural values? Is my faith blind? Am I mindlessly accepting an esoteric work of fiction in order to give myself the false hope of meaning in a meaningless world?

While I unfortunately have to conclude that many Christians do just that, I feel strongly that I have not. Do I have faith? In some cases, even blind faith? Yes. I do. I fully and freely admit that, and that confession in no way causes that faith to waver. I am willing to believe the Bible, and believe God, and even the very existence of God in the first place, on faith, because I first believed it on trust. I believe in the existence and validity of faith, but only in the presence of trust.

Trust is a major part of human life, and is in fact necessary for so many of our dealings with other people, as well as inanimate objects. But what exactly is trust? Dictionary.com lists the first definition of trust as “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.” Out of seven definitions only as a noun, four of those definitions include the word “confidence.” Trust is about a confident reliance on a person or thing. I take the definition a bit further and stipulate that such a confidence must come from some kind of proof that the person or thing in question is trustworthy. Note the word “proof,” not “evidence.” Evidence can lead to an implication that the person or thing is trustworthy. Proof is explicit. It can leave no room for doubt.

But how does this theory apply practically? Before hiring an employee, companies will run a background check on the individual. This proves that the individual is worthy of enough trust to work at that company. No company would hire an individual based solely on shaky evidence—they want undeniable, factual proof that this person has committed no crime. Before accepting the Bible, a thorough Christian, or perhaps, thorough non-Christian, would cross-check the factual portions of it to confirm their veracity.

An example of this lies in the Hittites. For quite a long time the only mention made of the Hittites was in the Bible, and no evidence of their existence was found anywhere other than that book. This was used by many as “proof” that the Bible was flawed, as clearly such a civilization as described in the Bible would have left at least some kind of legacy. In the 19th and 20th centuries however, the Hittite capital of Hattusa was uncovered by archeologists, and today, the existence of the Hittites is undisputed.

Similarly, many of the biblical customs among the Jews of the Old Testament protected the Jews from infections and diseases not yet known in the ancient world. Among these were the stipulations surrounding the touching of dead things and the cleansing that must be undergone afterwards (Numbers 9:11-13), and the order to not eat shellfish (Leviticus 11:9-12). Both of these stipulations, stated in the Bible and nowhere else, were validated centuries later by scientific discoveries concerning bacteria and other things.

The Bible also predicted the later discoveries that the Earth is round and the universe is expanding (Isaiah 40:22), and that the Earth hangs on nothing (Job 26:7), the contradictions of all of which were common assumptions of the day.

We will come to the reasoning of Jews and Christians living before these discoveries in due time; for now, I want to focus on the fact that the Bible is an accurate historical and scientific record which can be used to predict new discoveries—an ability much esteemed in modern science. This is one way to establish trust in the Bible. These are facts that cannot be argued, and they point clearly to the idea that the Bible was inspired by a Being with infinite knowledge, far above human capabilities. It also points to such a Being as being loving, as He didn’t have to tell the Jews how to avoid such diseases and infections, but chose to protect them from those things despite.

Another piece of proof lies in the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the mid-1900s. These scrolls contain portions of the Hebrew Old Testament, and are estimated at having originated between 408 BC and 318 AD. The content of the scrolls matches nearly exactly to the current translations of the Bible. This proves that those parts of the Bible, at the very least, were in fact written at least as far back in history as those times, and have not been muddled in translation over the years. Other, similar documentation, comprised of both the Old and New Testaments, has been found in other areas at different times, but currently, the Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest surviving copies of the Old Testament.

Yet another factor that can lead to plausible trust in the Bible is the fact that in all my studies of it, and all others’ studies of it, the Bible has not contradicted itself. Because of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other documents, we can know for certain that these texts were written at wildly differing times, in wildly differing places, in wildly differing languages. Such a collective document ought to be riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies, yet somehow, the Bible agrees with itself without fail. Yes, at times the meanings can be unclear, and can seem contradictory, but with further cross-references and reasoning, all such apparent contradictions can be readily resolved.

Further, at no point is the Bible inconsistent with science. This may seem shocking to many non-Christians, and indeed, to many Christians as well, but nevertheless it is true. The currently popular Big Bang Theory, and the Theory of Evolution, are both just what their names say they are: theories. Neither of those things are fact, nor are they irrefutable. I have mentioned many instances where the Bible predicted a scientific discovery. To date, the Bible has never been disproven by any scientific discovery, but has only ever been further evidenced by them.

The biblical concept of a 6 day creation and a young Earth causes the evaporation of many issues that leave evolutionists bewildered, such as the amount of salt in the oceans, which is far, far below the level old Earth proponents claim it ought to be, as well as the increasing distance between the Earth and the moon, which is not nearly as far along as old Earth proponents would assume it must be. For more on this topic, you will have to research other sources, as I only have minimal knowledge in this area. A good place to start is Answers in Genesis, a company devoted to explaining creation and the world as we know it through the book of Genesis.

The Bible seems to hold up in every area that can be tested by man. This makes the Bible worthy of trust. Now, an obvious argument is that not all of the Bible can be proven as the above examples can be. That is correct. Not all of the Bible can be proven. However, not all of anything can be proven. There are portions of the people you trust most confidently that you cannot prove with certainty, yet you believe them. There are aspects of the things you trust most confidently that you cannot prove with certainty either, yet you believe them too. Why would you do such a thing? Believing what you can prove is all well and good and seems obvious, but why believe the things you cannot prove? This is where trust fades away and gives rise to a similar concept: faith.

Once we have established trust in a specific person, we are more willing to accept something new from that person, even if only on faith. This is not wrong, and in fact, is the natural consequence of trust. One does not have faith in a person or thing one cannot trust. Without trust, faith is inappropriate, as it is without a logical foundation and in such a case rests only on an emotional one. However, once trust has been established, one will find themselves more readily able to accept new information from that source without solid proof. If a friend who has always valued you and been completely honest with you in the past tells you a piece of information you find hard to believe, will you believe it from that person? You may very well. That is all well and good, as that person has been proven to esteem both you and honesty in the past, and can thus be trusted to not abuse the benefit of the doubt in future situations. Because of this built up trust, you may even believe your friend when the information they tell you makes no sense to you. You trust, you have faith, that in time, the explanation will be proven correct. Faith is trust in the future tense, and trust is faith in the past tense.

An oft-cited example of this is the Chair Analogy, which demonstrates how, after trust has been established (the chair is well made and previous experience indicates that the chair will be capable of its duty in the future), the person in question will feel comfortable enough to take new information or actions from the trusted person on faith (the man sits in the chair, trusting in it not to let him fall, despite not having checked the chair directly before sitting down). Did the man have faith in the chair, devoid of proof that his faith was well placed? Yes. He neglected to inspect the chair before sitting down. Did the man do so mindlessly, and was the man at fault? No. The man had reason to have faith in the chair. The chair had proven trustworthy in other areas. Now. The Chair Analogy is sometimes used to demonstrate other virtues, but it drives this point home as well.

Would you necessarily accept the seemingly nonsensical information that you might accept from your trusted friend from a source you did not previously trust? No, it is not likely you would. Nor should you. Faith can only be valid when in the presence of trust. There are portions of the Bible that must currently be taken on faith. There are portions of it that cannot be proven. One of the most prominent examples of this is the book of Revelation; an entire book of the Bible that has not yet taken place and must therefore be taken solely on faith. However, I have built up trust in the Bible, as I explained previously. This means that I am willing to have faith in the parts of it I do not yet understand, trusting that in time, I will.

I have noticed that many people, both Christians and non-Christians alike, have assumed that faith is something that must come intuitively, and that as it can’t be fully proven, only evidenced, it must be at least partially mindless. It can’t be deeply pondered, as that would result in a wavering of faith, which is doubt; a thing clearly rebuked in the very Bible you’ve begun to doubt. Clearly what James meant in James 1:6, “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind,” is that the Bible must be completely accepted blindly and would not hold up under scrutiny. Never mind that this thinking is itself anti-biblical, as stated in Psalm 1:2-3, among other places; “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”

Earlier, I wrote extensively of various occasions wherein the Bible has predicted science, and how the Bible has yet to contradict either itself or scientific law. Clearly, the Bible is a thing we are meant to ponder and meditate on. This is religion. This is the foundation of human existence. This is our past, present, and future. This is our eternity. And this is our very purpose for existing in the first place. One must not take that kind of thing lightly. We are meant to study it. We are meant to scrutinize it. And we are meant to meditate on it, both day and night. To do so is not to doubt; it is to obey.

Now, don’t forget, this is a testimony, not simply a theoretical debate. No testimony is complete without a salvation message. How does what I’ve said lead to your walk with Jesus? Well… How doesn’t it? If we look at the evidence, we must trust the Bible, and if we trust the Bible, it logically follows that we must have faith in it. Once we have faith in it, we must believe all of it. Once we believe all of the Bible… We must believe that Christ loved us while we were yet sinners and died for us on the Cross to pay for our sins. We must believe that He rose again on the third day, and that He is coming back for us. We must believe that our purpose in both this life and the next is to accept His gift of salvation and follow Him. I dislike the term “free gift.” Salvation isn’t free. Salvation involves surrendering yourself to Jesus and declaring Him to be the Lord of your life. Literally, not figuratively. You literally become a servant of God. Too often Christianity downplays that part and focuses on the gift of God. Yes, the gift is free in that we do not need to pay with works, or materials. We pay with our souls.

Why would we agree to such a thing? Isn’t freedom better? Why would anyone choose the narrow road, when the wide road equals your individual freedom? Well firstly, doing so is the only way to avoid eternal damnation in Hell. If you were looking for a self-serving reason to be a Christian, look no further. But also because it was God who made us in the first place. We may think we could be happier serving ourselves rather than Him, but that thinking is simply incorrect. We were designed to serve, and to love, and to have a relationship with, God. He loves us. He wants the best for us. And He knows, infinitely better than we do, what that best truly is. That’s something we need to have faith in. Because He has proven Himself trustworthy in the past, and because if we do have faith, someday, our faith will become trust. First Corinthians 13:12 promises this very thing when it says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” We must have faith for now. But we are promised that one day, our faith will be sight.

If we are trusting and having faith in Jesus, what does that mean for our walk here on Earth? Well, CS Lewis puts it nicely in his book, Mere Christianity, when he says; “To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already.” We must pick up our crosses and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). We must obey His commands. We must follow the Bible to the best of our ability, and always strive to become more like Him whom we serve and has saved us.

It isn’t, and won’t be easy. It never has been and it never will be. Jesus Himself tells his disciples as much. We must adopt the attitude of James when he says in James 1:2-4; “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” But that is not all. John 16:33 tells us openly that yes, we will have trouble, but we will also have hope. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus has overcome the world. All of it. We can’t even beat all of an MMO, and yet Jesus has overcome all of this world. No matter what trials we face, He will be with us, and He has overcome. It may not seem like it at times. It may not seem like it at most times. He may seem very, very silent. But He is always there, truly, and promises that, as it says in Romans 8:28; “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Bad things will happen to us. We will have trouble. We may even despair at the sight of the trials ahead of us in this life. But no matter what the world throws at us, God can make it work to our good, and perhaps most importantly of all, He has overcome.

I don’t know how effective this essay will be. In fact, I don’t even really know if anything I just spent the last two and a half hours writing makes any sense. It does to me. Maybe that’s enough, at least for now. My intention was to write a testimony that described in detail exactly why I believe what I believe, and to my knowledge, that is what I have done. So, I guess you have what I promised you’d have by the end of this monolithic essay. You have my testimony.

Works Cited
“Answers in Genesis.” Answers in Genesis. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 July 2015.
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan, 1958. Print.
New American Standard Bible. La Habra, CA: Foundation Publications, for the Lockman Foundation, 1971. Print.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 July 2015.

 

Hiatus

As you may or may not have noticed, I’ve taken an unplanned and unexpected hiatus. Halfway through a full length fanfic, too. I am sorry about that. Anyway, I guess it’s time you should know something of what happened and when the hiatus will be over.
March was a rough time for me for a lot of reasons, my junior year of high school being a big part of that, and I literally did not have time to write. I’d type as quickly as I could on Wednesday nights so that I could post on Thursday mornings. It became a major source of anxiety for me, disrupted my sleeping patterns every other Wednesday, and resulted in a lesser quality of writing. So one night I decided I was too tired to stay up and write, and I just never posted anything that week. Or the next week. Or the next week. By this time I’d decided simply to go on hiatus. I’m sorry I didn’t post anything before now.
Here’s how this is going to work. It’s July now, so half way through the year. This hiatus is now official, and it has an official end date. I will start posting regularly again as of the first Thursday in January 2016. I know, that’s a long wait, and if any of you are still out there and still care, I’m sorry. During the next six months I will finish writing my Demigods and the Blue Box series, and when I come back, I will be posting the final chapters of that every Monday, in addition to normal posts every other Thursday. I will also write six new one shots so that I have a three month buffer of fanfiction, so that hopefully I never have to hiatus on you again. If anyone has any suggestions of what I should write for my one shots, by the way, please comment!
I have this idea that I’ll make a special Christmas fanfic, but I’m not sure on that one yet. I feel like that could be fun though.
In the meantime, I’ll continue writing the short holiday posts I usually write, and I will probably be posting a few other things, such as my personal reviews of shows I’ve recently watched, etc.
Lastly, I’m still taking submissions, so if you have a fanfic of your own that you want to post on the Internet without making your own account or site, visit my *Le Submissions page and send it in!
Thanks for your patience during this randomly long hiatus.
With love in fandom and in Christ,
Marie

 

The Infinity Dreams Award

I was nominated for The Infinity Dreams award by Savannah from A Scattering of Light. Thank you, Savannah! (Her blog is great, guys, you should all go check it out.)

{ Rules }

1. Thank and follow the blog that nominated you.
2. Tell us 11 facts about yourself.
3. Answer the questions that were set for you to answer.
4. Nominate 11 2 bloggers and set questions for them.

{ 11 Facts About Me }

1. My hair is 43 inches long, incredibly thick, and is comprised of probably every hair color there is excepting black. It looks more blonde in the summer, more brown in the winter, and occasionally it somehow looks bright auburn.

2. Elsa from Frozen is the closest any fictional character has ever come to representing me in fiction.

3. To my shame, I have not read the Lord of the Rings, even though the movies are my life and the Hobbit is my favorite novel.

4. My favorite kind of candy is exceptionally dark chocolate.

5. I don’t really care for amusement parks. (Disneyland being an exception.)

6. I’m a Highly Sensitive Person, or HSP.

7. Eeyore is my spirit animal. Some people are a lion, or a wolf, but I am a depressed, sawdust-stuffed donkey.

8. I was sick two weeks ago, was almost getting over it, and now am sick with something else. That’s fun.

9. I generally don’t like superhero movies, but the Marvel cinematic universe is becoming an exception to that.

10. I tried to be a video gamer, I really did, but the only two games I really like are World of Warcraft and Legend of Zelda, and I mostly like those two for the lore, not the gameplay.

11. Most of my ancestors were Scandinavian, making me basically a viking. :3

{ Savannah’s Questions }

1. What’s your favorite book from when you were small?

Define small. I mean if we’re talking toddler, then Golden Book’s Cinderella. Mom says she memorized it because I wanted her to read it so often. A bit later on, Elsie’s Endless Wait. Excellent book for all young Christian girls… or honestly, any Christian girl.

2. If you met the villain of your work-in-progress in the grocery store, what would he or she have in their cart?

I write in fantasy, so well, no one goes to grocery stores. And technically my villain is a sovereign, so he’d probably have servants to do that for him. Now if he were transported to a 2015-esque Costco, then, after panicking because of the sudden time travel, he’d probably be a fan of the pizza.

3. What was one of your best dreams ever?

I stole the ring of power from Gollum with the help of Lily Evans and then escaped onto the Death Star where Lily had to leave me and I snuck around with Sherlock until we were in a small living room and I realized with a start that the victim in the room had been gassed to death. I tried to warn Sherlock, but saw him fall just as I blacked out, and that’s when I woke up to my alarm, muttered “but I have to find out what the third act was,” and tried to fall back asleep to no avail. That was pretty good.

4. Which do you like better: Chocolate chip cookies, or vanilla ice cream?

Hard, but vanilla ice cream. Ice cream tho. Ice cream.

5. If you had the chance to go to France or England, which would you choose? Why?

England. Because, BBC. Nuff said.

6. If you could pick one song to describe one of your favorite characters, what would it be?

Skyward Sword’s Zelink pairing is basically perfectly summed up in the song A Thousand Years.

7. What’s your least favorite color?

Possibly red. Bright, vibrant, piercing red that blares at you angrily. Crimsons I’m more ok with.

8. How do you stop hiccups?

Honestly, I don’t. I do the water thing occasionally if I get desperate but usually I just suffer.

9. What’s one book that really irritated you?

The Scarlet Letter. The themes were great, don’t get me wrong, but you’re introduced to Hester Prynne and for the first third of the book she’s the only protagonist. At a third of the way through suddenly you have dual protagonists. I as a reader really didn’t like the feeling that I’d been lied to about who the book was about. That did annoy me. That said, the themes in it are worth exploring.

10. What’s something you were always scared to do?

Most things, if I’m being honest. I’m really good at seeing the risks involved in any situation and from there generally decide it’s a bad idea to try whatever it is. Oh, here’s one. I was scared for a long time of forming any kind of a close friendship because I knew I’d be risking losing that person eventually, or being hurt by them. I got over that one recently. It was well worth the risk. Well worth. But be careful- not everyone out there is worth that risk.

11. Would you eat garlic ice cream?

As much as I love garlic, and as much as I love ice cream, no. Well, ok. I’d try it just so that I could say that I had. I would not however try more than necessary for bragging rights.

{ My Questions for the Nominees}

1. What is your favorite book that you have read for school?

2. What originally got you writing?

3. Which movie are you most excited for this year?

4. Do you prefer large, or small cities?

5. Opinion on poetry?

6. When writing, do you do any outlining first, or do you go right for the first draft?

7. Who is your favorite author?

8. Do you like Frozen? Why or why not?

9. DC, Marvel, or neither?

10. Favorite song with lyrics?

11. Favorite song without lyrics?

And I nominate… Angela and Emma. (I know, I broke the rules a little and didn’t make it to 11. Sorry.) If you don’t want to do this, that’s ok too, but know I was thinking of you.

 

The Demigods and the Blue Box Part Nine

They’d get there right on schedule. Annabeth prayed to the gods Percy would still be alive when she got there.
As the four started to run into the mass of demigods, they slowed. Annabeth cringed as she noted the fallen pines, and groaned when she saw that one of then had even fallen on the Artemis cabin. Luckily that cabin was only used when the Huntresses came visiting, but Artemis would not be pleased. A thunderous roar sounded from the pines, not at all far away, and when Annabeth looked she could see the behemoth and the trail of carnage in its wake.
“This doesn’t look very good,” Seth moaned. Aaron sucked in his breath sharply and nodded in agreement.
“Percy?” Annabeth shouted. “Percy!” No answer.
“I’m sure he’s right at the front, holding it off. He won’t be able to hear you now, but just wait, that’s right where we’re going too!” the Doctor consoled.
Annabeth smiled a bit to show gratitude. “I hope so. And we do need to blast that thing. Now.”
Seth and Aaron whispered to each other next to Annabeth. “What are you two muttering about?” she asked suspiciously.
“We were just thinking,” started Aaron.
“This is a miniturization ray,” said Seth.
“Yes. Good job keeping up,” Annabeth replied with scrunched eyebrows.
“It’s not a disappearing ray. It want be gone, it’ll just be smaller,” Aaron explained.
“How small, and what do we do with the mini version?” finished Seth.
Annabeth’s eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t thought of that. How small WOULD it be? And what WOULD they do with it? But, this had never been her plan. It was the Doctor’s plan. Annabeth looked to him. “Well? What’s the answer?”
“It’ll be about the size of a miniature poodle,” the Doctor informed her.
More roaring. Everyone winced as the sound came crashing on their ears. It was closer. They had moments before they needed to be in action again, and that was pushing it. “Seth, find some way to contain it and meet us there. Aaron, stay with the Doctor and me. We need to move. Now.”
Seth nodded and ran off, and Aaron opened his hands palms facing up to Annabeth. “Tell me what to do.”
“What’s the range on this, Doctor?” Annabeth asked.
“A few meters.”
“Then both of you, push.” Annabeth gripped one hand on the device and started moving as quickly as she could in the direction of the roars. The Doctor and Aaron pushed from the other side. After not too long, they picked up speed, and as they came upon the mass of demigods, Annabeth’s frantic cries of “move!” coupled with the strange device she was obviously pushing through to the front was enough to make everyone move for her.
They were past the defense line. Annabeth could see the whole scene now. A rope was tied around the dinosaur’s legs, tangling it up and forcing it to move more slowly. The ropes looked like they were about to break. Annabeth smiled. It wasn’t much, but Percy had bought them just enough time. “Percy!” she shouted again.
“Annabeth!” Percy shouted back. “You better have that thing ready to go, because this was the last idea I had!”
“Just in time!” Annabeth said, hurredly adjusting her targeting mechanism. “Doctor, you do the honors.”
The Doctor flipped a switch on the small control panel and pressed both of the two buttons. In a flash he had his sonic screwdriver out and added that to the mix. “Got it!” he yelled, right as a bright green beam of light emanated from the targeting mechanism Annabeth had designed and flooded the dinosaur and a loud, high-pitched buzz echoed in their ears.
For a second, nothing happened. Percy found his way to Annabeth and took her hand. Annabeth hardly noticed. She just held her breath, hoping against hope this crazy plan would work. “Is it working?” she asked the Doctor.
“Give it time,” he said. The dinosaur seemed to be stuck in the light, which was already a good thing. And, was it just Annabeth’s eyes, or was it- It was! It was getting smaller! Without thinking, she gripped Percy’s hand more tightly.
“Guys! I got it! I found a leash and collar!” Seth yelled out as he ran up, panting. “Did it wo- It did!”
There was the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex, trapped in green light, the size of a toy poodle, roaring softly with all of the air it could hold inside of it. The ray had worked, thank the gods. Or, more accurately, Annabeth reminded herself, thanks to the Doctor.

 

The Demigods and the Blue Box Part Eight

“Great! This’ll work out.”
For all of their sakes, Annabeth hoped it would.
Mighty Hephestus, Annabeth prayed a few seconds later with her jaw clenched and her eyes fixed on the tools she was working with, help me build this thing right. She was a child of Athena, darn it, not a child of Hephestus. Her job was to DESIGN these things, not to BUILD them. Technically speaking, of course, Annabeth knew how to screw in a bolt. But practically speaking? It was harder than it looked. Everything was.
“Seth, the wheels in that box, I need them,” Annabeth grunted. Until the wheels were attached, the cylinder that made up the bulk of the product was unwieldy and hard to hold on to. Annabeth found herself sticking a bunch of screws between her lips so that both hands would be free to hold the pieces of metal together.
Seth brought them over. “Don’t suppose you’d want any help with that?”
Her mouth full of screws, Annabeth nodded. “Ackua-y, yea, I nee you to hole iss togetah whi’ I attack des weels to i’.”
“Um, what was that again?” Seth asked, raising one eyebrow and leaning slightly forward in a sarcastic manner.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and spat the screws out of her mouth and onto her lap. “I need you to hold this together while I attach these wheels to it.”
“OH,” Seth acted like she’d just translated from Latin. “Of course.” He shot her a sky smile as he took the hollow cylinder contraption she’d fashioned out of her hands and let her rush to screw on the four wheels.
“Are you almost ready, Annabeth?” shouted the Doctor without turning his head from his work.
“Are you?” Annabeth asked him back.
“Just about! Say the word, and we’ll attach the pieces. It’s coming time now, you know.”
“I really hope your device looks the way I assume it must,” Annabeth told him. “And well, it’s really. At least, it’d better be.”
“Excellent. Bring it over, then.”
Annabeth got up off the floor, dusted herself off, and wheeled her metal transport contraption to the Doctor. “Easy now,” he whispered, fitting the device into the glorified wagon. “Did you manage a way to shoot it?”
Annabeth nodded. “You gave me almost nothing to work off of, but I think this should work.” She glanced at the clock. “We have less than one minute left before we need to be running across Camp Half-Blood. Look at it. Will this thing work?”
Anxiously, Annabeth followed the Doctor with her eyes as he bent at the waist to inspect her work. As he straightened, she found herself trying not to hold her breath. “And?”
“And?” the Doctor looked at her. “Annabeth Chase, you are quite obviously a child of Athena. Now let’s go!” With a smile, Annabeth, the Doctor, Aaron, and Seth all pulled the miniturization ray across the many wide, long fields of Camp Half-Blood, dodging trees as they went. Percy had promised to hold off the dinosaur for 43 minutes. They’d get there right on schedule. Annabeth prayed to the gods Percy would still be alive when she got there.

 

The Demigods and the Blue Box Part Seven

“Then it looks like you two are coming along for the ride,” Annabeth told the two brothers. “Now let’s build us a miniturization ray.”
“Good,” the Doctor said. “You lead the way.”
Annabeth took the lead and walked in long strides directly away from the massed demigods and partway into the woods. “There’s a special lock on it that they think will keep out the other campers. Apparently they’ve never heard of Tetris.” Annabeth tinkered with the lock for just a few seconds before the door swung open and the four were allowed inside.
“Oh, yes!” the Doctor said, clapping his hands together. “Now this I can work with!”
The interior walls were made from bronze, although from the outside the exterior had been built to blend into the forest better. Every wall was lined with shelves and shelves of various tools and pieces of metal, and evidently the shelves hadn’t been enough as there were tools littering the floor, as well. Blueprints for inventions were scattered on tables and quite a few were in crumpled up balls by each corner of the room.
Seth and Aaron glanced at each other through the corners of their eyes. “Don’t even think about it,” Annabeth warned, squinting slightly at them. Both boys sheepishly grinned in response. “We don’t have much time. Doctor, what do you need?”
“I’ll need those sheets of bronze and that box of screws, that motor over there, a coil of wire, that old-timey telephone-”
“It’s an iPhone 6!” Aaron protested.
“Exactly like I said, old-timey,” the Doctor replied absentmindedly. “While you collected those I can use these things over here to construct a few amateur photon defluxers-”
“Amatuer? Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of professional?” asked Seth.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Let’s see you build a couple of photon defluxers out of nothing but a few pieces of 21st century scrap metal.”
Seth rose his hands in mock surrender. “Ok, ok, whatever you say.”
“Good! Now get that stuff together. And Annabeth, this is where you come in, the object itself is going to be about a meter high and a third a meter around, like a kind of cylinder. Figure out a way to transport that and aim it.”
Annabeth grunted. “Shouldn’t be a problem.” Actually she wasn’t sure exactly how she was supposed to devise a means of transportation for a device she didn’t even think existed much less seen, but she wouldn’t say so to any of these people. She’d come through. Annabeth looked all around her, and all set to work.
The clock ticked steadily. Each resounding [tick] pounded harder than the last on Annabeth’s temple. 1381 seconds had passed, exactly. 23 minutes. And they had only been given 43 to stop the dinosaur. They were running out of time.
Annabeth continued to try different styles of transport, hastily glancing to the Doctor now and again to see exactly what she was trying to do. The fragile nature of the ray made normal braces impossible, but without it, the device would fall and break. It was too heavy to simply be lifted and dragging it would scratch it too badly.
Sweat gathered at the nape of Annabeth’s neck and she inattentively tied it back into a ponytail with a blue hair band she kept in her pocket. The bronze walls gave the Toolbox a steampunk feel, but they didn’t help release heat. Four people actively working under pressure inside of it were already causing a light layer of mist to appear. Annabeth shuddered to think of what the Toolbox was like chock-full of Hephestus kids.
10 minutes left until they needed to be using this thing. Subtracting 5 minutes for running across the camp, that left 5 for building. Annabeth was pretty sure she’d come up with a decent form of transport. Now she needed to build it. “Doctor, how are you doing?”
“The photon defluxers are done. Working on the final product now. You?”
“I think I’ve figured out how to do it. I just need to put it together.”
“Great! This’ll work out.”
For all of their sakes, Annabeth hoped it would.

 

The Demigods and the Blue Box Part Six

Part Five of this series can be found here.

“Because!” answered the Doctor before Annabeth had a chance to open her mouth. “I’m from the planet Gallifrey, I am a thousand years old, I am the last of the Timelords, and I was called here by Annabeth Chase herself. You trust me because I am the Doctor, I am going to get that dinosaur back home, and I am going to do it before it destroys your Camp Half-Blood.”
Aaron laughed. “Annabeth, you’re buying this? Like, seriously? This guy is obviously nuts, if not from Tartarus.”
“I’ve told you all I know,” Annabeth said, and the conversation ended.
“Annabeth!” Percy shouted from a few yards away from her. He came over as quickly as he could. “What did you find? Did you stop it? Can he stop it? Can we trust him? Were there any casualties? Should we try Iris-messaging the Hunters?”
With a slight giggle despite the seriousness of the situation, Annabeth held a finger to Percy’s lips. “Slow down!”
“Right. Sorry. But, well?” Percy asked, darting his eyes from her to the Doctor to the battlefront and back again.
“We didn’t stop it, I don’t know whether he can or not, I’m still not quite sure about trusting him, there haven’t been any casualties yet, at least, and I don’t think it’s time to try the Hunters. We can still do this on our own.”
Percy nodded. “Ok. What’s your plan?”
Annabeth tilted her head back to the Doctor, who was just behind her and slightly to the right. “He says he can stop it. Personally I want to see him try.”
“How long do you need?” Percy asked.
“Forty-four, no, forty-three minutes should do the trick,” the Doctor said from behind them.
Percy nodded and looked back at Annabeth. “Is there anything else about this that I need to know before you go?”
“The celestial bronze won’t work on it.”
“WHAT?” Percy shouted. “What do you mean the celestial bronze won’t work? Of course the celestial bronze will work! It has to work! How could it possibly not work?”
“It’s mortal, Percy, it’s not a monster. It’s a dinosaur. From the past.” Percy squinted his eyes at her and didn’t say anything, so Annabeth continued. “You’re going to have to trust me. I know what I saw.”
“I still don’t know if I believe this whole time travel thing, but my sword definitely wasn’t having an effect,” added Seth. Aaron nodded and pointed to Seth in agreement.
Percy turned back to Annabeth. “Of course I believe you. But this changes everything. If our weapons don’t work, we can’t win. I don’t even know how we’re going to hold it off for forty-three minutes.”
“I wish I knew what to tell you, Percy, but I don’t. I’m sorry. You’ll have to think of something.”
“Yeah. Then I need to go. So do you,” Percy took a step away. “Be careful, Wise Girl.”
Annabeth smirked. “Try not to get yourself killed, Seaweed Brain.” Smirking back at her for a second before turning away, Percy disappeared in the crowd. Annabeth turned to face the Doctor, Seth, and Aaron. “Doctor, if you really do have a plan, now is the time to prove it.”
“And so it is. Ok,” the Doctor said. “Here’s the plan. I’m going to make a miniaturization ray, and miniaturize the dinosaur.”
Seth and Aaron looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes. They were willing to believe Annabeth, but obviously they were still pretty unsure. So was Annabeth herself, in fact. “A miniaturization ray. Ok. And if this works, then what?”
“Then the dinosaur will be small enough to fit through the front doors of my TARDIS and we can get it home. Once there I’ll be able to reverse the miniaturization, and we’re on our way!”
Annabeth pursed her lips slightly and fixed her eyes on the Doctor. That plan sounded, well, ridiculous. There was no way. It was impossible. But, then… If she was ready to believe in time traveling dinosaurs and 1950 police boxes, maybe she could give bow ties and miniturization rays their fair chance. “Fine, we’ll try it. What do you need?”
“A few things. A Hephestian working space. An Athenian brain. And my sonic screwdriver!” The Doctor held up his screwdriver.
“Then come with me. I’ll show you to the Toolbox the Hephestus kids like to call their work station. And I can supply the brain,” Annabeth stated dryly.
“What do we do?” asked Seth.
“We’ll need some people to carry the device to the dinosaur once it’s done,” the Doctor said.
“Then it looks like you two are coming along for the ride,” Annabeth told the two brothers. “Now let’s build us a miniturization ray.”

 

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

Hello!

I was nominated for the “Sisterhood of the World Bloggers” award, by Stories and a Smile. Thanks! 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoyed my blog enough to nominate me.

I haven’t had the time to look through her blog much, but from what I’ve seen I can definitely recommend it.

Here are the rules…

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.
2. Put the award logo on your blog.
3. Answer the ten questions they’ve set you.
4. Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
5. Nominate ten people.

And the questions for me to answer are…

1. Where is one place you would love to visit?
Lemme pull a mainstream here and say London, from what I’ve seen, London and the surrounding area sounds like a very nice place.
2. What is your favorite song at the moment?
My favorite song since I discovered it in May of this year is Lindsey Stirling’s cover of River Flows In You. Kinda boring for a lot of people no doubt, but this song is important to me.
3. What is your favorite tv show?
That… That’s not a question you’re allowed to ask! Who said you could ask such a question? I guess… if I had to choose… I’d have to say… BBC’s Sherlock. I love so many tv shows, guys, Doctor Who another notable one, but if I had to pick, I’d say Sherlock edges out the others by just a tiny bit.
4. If you could invite someone over for dinner (alive or dead) who would it be?
This is kind of like asking a Christian what his or her favorite book is. Obs I’m going to say Jesus. But, since that’s an answer all Christians share, I guess I’ll also tell you who my second choice would be. Probably CS Lewis. He’s kind of my hero, in a lot of ways. Although admittedly I’d be a tad bit nervous trying to make conversation with someone as brilliant as he.
5. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
The ability to transform the clouded and foggy thoughts in my head into words on a screen without spending lengthy amounts of time sifting through words in the English language, only to have to settle on words that can’t ever seem to quite capture my exact meaning. My current predicament is quite annoying. As a writer, I hate it so much I’ve chosen to spend the rest of my life doing it. :3
6. What is your favorite time of day? (night, morning, midday, etc)
On principle, I like it when I can wake up just before the sunrise and can go outside to look at the dewy roses while the sun comes up. It may be for that reason that In the Garden has been my favorite worship song for as long as I can remember.
7. Do you have any pets? If not, what pet would you want?
My family has two beagle littermates, Bixie and Capt. Jack. They’re about 5 1/2 now.
8. What do you feel is the best thing about yourself?
Oh gosh. That’s a good question. Um. I guess, right now, if I had to call any of the things that I do or am to be my best quality, I’d say it was my empathy. Now, the empathy thing can be really annoying at times, too, and I can overreact to what I think are nonverbal cues quite often when there are none, but for the most part I have the ability to talk to another person and understand their emotional troubles quite well. A lot of the time, I am able to feel exactly what they feel. That comes in handy when trying to help others who are hurting. I’d have to say that’s the quality I value most in myself, at least for the time being.
9. Who is your favorite character in a book or a movie, and why do you like them so much?
Darn it, this is like that tv show question! You can’t expect me to answer this! There are so many, guys, but for now I’m going to say Elsa. Elsa is special to me because she is the closest to embodying me that any fictional character has ever come.
10. Why did you start blogging?
Ah yes, ok, finally, a question I can answer. I started this site after I had long wanted an FF.net account, but after looking at that site, knew I could never associate myself with such a worldly environment. I could trust my own content, of course, but I’d never be able to trust commenters. So instead I opted to create my own site for fangirls who, like me, wanted to write and read fanfiction, but didn’t want to compromise their morals in the process. And thus Clean Fangirling was born. 🙂

My nominees:

I’ll admit, I don’t follow very many blogs myself. I don’t even know if I follow 10. But, I’ll aim for as close to the allotted 10 as I can get.

Proceeding with Joy

A Scattering of Light

The Peculiar Messenger

Journeys of an Industrious Yarnwriter

Idle Wanderings

Sorry, but those 5 will just have to be enough.

My Questions:

1. Favorite quote from a person living or dead?
2. Favorite quote from a fictional character?
3. If you could bring any fictional character back to life, who would it be?
4. What do you most value about yourself?
5. Favorite song with lyrics?
6. Favorite song without lyrics?
7. Cats or dogs?
8. Introvert or Extrovert?
9. Poetry or prose?
10. Why did you start blogging originally?

Thanks again for the nomination! I hope my nominees enjoy the award and keep the cycle going.

 

The Denouement

With this year coming to a close, it’s time to look back on the “unravelling” of it. 2014. 2014… How shall I sum thee up? So many things happened this year, and so much changed in my life. Ok. I guess I’ll go chronologically.

The year kicked itself off with me basically entering depression for a few months, though at the time I refused to call it so. The period of time in which I can say I experienced true depression, and not just natural mood swings, ended around the beginning of April. So that’s how this year started off.

In early April my family bought a house. This was one of the last houses we bid on before considering moving out of the San Francisco Bay Area, and we won the bid at a lower price than our competitor, would you believe it. And we had exactly, not one penny more, but exactly enough money to pay the downpayment and move. And as a side note being so busy with packing and school and packing and more school quite possibly helped me out of depression, too. God really does have some good timing.

At the end of July a really cool thing happened. I woke up to a Facebook message from a person I had long wanted to be friends with, but never was able to get close to at all. Turns out he recently realized he wanted that same thing, and unlike me who had basically just been giving subtle hints for the past two years, he realized that he wanted me as a friend and decided to, well, make that happen. And now? Well… Anyone online who talks to me more than half a second has probably heard me refer to Josh at least once. Coolest thing that happened this year. Hands-down. Absolutely.

And then my junior year of high school began. Oh my goddess Nayru, guys, this is the busiest I have ever been. I thought sophomore year was busy… In the words of Thorin Oakenshield, “I have never been so wrong.” School may sound like kind of something that’s in the background of life and not really on the highlight reel. Well. This is not the background of my life. This is the forefront. And as I am after all only a lowly teenager going through that horrible thing we call “puberty” at the same time, this part of 2014 has been… interesting, to say the least. Thank God I made that best friend of mine back in July, because I can only assume that He knew I’d need friends with me to do this without blowing up.

Ok. Well. I’d be surprised if I haven’t lost a few readers by this point… This is turning out to be a really long New Year’s Eve post. Sorry guys. I kind of tend to ramble.

Last year, on 2013’s New Year’s Eve post, I mentioned some things I wanted to do this year. Well. Haha. I did almost none of those things. This year… It was not at all what I could have expected. In some ways it was harder, of course, and in some ways, it was so much better. This year was drastically different than I expected and the things I achieved were almost entirely different from the things I thought I would be. It was hard, and different, and a lot of it was pretty scary, but is proof to me that all things work to the good of those who love God and are called according to His service. (Romans 8:28)

I owe the success of this year to quite a few people, and here’s where I’d like to thank just a few of them. Thank you all so much. You are the reasons I can reflect on this year with satisfaction.

•Chloe
You’re really cool. Like. No, seriously. It’s my philosophy that no matter what you get on your Myres Briggs test it’s physically impossible for a child to be a true T type. Pubescent humans will simply always have traces of F in them while growing. But you break that mold. You’re 13 years old and you hold yourself together in emotionally tense situations better than I do. You’re incredible.

•Joze
Wow. My little boy is almost gone. There’s still traces of him, sure—traces that I for better or worse continue to cling to—but you’re growing up. As time goes on I’m sure that the age gap between us will slowly fade away and we’ll simply be friends… But for now, I can still get away with occasionally treating you like my own little boy. Well. I mean. I’m sure I’ll always think of you that way. Heck, I think of nearly everyone that way, and you’re my baby brother. But the point stands. You’re growing up, and I can’t wait to see the man you grow into.

•My parents
A lot of the things I said last year continue into this year. You still love me more than pretty much anyone else, and your critiques are still the most trustworthy. I’ve been realizing, and I think both of you have been too, this year, that I’m growing up. I’m 16 now. In two years, I’ll be an officially recognized adult. Growing up to some means needing parents less and relying on yourself more, and while that’s true from a certain angle, I think that in these next few years I’ll be needing you as much as I ever have. I have a lot to learn in these years, and you hold almost all the answers. So thank you, so very much, for everything you’ve done for me already. But your job isn’t quite over yet. 😋

•Joshua
I owe quite a bit to you, you know. Arguably I owe 2014 to you. Without you I would have openly declared this year to be my worst year on record. In the space of a few months, you have gone from a light acquaintance to my best friend, and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be. You know how I feel about words and finding the perfect ones to describe things, so you know how much it means when I tell you that you remain ineffable to me. I will be here for you for as long as you will have me… and though I’d never let you see it, quite possibly after that, as well.

•Jessica
At the beginning of this year if I knew you’d be at church I’d wear a nicer shirt and put on extra makeup. Now look. I mean, heck, Josh introduced us, but technically I was friends with you before I was friends with him. Daisies remind me of you for some reason. I’m still not sure exactly what that one’s about, but I’m an INFJ, so there’s probably a profound underlying meaning of some kind. Do what you will with that. Anyway. Don’t stop being awesome.👌

•Anslie
Congrats on being the only person from last year (minus family) who’s also here this year. Sure, there were times this year where we both were so busy at such different times that we barely talked to each other at all, but as that one saying goes, “true friendship isn’t about being inseparable; it’s about being separated and nothing changes.” You’re an amazing friend and an amazing person. Remember that. And don’t forget—pants.

•Naomi
You’re all kinds of awesome. A beautiful dancer, a great piano teacher, a fun personality, a talented writer. Also fellow INFJ. It’s funny, sometimes, when I see in you things that I legitimately thought were just me. Having days where you kind of just can’t put thoughts into words and end up just slamming your fingers onto the keyboard, for one. Making analogies as a way of explaining things. I mean… It’s just like poetry. 😂

•Alyssa
Thank you. I never even told you, just as I never told a lot of people, that this year was proving to be a tough one for me, and yet you still were able to make me feel better every time I talked to you. Even through a computer your very personality radiates joy, and when I talk to you, some of that joy often leaks into me. You are truly beautiful, from the inside out.

•Emma
We’ve never actually met, but regardless, you and I understand each other. And that is a beautiful thing. Talking with you has always left me feeling refreshed. It’s not often I find someone who works the same way I do, and you seem to operate in all those same ways. Thank you.

This year has proved to me that people you never expected to leave can sometimes fade out of your life, but that people you never expected to come into your life can walk right into it, too. God has perfect timing, always.

Now for the New Year’s Resolution bit. We all know how well that worked for me last year… But maybe this year will be different. And if I’m destined not to complete this checklist, then maybe, much like this year, I’m destined for better than it.

•I will have a full first draft of my first novel.

•I will be able to drive.

•I will have completed my junior year of high school.

•I will complete my Goodreads book-reading challenge.

•I will have 365 rows of a day-by-day scarf.

I make these plans keeping James 4:15 in mind: “Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” I’m setting these goals now, but should The Lord direct me elsewhere, I will not hesitate to go.

Happy New Year, everyone. And may it be blessed.

With love in fandom and in Christ,
Marie

 

Holiday Spirit

“Hello, Sweetie,” River whispered to herself as the TARDIS materialized in front of her and the door swung open. She stepped inside without a second thought and snapped the doors closed. “Hello, Sweetie,” she repeated, louder this time, and with a wider smile.
“Hello, Doctor Song,” smiled the Doctor back. “How long’s it been since the last time?”
“Oh, just ages and ages. I’d started to think you’d forgotten about me,” River said sarcastically. He had been far from neglectful ever since she’d been put in that prison to begin with. Seeing the Doctor start to frown, she quickly added “Four whole days and no sign of you in sight. Just what do you have to say about that?” She’d wanted to deliver the lines in all seriousness, but as the Doctor recognized the sarcasm and smiled again she couldn’t help breaking her straight face and laughing.
“No, but seriously, River, how long?” he asked again.
“No, seriously, Doctor, four days,” she answered.
The Doctor rose an eyebrow and walked around the consol to be near her. “That’s hardly enough,” he said in a slightly lower voice.
River quickly raised herself to her tip toes and kissed the Doctor before lowering herself again. “It never will be.”
The Doctor chuckled. “That wouldn’t happen to have been poisoned, would it?” River only smiled.
A second later she remembered something odd about the TARDIS. “Where are Amy and Rory?”
“Gone home for the night. Well. More like the week, for them, but, benefits of a time machine.”
“I see. Well. Where exactly are we going this time?” River asked.
“It’s been four days, you say? You poor thing, you, haven’t had contact with anyone but those nasty old guards for four whole days! People. That’s the only solution. Eleven of eleven Doctors will agree.”
“Well,” River rolled her eyes playfully. “If that’s what the Doctor orders.”
“Then let’s be off!” A few quick flipped switches and pressed buttons, a few bumps and a few spins, and the TARDIS jolted to an abrupt halt. Just before the break sounds could go on, again, River covertly turned off the breaks when the Doctor wasn’t looking. He probably noticed them not there, but he did know how much she preferred the breaks left off. “And here we are!”
“Will I need to change?” River asked.
The Doctor squinted at her for a few seconds before finally nodding. “You’ll be fine, but I’d run to get a coat if I were you.”
River nodded and sprinted down the corridors of the TARIDS to her room, where she snatched up the first warm-looking thing that came to hand and sprinted back to the Doctor, putting the coat on along the way. “Will this be enough?” she asked.
“It’ll be perfect. Now let’s go.”
Hand in hand, River and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and into the crowded streets of London. “When are we?”
“December. 2014, if the iPhones are any indication.”
So the Doctor hadn’t known from entering the coordinates in the TARDIS, only from knowing the time period. “…Where did you mean for us to go?”
The Doctor only shrugged. “London, at Christmastime. Didn’t enter in a specific year. But now that we are here, Doctor Song, what would you like to do?”
River looked around for a few seconds at the shining white lights decorating the streets as they contrasted the clear night sky, the wreaths on each door, the pedestrians along the sidewalks struggling to carry all of their bags, no doubt full of Christmas gifts. She sighed lightly of contentment, and thoughts trailed out of her head as she stared out at the picture.
“Are you alright?” The Doctor asked, gripping her hand a tiny bit tighter.
River was brought back to Earth with a start. “What? Yes, yes, I’m fine, of course. What was it you said?”
“I asked you what you wanted to do now that we were here. You do like it, don’t you?”‘
“Of course! Oh, it’s lovely. Walking for a bit sounds nice,” River decided.
“Then so it shall be,” replied the Doctor. Both started out at the same time, hand in hand, and they didn’t stop for a very long time.