Hope & Peace for Election Day.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

// john 14:27 kjv

Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are His: And he changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings; He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.

// daniel 2:20-21 kjv

Regardless of the outcome of today's elections... 

... spreading the Gospel and loving people like Jesus does is still our greatest tasks on this earth. 

... God is still on the throne

... the tomb is still empty 

... He is still in control of every.single.thing. 

... Place your trust in the One who sees and knows all. 

Will thou not revive us again? that thy people may rejoice in Thee? 

Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.  

I will hear what God the Lord will speak; for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints.  

Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in our land.  

Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good;  

Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps. 

// psalm 85

big hugs <3

Goodbye 2017 + Hello 2018

(Yes, I'm combining the two posts. Be a dear and don't complain, m'kay?)

2017 was an interesting year...and that feels like an understatement. I don't think I'd before experienced a year that changed me so much. It was hard sometimes, but it was a truly beautiful journey and one that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

At the beginning of the year, I chose my 'word of the year.' I had never did this before, but it sounded like a fun concept. So I chose cherish.

(If you've read Dandelion Dust, you're probably smirking at me right now. That book taught me a lot.)

When I chose that word I had no idea what God had in plan for me throughout the 365 days that would follow. I did learn to cherish, on a much deeper level than I'd had in mind. But I also learned how fragile time and life and beauty and love truly are.

We're not here by chance. Every single happening in my life and yours didn't come about by chance. It happened because it's a part of the amazing and intricate plan of the Father in Heaven.

I mentioned that I learned how fragile time is, but I'm also beginning to learn the mystery of waiting. For around a year, I've asked God what He wants me to do. At first He said 'wait, its not time for you to know'...which was not an answer Faith wanted.

But soon after, He gave me an answer. Not a complete answer, but one that's enough for right now. I asked what He wanted me to do, and He said writing.

And yet it took me months to even realize that; I remember the moment clearly. I was talking about writing with a lady at church and she said something about how wonderful it was that, at 16, I already knew what my passion was.

...I'd never thought of writing as a passion. In the few moments that followed that brief conversation, I realize that writing is my passion. I honestly don't think its the only plan God has for me, but it's what I'm supposed to be doing at this moment in time. And for now, that's enough.

2017 also brought a lot of change. Not changes like a move or a new church or a death in the family. But changes inside of me.

I'm a doubter, y'all. I constantly question things, and it's really not good for me.

But this year, I learned that some things are just truths. Things like God's love, how beautiful I am in His sight, and that He has a plan for every bit of pain, every rough spot in the road.

This summer, I learned so many valuable lessons. I discovered who I am in Christ. I grew closer to my Savior than I've ever been before. I held on to Him and learned to rest in His love. <3

(If you're extremely bored, hop over to Chosen Vessels where I wrote more about all that happened this summer.)

Last year around this time, I made a list of goals for 2017. Most of them I accomplished – I read more than 12 books of the Bible, kept a Bible journal for the most part, and grew closer to God. I strengthened my friendships and was (hopefully) a better friend. I finished and published Dandelion Dust *insert squealing* and finished War Tears. I wrote over 190,000 words. I read over 170 books. I started 12th grade.

There were three things on the list that I did not do – go to WinterJam (this year?), keep a writing journal (I legit wrote in it like 3 times), and learn to drive a stick-shift. But I'm not too worried about those things. ;)

A few weeks ago, Shannon Dittemore from Go Teen Writers posted a list of her accomplishments of the year, prompting me to attempt the same. It's quite encouraging to see all that's come about in the past year.

// 2017 accomplishments 

> finished writing, edited, and published by debut indie novella (49k)

> finished writing two other books (127k and 63k)

> wrote 168 blog posts

> hosted/co-hosted two blog parties

> wrote around 190k words 

> read 172 books

> went on a week-long youth/ministry trip

> camped with my family and friends for a week

> met one of my favorite authors in person

> one of my best friends from 1,000 miles away visited for 10 days 

> finished 11th grade and started 12th grade

> took a week-long adult/semi-advanced ceramics/pottery class

> grew closer to God <3 

I suppose that's enough reminiscing. Now for 2018...and for this year, I'm again choosing a word for the year. After flipping the question over in my mind for a few days, I finally settled on Light and Love. I desire to be a light in the world for Christ in everything I do, showing His love to others. <3


Goals for 2018... 

>> Read 15 books of the Bible and continue keeping a journal. 

>> Grow closer to God <3

>> Publish War Tears.

>> Graduate from high school. 

>> Read 120 books. 

>> Write another novel. 

>> Write 125,000 words 

>> Keep up with both blogs. 

>> Meet two online friends in person for the first time. 

Here's to 2018. May it be a year of beauty and growth. Of light and love. Of grace and mercy. Of lessons learned and stories woven.

To God be the glory,
~Faith

**Images from Pinterest. 

Goodbye 2016 // Farewell to an Amazing Year

2016 has been quite the year. Sure, it hasn't been perfect, but none are. Overall it's been a good year, with some trials and tragedies sprinkled throughout. But still a good year. Let's look at some comparison. 

2014 was a rough year of tears and conflict. My family was experiencing some hard times with unrest in our church. And then July came. Bomb. Dad resigned...we left that church. Leaving many friends and people we cared about. Most of the second half of that year was spent trying to find our way, discover where God's will would take us next. But that was also the year I discovered the blogging world. 

Then 2015 came along. We were still moving about some, trying out different churches, unsure where we were really going. Then we came to the church where we are now. I think we all struggled to some degree with trust – should we come to love these people when we'll be leaving this church soon too? But we came to care for them without even really knowing it, I believe. Through a series of events, which I'm not going to delve into to save time, this church became without a pastor. And then in October – while my family was road-tripping across the country – the church voted on Dad as interim pastor. 

And January of 2016, he officially became pastor. Wait, that was already nearly a year ago? Doesn't seem like that long. 2016 was a year of transition. We no longer were drifting. Instead, we were settling in. We re-learned how some things work. We adapted. 

I know a lot of people are moaning over what an awful year 2016 was because "oh my goodness, the eleecctiooonnn." (To be perfectly honest, I'm getting a little tired of hearing about that on such negative notes. But ANYWAY.) But there was also much good that came from the year. I'll delve into what the year personally was to me down below, but let me just say this. Any year – any day, any hour, any moment – if we do something for Christ in it, it's not wasted. It's not awful. It has purpose. 

Am I right?

// Goals. // 

Alrighty, I'm gonna run over my list of goals for 2016 and tell y'all whether or not I made them and all that. ;) 

- Read 101 books >>> Bomb. Nailed it. Along with an extra 29. I think I read anywhere from 17 to 5 books a month. 

- Finish all my short stories and... >>> *sarcastic laughter* Ha. Haha. Eh. No. I finished a couple (like three), and started some more. But no. Not all. -_- 

- Finish at least one of my book length writing projects >>> ugh! Why did I make such insane goals?! Nope. This one didn't happen either. 

- Read 30 books of the Bible (including Revelations, Hebrews, Jeremiah, Romans, Ecclesiastes and Isaiah) and keep a journal of what I read. :) >>> Okay, so this is kind of a halfway. The majority of what I read, I journaled about. But I didn't read 30 books. I think I read 9-10 plus a couple Bible studies that had me jumping all over. So no, I didn't complete this goal. But I feel like I did soak up more of what I read, so that's what matters. 

- Grow closer to God <3 >>> *beams* yup. 

- Be a better friend *smiles* >>> Hehe, I hope so. Y'all tell me? 

- Learn to drive a stick-shift (hehe.) >>> uh, no. Didn't happen. XD Maybe in '17? 

- Get my drivers license >>> Yeeesssss!!! Passed that driving test, hooray for me!! 

- Make a difference >>> Again, I hope so. 

- Write fanfic for some of my favorite books/movies. >>> I didn't write a fanfic for any of the books/movies I had on the list, but I did write one of the movie Beautiful Dreamer and another Circle C fanfic. 

// God. // 

(Cuz He should always be first.) Ahh, where do I begin? 

God has been so good to me this year. Through prayer and Bible reading, I've grown closer to Him than ever before. He's shown me things in my life that needed to be changed, and helped me to work towards changing them. 

I'm far from perfect, and I never will be perfect, but I'm finding hope and joy along the journey. May I always live for Him in all things... <3 

// Life. // 

A lot of things happened in my life in 2016. Parts of our house were remodeled this spring and I spent a couple weeks (months?) living in a homeless shelter (I'm kidding). 

I got an internship at the local art center for the summer months which was AWESOME. 

This was the year I officially fell in love with contemporary Christian music. That is all. (Like, legit.) 

There were some health-related things going on with my Mom's side of the family, which resulted in a lot of stress and days away from home for her. 

But it's been a good year. I'm pleased with the way it turned out. 

// Friends. // 

I've made many new friends this year, as well a strengthened friendships I already had. Some lovely girls that I met and got to know this year are... 

Kaitlyn K. >> This girl is such a dear. But then...the conversations we have (typically with another gal or two as well) are absolutely insane. Like, there's no point to them whatsoever. XD 

Micaiah K. >> This girl with the pretty name, now, she's an absolute sweetheart. Love our chats about books and writing! <33 

And then...the gals I refer to as "the writing group girls" (sorry, y'all have been branded...) 

Hannah

Rachael

Sierra

Shelby

Emma

Soleil

Mary 

Hann 

Looking forward to a year of getting to know all these peeps better! :D 

// School. // 

Goodness, I don't even know what to put here. I finished 10th grade and started 11th. I'm still doing pottery, and I've found a new interest in American Sign Language. Who knows, maybe I'll pursue one or both of those. :) 

// Reading. //

Wow. Don't know where to start here either. 

I read 130 books this year, with an average of 4.5 star rating. *nods* Oodles of good books. :D (More on that coming in a tag later this week...) 

Some of my favs... 

I also discovered my enjoyment of beta-reading this year. So far I've beta-read about seven books. :D So fun!!

// Writing. // 

Best I can figure I wrote between 126,000 and 128,000 words in 2016. O.O I didn't start keeping track of my daily word count until March, but there's a thing of two that I know I wrote in January/February...so I added that in. XD But yeah. Lots of words. 

I entered a contest in January and found out that I won first place about two weeks later. :D (You can find links to that story, Love Needs No Words, under the Stories tab.) 

I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo in July for the first time AND WON. So that was epic. 

I added about 50,000 words to my largest WIP, War Tears (30,010 of those were during Camp). And it now sits about about 70,000. And hasn't been touched in weeks... 

And on the 26th of December started a new novella. I'm calling it Dandelion Dust, and you can now find the blurb under the Writings tab. 

All the way around, it's been a great year for writing. 

// Blogging. //

Well, I've got some pretty epic blogging stats going right now. I don't know what the exacts were when we closed out 2015, but I know they weren't very good. Not looking so bad now though... ;) 

Total posts: 171 

Total comments: 1,970

Total pageviews: 36,688 

Followers: 34 GFC, and 21 email subscribers 

Most population post: The Get to Know Me Tag, with 182 pageviews and 26 comments

My darling 2017, I love you already. May this be a year we all serve God fully in grace and in truth. <3 

Hello 2017 post with my goals for this year, coming soon!