Radiant Tales: Chapter Seventeen

Once upon a time, there was a girl with red hair and freckles.

This girl believed in many things. She believed in skirts with pockets and salad with ranch dressing. She never failed her math tests and always chewed her gum with her mouth closed. She went to high school and moved out of elementary school and junior high, continuing on to bigger and better things in life. She had three pairs the same brand of jeans and got new tennis shoes every year in August.

And she was happy.

This week, something happened to this girl.

This week, she learned more about herself in ways she never would have imagined.

She still believed in skirts with pockets and salad with ranch dressing, but she failed her math test. Twice. She went to high school and felt that everything was too big for her, and she felt out of place in her jeans that always looked the same, even if she wore a different pair.

But she learned that it is more important to focus on the needs of others than on her own wishes and desires.

She learned that even though she got a bad grade on two of her tests, things would work out. Heavenly Father might not be able to fix her score, but he could fix her heart.

And He did.

She felt alone every day and broke down at 6:30 on Thursday morning because things couldn't possibly get  any worse.

But then her dad walked in and saw her crying there on the floor, staring at her text book and blank page of homework problems. All he did was sit and hug her and tell her he didn't care about her grades. He told her that even if she didn't qualify for scholarships or anything else, what mattered most to him was that she keeps trying.

And she was grateful for him.

But she still felt alone.

She sat alone at lunchtime because she had homework to do before her next class. She drove to school alone because she is the only one in high school in her family. She cried alone at night and sometimes she ate dinner and breakfast alone because she was hardly ever there for her family's meals.

She didn't know what she was doing wrong. All she knew was that she was at the end of her rope and losing her grip quickly.

She'd been taught all her life that the Saviour loved her and that because of His sacrifice, she would never walk alone.

So why did she feel alone?

The answer was simply this:

She had lost her faith.

She let her trials and challenges interfere with her love of the Saviour and her Heavenly Father, so they couldn't help her. She unintentionally put up a door between herself and them. And she didn't realise that they were still knocking;

That they didn't leave.

She just wasn't listening.

One night, she asked for forgiveness. With tears running down her face, she told her Heavenly parents that she felt like giving up. Her math was too hard, her french too confusing, and her trials too heavy,

But then she remembered, "When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."

and so she did.

And the next day was still the worst day of the week. But Heavenly Father prompted her friend to give her a note. Then as she was reading her scriptures, He told her, "I am mindful of you always in my prayers." (Moroni 8:3).

And she was puzzled. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ praying for me?

Yes.

And then she felt peace wash over her and she knew that everything would work out. Even if she felt like it would not, it would.

And it did.

And now her faith is strengthened in God because He didn't fail her. He never has and He never will.

She realised that He knew all along the struggles she would face. Even when she felt like she was alone, truly, He was there. And He never left.

 All she had to do was pray, look up, and reach out.

And He did the rest.

Love,

Sunshine

Ten things the Average High School Senior Would LOOOOVE to Tell You

. . . but cant.

1. CTE Credits are stupid.
2. High School counsellor's aren't doing anyone a favour when they give you an SEOP appointment during your AP class.
3. The Renaissance Assembly makes no sense. Can you just see the teachers getting together in their meetings? "How should we reward the good grade students?" "Ooh, I know! Let's see if they can maintain their grades, and let's tempt them with cinnamon rolls and a game of bingo during class!" Rewarding good grade students by giving them the option to miss class and thus lose their grade . . . hmmm . . . "But the Cinnamon roll was so good!"
. . .
4. Red headed counsellors hate red headed students. Especially the students who have lives and so are slowly completing online classes. But it was too slow for ya, huh? Thanks for taking away my internship and complicating my already overly complicated life.
5. Six revisions of an essay = lots of pain + an "A" paper. Teachers forget about the lots of pain part.
6. The Inferno is not an uplifting book.
7. These ugly wrinkles, dark shadows around my eyes, and the redness in my eyes are all due to your class. :)
8. No one cares about bowling.
9. AP Nap Class would be a sinch.
10. If college is like thirteenth grade, I quit.

Here's to another week of death.

Woot woot.


And . . .



FOURTEEN DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never been so happy in my life.

Love, Sunshine

Something to be said.

There is something to be said about family.

Heavenly Father knew I would need them. My dad worked the equivalent number of hours for two weeks in just one. And he didn't complain. He just goes about his day, saying Hi to me every time he sees me and not hesitating to ask me how my day has been. Even when I give him one word answers, he still smiles and makes me feel loved. I need to be more like my dad.

There is something to be said about Heavenly Families.

They're always there when I need them. Always. I love my older sister to death. But it's nice to know that I have an older brother as well. He, Jesus Christ, is my friend. And that means I can hold my head up high, no matter what the world says to me. And I will hold it up high just for Him.

There is something to be said about Friends.

It's hard to be happy when I'm having a bad week, and yet, looking back, I find that it was never as bad as it seemed. Especially upon realizing that every step I walked was doubled by a friend who walked beside me and didn't quit. Some did, and that's ok. I'll still be here when they decide they need me again. Fact is, I'll always need them.

And there is something to be said about this:

Perhaps it sounds cliche, but maybe those are the sayings we need to pay attention to the most: the ones that are said over and over again.

With love and a thankful heart,

Sunshine

Radiant Tales: Chapter Sixteen

Hi there :)

This is Doug.

Let me tell you about him.

He gets made fun of, yet he still maintains a slobbery grin.

He is labeled as the dog who can't do anything right, yet he saves "the small mail man and the one who smells of prunes." and kevin, of course.

He is just a little bit on the weird end, but he still does his best to make friends.

He loves everyone he meets, but hardly ever recieves the same affection in return.

And he is super sweet but gets told all the time that he's not good at anything and deserves to live his life in "The Cone of Shame."

. . . . . .

You ever felt a little like Doug?

:)

Chances are the answer is yes.

Chances are that sooner or later someone is going to do something to make you feel sad. You may even be labeled as the who deserves "the cone of shame."

Perhaps you can't run as fast as the others, or perhaps you aren't nearly as smart as that boy in the corner. Maybe you don't feel as beautiful as the girl who sits next to you, or you aren't as liked as that popular crowd of people who sit in the same spot every lunchtime.

My friends, I learned a lesson from Doug.

Doug loves unconditionally. If he doesn't love them permanently, he will love them temporarily. But he still loves them. And whoever "them" might be, I have learned that in the end, it doesn't really matter if you are as smart or pretty or intelligent or popular as they are. In the end, all that matters is that you are the best you can be. And you try to be that perfectly.

Do the best you can do and don't quit.

"Be who you are and say what you want because those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter." Doctor Seuss.

And I've learned something else. In all our adventures through life, we would do well to remember that it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

Everyone deserves an Ellie Badge.

:)

 

THIRTY FIVE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

:)

Love, Sunny

Huzzah :)

There

Are

Fifty Days

Until

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I am ecstatic.

That's fancy for

overjoyed.

Which is fancy for super duper happy

:)