God's Maiden of Virtue

Haha, thanks; my dad and bros tease me all the time, pretending to get crocheting mixed up with knitting, and knitting with sewing. :P Lol, yes, it does! And if that comes from being in a big family, I'm glad of it! :) Hey, I could still read what you wrote - it made Mom laugh. x)

Hahaha! Well of course, ;P wouldn't be a normal big family without siblings teasing each other! xD lol
Right! You miss out on a lot when you don't have a big family. ;)
What did I write?!? I forget! :P worries now that I know it made your mom laugh lol :p

Oh, please! :P Remind me…I know there are 10 of you, but how many boys and girls?
Lol, you wrote, "Rosie!! Sorry I didn't meet you!" Mom just found it funny that you were apologizing for not meeting me, as though it was somehow your fault. ^If that made any sense. xP^
Are you reading any good books? Or do you have some you plan to read now that Nationals is over?

Haha!! xP Yes, :) three girls and 7 boys. xD what is your family's ratio, again?
facepalm I can see why she thought that, haha. But I do feel sorry we didn't get to meet xD
Hm, hardly. I am slowly reading through a Christian book written by two men in the ministry, "Biblical Leadership". It's really good! :) other than that I'm not reading anything else. I use to be big on fantasy/fiction books, but during BB I had to stop so I could study, and after Nats I just don't see the use of reading those kind of books now. I probably will read one here and there - but I view them differently now. What about you? :)

So boys outnumber girls in your family, too? ;) There are 9 boys and 4 girls over here.
Yeah, me too…I haven't met you or Gloria!! And of course, all of my other MV friends whom I've met in the past I'd hoped to see again… Anyways, I try not to think about it too much and just pray for next year. :)
You said that you view fantasy/fiction books differently now. So I'm interested to know - how do you view them now, and why? :) Keep in mind that all fantasy is fiction, but not all fiction is necessarily fantasy. ;)
I'm in the middle of "Let The Nations Be Glad" by John Piper (an absolutely amazing book…) and "The Spanish Brothers" by Deborah Alcock (a Lamplighter novel). I personally do not have a problem with reading fiction as long as it is not keeping me from things that I should be doing (haha) or being put over my time with God. I know people on both sides of reading fiction and preferring not to read it for various reasons. I don't think anyone can say that the general idea of reading a fiction book is right or wrong, but whether or not you do it can simply vary from person to person. Anyway. :P What do you think?

Haha, yup. :P Do you not like that? ;P
Mhm hm! Yes, praying we can come back next year, as well!
Yeah, I should change my wording though. I shouldn't have said "they have no use", I'm sure you can learn some good lessons from them; so I'm sorry about saying that.
Yes, I'll try to keep that in mind. ;)
So I'd probably say I view them now as books to be read when you don't have other things you need to be doing – just so they're not hindering you from more important work. One reason I don't view them as so important now is because of the fact that I use to love reading fantasy and fiction books - to the point where I would either obsess over them, or just not do my work/school. I have always struggled with not making books my life… In all honesty, I would read them even to get away from everything in life and try to dwell in the world of the book. (I've always enjoyed both fantasy and normal fiction books, and I think I'd make more of a point on not reading fantasy than not reading fiction, if that makes sense). And so coming into the BB season this year, studying John so much, and being at Nats I saw how much more important the Bible is, and having a life more devoted to God is, than reading books all the time.
During BB I listened to a lot of sermons by MacArthur covering John 1-12 (adding to about 60+ sermons lol) and in one sermon he made a good point that Jesus, in all the stories He told, did not once tell a story that didn't have to do with real life circumstances (MacAuther was talking about fantasy, not fiction), and he went on to say that you'll never find Tolkien or Harry Potter kind of things in the Bible.
Now, understand, I'm not saying I view fantasy as sinful to read - again, obviously it would be if they were bad books - but just as something we should not fill out life with. So yeah, I'm not a fantasy hater guy, just, I want to be careful in my own life not to fall back to where I was.

You've watched/read TMR series, correct? I've read the series and I absolutely loved them and read them so fast (also where I'd stay up super late lol). Idk if I'd view TMR as fantasy, would you? I think the idea is more fiction based than fantasy being that it's in a real world with things that could "possibly" be real. There were some elements in the book I did not like, so I'm still undecided on the books.
Does that answer your question? I hope I didn't stray from the Q, and would love to talk more of this with you. :)

Yeah, me too...I haven't met you or Gloria!! And of course, all of my other MV friends whom I've met in the past I'd hoped to see again... Anyways, I try not to think about it too much and just pray for next year. :)

Unfortunately… :( lol. You could come here! We'd have to find a hotel and stuff but y'all would be able to visit us and see Crete at the same time! XD. Jk. I need to make it to Nats next year!!!!!!!!

I am still severely outnumbered, but no, I love having lots of brothers! Life would not be the same without them. :)
No problem. :) I got your meaning about not finding as much use in reading those types of books as much.

I pretty much fully agree with what you said. Fantasy/fiction books can have great elements to them on many points - the writing style/format can give you a neat perspective of the story, or even give you ideas if you're a writer; the character development can be an interesting thing to analyze, and the characters + their situations often allow you to draw out good and bad things/lessons from their personalities and actions (and how those develop); you can enjoy a fascinating plot woven with questions, and even better, twists (or critique a plot that lacked those things)! One could go on about the good things that good fiction books can hold.
But as you said, I cannot seem to condone the reading of them, or even just good Christian non-fiction books (or anything purely recreational) if they are being done while work, responsibilities, or other more important requirements are supposed to be happening at the time. And more importantly than that, and to which I hold rather strongly, we should not be spending so much of our time reading them (and again, even Christian non-fiction books) if we are not devoting ourselves to our time + communion with God daily. As my dad has pointed out before, if that is the case - where books (or anything) is being treated with more importance in our lives than Christ - it has become an idol. And our God is a jealous God. "I will not give my glory to another, or My praise to idols." Something I've had to realize and come to terms with, and is changing how I treat a lot of "pleasure things" in my life.
And of course, as I'm sure you understand + can relate to, that's not to say that we can't enjoy a good book (fiction or non-fiction) or another type of enjoyment when we have the time to do so - just that it's really not the thing we ought to be doing when we have requirements to achieve and work to accomplish before that.

Yes, I've watched TMR, and read the series; and I agree, that I think that they wouldn't quite be considered fantasy, as it is supposed to be more like a future dystopia of a "what if" of our world. And yes, of course, as in all secular books, there will be some bad elements to the books (honestly, it wouldn't be realistic if there weren't some elements like that, since our fallen world is like that, but I get your point :). But overall, I was impressed by how clean James Dashner kept them - in words + actions - and so appreciated them more than say, The Hunger Games trilogy or The Divergent trilogy (both of which I disliked).

Anyways! Yes, you answered my question - and much more thoroughly than I had expected, so I'm glad. Thanks for sharing. =)
Now unfortunately, I am sorry to say that I will once again be leaving the Internet for an indefinite period of time. I really need to get my priorities straight and manage my time better, as life is a heavy load for me, and some distractions need to go for a while. And obviously, the Internet would be a one of those. So as much as I'll (again) miss everyone, it is definitely for the best, and I'll be glad in the end that I did it.

So thanks for the recent chats - great to catch up with you some, Steve! Keep working hard, and living for eternity. Oh, that's something you could look up if you haven't already before - Paul Washer's 3 min. clip "Live for Eternity" (super good). Anyway (:P), keep growing in Christ + rejoicing in Him! :) Gotta run now. Happy New Year, by the way! 2016!!! :D
^So sorry this turned out so long - I wasn't trying to write a novel! xP^

Yeah, me too...I haven't met you or Gloria!! And of course, all of my other MV friends whom I've met in the past I'd hoped to see again... Anyways, I try not to think about it too much and just pray for next year. :)

Unfortunately... :( lol. You could come here! We'd have to find a hotel and stuff but y'all would be able to visit us and see Crete at the same time! XD. Jk. I need to make it to Nats next year!!!!!!!!

Oh, I wish! Haha! Yes, we both just need to be at Nationals next (or almost this) year! Something to start praying about. :D
Happy New Year - 2016 - since I won't be on here to say it!! =D

Yeah, me too...I haven't met you or Gloria!! And of course, all of my other MV friends whom I've met in the past I'd hoped to see again... Anyways, I try not to think about it too much and just pray for next year. :)

Unfortunately... :( lol. You could come here! We'd have to find a hotel and stuff but y'all would be able to visit us and see Crete at the same time! XD. Jk. I need to make it to Nats next year!!!!!!!!

Oh, I wish! Haha! Yes, we both just need to be at Nationals next (or almost this) year! Something to start praying about. :D Happy New Year - 2016 - since I won't be on here to say it!! =D

Lol. Yes! :D.
Awww ok. Happy New Year! :D

Rosie! We received your family's newsletter today! ^ _ ^ I really enjoyed the update on your family, and seeing the pictures of your newest little siblings. Thanks for sending it! :)

Rosie! We received your family's newsletter today! ^ _ ^ I really enjoyed the update on your family, and seeing the pictures of your newest little siblings. Thanks for sending it! :)

Rosie! I've been thinking about you recently and wondering how you're doing. Miss seeing your sweet self on the forums! :( hugs

Rosie!!! I miss you, my dear.