Tag: God is love

NaNoWriMo Week 1 Update!

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Happy Wednesday, everyone! My name is Q’Zion, and welcome to The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen!

Around October 21st, 2022, I made the decision to take on the challenge of NaNoWriMo (writing 50,000 words in 30 days) for the first time ever! It might seem a little reckless, but I was able to do a good amount of planning before November started. And as soon as November 1st arrived, I was off to writing. While I’ve only been participating in NaNoWriMo for 9 days now, I’ve already learned so much about myself as a writer and a person, and it’s insane to see my novel expand day by day!

Today I’ll be sharing three short tips for beginner and veteran NaNoWriMo participants, as well as an update for how I’ve been doing during the first week of the month-long challenge. Let’s get started!

Tip #1: Don’t Stress It!

If there is any advice that I could give to anyone who is doing NaNoWriMo this year, it’s don’t stress too much about trying to hit a certain amount of words everyday. Sometimes you may write 3,000 and that’s great! But on other days, you may only feel like writing about 500 words, and that’s okay, too. In my opinion, the most important part of NaNoWriMo is taking a little time to write every day. And make sure that your minimum word count goal is realistic to the time you can put into your project, this month. For most of us, that’s likely so much more than we write in our average, day to day lives. And if you ask me, that’s a huge win!

Tip #2: Use Word Sprints

One of the writing tools that are provided in the official NaNoWriMo website while your writing is a Word Sprint, which is where you set a time and a word goal that you want to hit within that time. For me, I shoot for about 100 words every 5 minutes; it’s a speed where I’m not trying to write 3,000 words in an hour, but fast enough to get words on the paper without overthinking and/or going back to edit what I’ve already written. Word Sprints are super personalized to a speed that you’re comfortable with, and I think that’s why they’ve become one of my favorite tools to use during NaNoWriMo.

Tip #3: Listen to Relaxing Music

Soft, classical music playing in my headphones has been one of my friends during my NaNoWriMo experience. It makes it a lot easier to tune out the background noise that can be distracting during the writing process, and helps you think about “what’s next’ in your project. So on those days this month when you’re stuck in a bowl of pudding (thanks to lovely writer’s block) you can refer to this playlist that I made on YouTube of instrumental music you can use while writing or reading.

Week 1 Word Count

November 1st: 1,298 words

November 2nd: 507 words

November 3rd: 1,538 words

November 4th: 2,589 words

November 5th: 2,086 words

November 6th: 1,017 words

November 7th: 1,531 words

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 10,566 words

To be honest, I consider this such a huge accomplishment for the first week of this challenge! Although I have been dabbling between about 200-1,000 words behind, there’s still plenty of time in the weekend for me to get some extra words in. And considering that a 3-day weekend is coming up this Friday (due to Labor Day) I think I’ll be getting ahead of the game very soon!

Week 2 Goals

– Write at least 1,500 words every day

– Write 3,500 words at least one day

– Reach 22,000 words

I hope you all enjoyed my Week 1 NaNoWriMo Update. Hopefully the tips and my progress were able to help and/or inspire you for your project! Please comment down below, will YOU be participating in NaNoWriMo, this year?

Have a blessed day, everyone! God bless you all and I’ll catch you next time! Peace in!

The Unchanging God – Words of Wisdom #16

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Numbers 23:19 - New International Version (NIV)
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Every morning, me and my Goodmommy say a prayer. Today, one of the things that I said was “Thank you (God) that you are not like man. Because if you were, we wouldn’t be here.”

I find it miraculous that even though we as people may change, the world may change, and seasons may change, God remains the same. He keeps every promise that me makes. He does exactly what He says He is going to do. He loves us regardless of how much we fall short of His glory. Even in all the darkness of the world, which is constantly in construction–economically, politically, socially, religiously, and in entertainment–God is an everlasting light that never falters through it all.

What a friend we have in God.

All in all, it is crucial that we as followers of Christ acknowledge and show gratitude that God isn’t like us. He could’ve executed all of human kind when He flooded the Earth, but He didn’t. He could make promises and then not go through with them, but He doesn’t. He could have called me home this morning, but He didn’t.

The reason why God is the unchanging God has nothing to do with us, besides his unconditional love for us. We have done nothing to cause this; if anything, we are undeserving of His unconditional love. Regardless, He gives it to us anyway. And that is a trait that we should all be thankful for. Thank you, Jesus!

Have a beautiful and blessed day everybody! See you later! ✨

National Great Poetry Reading Day

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I honestly didn’t know that it is National Great Poetry Reading Day, but what’s ironic is I just posted about how I read a poem of mine to a live audience just two days ago, LOL. Although I wasn’t planning on posting about this today, I thought that it was only fair to continue with the National Poetry Month theme. You all know that I can’t skip a good National Day! 😉

If you have not read my post about my experience with my Creative Writing Club, and/or my other poetry content, I provided some links so you guys can check them out from here. Enjoy reading some of my great poetry!

5 Tips for Anyone Who Wants to Practice Poetry

Happy 2022! ~ New Year Poem

Old Fashioned Apple Pie (my first free-verse poem)

I read my original poem to an audience for the first time… ♡

And that’s all for today, everybody! Thanks so much for reading and I’ll see you all next time! ♡

The Benefits of Flowers – Delicate but Powerful (Reblog)

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Author’s Note: Hey, everybody! I hope you are having an amazing snd fantabulous Friday. Since today is Earth Day, I wanted to post something narure related; and here we are. To celebrate the planet that God created in the beginnning, here’s a post about the benefits of keeping flowers around. Enjoy!

Flowers may be small and delicate parts of nature, but they also hold a lot of power. I’ve always been a big fan of them; in my house, we have several plants in our living room, flowers included. Since thousands of people are getting a blooming bouquet for their loved ones around this time of year, why don’t we go into depth of the benefits of keeping a few flowers nearby. 

And believe me, there’s a lot! So let’s get started! 🌺

1. Flowers increase energy and memory.

Have you ever had one of those those days where you’ve felt a little tired? I know that I’ve been there. Flowers are shown to decrease symptoms of fatigue and improve energy levels. Some plants such as rosemary, lavender, and aloe vera can even improve our memory and stimulate the cognitive part of your brain. This is likely do to their bright variety of hues and decadent scents.

2. Flowers can have a positive effect on your mood and aid relaxation.

Some of the most elegant plants in the world create a calm and serene environment. Along with boosting cognitive skills such as memory, flowers can also help us feel happier and more relaxed. They are natural purifiers of the air that we breathe, and therefore automatically helping us to feel more at peace and tranquil.

3. Flowers are beautiful and sweet-scented.

No science is needed to support that fact that flowers have immaculate beauty and fresh, sweet aromas. They can provide a splash of color in any room or setting and therefore create a much-more-lively atmosphere. Nothing spruces up a space of interior design like a vase of flowers, in the center.

4. Flowers may boost creativity and productivity.

Flowers are elements of nature, natural art that we can admire in our environments. Due to the variety of colors, sizes, petal shapes, and scents, they can also inspire our sense of creativity. On top of this, when we surround ourselves with flowers, they automatically assign us a responsibility: we must make sure that our flowers are watered regularly and get plenty of sunlight. This helps us to be productive by taking care of something other than ourselves.

5. Flowers are an example of God’s creations and growth.

Flowers are beautiful representations of growth and they are creations of God. They show how God does everything purposefully–He created each flower to be unique and beautiful in its own way, much like us people. While flowers are alive, they are beautiful. And when their time has come to an end, each flower still makes a mark by planting more seeds for new flowers to sprout and continue to spread across the Earth. Beautiful, isn’t it?

As you know now, flowers are more than just beautiful to look at. They also can have a positive effect on how we feel (both emotionally and physically), what we do to help the environment, and they add color and beauty to the world. What amazing creations of the Lord, they are.

Some great places to incorporate more flowers into your home are:

  • In an office space.
  • In your bedroom.
  • In a bay window.
  • On the kitchen table.
  • In the living room.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Don’t forget to follow my blog and like this post for more amazing content. Have a beautiful and blessed day, everyone! 🌺

6 Reasons Why I Love Blogging

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It is honestly hard to believe that I have been blogging for over 8 months now. On August 1, 2021 when I started this blog I had no idea how much love I would have for my website. God has blessed me mightily with this gift, and every day, with every post that I create, my love for blogging gets stronger and stronger.

Therefore, today I will be share the top 6 reasons why I love blogging the way I do. Let’s get this party started! ✨

Blogging is A Creative Outlet

Writing has always been a passion of mine, and blogging is essentially writing in a nutshell. Even though it can be a challenge sometimes, I enjoy brainstorming for ideas on what I will post next. Sometimes, God will let me see things throughout the day to give me an idea. Being able to share my experiences as child of God, a person and a teenager with you all is always one of the highlights of my day.

Helping and Inspiring People

Another one of the aspects that I really appreciate about blogging is that it is a way to encourage people and lift them up. When I’m writing, sometimes I don’t know who I am touching or who God had me type the post for. In other circumstances, my writing is a way of teaching myself and helping me follow my own advice. Making people feel good about themselves and who they are, as well as encouraging them to spread love and positivity to others is a major goal on my blog.

I Get to Spread My Faith

This is a biggie, right here. I think it’s so important to have young children of God who encourage other adolescents and young people how to follow God and be His example. Blogging has helped teach me to boast more about the Lord and about my faith. Christianity is a big part of who I am and who God has made me to be, so it’s only natural to incorporate that into my website.

I’ve Created so Many Memories

A blog is a document of your life, your experiences, your feelings, your faith, your family, and all the little pieces of the big picture. I know that every day I am documenting something that I can look back on to remember my childhood and how I felt about life. Every photo and every paragraph tells a story of my life and is another sweet moment to last a lifetime.

Blogging Provides a Sense of Ownership

To me, my blog gives me a sense of ownership and responsibility. It is my duty to maintain, monitor, and create content for my blog. In this way, I think it helps me to prepare for when I have my own business one day, which is always a bonus.

Blogging Allows Me to Grow as A Writer (and a Person)

Since my blogging has put me in the position to write every day, I have seen the progress that I’ve made in regards to my writing skills. While I loved to write even before I started my blog, I wasn’t writing outside of school every day, so this has been a change that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, throughout the process I have learned more about myself, therefore making me more confident in the gifts that God has blessed me with.

I had a blast sharing some of the reasons why I hold my blog so dear to my heart and I hope you had just as much fun reading my thoughts!

LET’S CHAT~If you are a blogger, what is your favorite part about blogging? We may even have some similarities: feel free to comment down below. Kind vibes only, please. ♡

Thank you so much for reading! Have a beautiful and blessed day, everybody! ✨