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Three Literary Selections The Giver I never had seriously put any thought to the importance of diversity until I read The Giver. It made me realize how much about life we take for granted, the simple things like color and romance and emotion. I fell in love with the way that Lowry was able to describe color in a colorless world and create such a unique society before dystopian novels were popular. “Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything.” ― Lois Lowry, The Giver This Star Won’t Go Out After being continually disappointed with realistic fiction YA books because I could never relate to their characters, I read This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl. It was incredibly refreshing to read the diary of a girl just like me, albeit under incredibly different life circumstances. I no longer felt so different from everyone else or that the majority of other teenagers were reckless like those in realistic fiction. I wish Esther would have made it through her cancer so I could meet her, but I know that even though she died she was able to inspire thousands of people. That’s more than any of us can ask in a lifetime. “One day I realized, without God, nothing matters. So, I asked Him into my heart.” ― Esther Earl, This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl “Isn’t it sad that so often it takes facing death to appreciate life and each other fully?” ― Esther Earl, This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe The first book I became completely engrossed in was The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I read it for the first time in second grade before the movie came out and was one of the kids that searched everywhere for Narnia. I would sit in my closet, close my eyes, and believe that Narnia was only an arm’s reach away and when I stuck out my hand to touch the wall of my closet, I was always disappointed to not feel snow-laden tree branches. One thing I owe to CS Lewis, more than the imagination Narnia inspired, is the fortification of my faith. I learn best in metaphors, and experiencing the story of Christ and His sacrifice through the story of Aslan hit me to the heart. I lived and breathed that story, pretended I was Lucy (even got my hair cut into a bob to look like the movie version of her), and desperately wanted to know Aslan. I then realized that I did know Him, that I knew Christ and that His love was inside of me. I no longer needed to pretend I was Queen Lucy the Valiant, I can simply be me: a child of God - and that makes me royalty. “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
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Character Sketch: Ever since I was born, my older sister, Katelyn was there for me. We’re only 20 months apart so most people claimed that we’d be at each other’s throats all our childhood, based on our proximity in age, but the exact opposite was true. Katelyn never missed an opportunity to give me a kiss or hold my hand while I grew up. We may have squabbled about who got to be Cinderella or Madeline during playtime (most times I got stuck as Mary Mouse or Chloe), but we always ended every scuffle with a big hug. My sister has grown out of her bosy days to become the most genuine, generous, and optimistic person I know. She loves stories and reading and wants to share them with the world. When my brother, Steven, didn’t find enjoyment in reading during elementary school, she literally wrote him a book and read to him every night before bed. Now, Steven is one of the most advanced readers I know. He understands Shakespeare and got a kick out Beowulf. He reads the classics for enjoyment, all because of the time Katelyn devoted to him. Katelyn just finished her freshman year of college and I’m so excited she’s home. Soon we’ll be heading off to camp to spend the entire summer together. Katelyn is my confidant, we get each other, and even when we disagree, we love each other for it. I don’t know what I would do without my big sis around to help me and teach me. She’s going on to amazing things and I’m so glad I get to have her as my sister. This I Believe Essay I believe in God because I believe in beauty and love and miracles and music. I believe in beautiful messes and that mistakes are not the end. I believe in forgiveness and that God is love. We are His mess - His muddy children that will never understand Him or be the people He deserves, yet He loves us anyway and He’d rather die than be without us. I believe in music and in the cleansing of rain and that no one can prove every drop of water on Earth isn’t a message of God’s love pouring down on us. I believe in dancing in thunderstorms and diving below the surface and getting your hair wet and sinking until your lungs burn for oxygen. I believe in God because I believe in love. Even though we are far from deserving, God offers His love to us with open arms - wanting us all to accept it. I want humankind to drown in awe at all the good in this world and that even the ugly difficult things can be made right, that Christ died to make them right. I believe that every life is a miracle, that we all are formed out of chaos. Atoms and proteins aligned perfectly from everywhere in the world into one oddly organized being that can breath life in and out. I believe that God handcrafted humans in HIs image and breathed the world into existence with His words. I believe that He has given our words power as well. I pray that I’ve used mine right. God, thank you for words, thank you for life. Metaphor For My Life: My life is a garden. I begin with a foundation of rich soil, shaped by the gardener. He plants seeds in my dirt and allows others to do so as well. Slowly but surely, my plants begin to sprout from the ground. Every green shoot needs water and care that the gardener provides. Every now and then an ugly weed raises its head in the garden and attacks the plants as they attempt to grow strong and tall. I need the gardener’s help to remove them so they don’t consume me. Under the constant tending of the gardener, the garden grows lush and magnificent. Without Him the garden would be barren, but with him it is made into something beautiful. Letter to myself in 20 years... Dear Future Self, I wonder if in twenty years you'll go back to YouTube and search for this video. Do you remember this night, five days left of your senior year and your whole life stretched before you? I wonder if you'll long for the person you were when you were seventeen. Do you remember your dream of buying your own house with a large yard to start a hobby farm with goats and chickens? Did you follow it? Or do you find that absurd now? Whatever your life looks like now, I hope you're enjoying it. I hope you're pleased with how far you've come and I want to let you know that I'm proud of You for choosing good when it was easier to go a different direction. Love yourself, Julia. But love God first. Sen him a big thank you for me, okay? This feels really short to me and I know you'll keep asking for more - more of your past, but you've got a life to continue. Thirty-seven... I know you'll make the most of it. Love, Julia
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