By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North

      By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North is an amazing song that has helped me through the toughest times of my life. This song is in the point of view of Jesus talking to His broken and hurt people who are looking elsewhere when they should seek Him. The first verse is Jesus asking why I'm crying, striving, trying to earn grace. He asks me not to turn away, but to let Him lift up my face. He asks why I'm searching for love, as if He isn't enough. This helped remind me to be careful not to turn away in the hard times. I won't find such amazing grace, comfort and love anywhere else than I will with Him.
     In the chorus, Jesus makes a promise that He will be by my side whenever I fall. Even when I call in the dead of night. He asks me to please not fight these Hands that are holding me. His hands are holding me. This helped me realize that I don't have to be afraid of falling. Because even if I fall, Jesus is right there by my side - arms ready to catch me. He won't let me fall, and He will never let me down. Even if everyone in this world has hurt me, left me, let me fall, Jesus is still here, and He isn't about to go anywhere else!
     In the second verse, Jesus reminds me that His hands, "swallowed the grave on that night when [He] drank the world's sin." Jesus did this to give me life. He did this for me, because He loves me, and that makes me so happy that He would do that out of choice!
     The simplest, yet maybe the most powerful (and my favorite) part of this song is the bridge: "'Cause I, I love you, I want you to know. That I, yeah I love you, I'll never let you go. No, no." Sometimes the best and most powerful way to tell somebody how much you care is to just say it plain, simple and gently. Jesus telling me in eight simple words that He loves me, and that He will never let me go, is very powerful to me. The music and the singers voice at this part of the song, also adds a lot to the meaning.
     By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North means so much to me. It's powerful, touching, beautiful and encouraging. It woke me up to never turn away from Jesus. He is, and always will be by my side to keep me company, to catch me when I fall, to guide me and love me.

Sarah Emma Edmonds

      Born into a home with an abusive father who resented her for not being born a boy, sixteen year old Sarah Emma Edmonds left her Canadian home and moved to the United States, disguising herself as a man under the name of Franklin Thompson. (http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/sarah-emma-edmonds.html) When the Civil War started, Thompson/Edmonds enlisted into the Union army, and became a part of the Second Volunteers of United States Army. A few months later, she was assigned as a nurse to the hospital unit of the 2nd Michigan Volunteers. (http://www.civilwarhome.com/edmondsbio.htm)

     This may or may not be true, but it is believed that Sarah Edmonds (still in the disguise of Franklin Thompson) heard that McClellan's staff was looking for a spy, and she wanted the job. (http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/sarah-emma-edmonds.html) Private Thompson/Edmonds studied all she could, and after being interviewed, immediately got the position. Two of her disguises she used during her eleven spy missions, was a male slave called "Cuff", and a female Irish peddler. (http://www.civilwarhome.com/edmondsbio.htm) Private Thompson/Edmonds was very successful in her spy missions, and gathered much information for the Union Army. When she was working again as a nurse, she came across a dilemma. Private Thompson/Edmonds came down with Malaria. To avoid the discovery of her true identity, she left the army camp for a short time to go to Illinois for treatment. After she recovered, she planned to go back to the army, but, she soon discovered that she had been accused of deserting the Union Army. (http://www.civilwarhome.com/edmondsbio.htm) And so ended Private Thompson's adventure as a spy for the Union Army. Thompson/Edmonds did the only other thing she could to be involved in the army: going to Washington to be a nurse until the end of the war. After the war, she wrote a book about her adventures in the Civil War called  Nurse and Spy in the Union Army. Sarah Emma Edmonds was one of four hundred women who was in the Civil War, and she sure left a mark. Edmonds disguised herself as a man, joined the army, helped hundreds of wounded soldiers, dressed up as many people for spy missions, and gave the Union Army information about the Confederates. Come on, how cool was she?

Memorable Face

     Wistfully, she sits inside the cage, her petite face staring out through the small holes as people walk by. The black line that forms her mouth, curve down in sorrow. She whimpers at the sight of a child playing with another puppy. Her little black nose and almost invisible white whiskers twitch as she smells the different aromas of the outside world. There is a damp, dark brown tear stain under her left eye. Her eyes are filled with loneliness, desperation, and fear. Lonely because of the lack of socialization. Desperate for someone to come and take her home. Fear of another home like her last; full of abuse and starvation. Her ears go up with a fraction of hope as a small child walks by smiling at her. The face of that small, tan puppy will be forever remembered by that child. No one could forget such an adorable, desperate and memorable face.

-Sarah

Picture taken by me of a puppy, Crayon, at my local animal shelter :)

I Define Myself As..

an adventurous, fun, crazy daughter and lover of Christ :)

     My name is Sarah, I'm a junior in high school, I've been on this earth for 15 (almost 16) years, and I am on a wonderful adventurous journey with my best friend and Maker, Jesus Christ. This journey is very difficult at times, but it is the most magnificent adventure anyone could ever dream up.
     I know I appear quiet and timid to most people, but that's just because you don't know me! If you really knew me, you'd know that I am one of the craziest, fun, loud, and spontaneous people you will ever met. Ask anyone of my friends or family members, and they'll tell you just how hyper and random I can be.
     I am very much involved in my youth group, and I don't know what I would do without them. They are always there for me, they put up with me (Haha), and they sure know how to have fun!
     I have two amazing parents, an older brother, and a twin brother. I love everyone of them so much, and would gladly give up my life for all of them. I take after my dad and older brother, in the way that I can be very stubborn at times, and will do just about anything to prove a point.
     My favorite colors are blue and black, I have a big interest in New Zealand (I don't know how that started), I literally wouldn't know what to do if there wasn't music (I'm constantly listening to it), my favorite bands are Owl City, Boys Like Girls, Skillet, and We The Kings, and my favorite food (by far) is cheese pizza! I've been playing the piano since I was five, and started guitar lessons last year. Oh yeah, and I'm practically in love with actor Paul Walker. Heehee. Oh, and my friends call me Fishy. :) No explanation..
     I love animals more than almost anything. They are so much easier to be around and get along with than people. So much less drama!! Because of my love of animals, after I graduate high school, I plan to attend UT Martin and get a degree in wildlife biology. I want to open my own wildlife sanctuary, and also do some wildlife photography. I have a heart for teens who come from broken homes, who get into trouble, and who are victims of domestic violence; so I am thinking about being a foster parent or something for kids like that. Or maybe I'll go to a foreign country and have my wildlife sanctuary there, so I can be a missionary also. God has a plan for me, and I'm not sure what it is yet, but I will do whatever he asks of me, for I am his child, and I am to obey my Father. :)
    
   This is long enough, so peace out, y'all!