Can't Believe that the Year is Already more than Half Over......

Guys, can you believe that it's already JULY?!?!?! The year's gone by WAY too fast. Not to mention, so has summer. Lemme see...
Camp, for one, was amazing. Life changing. I felt like I had left something behind, and then realized that I had. It was that old dead stuff that we all carry spiritually, and I'd (spiritually) burned it away at the altar. I also felt a heavy burden for my city and my unsaved loved-ones, and I decided that I'd start really praying for them and watch what God would do.
Oh yeah, and the preaching and teaching we had during the morning and night sessions were absolutely PHENOMENAL!!!! I can't wait for next year. God truly did something in each and every camper's lives this year, and it was amazing to watch and feel it too. :)
I also got to hang out with some of the coolest people around. And freak out some guys accidentally. Who knew that double-jointed elbows could gross out a bunch of guys? I guess I'm just weird. :D
Oh yeah, and went to the grandparents' house on my momma's side. That was pretty great, we went shopping, went to the farm, rode on an ATV, had some of the BEST rolls you will ever taste in your entire LIFE, and to top it all off, we had some good music provided by yours truly and some of the other members in her family. :)
This summer has probably been one of the busiest summers of my life, but it's also been fun. Exhausting? Yes. But it's been awesome. Can't wait to see how the rest of it turns out!
Oh yeah, and one more thing....I'M STARTING COLLEGE CLASSES IN THE FALL!!!!! (O.O)
Pray for me, guys. I'm scared to death, haha. They're online college courses, but still. I'm scared outta my mind, haha!!
Hope you guys have a great summer! Keep smilin'. :)

God bless ya!!
--Sonya :)

Storms, Rain, and Other Forces of Nature........

Well, guys, I'm gonna update today just because I ain't gonna be here next week to write another blogpost, 'cause I'll be AT CAMP!!!!!!!!!
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Anyways. It's been raining and storming a lot, the perfect kind of weather to curl up and:
1. Read a book
2. Play a video game
3. Surf the internet
4. Listen to music and think about life
or,
5. Write a book
I've mainly been doing all of those things, off and on haha.
But I noticed something kinda crazy. I absolutely love 'bad weather'. Blizzards, storms, etc. bring it on!!!! I especially love to dance in the rain, or simply sit still and feel the drops of water fall on my face and soak me to the skin. There's just something so cleansing about it.
It's kind of like when we're going through hard times in life. Most people absolutely hate it. But we can either hate it and wish it away, and just 'get through it', or we can learn to enjoy it and dance in the rain. Because good times are great and all, but come on. It's how we react when we're under pressure that really makes us who we are and builds up our character. It's how we learn how to truly trust in God and praise Him when it's hard, and, as my pastor put it, "sleep in the boat while the storm's raging".
So next time you're going through an especially hard time in life, just remember: Rain cleanses.
And if the pressure feels like it's getting to be too much, pray to God for strength. Motto to live by: "God's got dis!" There's no force of nature greater than someone who is really pushing to get a hold of Jesus Christ, and hey, He created nature. Who better to run to for help than The One who created everything in the first place?
Hope I could lift you awesome people up with that thought. Have a great summer, and I will try to remember to blog about how camp was in terms that don't include something like this:
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:) HaPpY sUmMeR, GuYs!!!!!
Love ya!!! You're awesome!!!!

--Sonya <3 :)

It's June and I'm Excited

Well, for just about EVERYBODY school is out. People are going to camps and are away on vacation, chillin' at the pool and a million other things that people do during the summer.
Me? I'm packing for church camp next week, writing, trying to get back in shape, listening to music and chilling in my basement. Fun stuff, chilling in the basement. It beats the way-too-humid weather outside right now, haha.
Oh, and we had our IL Bible Quizzing State Finals. We got 2nd. Which means we're going to Bible Quizzing Nationals down in Louisville, Kentucky in August!!!!!!!! Yeah. I'm excited. And then there's North American Youth Congress right after it.
You know what? 'Excited' is actually an understatement to how I feel about this summer. It's already been pretty awesome, and I can't wait to see what else is gonna happen.
Oh yes, and because it's June, I need to kick my procrastinating backside into high-gear and make sure that the book I wrote for NaNoWriMo last November is ready for publication......

Love you guys and God bless!!!!

--Sonya :)

P.S. Have an AWESOME summer, people. :) <3

Writing Shtuff......:)

Well, I can't wait until school's done. Gahhhh, parents won't be nagging at me to get up and whether or not I've finished my schoolwork, I really cannot wait for that.
Anyways, been working on various projects, school assignments like writing books for history. Extremely fun, actually, except when it comes to writing a fictional short story about someone during one of the plague-outbreaks of the Middle Ages. YEECHH it's disgusting, what some of those diseases did to a body. Word of advice, unless you have an insanely strong stomach, DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT look up '*insert plague name here* victims' on Google Images.
So anyways, yeah, it's gross. But hey, I get to kill people, right? So there are pluses and minuses....
People, before you reach for that phone and report me to whoever puts people into insane asylums or whatever, do not check me into a clinic, I'm fine. I'm only writing about it, not actually going out and killing people. Good grief, calm down....
Anyways, been writing my other projects (the ones I actually dream up, haha, not the school ones) and jammin' out to TFK. If you need some intense tunes to write to, or just need some new tunes in general, and you happen to like Christian Contemporary/Rock, check 'em out. Pretty sure I've already mentioned them, but who cares? :)
Oh, them and Owl City. His stuff is pop/electronica/synthpop/indietronica music. Epic? You bet it is. Perfect for getting your imagination juices flowing through your brain, haha!!!
Ugh. It's the middle of the week. Wednesday. Don't worry, guys, WEEKEND IS COMING, AND SO IS SUMMER!!!!
Well, until the next time!

Sayonara!!!

--Sonya

It. Is. MAY!!!!

With May, there's supposed to be flowers, sunshine, great weather, and basically just SPRING. The funny thing is, it has been winter, summer, fall-ish weather and spring all within like, the past week! We have had frost,  heat waves, and rainy chilly weather in the past week! And to all my friends from MN, snow about two feet one day, and then suddenly you've got 103 degrees the next!!
But hey, that's weather for ya. And it's been pretty nice out recently, nice enough for me and my sister to start doing daily 15-20 minute jogs/walks.
Another thing about May: school is almost over!!!!!!! For some, it ends the last week of May, others, the first/second week of June.
Which means studying for finals, looking for summer jobs, scrambling to make sure you got your schoolwork for the year done (can I get a "hoo-rah!" from all my fellow homeschoolers?) and of course, getting ready for having a great time this summer.
My summer plans include Bible Quizzing State Finals/Nationals (if we make it haha), Church Camp (SO EXCITED AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!), catching up on sleep, and one of the biggest UPCI youth events ever: YOUTH CONGRESS!!!!!
What're your summer plans? Hit the pool with some friends? Go on vacation? Go to camp? Sleep?
Whatever they are, I hope you have a great summer. And to all of you who're still slogging through school, thinking summer will never come.....STAY STRONG!!! SUMMER REALLY IS COMING!!!!! :)

Ciao!!!
--Sonya

Random Thought #2

We've had some crazy stuff happen this month. Here's a small list:
1. I turned 16. AAAAHHHHH!!!!!! :) Yep.
2. Got to see some old friends at this youth conference in MN. Apostolic Torch Conference at Apostolic Bible Institute. As one of the guys in my youth group would say, "It was TOO RAW!!!"
3. The day we left for Torch, it had rained super hard and we saw pictures of our church building. Umm....there was a lake around it. And that basement had been known to flood. And we had ALL OF OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL STUFF DOWN THERE!!!! And it was completely dry.
*Pauses in creating list* "Okay, guys, those of you who are crazy, do a little victory dance for me because GOD PROTECTED THAT BUILDING FROM HORRIBLE DAMAGE!!!!!
"Ahem. Moving on now." :)
4. I've begun to realize what kind of ministry God wants me to do, and where I'm gonna go for college and stuff. And when you're down and out and you feel completely alone and that God's not even there, just wait and keep holding on a little bit longer, because the darkest hour of the night is right before the dawn of a new morning. It seems so hard right now, I know, and sometimes all you can do is bury your head in the pillow and cry or just sleep, but I promise, Jesus is still there by your side, and one day you will see how because of what you went through, He has molded you into the person that He wants you to be. God's way is waaayyyy better than our way, trust me.
Saw this funny meme once, where God was showing someone where He was walking beside them. The conversation went kind of like this:
God: *Points at the footprints in the sand* "That's where I was walking beside you...." *Points again* "And that's where I dragged you....yeah, you were kicking and screaming...."
I'm gonna go Bible Quizzer on ya and pull out Psalms 37:5, which says, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass." Whatever IT is to you, He WILL bring it to pass. You just gotta trust Him, gotta commit yourself to Him, and if you're getting tired of me preaching at you, I'm sorry, but I ain't gonna stop haha!! If you're reading this, you're still interested obviously.
But seriously, God loves you. One of my guy friends said, "We are under God's protection, but He will not protect us from something He can use to perfect us." Those words are too true. So whatever storm you're going through, just keep going. Keep praying. Keep reaching. Just like the blacksmith turns up the heat in his forge to create the perfect conditions to make the metal of a weapon more pure, so God turns up the heat to test US and make US more pure.
I think my preaching streak is done for now haha.
5. God has been changing lives. It's awesome to see.
So tomorrow is Monday. Well, I mean, TODAY is Monday. God bless ya, hope you have an awesome week, and may God work through you and let you see some amazing things happen in your life. :)

Love ya!!!
--Sonya :)

It's April!!!!

Man, is it April already?!?! You know what that means?!?!
Lemme see....Camp NaNoWriMo for one. School starts back up....mmm, today for me!! Bleh. Hope you guys had a great spring break!!
Hmm, let's not forget April Fool's day!!! How was yours? How many of you guys changed your relationship statuses, played pranks on people, and did something dumb and creative just because of this national Prankster's GO CRAZY Day??
Oh yes, and then there's my birthday, in like, 8 days. Sweet sixteen, here I come!!!
There are a ton of things going on this month. We just had our IL Youth Convention this past weekend, and it was PHENOMENAL!!! The speakers were anointed and their messages were powerful, and we all felt the call of God on our lives. We are Commissioned 4 Life!!! :) And the fellowship was pretty awesome too. Man, hangin' out with some of the CRAZIEST guys in the world made my weekend. :) "Con los terroristas!!!" x)
Sorry, inside joke.
Anyways, we have a ton of Bible quizzing extravaganzas coming up, where we are going to quiz, and quiz, and learn verses, and quiz some more. That alone takes up half my family's weekends this month, and then there's this other conference thingy that me and some of my youth group are going to in MN!!! That is gonna rock.
So, at IYC, (Illinois Youth Convention) they did a TON of Planetshakers songs, and we are rocking out to them RIGHT NOW, so if you need some new tunes to check out, they're pretty awesome. I especially recommend the songs, 'This Is the Day' and 'Let Praise Awaken'. :)
Hope your spring break was awesome!!! HaPpY TuEsDaY gUyS!!! :)

--Sonya :)

P.S. I'll be posting links to some of my books sometime soon, so keep an eye out for them!!! :)