HEROES Week~ Finding Laughter

Today I am not posting any lyrics to today's song, mainly because I want some time to read "Pretty Little Liars" (by guess who? Sara Shepard, who obviously also wrote "The Lying Game"). Selfish, I know. Bad girl, Hope! I am also reading "Beatle Meets Destiny" about some boy named John Lennon (but he's not THE John Lennon) who meets a girl named Destiny McCartney (get it? McCartney and Lennon??? If you don't, you better get to studying about The Beatles). Everybody calls the guy Beatle. He meets his dream girl, Destiny, and falls head over heels for her the very first day. But, he's already dating his twin sister's (who was born six weeks after him) best friend, Cilla, who is also beautiful. However even though he loves Destiny, he did meet her on Friday the Thirteenth. And he's really superstitious. And he's sitting in a bar on Friday the Thirteenth, but only eating ice cream. He's named after a Beatle, he's got a twin, he's in love... HE'S ALSO TAKEN! This humourous book is worth your time. Five stars, so far.

And, Destiny has some sisters named Faith, Charity, and Hope. If I wasn't already sold when I read that part, then I don't know when I was! The book is by Gabrielle Williams. And the setting is... Aussie!
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Laughter. Something we all could use a little dose of every once in a while. We're teenagers, we're busy. Even I am crazy busy. SCHOOL, church, writing stories, writing poetry, being a student leader in the childrens' ministry, a preschool teacher in the nursery (more like a Sunday school setting than actual needing-a-degree kind of teaching), playing guitar, learning piano, trying to get on the worship team, songwriting, preparing for Fine Arts, singing, finding songs for our group human video drama. And, I have to squeeze in some time to watch "Inception" (I have an "Inception" quote at the top of the screen!) and "Switched at Birth". I am also three or four episodes behind "The Lying Game".

In all life's stress, it's easy to turn life into a "Me, Me, Me" routine. Just ask Drew any day. His schedule is a bit like mine, considering we've both been homeschooled and are both leaders in kids' church, and both play piano (although he is WAAAY better than me). But, then again, he's a fourteen-year-old uncle whose siblings are all grown, sooo... major differences. Well, he wrote a post about human trafficking, and here's what he said:

"In life, it is very easy to slip into a vicious cycle of 'Me, Me, Me.' It has become popular, common, and even easy to live only thinking about self, and; honestly, we all do it. Every day it is a challenge for humans, especially Americans, to wake up and not think of themselves first. In times like these, where wickedness is thriving, and most people don't seem to care; We have to remind ourselves of the pain some people live in every day they wake. Some people are trapped in a sphere of sorrow, unable to get out. The people I'm talking about are woman trapped in human trafficking... Many people have never even heard of human trafficking, it is a horrible thing. In the simplest of terms, it is forced prostitution... I really can't think of anything worse you could do to a girl."
-Drew, from "Drew's Blog," who was nominated to be the Best Blog Ever and Most Inspiring Blog.

We wake up and we think about ourselves. "What will I wear?" "Ooh, I gotta catch my bus?" "Does Chuck like me? Yes or no???" (quote from my youth pastor!). We don't think about anything else, and well, normally I would only speak for myself, but I know I'm not the only one who does this.

We don't think about those struggling. And it goes beyond bullying. Being a HERO is more than stopping a fight or standing up for yourself. It's opening your mind to all the other problems in this world, one day at a time. Being a HERO is helping someone break away from their problems and turn their nights of pain and sorrow into days of joy and laughter.

Stopping bullying is taking a stand.
Finding laughter is being a HERO.