Decisions and Watermelon

Today I have a special guest here to speak with you on the subject of choice making and decision, all that good stuff. Her name is Airamae Berkline. If you've visited that second tab up there, then you might recognize her as one of my charries. Hand her some cookies and some virtual applause because she's pretty excited to do this. She's been bugging me about it for a while now so I finally relented and let her do a minor takeover of my blog for the week. ;)

Airamae: I have NOT been bugging you! And it's YOU who want's the cookies. 

Me: o.0 suuuuure

Airamae: *rolls eyes* 'Cause you'd never just let me guest post because you couldn't come up with anything better. *cough*

Me: What an accusation!

Airamae: *nods* Riiight, didn't think so. *winks*

Me: *pushes her aside* Anyway, lets all hear what Airy has to say in her generous contribution, shall we?

Airamae: *snerks*

Me: *glares* 

***

Airy

"Left or right? Paper or plastic? Rent or buy? These are only a few choices that are presented to us in life. Those are the easier ones. But what about the bigger ones? What about those tough decisions we have to make in life, like where to go to school, who to marry, where to live? It's questions like these that trip people up. And why wouldn't they? These are the choices that will impact our future in a greater way. 

The way we make decisions is based on our personality, beliefs, worldview and upbringing. These past few weeks I've been learning about my life and having to decide between two negative alternatives so it seemed. But the thing I've been learning is this: You can't just hide from the things you don't want to face. They will always be there. It's true. We can't be afraid of making the wrong choice to the point where it cripples us. Gosh, once I stopped feeling sorry for myself I realized that if I didn't make a decision, complacency would choose for me. 

Now I've got to tell you something about bad decisions. I've made them, plenty of them actually and you will too, it's a part of life. We learn from our mistakes, rearrange our lives to fit the new normal, then move on, that's all we can do, dwelling on past mistakes will only hinder your future. And who wants to be held back from the amazing life in store for them? I know I don't. 

I certainly can't say I'm now an expert on making big decision, because I'm not but I do know the importance of weighing your options carefully and seeking the guidance of someone other then yourself. Sometimes it's hard to see the big picture when you're right in the thick of things, but friends and family can help you discern between your options. 

We have the ability to change the world if we only chose to. To step out, to make that decision to be different, to stand up for yourself and your beliefs or someone you love, that's courage and that's hard....but trust me, it's so worth it in the end. A special someone once told me, 'In life you either dive in, or hang back, but it's the ones who've dove head first into a pit of vipers that will change this world.' I laughed when he told me that. Honestly, I thought that was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. But what if it isn't? What if he meant that in order to change the world, you have to be so grounded in your beliefs, your decision, that'd you'd go to any measure to do it? Maybe the key to making decisions is knowing what we stand for, maybe we have to learn what we're willing to die for before we can chose what we'll live for."

By Airamae Berkline 

***

Let's thank Airy for her words of wisdom and give her some watermelon on your way out, she really does love that stuff. 

Airamae: I do. *nods*

Me: She also thinks she's a bird.

Airamae: *punches me in the arm*

Me: Ow! But you do! You get up at the crack of dawn every morning. 

Airamae: *rolls eyes* And this was important information to share, because...?

Me: *shrugs* It somehow went with the watermelon thing.

Airamae: Riiiiight. I think it's time to say goodbye now. *waves*

Me: Fiiiiine. *closes door*

Thank you all for putting up with Airy and I today, we had fun and I hope you did too. :)

We're All Stories In The End

Lately I've been thinking about how God sees us, not only as His children that He loves but also as His creations that He's proud of. As a writer, I create characters - people. I dream up their hair color and their eye color, their likes and dislikes, their quirks. I spend time getting to know them. They are my creations, and I love them.

If I love these fictional people I've created, how much more does God love us - His creations? I love my charries because I've put pieces of myself in each one of them. In Pandora I've given her my love for books and my quiet ability to listen. Airamae has my imagination, my dreams. Brittan has my strength, Journey has my determination, Devin, my empathy. Just as I've created my charries in my image, God has created us in His. I can see His generosity in my sister, His mercy in my Mom, His compassion in my friend, His hope in myself.

The Lord is the author of our lives, He's writing our story just as I'm writing my charries'. As the author, I know everything that's going to happen to my characters before it happens. I can see the whole picture like God sees our lives, as a whole. I know the pain that they'll have to endure, I know the decisions they're going to make and I also know that things get better on the other side of the mess they're living in, they just have to find strength and persevere. If I were to tell Pandora that she would find hope and joy and a brand new life, she wouldn't believe me. If I told Airamae that she'd leave everything safe and familiar to save a life she's never met, she'd laugh in my face. If I were to tell Keaton that he'll find forgiveness and reconciliation in the God he hates, he'd call me insane.

I look at my precious charries and see ME. How often have I said to God, "I can't do this, I'm afraid, I'm confused, this isn't right!"? I have so little faith in my author, the one who wrote the story of my life, the only one who knows how it ends and every chapter in between. Yet, when I feel Him nudging me to do something, I say, "No"? Thinking that I know better? That isn't right. He's all knowing and perfect and I'm only human.

Trusting God is hard. It's letting go of what you see and trusting in the unseen, no matter the circumstances. I struggle so often with trust, but who better to place my faith in than the one who created me? Who know's me and loves me more then Him? This post was just a page out of my journal, it's honest and I hope you learn something along with me. I'll leave you with one of my favorite verses, because it seems only fitting:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Introduction and Explanation

This is my first post on my new blog! Be excited, people. The plan is to be talking with you at least once a week, most likely more often until I get busy and forget. I tend to be like that. As for the introduction part of this post, I'm Tess and that's really all you need to know, the rest should speak for itself. Oh! Except for the fact that I love cookies, I must inform you of that. XD

Now that we've got that out of the way. I think I should do a bit of explaining about the title, yes?

First of all, see that word, 'Charries'? You're going to be temped to pronounce it 'Cherries'. Don't. It makes no sense that way. The correct pronunciation of the word is, 'Carries', Short for 'Characters'. My Characters. So when you hear that word used (as I'm sure you will often), know that I'm not speaking of red fruit but of people; fictional people, but people none the less. 

So now that we got that cleared up, lets move on to the first part of the title, 'Keys'. Don't worry I'm sure you're pronouncing this word right. ;) The reason why I've called my blog 'Of Keys and Charries', other then the fact that I'm completely obsessed with keys, is this:

Have you ever looked at a key, really looked at one? They're beautiful, the old ones especially. They are each crafted uniquely, to fit a specific purpose. Something I've been learning is, if you have questions, God will give you answers. The 'keys' to your pondering, so to speak. Now you may not get the answer you want or in the time that you want it, but He will hand you over that key to unlock the door you've been pounding on. Sometimes keys come in the form of another questions. It's strange but it's true. Sometimes we must unlock a few doors before we get to our final destination.

So the things I'm going to be talking about on this blog are mainly, God and writing, because those are two things that are very important to me. I might just share with you what God's been teaching me or one of my charries might make a guest appearance. Either way, I'm excited to take the plunge into the blogging world and I hope you'll join me along the way. :)