Merry Christmas! Sorry it's late....

Well, Merry Christmas everyone! My tidings are a bit belated, but they still count. I have a special Christmas gift to all my faithful blog readers: a story! It's called "One in One Billion" and it's a fiction story I just wrote recently about a girl in China. So, without further ado, here's your late Christmas present.


One in One Billion
by Elora
We watched as people slowly trickled into Ai Mei's house for service that night. Once everyone was accounted for, we began by singing and praising God. There was a lot to be thankful for since everyone was there safe. Next, Ai Mei pulled her worn Bible, with its cracked cover and fragile pages out from under her pillow. She was the only one who had a Bible out of the whole group. We talked about the first three chapters of Acts and how many people had become Christ-followers in those first years of Christianity.
Then Ai Mei invited anyone who wanted to tell their story to stand and tell it. Surprisingly the first person who chose to stand was a young girl. She couldn't have been any older than fifteen, yet there was a look of maturity that could be seen in her countenance. Her brown eyes sparkled as she began to speak.
“Once, I thought that I was only one of one billion. That is, until the day I learned about the Father who made us, loves us and knows us all.”
She said her name was Lai and she was thirteen years old. This is her story:
When she was walking to school one day, behind the other students, she began to think that she was not very important. The lessons that week had been about the immenseness of China. Lai wondered how anyone could know she existed out of one billion people. If she disappeared, would anyone know other than her parents?
On the way home, she saw a family from America. There was a fair-haired man and a woman with brown hair. Three blue eyed children followed behind them. The most curious part, though, was that the woman was carrying a Chinese baby. Lai knew it was not polite to pry, nor was it safe to talk to strangers, but she felt she had to know more about that family.
“Is that your baby?” She asked in her best English.
“Yes, she is,” the man replied, looking at Lai.
“I do not mean to be rude,” she said, “ but she does not look like the rest of your family,”
The woman spoke next, “ We adopted her just this week.”
“And we've been waiting so long to meet her!” Exclaimed the smallest blue-eyed boy.
“She is our special gift from God.” Declared the man, stroking the baby's head.
Lai went home, her head spinning. That family had loved and waited for a little girl that they had never met. Did anyone care for her like that? She knew that her mom and dad loved her, but she didn't get to see them very much because they were always at work.
When she arrived at her grandmother's house, where she was staying for the night, the old woman greeted her at the door. The girl bowed and went into the guest room, setting her things on the bed.
“Grandmother,” asked Lai when she emerged from her room, “Who is the God that the Americans worship?”
Her grandmother's brown eyes lit up with a light that Lai had never seen before. In the next hour, the woman explained her own faith in God to her granddaughter who listened with open-minded attention. That day, Lai became a child of God. When she returned home, she talked to her parents about God, and in that same month, they to became Christians. The grandmother brought them to Ai Mei's house meeting because Ai Mei was Lai's aunt.
Lai ended her story with these words, “Now I know that I am not just one of one billion, but one in one billion; one who Jesus would go out of his way to find.”

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Christmas play

I went to our church Christmas play tonight. It was called "Granddad's Christmas" and it was really funny and touching. My only regret was that I couldn't be in it again like I was last year. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely try to go!!!

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

8 projects

This week at school, I had 8 projects. Unfortunately, my teacher is coming over on Thursday, so I had to finish all 8 papers by then. I just got them finished today. I feel very victorious!!
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Christmas Choir!!!!!!

Wooohoooooo!!! I am so exited for the Christmas choir at church this year. Christmas songs are great.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Can you believe it's almost Christmas? Where did the time go? Enjoy the season of our Savior's birth. Merry Christmas! (and just in case, happy new year too)
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

P.S. The black notebook has a new story in it!

Mystery

What is in this black notebook? You have to guess. One clue: It is not Behind the Stone Door.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Good Summer Reading!!!!!

Despite my busy schedule, I've been able to enjoy some really awesome books this Summer. I mostly read Christian fantasy novels, which a while ago, I didn't enjoy so much. Fantasy wasn't really my thing until I read some really good books from our church library. I'd put a list of my favorite ones, but I think that it would be too long!:) Have a great new school year!
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Post from Camp

When I was at the Peak, ( Jr. High church summer camp), I blogged on the Jr. High ministry blog. Here's the link so you can read it:

http://678live.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/my-soul-cries-out/

Camps, Camps,Camps!

I haven't blogged in a long time,(which you've probably noticed). Since I haven't been blogging, you'd probably like to know what I have been doing. Well, I've been helping out at camps! First, I was a Jr. counselor at Kaleidoscope, which was a kid's drama camp at our church. Then I was a Jr. counselor at Camp Tillikum, the elementary school camp at our church. My summer has been very exciting so far, and there is still more to come, ( like our church Jr. High summer camp).


Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

The Cow Escaped!!!!!!!!

Sorry I haven't blogged in so long, it's hard to get used to the summer schedule. Anyway, I had a very exciting night tonight. First, I went to Taekwondo and I did really good at dodge ball. Then, I went to choir practice( I actually figured out most of my part tonight). When I got home it seemed to be an ordinary night, but then , the craziest thing happened!
Our next door neighbor has seven cows, and one of them got into our yard!!!!!! All the guys at our house and the neighbors came over and tried to lasso it. Then my mom, our friend and I came out to help them block the baby cow from running away from them. Finally, they caught her and got her into the truck and drove back over to the neighbors house. It was really strange, (and kind of exciting)!
Keep on glowing in the dark,

Look What I Broke!

Explanation: I took a Taekwondo test today, ( don't worry, I don't go around breaking peoples decorated wood planks on a regular basis) . It's also the explanation for why I walked into choir practice with a Taekwondo uniform on! I passed the test, so now I am a Blue Sr. belt!

keep on glowing in the dark,

Flash and Louie

These are my cute little guinea pigs, Flash and Louie. Flash is the friendly gray one and Louie is the more reserved black and write one. They are brothers who were both born at our house, we had their mom and dad. They are both about one and a half. They are so adorable!
Keep on glowing in the dark

The Behind the Stone Door Museum

These are all the different drafts of Behind the Stone Door, ( I edited the one you saw yesterday, the blue one is new). I have been working on this book for a long time, at least two years. You are probably wondering by now what it is about.
Here's a sum up:

While stargazing in her yard one night, a ten-year-old Roman girl named Julia stumbles upon the entrance to secret underground catacombs. In these catacombs, she finds a group of Christians in hiding . The stories they tell challenge everything she used to believe, and she decides to become a Christian herself, which is very dangerous in Ancient Rome.
I'm so excited to see what happens with my story,( and a little nervous too....)

Keep on glowing in the dark

Here it is!!!

This is my manuscript for Behind the Stone Door! I just got it back from a friend who was helping me edit it. I'm almost done editing, then I can start thinking about publishing!!!!!!

Keep on glowing in the dark

I went to the Orthodontist today!

That's always... um painful. It doesn't hurt too much,(yet) and the orthodontist said my teeth are looking really good. I'll probably have these braces off in October!
Keep on glowing in the dark,

June Roses

We found some new roses in our yard this June. Aren't they pretty?
(They smell nice too!)

Keep on glowing in the dark

Chinese

The Great Wall of China taken on Google Earth by my brother Noah

I was just doing Rosetta Stone Chinese. I was learning how to say the names of the countries ( I think....) I really like doing Rosetta Stone, but it's confusing because there is no English involved, it's only pictures and Chinese. I only have a little bit of time left to do it, though, because I do it through my school which is closing down on the 8th.
Keep on glowing in the dark

Hi everyone!

Hi Everyone,

My name is Elora and I am a writer. I hope to get my first book, Behind the Stone Door, published soon. I really like inventing characters for my stories, and sometimes, I go on adventures with them.
Most of the time I am at home, (because I do a web academy I do school here). When I'm not at home I can usually be found doing Taekwondo or doing something at Rolling Hills Comunity Church.
Just recently, I started learning how to play acoustic guitar. This is really exciting for me, because I really like music and singing and I have written a few songs. My favorite artist is Steven Curtis Chapman and I listen to his music all the time.

Keep on glowing in the dark