Published on Life Teen!

I once again have the privilege of being published on Life Teen!

I'd love if you gave my article a read and popped back here to tell me what you think. You can find it here: Come Find Me: My Spiritual Hide-And-Seek.

Submission Roller Coaster: Special Announcement!!!

If you've ever submitted writing, you know all about the Submission Roller Coaster.  For those of you who haven't experienced this up-and-down-and-all-around ride, let me enlighten you.

While writing the piece, you're going up up up up, only able to see the clouds. A tremendous sensation of "absolutely anything can happen" (complete with Ellie Golding singing in your ear) fills your entire being. All of a sudden you're done writing and revising and then you're teetering on the very top of a hill. Just as you hit the send button on the email containing your masterpiece, all that you can think is "WHY DID I DO THAT?!"

Followed by "I'M NEVER WRITING ANYTHING AGAIN IN MY LIFE OH MY GOSH WHAT POSSESSED ME TO DO THIS I CAN'T WRITE I CAN'T WRITE WHY DID I EVER THINK I COULD?!" Butterflies explode in your stomach as you race down the track, absolutely positive that you'll fall and hit the pavement below you.

But then. . .miraculously, you're going up a hill again. Maybe I'm not a fail. Maybe they'll publish it. Maybe J.K. Rowling will see it and offer to help get me a publishing deal for my book. Maybe Tom Hiddleston will see it and fall madly in love with me. Maybe. . .maybe. . .maybe. . .

And then just like that (whoosh), you're flying downward again. "OH MY GOSH I'M MOVING TO ANTARCTICA WHERE THERE ARE NO PEOPLE AND NO INTERNET AND I WILL LIVE IN SHAME WITH ONLY POLAR BEARS AS COMPANY UUUGGGHHH."

Next, you're upside down, sure that you're going to die and live at the same time. Maybe someone will fund my entire writing career. "NOPE I'M GONNA DIE GONNA DIE GONNA DIEEEE!!" Maybe I'll change someone's life. "NOPE SOMEONE IS GOING TO SHOW UP AT YOUR HOUSE WITH A GUN AND FORCE YOU NEVER TO WRITE ANOTHER WORD AGAIN."

Sorry, guys. I'm a major drama queen.

This whole cycle repeats itself a few more times and then it's over, either ended by a acceptance or a rejection, or by just plain forgetfulness.

Anyway. . .

I submitted an article the Life Teen blog (I blogged about one of their posts here) back in April (thus boarding the Submission Roller Coaster). This blog is so incredible and has helped me grow so much as a person over the past few years. They were looking for articles from teens, so I submitted one. Yikes. Needless to say, it was a rough few weeks following the submission.

By the end of April, I had completely forgotten about it. The musical I was in, plus general end-of-year stuff, pushed it out of my mind. Or maybe I made myself forget about it because I thought I'd made a mistake in submitting it.

So it was to my great delight and surprise when I received an email from the ultra-amazing Christina Mead of Life Teen this past Monday, apologizing that it had taken so long to get back to me and that she'd love to publish my post!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, I screamed (#dramaqueen). I mean, it's not a huge deal, but it's a slightly big deal. Life Teen has changed and impacted so many lives (including mine) so the fact that God could potentially use my writing to bring His love to someone is totally humbling.

Side story-- my sister came running into my room after I screamed with a box of tissues saying "Oh my gosh, you are such a baby, where is it?!"

"Where is what?"

"The spider. Isn't that why you screamed?"

Hahaha. Very funny.

So head on over to Life Teen to read my post and let me know what you think!

Fifty Shades of Grey

For a long time, pretty much ever since I've started the blog, I've wanted to write something about Fifty Shades. Unfortunatly, it has been rather difficult.

Probably mostly because I haven't read it and I won't.

However, I really wanted to get my feelings and opinion on the book out there. In my opinion, there are two kinds of readers in this world-- people who will read Fifty Shades and people who won't. I'm not jugding, so please, don't feel judged whether or not you have read the series.

I came across an article on one of my favorite blogs, LifeTeen (lifeteen.com). It is written from a Catholic perspective and it doesn't just apply to Fifty Shades. But whether or not you are a Catholic, and whether or not you are a Fifty Shades fan, I HIGHLY encourage you to read this. There is so much truth in it for both readers and writers.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts=)

(http://lifeteen.com/fifty-shades-of-grey/)

WHAT GOD THINKS ABOUT FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

By Kristin Bird | JULY 30, 2012

A few days ago I was sitting at the pool and noticed five ladies reading Fifty Shades of Grey. I knew the books were popular, so I suppose I shouldn’t have been all that surprised. What surprised me though, was that three of these ladies were teens. I had heard that these books are called “mommy porn,” but it’s not just mommies who are reading them.

Fifty Shades of Grey is the first book in a trilogy which follows the relationship between an innocent virgin, Anastasia Steele, and a powerful, but emotionally damaged business man, Christian Grey. Like most romance novels, the books deal with the ups and downs and ins and outs of their complicated relationship, including his attempts to seduce her into his bed. There’s nothing normal about the seduction, though, as Grey tries throughout the books to convince Ana to join him in sado masochistic bondage sex.

Most romance novels center around an innocent girl who is overwhelmed by a powerful and more experienced man. Her innocence and virginity are lost (usually outside of marriage) and readers cheer them along never realizing that this “love” story misses the mark on who God has created us to be. The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy misses the mark as well. Christian Grey is a man who uses women for sex and misses out on the great Divine Love that human relationships were created for.

I decided to ask one of these teens at the pool what she thought of the book, and she turned bright red when I interrupted her. She even admitted to being embarrassed because I interrupted her at “a really naughty part.” When we talked about it, she said that she knew the sex scenes were “a little much” but didn’t see anything wrong with it. “After all,” she said, “It’s not like I’m sitting here at the pool making out with my boyfriend while I read.”

Let’s be honest: There’s only one reason why these books are so popular. It’s because of the steamy, lengthy, and ultra-explicit sex scenes that are found within the pages. It’s because they are scandalous and shocking. But those ultra-explicit and scandalous sex scenes are exactly why we should steer clear of Fifty Shades.

WHY ISN’T IT OKAY TO READ BOOKS LIKE THIS?

• Because sex is more than use. Sex – and all the things that physically, emotionally, and mentally lead to sex – was created by God to be shared between a married man and woman. Sex is an expression of love that reflects the Divine Love of God – a Love that is free, total, fruitful, and faithful. Pornography and erotica are a mockery of the intimacy and beauty of Sacramental love. It reduces the mystery of sex to mere use, turning something sacred and Godly into something profane and dark. As Blessed John Paul II said, “The opposite of love is not hate, the opposite of love is use.” The lust that these books infect us with is all about self-gratification – it’s all about use.
• Because the Church teaches us it’s not okay. Pope Benedict addressed the issue of pornography and erotic literature saying, “A relationship that does not take into account the fact that a man and a woman have the same dignity represents a serious lack of humanity . . . The moment has come to energetically halt the widespread distribution of material with an erotic and pornographic content, including through the internet in particular.”
• Because lustful thoughts lead to lustful actions. Pope Benedict and Blessed John Paul II both understood that erotic words and images (like in Fifty Shades of Grey) create lustful thoughts in us. Those lustful thoughts don’t just end there; they cause in us physical reactions which end in lustful actions. Even St. Augustine struggled with this disordered and vicious pattern in his own life. After his conversion he wrote about his struggles with lust saying, “Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity.”

If you want to live a virtuous life, you have to be vigilant about it. Evil only needs to find a tiny little chink in your armor of holiness to begin to work. Don’t let these books crack open your virtue and start you down the vicious cycle of self-gratification and lust. Avoid these books, this author, and authors like her (V.C. Andrews comes to mind).

Pray for the intercession of St. Augustine and Our Blessed Mother in remaining chaste and pure in all of your thoughts and actions.

“Of all inner conflicts the most arduous are concerned with chastity. These battles are of daily occurrence.” – St. Augustine

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Editor’s Note: Kristin Bird is a youth minister from Wisconsin. Two things that Kristin loves are teens and books; so it seemed appropriate to ask her to weigh in on this topic and share her wisdom.