Estella ran down the trail, her dog, Gerard several feet ahead of her. A gust of wind ripped through the forest and a loud crack on her left caught her attention. She watched the tree fall, then turned back to the trail, but Gerard was gone!

Going around to the other side of the tree, Estella noticed a tunnel where the tree had fallen. As she approached, she heard Gerard howling. His howling was growing distant. Gerard had run away before. He was a blood hound and often followed his nose…

Calling was of no avail. This was something Estella knew from much experience. Still the tunnel was intensely foreboding. It must be confessed the shout she gave for Gerard was rather a limp one. She gave one final shout, then thwarted destiny no longer, and entered the tunnel. Thankfully she was always prepared and had a flashlight in her backpack. Sadly, it did not work anymore. Curious very curious she was able to stand up in the tunnel.

How far did a tunnel under a tree possibly extend? Estella had walked for two minutes and finally she started to panic. How in the world did the hole made by a tree go on for so very long? Feeling confused she sighed and rubbed her brow. Her face brightened (though it was not observable in the darkness). She raised her head and shouted “echo”. An echo rippled back towards her. So, there was an end in sight! (Well not actually in sight because it was so dark.) It was in fact so dark, that she fell into a hole in the ground.

When she awoke it was to find herself lying flat on her back with Gerard licking her face. So, she must have been dreaming, good, but why was her bed so hard, and why was it bumping up and down? Looking around, Estella gave a start! She and Gerard were in a wooden prison like enclosure on wheels.  The cart like thing was being pulled by strange creatures the tallest of which were only about three feet high! One of them turned its head and calmly said “Hi” in a ringing, high pitched voice. They marched in a swarm around the cart and seemed to be carrying it somewhere. Through tunnels lighted by torches they went.

Estella dimly recollected that she should be worried. After all she was in cart with bars to hold them in but was so charmed by the comical little voices coming from the creatures that she heard herself candidly asking “What are your names?”. Another one of the creatures (I shall call them fairies) replied, “I am named Jeer, my wife here is named Perfidious, these two are our son’s Snoop, and Execrable.” Estella had been so infatuated by how tiny and adorable they were that she didn’t even notice the prick of horror that went up and down her spine as she heard their gruesome names for such adorable things. In fact, she could remember nothing of her previous feelings towards the blackness around her.

Estella subconsciously patted her dog’s head still totally absorbed in the little fairies. “Aren’t they the cutest things Gerard?” she asked. Gerard gave a nervous whimper in reply. Estella did not here a word that the creatures were saying. All she was able to take in was the delicateness and beauty of the fairies. Perfidious had a tiny, tinted, tiara containing rainbow-colored gems. Jeer, Snoop, and Execrable all had little felt caps and capes.  Gerard nuzzled her, whimpering and sadly, waging his tail. “What is it boy?” she asked, still watching the goblins.

Gerard looked at her and then he howled. Owwwoooooooo! Estella glared at him, “how you must have frightening them Gerard”. She gave him a little smack and he whimpered. It was not like herself to smack him, her “loyal dog”. He wondered what was going on.  Laying down, he whimpered some more. Turning, Estella hissed “Do be quiet, won’t you?”.

They went through one passage after another, and the deeper they went the more entranced Estella became. Finally, the procession stopped in a large cavern room. In the center of the room was a large pile of stones. At the top sat a very old fairy with a crown of what looked like spun rainbows. He banged a large staff twice his height upon the ground and the mob of fairies went silent. Watching, waiting. A fairy came forwards and began to open the cart. Estella moved forwards and took the creatures hand. Slowly the climbed the hill, with Gerard following.

At the top the old fairy beckoned for her to come forwards. She came closer and the old one said “We have claimed you as our own. After today you will be one of us! First you must go through a procedure to perceive evil as brilliance and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control as abhorrent. After this procedure you will be able to do anything you want in perfect comfort because put simply this is the removal of your conscience. You will also need a new name, perhaps Malice or Envy. I don’t know yet, you may choose when the time comes.” He said all this with a twinkling smile and tone of flippancy that was almost irresistible.

Estella was smiling and nodding, she was almost convinced. However, Gerard was not! He dove forwards and bit the goblin king on the shin for the old fairy was a goblin, and so were the rest of that deceitful people.  The moment that Gerard’s teeth contacted skin the King shrieked and shriveled up into his natural form, which was that of a hideous goblin. Seeing their game was up the goblins all took on their most hideous form. Then they began to laugh in chorus and bang hands on the floor in a rhythmic beet. Gone were the merry tinkling little voices. What greeted the ears was not in any way comforting and it echoed off the cavern walls.

Estella shrieked very loudly. Gerard Barked angrily. They ran. To this day Estella does not know how they got out of there. Only faintly does she remember scrambling after Gerard. If Gerard could talk, he would tell you that he had been situationally aware the whole time and had known the way back home. He would also tell you that in her fright Estella trampled at least five goblins and that her feet were nothing to be trifled with.

 

 

 

Note: This was partially based off of the song In the Hall of the Mountain King. 

It is again that time of year in which we celebrate the birth of Christ. Every year I do art that has something to do with the reason we have Christmas. This year I was in the mood to do wise men. I saw some wise men on Pinterest and redid them in my own style. The wise men brought gifts to Jesus after seeing a star in the sky. It is believed this is the origin for giving gifts on Christmas.  So this year as you pass gifts around the room or stack them under the tree, read about why we give gifts.

Luke 2:1-20 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

 

Ephesians 2:10  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus  for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We are Gods workmanship. As such we are created to glorify and display God. If an artist creates a painting that is a demonstration of the artists ability, not the paintings beauty. The creation has no bragging rights, but receives any praise as glory to the artist. Ephesians 2:10 says we are his workmanship or creation. As such we have no bragging rights.

As God’s workmanship are we displaying our creator in a way that will bring honer to him? When I get to heaven I would like to know that my life was a blessing and a piece of art reflecting God’s blessings in my life. I would like my life to look like a watercolor painting.

Everyone has a unique personality and set of gifts built inside of them. The question is what do you want your life to look like. maybe a like me you want it to be a water color painting, or maybe you wan’t it to represent a flower. God is creative and made your life a canvas. he already has the colors picked out. The question is will you let him work through you?

Here is a favorite song of mine about this topic.

While there are many ways  to have fun and possibly embarrass yourself, we will only be visiting one of these today. We will be discussing how to order a meal under an Obviously Fake Name, (an OFN). This is a great way to dip your feat into the water and see if you really enjoy doing Random Acts of Craziness (RAC). Before we begin let me explain that experts on RAC say that it is best to pull an OFN in a place far away from your hometown. This is so that you will not embarrass yourself in front of people you know.  With that let my explain how to pull an OFN.

 

Roll all the random names everyone knows around in your head. Disney movies have tons of great names everyone knows. You must choose something that is out of the ordinary though. If you go as say, the little mermaid, and declare that your name is Arial, it is not Obviously Fake. For all the waitress knows that could be your name. You need to choose something out there. Say, Cinderella, Maid Marian, Robin Hood, or Tweedledum all of which are unique… It does not have to be from a Disney movie. You could say you are Yankee Doodle, Prince Humperdinck, or go with a name you made yourself like Miss Droopshlop. Seize upon your creative juices, but make sure if you are a girl you get a girl name, and if you are a boy you get a boy name.

 

Optional: You can buy or make a costume for your chosen OFN.

 

Now that you have chosen your name begin planning when and where to do it. If you are not a planner just plunge into the nearest fast food restaurant and shout out “I am __________!”. Fill in blank. If you want to plan though, here is a list of things to figure out.

1. Will it be fast food, or will you have a waitress/waiter? Fast food is good because your name will be announced everywhere, and you can quickly make you exit. With a classier restaurant where they bring your food to you is good if you want to wear a costume.
2. Will you do it out of town or in town? Leaving for distant regions is recommended because, if you live in a small like Ewing everyone will know. See you have probably never heard of it before. If you live in Austen or LA, you can stay intown.
3. Will you be serious and not smile (this adds extra embarrassment), or smile and act like it’s all a big joke (this relieves pressure)?
4. Will you video or not video?

 

After making these important decisions bravely charge out and have an awesome time. Be prepared get stared at.  If you enjoy doing this you might also enjoy doing a flash mob, or Telemarketing a Telemarketer. Make sure to tell all the friends who won’t think you are crazy.