March 29

My laptop is being stubborn again, so I am once again writing on the family computer. I woke my computer up early this morning, so I could do maths before we went out, and it was wonderful. It woke up quickly, did what it was told, and stayed alert the whole time. Now, it's being incredibly stubborn.

My sister had the colours on her brace changed today. They are now pink and teal. I think they look nice.

My mother thinks I should use proper touch typing techniques while on the computer. The thing is, I can't! If I try to touch type on this computer, I end up with about five letters that I didn't mean to put in!

We went to the Brisbane Square Library today. I returned eight books, borrowed seven, and somehow my bag was heavier afterwards! I got a whole lot of heavy books. One of the books was so good, I read all 377 pages this afternoon, and then reviewed it for the newsletter my sister produces. I'll post the review here.

Adam Canfield: The Last Reporter
by Michael Winerip
The Slash, Harris Elementary/Middle School's newspaper, has been shut down for exposing the town's most powerful family's shady business dealings. But the co-editors, Adam and Jennifer, are determined to keep going. With the help of the Amache brothers, tow outrageous kid entrepeneurs, they attempt to collect the money to become an independent newspaper. A suspicious school election, and unusually high test scores, round out this funny and mysterious book.
I rate this book 5 stars.

The miracle for today is cool. Once again, these miracles are not mine. I just read about them, and are inspired by them, so I post them here.

Smiling Face
Author Unknown

One of my girlfriends had dropped off her 3 year old son at daycare.  The weather was very cold and there was predicted to be a snowstorm later that day. 

Mid-morning she received a call from the daycare to pick up her child.  The snowstorm was approching  much faster than previously anticipated.  She picked up her son, and as they were on the way home, the snow began falling heavily and the roads became icy. 

The car hit a patch of ice, and her car spun several times.  He son was safely strapped in the the safety seat in the back.  The car spun off the road, and somehow landed safely between a stand of several trees.  My girlfried, shaken, turned to check on her son in the back seat. 

Her son looked up at her and asked in his little 3 year old voice... "Mom... when we were going around and around and around... who was that man looking in the window?" 

Puzzled, my friend ask her son, "What did the man look like?". 

Her son replied, "He just smiled at me".

March 27

In the last 24 hours I have somehow acquired 2 new followers. Thanks so much!

I love it when my computer is slow, and I type something on the screen but it takes a little while for it all to come up. It is so much fun to watch what I type come up on the keyboard as though I was typing, when I've taken my hands off the keyboard!

I'm a bit mad at the moment because I got a C on an assignment I thought I should get a B for. For me, a C is an entirely unacceptable mark. I expect better of myself than that.

I totally forgot to mention this, but 2 baby guinea pigs were born on Saturday, to the guinea pigs I look after. They are really cute, but we haven't come up with names for them yet. If I post some pictures, will you come up with ideas? We're kind of stuck.

My little brother is playing with a blow up football. He's throwing it all over the place, even trying to step on it. He's acting like it's some kind of alien life form that he's trying to catch.

I'm so looking forward to the holidays. I'd love to be able to stay in bed for hours, playing on my iPad. I probably can't though, for two reasons. Firstly, there's breakfast. I'd be too hungry to stay in bed for hours. Secondly, guinea pigs. Guinea pigs don't take holidays. They need to be fed every day of the year.

Maybe I can bribe my older brother into feeding my piggies one morning. There's no point bribing my sister, she sleeps for too long, and my little brother doesn't like going in the side yard, where my piggies are. The grass is too long there for his liking.

Today's miracle is incredibly cool. I would be absolutely terrified in her situation. Probably a good thing it wasn't me then!

The Shoes I'm Glad I Forgot
by Elizabeth Sherrill

Of all the times to have the airline lose my luggage! It was only my toiletries case with my one pair of good shoes, but of all places to wind up without them!
I'd flown out to New Mexico for a one day seminar sponsored by the Southwest Christian Writers' Association. "No one will care about your shoes," Margaret Cheasebro, the group's president assured me. 
Undoubtedly, Margaret was right, but of all times... Even as I thought it, a phrase from our church's communion service came to mind: "we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee."At all times? I wondered. 
At the seminar's close, several writers came up to the stand. Suddenly there was an ear-splitting crack and the sound of exploding glass. A woman shouted "Lie down! Everyone!"
Through the window she had seen a man brandishing a gun. Later we learned that he had been drinking and shooting at telephone poles. From the wall behind the speaker's stand, the police recovered the tip of an electric screwdiver fired from a muzzle loading pistol. 
While Margaret filled out a police report, the rest of us relived our escape, each recalling a step forward or a second's delay that had kept her out of the line of fire. 
For my part, I traced a trajectory from the window to the wall, an inch over the spot where I had been standing. I was thinking of a pair of two-and-a-half-inch heels in a missing bag. I echoed an ancient prayer: "we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee."

Definitely something to be thankful for! God is so totally amazing. He controls all circumstances, and though we may not see why at the time, He has a reason. Even if you never know the reason, it's still there. 

As my older brother just (un)enthusiastically reminded me, we get to go square dancing tonight! I like square dancing. It's awesome fun. 


My little brother just claimed he doesn't have faults. SO not true. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23 NIV) My little brother is no exception, whether or not he thinks he is.

March 26

A friend of my mother's from church is going back to America, so she had a lot of stuff to get rid of. So we went around to her place to see if we could help, and she gave us a heap of groceries. As my sister put it, it looked like we had robbed a supermarket! She also gave us two sets of drawers in pink, which my sister and I took. The boys haven't got much space in their room for putting a set of drawers, much less two.

I was reading 'The Heavenly Man' today, and it was really interesting. I couldn't believe everything he went through. Anyone who thinks that persecution doesn't exist, and no one would really suffer for Jesus, this book proves them totally wrong. He went through a lot.

It's still March, so I have another miracle. Thanks for the comments so far, but I would love to hear more. Do you enjoy reading about these miracles? Do they inspire you the way they do me? Do even believe that they happened?

A Field Of Cows
by Elly Derr
Years ago, my husband, Dan, was a missionary pilot in Ecuador. We lived at the foot of the Andes Mountains; and when he flew, he kept in touch with me at the base camp by the radio. 
One day I was logging his position and altitude when he announced that his Cessna had engine trouble. He needed to make an emergency landing. 
I looked at my map and saw nothing but steep hills that dropped off into deep precipices. There was no flat space for miles around. From the sky, Dan searched for a road, a field, a meadow - any place he could possibly bring down his plane. He was losing altitude fast. 
"Pray," he said to his passenger, a missionary traveling with her four children. "Pray," he said to me over the radio. 
As the plane came through a pass, Dan saw a mountain village and a small green field. Down he came for a landing. He radioed his position to me, and I drove to meet him. When I arrived, Dan's plane was in a field surrounded by a crowd of Indians. My husband and his relieved passengers were unharmed. "Es un milagro," one farmer repeated over and over again. "It's a miracle."
I assumed he was talking about the plane's safe landing, but he had another milagro in mind.  
That small green field had been filled with cows peaceably grazing. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, they had all started moving to one side of the field - just before Dan's plane came into view. 

 Isn't that neat! Once again, these didn't happen to me, I just read about them,  and decided to put them up here. If I'm breaking some kind of copyright law, it was entirely by accident. 

My sister is at the keyboard. She got a new voice exercise this morning. It goes "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, THIRTEEN!" She refuses to explain why thirteen is so special. 

March 23

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but I simply forgot. In the ruckus around my brother leaving, I forgot to blog.

I finished my Maths assessment today! I thought it would be really hard, but it actually was pretty easy, and didn't even take too long. I still have lots of Maths to do, but at least the assessment is finished.

We go out to youth group tonight, and I'm really looking forward to it. I like youth group. We do all sorts of fun stuff, and I get to hang out with my friends.

My sister is doing her vocal exercises. She sounds like she's pretending to be a ghost! It involves all sorts of sounds, and it really does sound like she's trying to be a ghost.

I love reading about miracles, or people who do amazing things for a cause they believe in. I read recently about the bringing of Bibles into China, and it sounded amazing. Part of me wishes that I could've been there first hand, and done it too. Even just hearing about it first hand would be so cool.

I have another miracle today. As I have said before, these are not my miracles. They just inspire me, so I write them down, to inspire others.

The Language I Know

By Rosemary Jackson

I volunteer at a soup kitchen in Santa Fe where you are as likely to hear Spanish as English. Many times I've wished I could speak Spanish, especially with two of my favorite regulars, whom I'll call Juan and Miguel. Luckily Juan's English is good enough that he can translate for Miguel, who speaks none at all. 

"Hey, how's it going?" I asked them one day.

Juan told me that he and Miguel had been looking everywhere for work. "No luck," he said. They'd run out of money and were sleeping in a nearby park. I could only imagine how tough it was to find work, especially when you are homeless. 

"Why don't we pray about it?" I suggested and waited for Juan to translate for Miguel. Then we all held hands and asked God to help them find jobs. 

After that I didn't see Juan and Miguel for a while. I figured they might have had to go out of town to find work. Then one day they were back. 

"We want to thank you," Juan said. Miguel smiled and spoke in Spanish as his friend translated for him: "Miguel says, 'Prayer really works. We both have jobs!'"

"Let's give thanks," I urged. I bowed my head and said a short prayer of thanksgiving aloud. After saying "Amen," I opened my eyes to find my friends staring at me.

Miguel spoke in an urgent tone, then Juan explained for me. "My friend says it and I say it too. That was a beautiful prayer. Thank you. Your Spanish is flawless."

Flawless? I don't see how. For I had said that prayer in English, the only language I know.


That is so amazing. I, likewise, only speak one language, but the language of God is universal.

March 21

I have had a lot of work to do today. I had to write an essay on workplace ethics, complete a Religion and Ethics lesson, complete my History Unit, and do my other schoolwork. I'm really tired of typing, as I've been doing it all day, so I won't type long.

Today's Miracle:

Instructions From Above

By David Moore

Henry Gardner was flying me to Asheville, North Carolina, in his Cessna 180. We'd taken off from Victoria, Texas, and had stopped in Jackson, Mississipi, to fix a malfunctioning radio. 

Now we were nearing Asheville, only to find that the fog was so thick that the controller wouldn't let us land. "Sorry," he said over the radio, "you'd better head to Greenville." But we couldn't.

We didn't have enough fuel to make it to Greenville. "We're going to have to land," Henry insisted, and we were granted permission to make an emergency landing. The radio sputtered a few times and Henry lowered the plane. 

"Pull it up!" came a shout. To our horror we saw we were about to land on the interstate! Henry pulled hard on the stick and we barely missed the highway overpass. 

"If you listen to me," the voice on the radio said, "I'll show you how to get back in." And then came a series of careful, detailed, instructions: "Raise it up." "To your left a little." "Easy, easy." "You're nearing the runway. Let it down - now!"

The lights of the runway suddenly appeared out of the fog. Never had I seen such a welcome sight. We had landed safely. 

First we thanked God. Then as soon as we could, we went to thank the air traffic controller, who looked at us in bewilderment. 

"I don't understand," he said. "I lost contact with you after I told you to make an emergency landing. Your radio sputtered and you were gone."

March 20

I'm going to have to be really quick, my brother wants to use the internet.

The jury is out on whether or not we will go to square dancing tonight.

I have another Miracle for the Miracle Month of March. Sorry for the bad spelling, but I wanted to copy it authentically. As well as the fact that I didn't have time to correct it! So here goes!

If He Shoots, I'm A Dead Duck
 It was the year Of 1944. I was stationed on a island 7 miles out of a inland water way,wrighsville beach.it was gunnery range. For p 47's. There were two ranges one was opened and the other was closed with a wood panel painted red which meant closed no firing. In the middle between ranges, was sand baged radio shack where a flight officer was directing flight plane,circle pass,s. but this p 47 pilot wasn't,t alert . I was standing right in front of the target my fellow sgt. Shouted look out and dove for cover, but I turned around and froze.he opened fire coming right at me, I said to myself if he fires I,m a dead duck. He did. 3 fifty caliber bullets came right at me, landed at my feet by one ft. They would have tore my body apart. it was a absolute miracle.i was stunned. God had to be with me. The officer came running out of the radio shack . Screaming are you o k. .he sent the pilot back to the main base near Wilmington north carolina.    What happen to him I don,t know?


One last thing: My little brother likes to make up silly songs and sing them continuously. This was one he made up today. 

'Life is as sweet as a pineapple, yummy and good to eat!'  

March 15

I have decided that my habit of talking to myself while working out maths problems is a really bad one. I've been working on my maths for the past hour, and now my throat is sore from talking too much! Thankfully, I can still blog, and that doesn't hurt my throat.

Did you know I dream a lot about libraries? I'm serious, I really do. About half my dreams involve libraries, where I invariably find the coolest books, that I have never seen before. I never visit the same dream library twice though, and I haven't visited any of them in real life.

We went shopping today, and my mother bought heaps of flour. She'll be baking this afternoon, but until then we have a wall of flour in our cupboard. It's kind of cool.

Now to today's miracle. I found this on a website, and it sounded so cool! This will be today's miracle. God is amazing in what he can do.

March 14

Last night at square dancing, the lights went out. All over the area, the power was out, even the streetlights. It was so cool! I wanted to keep dancing, but it was apparently too dangerous. I guess I can understand that. That was last night, and nothing interesting has happened today. I had some crazy weird dreams last night, because of a few conversations I had, but nothing interesting today. It was productive, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to hear all the details of my work.

So, on to today's miracle. I don't have a personal miracle today; this is another miracle I've read about. It is pretty cool though, and I hope it touches you.

A Lodge Ring for Dad
By Mary Sherman Hilbert

 My dad was frugal about some things, and he wouldn't spend much on himself. For instance, although he was devoted to his lodge, he wouldn't indulge in a lodge ring. But his love for his children, especially my brother Bob, was extravagant. 
When World War II broke out, my handsome, fearless brother became a Marine fighter pilot. Early in 1944, he died under enemy fire in the South Pacific. 
Mother's faith sustained her, but my father aged before our very eyes. He began missing work. He lost interest in things. He even stopped going to his lodge meetings. 
As Christmas approached, Mother and I worried more and more about Dad. The holiday had been Bob's favorite; his Christmas surprises were legendary: a doll house made at school for me, a puppy hidden away for his little brother, an expensive dress for Mother bought with the first money Bob ever earned. 
Dad's grief continued to drain his strength. Mother and I prayed together, "Dear God, help us through Christmas." 
On December 23rd, an official looking package from the government arrived; it contained Bob's personal effects. Dad watched grimly as Mother unwrapped Bob's dress uniform. As she refolded it to pack it away, she automatically went through the pockets. 
"What's this?" she murmured suddenly. Then, with a little cry, she handed it to Dad. 
I'll never forget the look that transformed his face into a blend of wonder, hope, and healing, as if Bob was still with us. 
In his hand, he held a neatly folded fifty dollar bill with a note on it in Bob's handwriting: for Dad's lodge ring. 

March 13

I am once again writing on the family computer, but this time it's for a different reason. My laptop is working perfectly fine. It's just that my older brother is using the internet connection we share. I have to say, I'm enjoying how fast this computer is, and I'm enjoying the use of an ENTER button. My computer is unfortunately missing one.

I have a new miracle. This one is personal.It may not seem such a big deal as yesterday's, but it's special to me.  I like to read stories on the internet. Normally, these stories can only be read on the internet.Sometimes, like today, my brother uses our internet connection. Somehow, Someway, I can still read these stories, even when I'm offline! Better still, my computer can actually procees them faster than when I'm online! That, for me, is miraculous and majorly cool.

My little brother has had a sick day today, and from what he said, you'd think it was the worst punishment in the world! All he had to do was lie on the lounge all day watching movies, and rest in his bed for 45 minutes in the afternoon. He complained the whole time! Now he reckons he'll never take a sick day again. That's hard to believe.

We go square dancing tonight!

March 12

I found a really good book at our church library today. It's called Miracles of Answered Prayer. Some of the stories were so amazing I wanted to put them on my blog. So I have decided that March will be my Month of Miracles. Each day I'll put a miracle from this book on my blog. I hope that as you read these miracles, you will think of the amazing power of the God who can do these things. I f nothing else, at least it will give me something to write about! Hopefully, I'm not breaking any copyright laws by doing this.

Footprints to Follow

by Sandy Seltzer

Dustin, my California-bred guide dog, was having trouble outside our Long Island apartment. This was his first snowstorm and he was confused. I'm blind, and I wasn't doing so well either. No one was out, so there were no sounds to steer me. And contrary to what many people think, guide dogs do not find the way for a blind person. The blind person directs the dog.
After a harrowing forty-five minutes, Dustin and I finally made it back. But guide dogs must be walked regularly. "Next time why don't you ask God to go with you?" a friend suggested. And so I did. "Lord, go with Dustin with me. The wind is so fierce, it's hard to concentrate on our direction. Lead us." 
 Snow stung our faces and it was difficult to make a path. Dustin whined a little. "Okay, boy," I said to him, "the Lord is with us." And then I gave him a command that a blind person gives only when another person is leading the way: "Dustin, follow!"
Dustin perked up and to my astonishment took off as though he knew exactly where to go. We made it to the street and then headed back to our building with no problem.
A young woman trudged up and offered to walk us to our door. "We'll just follow your footprints," she said, "Yours and the dog's, and that other person's."
"What other person?" I asked. 
"There are a dog's prints. And your prints. And a larger person's prints. Wasn't someone with you?"
I paused for a moment and then I answered, "Oh yes, there was Someone with us." There always is. 

That is such a cool story. 

My little brother is sick. He's sitting in the lounge room, watching The Bee Movie. He's been coughing all day. Hopefully he'll be feeling better by Wednesday, or he can't go swimming, and he loves that (not)!