The Lord is so good to me! The other day, as I was finishing Mansfield Park, Jesus told me to read some literary criticism of Jane Austen. I wanted to cry, "Really? You think so too?" =)
Well, duh, He's the one who crafted us around a dream of His heart. He's the one who knows the exact avenue to tap to infuse our hearts with a holy passion for His dreams. But when He opens up those doors into wider spaces of dreaming, I'm still taken aback! He is just so good!
He said I didn't need to read anything terribly heavy--just some materials to supplement my own readings, studies, and musings about Jane Austen. He said simply that if this is what I want to study, I need to accumulate as much foundational knowledge as possible. I'm sooo excited to dive into it. Last year, I wrote a paper on musical and non-musical characters in Jane Austen. I picked up a book called The Innocent Diversion: A Study of Music in Jane Austen's Life and Writing. It was so fun, but I intentionally skipped over the portions that related to novels I had not yet read. So, I'm going back and reading that.
Another topic that I find so intriguing is the role of the clergy in Jane Austen's novels. She was the daughter of a clergyman, yet her representations of clergy in her novels range from Mr. Collins to Mr. Henry Tilney and Dr. Grant to Mr. Edward Ferrars. Anyways... there are a lot of positive and negative representations, I'm excited to look at them. So I got a book from the library called Jane Austen and the Clergy. That one is going to be especially good =)
I also am getting a book that compiles her personal letters. From the quotes I've seen in my little Jane Austen journal, they should be very fun. I love her letters to her sister Cassandra.
And as if those aren't enough, one of my bestest friends got me a great birthday present. It's Jane's satirical History of England which she penned at only 16 years old. Oh goodie!

If you couldn't tell... I'm a little excited about this!
You can look forward to quotes, anecdotes, and morsels of things about "Jane."
This is going to be grand... I'm so glad He knows what's best for us =)

Ok. The library just informed me that my books are ready, so, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go read =)

I'm working on a response paper for my physics class and really needed a mental break from it, so here I am. I need 700 words for this open ended response to nuclear physics, and I have 504. I'm afraid the next 200 words may be quite a bit of "bs" but that's what they get for not even giving a prompt. Juuuust kidding. No, I try not to do that, even though English majors are notorious for being able to create bs. But I really don't know what to say about it. Nuclear energy is a good thing if we can use it safely... how many times can i say that to equal 700 words. hmmmm

Well, in happier news...

I am pleased to announce that yesterday I finished my quest to read all 6 of Jane Austen's superb novels. My final one, Mansfield Park, was a beautiful read. The Lord showed me quite a bit through that book actually... and best of all, yesterday, during all my excitement about having finished the books, I could hear the Lord say, "I'm so proud of you." I've been thinking about Chariots of Fire, and for the most part, i'm beginning to think that, "When I read, I feel God's pleasure..." and that is a glorious feeling.
This is the first quarter--the first time ever, really--that i've been in school but not in a literature class. But instead of getting sorry for myself, I decided that since that means my reading load is relatively light, I would take the quarter to read a few of the books I hear Him telling me to read. And as I've read, I can hear the power behind some of the words He is highlighting. I can hear His voice calling me deeper into understand His nature so that I can understand language. He cares about language and the more I learn about literature or communication--I see that so clearly. It's exhilarating. This is divine purpose. This is my destiny. And it is for now.

The only other thing I can think to share is that, thank goodness, today is my last day as a teenager.
This last decade (well, all of my life), but especially the last decade holds some very, very dark places for me. There are points that I don't even care to remember... times that He has cast into the sea of forgetfulness and that's where they can stay.
But tomorrow begins something entirely new! I fully expect the 20's to be the very best years of my life (just as I expect the 30's, 40's, etc... to be as well :) But I am so excited! I know Father has good plans! I know He has more good things for me this decade than I know what to do with. I have no idea where I may be 10 years from now, but just look at the possibilities:
- Marriage
- Kids
- BA
- MA
- (Ph.D. =)
- Teaching
- London
- Laughing
- Nieces and Nephews =)
- Sisters in law ???
- New friends
- Amazing times with Old Friends
- Weddings
- Travel
- Working
- Sunsets
- Walks
- Surprises
- And Physics Response Papers =|

Haha... speaking of, I should probably finish mine... But I hope you can take a minute to reflect on all the glorious things 10 more years of precious life may afford you =)

Bon soir!