Tower of Joy

Hi everyone! It's almost Christmas!!!  I am (still) trying to figure out how December went by so quickly! And, yes, I haven't posted in over a month.  (Sorry guys!) Life has been insanely and amazingly busy. Honestly?  It doesn't always feel like Christmas time.  I have noticed that as I grow older, Christmas becomes less and less magical for me.  Sometimes it's a struggle to even get into the 'Christmas spirit'  at all . I love Christmas.  But the things I love most about it have changed since I was a little girl setting out cookies for Santa. I love thinking about Mary.  She was just a teenage girl when her world was completely changed.  She was willing to risk everything to follow God's plan for her life. I love thinking about Joseph.  Even when he thought Mary had sinned against him, he still refused to disgrace her. I love listening to Christmas music. I love hanging up every Christmas card we get in our living room. I love watching

i'm thankful for late nights cold air sacred silence counting stars stirring trees leaves on the wind snowflakes in my hair winter waking i'm thankful for quiet skies safe darkness  hidden whispers answered prayers frozen fingers icy ears red nose a warming heart set free to melt just a million stars winter wind autumn trees God and me i'm thankful for peace  found at midnight arms stretched to the sky or wrapped around a tree heavens aglow  with a thousand wishes waiting  to  be  whispered i'm thankful for life fog from my breath heart beating beneath my jacket warm and cold warring inside every blessing laughter little sisters music heard in the silence poetry that fills my mind healing renewed trust growing friendships second chances Jesus. Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader. Blessings! - Madeline Joy 

It's the last day of October.  Red and gold leaves cover the ground, apples and pumpkins are everywhere, and this evening dozens of children will start knocking on doors to ask for candy.  October has been pretty amazing.  And busy.  And now it's almost over.   So, what have I been doing during this beautiful month? This October... I completed my first online college class!  I took an English class through duel-enrollment with a local college.  If you haven't heard of duel-enrollment, it's basically taking college courses while you're still in high school.  This was a great learning experience for me - I wrote about six papers in eight weeks, so LOTS of writing. I started this blog! I've wanted to have a blog for a long time, so I'm really happy to finally have one. I worked on plotting my novel! Yes, my novel.  The one that mainly exists in my mind and in the form of jumbled ideas.  But - I finally spent some time brainstorming

Hi everyone, I'm Madeline Joy. Welcome to my blog, Tower of Joy. This blog is a new beginning, a first step into the unknown. It's a journey that I've wanted to embark on for a long time. It's a dream finally awoken into reality. Since this is my first post, I thought I'd share a little about myself and my dream. I was the girl who spent recess wandering through my imagination. The girl whose favorite part of the week was library time. The girl who searched for a magical, hidden world. The girl who lived more in books than reality. The girl who began to feel like a stranger on her own planet. I spent more time alone with my thoughts than I ever did with people. I still do. But reading and writing has shown me that I'm not alone. I'm not the only one who dreams. I'm not the only one who watches the stars. I'm not the only one who longs for a place I've never known. I'm not the only one who weeps for the brokenness of thi