Sunshine Blogger Award Nomination

The Compass was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award!! Read all about it here -

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Hey everyone!! I have some really cool news to share with y’all. Yesterday, my blog got nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by

Charlotte Emily

. Huge shoutout to her, and thank you again!

The Sunshine Blogger Award is a peer-recognition award that you can give to fellow bloggers and creators to recognize them for posts that promote positivity and bring creative, entertaining content into the blogging world. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of it, and I’ve been looking around since and trying to figure out where it originated — no luck so far, it’s pretty ambiguous. But interesting, nonetheless.

Anyways, there’s a bunch of stuff I have to do in this post, so here goes:

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SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD RULES:

~ Display the Award’s official logo somewhere on your blog
~ Thank the person who nominated you.
~ Provide a link to your nominator’s blog - (The Dagger and The Inkwell)

~ Answer your nominator’s questions.
~ Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
~ Ask your nominees 11 questions.
~ Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.

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MY ANSWERS:

1. What would be some of your top countries to visit anywhere in the world, and why?

That’s actually kinda tough….to be entirely honest, I love America. I’ve often said that I’d be totally happy just staying here for the rest of my life and never visiting anywhere else. Though, I’m sure if I actually went and visited some other countries, I’d understand why people like to leave the US and visit them 🤣. So if I had to pick…..they would probably be Australia, Russia, and Rome.

• Australia because I love the desert climate and scenery, and (guys, let’s face it, kangaroos are like the coolest animals ever). I learned the other day that kangaroos will stand on their tails and kick people or other animals with their feet to defend themselves….and a single kick from a kangaroo can be fatal for animals and even humans. Their legs are insanely powerful. Plus, everyone knows Australian accents are like literally the coolest accents out there.

• Russia because I think there’s something very fascinating about the frozen tundra and culture there. Don’t worry, I’m not a communist 🤣 but I think the architecture in Moscow is really cool, and if you go into Siberia and the super remote areas in the East, the scenery is unbelievable.

• Rome because no one said I couldn’t pick a country that doesn’t exist anymore :) I’m somewhat able to carry on a conversation in Latin, and despite the fact the Romans persecuted Christians and were overall a terrible culture, they were also an incredible world power. To my knowledge, Rome was the only city in the ancient world that had actual running water no matter where you lived. It would be very awesome to visit that and see Rome in all her splendor before the barbarians destroyed the city.

2. What would be the language you would most like to learn, and why? (Or if you’re already learning it, just why)

I hope I’m allowed to answer this one with multiple languages, because I don’t know if I can pick a favorite. At the moment, I’m learning Latin and French, and I love both of them. I’ve always had a really strong interest in foreign languages — something about being able to overcome the language barrier and go to foreign country to speak to the people there in their own language is really attractive.

So I would say Latin because it’s still relevant today in a lot of ways, and it helps you understand the English language better. Practical uses aside, there aren’t many people today who get to say they can speak classical Latin fluently :) and being able to do that would be awesome.
I like French simply for the sound of the language. Despite the fact they refuse to pronounce half the syllables in any given word and add an equal amount of vowels (something that will never cease to annoy me) I still love learning it and making all the words flow together into a long, fluid stream of….well….French-sounding French.
Lastly, I’d add Russian to the list simply for the ability to master another alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet is really cool and not super different from the English alphabet, so easily learnable. And again, I like the sound of Russian.

But if I had to pick one above all the others, it would probably be French.

3. What are your top five books/series ever? What are your top five movies/TV series ever? (I could never narrow it down to just one, which is why I’m letting you choose five XD)

This is one I constantly think about, and it’s constantly changing. These are probably my top five books/book series at the moment: (not listed in any particular order)

• The Ashtown Burials by N.D. Wilson

  

• Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

  

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

  

• The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe

  

• Animal Farm by George Orwell

  

I don’t watch a ton of movies, so if I’m being honest I really only have two or three top movies that I enjoy. Plus some runners-up. (again, not listed in any particular order) -

• Lord of the Rings trilogy

• Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

  

Runners-up would include Inception, Princess Bride, and the original Sonic.

4. Which is your favourite attribute of God? (This question was already asked on a previous Sunshine Blogger Award post, but I really loved it, so I wanted to ask it again!)

My favorite attribute is probably God’s omnipotence. I know that scares a lot of people — a God that is so unbelievably powerful, He can do anything He wants, whenever He wants, to whoever He wants. But luckily, I’m a Calvinist, so I embrace that completely. Some people see God as dangerous or overcontrolling with that much power, so they try to diminish it in a variety of different ways (i.e. Arminianism). For me, I know that God is perfect and has only my good in mind. (Romans 8:28). Because of that, I see God the exact same way a child would see a loving father who is armed and ready to protect his family, no matter the cost. Sure, the weapons make the father dangerous. That’s the point of having them. But the child isn’t scared, because he knows the father would never turn those weapons against him. They only exist for his good.
Personally, if God were weak and unable to exercise His sovereign will over Creation, I wouldn’t see half as much value in Christianity. Who wants a God unable to do anything for you? He can’t save you, He can’t protect you from spiritual powers, He can’t protect you from physical evil or guide you through it, and the list goes on. So my favorite attribute is probably omnipotence — the complete and full power of God over everything.

5. What is your favourite Bible verse and why, and did it become your favourite/life verse during a trial or hard time?

Okay so the list is long XD. But if I absolutely had to pick…..it would probably be 1 Corinthians 10:13:

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

This is definitely the verse that has helped me the most through trials and random things. I’ve memorized it, and it literally just comes to mind when I have an urge to do something wrong. The effect is unbelievable — temptation really does flee at the sight of Jesus.

Otherwise, I have a few favorites too. These include, (but are not limited to) -

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. - Micah 6:8

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39

Greater love hath no man than this, than that he lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13

6. What is your dream job? What was it 5-10 years ago?

At the moment, my dream job is anything in emergency services. Like seriously, if I won the lottery tomorrow and could do whatever I wanted for the rest of my life, I’d spend it as an EMT, cop, or firefighter literally just helping people. Lord willing, I plan to get my EMT certificate as soon as I graduate high school so I can go on to eventually be a paramedic somewhere. Maybe a police officer/sheriff’s deputy as well — we’ll see where it goes!

5-10 years ago, my answer probably would have been the same. I’ve had stints in between where I wanted to do various other things — pilot, missionary, military, etc. — but I’ve pretty much always come back to emergency services. There’s a good chance I won’t end up doing it permanently just because a lot of the emergency jobs don’t pay enough to support a family full-time in a lot of places. But any of those would be my dream job, definitely.

7. What is or was your favourite school subject and why?

Like I mentioned above, foreign languages has pretty much always been my favorite. Right now I’m doing Latin for all four years of high school (I’m in Latin 2) so I really enjoy that class. I also enjoy Humanities, but not as much as Latin. (Humanities = think social studies, history, theology, and debate rolled into one)

8. Who is a musical artist you have known and loved for a long time, so not just a current favourite? Why?

That’s a very easy question 😂 my favorite band of all time is For King & Country (Joel & Luke Smallbone). They’re two Australian artists living in Nashville who do absolutely amazing pop-worship music and general Christian stuff. I ran across them when I was 11 or 12, and I’ve never gotten sick of ‘em. In fact, I think I like them now even more then I did years ago.
A runner-up to For King & Country would be Grey Havens.

9. What is one thing that you are passionate about and believe to be very important that you think most Christian teens/young people neglect?

If you’d asked me this a year ago, I wouldn’t have had a response off the top of my head. I probably would have ended up saying something like prayer or devotions. And both of those are still true. BUT, there’s something a lot deeper that I’ve seen since (thanks to

Jaxton Wheeler

🙃). I think one of the biggest problems facing young Christians today is a lack of zeal for the church and for evangelism/missions. Almost no teen I know has the nerve to walk up to someone on the street and try to win them for Christ…..and that’s a problem.

10. What are three words that completely describe you?

Honestly, for this one, I couldn’t come up with anything, LOL. So I went and asked a couple (anonymous, you know who you are) close friends to come up with words. This is what they got:

1. nerd, conspiracy, debater
2. polymath, audacious, social
3. smart, opinionated, outgoing

11. What is something about you that other people would find very strange? (Excepting people who are equally as strange, because they (including me) would probably think it’s perfectly normal XD)

That’s interesting……honestly, I’m not sure XD. I’ve been told before that I’m far too emotionally detached — which is mostly on purpose. To me, emotions tend to cloud the mind and just get in the way. I prefer to be colder and more rational. But it depends, sometimes I’m very affected by emotions too.

Otherwise, I have a sort of jack-of-all-trades mentality; I tend to dabble in a hundred different things and not really have an expertise in any of them, but sufficient knowledge to explain it. I generally get bored before I go really deep into a subject, and hence, people probably find the lack of a single interest as strange. It’s not that I’m interested in nothing….I’m interested in practically everything 🤣. Like, it would be really really hard to find a single thing I wouldn’t be interested in learning more about and/or could easily force myself to be interested in (with some hard exceptions).

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MY NOMINEES FOR THE AWARD:

1. Austin Anderson
   from
   Or There and Back Again
   . Austin is a very good writer has an incredible amount of inspiring content. I always look forward to new posts from him.

2. E.G. Runyan
   from
   It's All About Perspective
   . She’s an incredible author with a powerful gift, and I have yet to find a single one of her opinions that isn’t spot-on 🤌🏻. Her novel (Loch Monster) is also amazing!

3. Margot
   from
   Fable & Verse
   . Margot is another unbelievably talented poet and author. Read one of her stories and (I’m not kidding) you literally cannot pull your eyes away from the screen. Fable & Verse is easily one of the best publications on Substack.

4. The Crazy Cousins
   from
   The Crazy Cousins’s Substack
   . I always enjoy these guys!! They spread tons of humor and comedy and don’t get nearly enough recognition for their hard work :)

5. TheReformedCalvinist
   from
   Understanding Reformed Christianity
   . My guy at Understanding Reformed Christianity mixes fire theology with awesome posts and stories!! He definitely deserves recognition for everything he does.

6. Glori Writes
   from
   Ink Blots
   . Last but not least, Glori has been a really important inspiration to me to keep writing. I think after I read her NSA post I was actually convicted about my posts being too short — that thing was a beast!! Took me like 15 minutes to read it but I loved every second. Her writing is engaging and very entertaining.

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MY QUESTIONS FOR THE NOMINEES:

1. What inspired you to start a blog? Or, if that’s too ambiguous, what is the story behind how you started it?
   

2. What is the most significant experience (good, bad, or neutral) that you’ve ever had? And how did that impact your life?

3. What is/are your favorite Bible verse/passage(s), and why?
   

4. What’s a dream you’ve always had but haven’t pursued yet? What’s holding you back?

5. What’s the wildest idea you’ve ever had that you’d love to turn into reality someday?

6. If you could completely redesign one aspect of how the world works, what would you change and how?

7. What is/are your favorite quote(s)? Why?

8. What would be the language you would most like to learn/enjoy learning currently, and why?

9. What are your top five favorite books? What are your top five favorite movies? Why?

10. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

11. What is a question you would want other people to ask you most? What is your answer?

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Annd…..that’s it!! Honestly, that was surprisingly fun. Now I have to go comment on all my nominee’s blogs so they know they have to do it too ;) thanks for reading, guys.