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Haids' Thread

Started by tessspoon, September 24, 2010, 09:15:38 AM

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Enchantermon

Oh, hey neighbor.
Well, sort of. :P
So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!

Haids1987

No, no, you gotta say it like Flanders: "Hidalee ho, neighborino!" ;)
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Enchantermon

Heh. You're lucky I even know who Flanders is; I don't know how he talks. :P
So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!

Haids1987

Here's a quick clip of how he talks. ;D
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Erica Reed is Katie Hallahan.
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Enchantermon

So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!

Haids1987

It's Christmastime at Haids' house! ;D I always put up a little tree in my room, and my theme is cupcakes and candy.  I have a giant snowflake-shaped gingerbread cookie on top of my tree instead of a star. :)


Two of my (many) cupcake ornaments.  I think I counted that I have 24 cupcakes on my tree.



Aaaaaaaaaand finally, my new Starbucks ornament.  I'm not really a huge Starbucks fan, but it represents my heritage and plus, it's so freaking adorable.
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Arkillian

Quote from: Haids1987 on December 04, 2010, 04:30:08 PMAaaaaaaaaand finally, my new Starbucks ornament.  I'm not really a huge Starbucks fan, but it represents my heritage and plus, it's so freaking adorable.


You are officially epic awesome. XD



Haids1987

Wow, thank you! I've been called awesome before, but "epic awesome" is a new one! :D
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kindofdoon

I like the Starbucks ornament.

Daniel Dichter, Production/PR
daniel.dichter@postudios.com

Haids1987

#49
Doon told me he was interested in how the Chronicles of Narnia helped me embrace my Christianity, so I told him I'd share my testimony with him.  If you're interested, read on. :)

In 2005, I had just graduated from high school and was struggling to feel God's presence.  I had always considered myself a Christian, but I always felt like there was a wall between me and God—I prayed constantly about it, but I never seemed to feel the instant gratification that I wanted then and there.  I didn't want to talk to my family about it; I was scared to death to talk about the Bible or anything that might relate to it.  I had had two very bad experiences with my friends' churches (fire and brimstone-type churches that terrified me), and I came to the conclusion that that all churches must be like that.  These two churches I had tried made me feel guilty, like I wasn't doing enough as a follower of Christ, and also, like they didn't quite believe that I had accepted Him into my heart.  THAT was the worst part!  I was scared to death that I had never truly accepted Him, and that I was doomed for the bad place.
   I heard that the Narnia movie was coming out in December of 2005, and I didn't want to be one of those posers that read the books just because the movie was cool now.  When I saw the previews for it in October, I hurried out and bought the books so that I could have "read them before they were cool *grin*." My sister Ashley had already read them when she was my age, and so we read them every night together before we went to bed.  She told me that her church was having a group of sermons called The People of the Lion, and that I should go listen to them.  The very idea of setting foot in a church scared me—how could I go to church, people in churches made me feel like a failure!  But Ash assured me that her church was very mellow, very calm, no jumping up and shouting and making everybody feel like the only people who were worthy were the pastors.  I finally agreed to give it a try. 
   After attending the first two sermons in the Lion series, I felt so much more comfortable.  I felt better about going into churches and not feeling inadequate; I felt welcome, like people were happy that somebody new was attending.  Also, since the sermons were about something I could relate to, I realized that there was nothing to be scared of here.  I had read most of the Narnia books by now (was probably on book five or six) and I could clearly see the parallels when Pastor David pointed them out. 
Of course, I was still a little doubtful of myself, since I was a new church attendee.  How could I be sitting here when I was still wondering if I had truly accepted Jesus?  I had yet to finish The Last Battle in the book series, a pivotal moment in my entrance into true faith.
   The night that Ashley and I attended the MVPC screening of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we decided to finish off the last book in the Narnia series.  The Last Battle is intense.  It's a parallel of the book of Revelation in the Bible, but presented in a (mostly) kid-friendly way.  I REALLY hope you've read it, because I'm about to ruin it for you if you haven't!
We had only a few more chapters to go, and Ashley read them to me while we lay on her bed and I listened quietly.  After she had finished the final paragraph ("...now at last they were beginning in Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on Earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before."), I was surprised to find myself sobbing like a little baby.  (Feel free to laugh at my descriptions of myself at this point, now that I look back I find myself laughing too.)  Ashley looked at me in bewilderment. 
     "Why are you crying, Hailey?" she asked.  With a choke, I shook my head and attempted to explain. 
     "I...don't know, Ash.  It's just—they go the whole series building us up and…and then they all die at the end and…I don't know, everything is great and they're all..."  I simply could not explain why I was crying so hard.  Ashley continued to stare at me in astonished silence.
      "I'm sorry, Haids, I didn't know that it would make you so sad," she said quietly.  I shook my head again.
     "No, Ash, I don't think I'm sad, I—gasp—j-j-just—gasp…" I choked on another sob and bawled my eyes out, leaving both Ashley and myself very confused as to why.
The next day I told my mom that we had finished the final book.  When she asked how it was, I told her with a sheepish grin, "I was crying last night, but I think that I'm okay now,"
     “Ashley told me you were really upset last night,” Mom said curiously.  “Why were you crying?”
     “I don’t really know,” I answered honestly.  “Do you mind if I tell you the ending?”
     “Nope.”
     I began to explain the last three chapters of the book.
     When I got to the part when the dogs and bears who were fighting for Narnia had fallen in battle, but were alive again and simply ecstatic when they were in the "real" Narnia, the tears came to my eyes again and my voice cracked.  I tried to continue talking without another bout of hysterics, but the more I told her, the harder I cried.
     I started just sobbing and sobbing again as I went on the descriptions of how they had all ended up in Heaven in the end, and how "nothing that is good can be taken away in the Real Narnia."  Mom looked as confused as Ashley had the night before.  She asked me why I was so sad, and still had no answer other than to tell her that I wasn't really sad.  I just let myself cry and cry as I had the night before.
     Throughout the entirety of the next two weeks, my normal chatty, animated self seemed to be hiding.  I was very quiet and thoughtful, and MUCH more emotional than I normally am.  Any little thing would set me off, whether I heard that Courtney Cox was pregnant or that my cousin was entering the fifth grade.  I would just cry, completely freaking out the rest of the family, but feeling strangely better after doing so.
     I would randomly bring up Narnia all throughout those couple weeks.  I'd ask Ashley questions about it, if she thought that Susan ever came back to Narnia or if the parents were in pain when they were in the train accident.  Tears would always come to my eyes when I talked about it, and Ash seemed to realize that something was happening inside of me, and patiently answered my seemingly pointless musings to the best of her knowledge.
     The church sermons continued the People of the Lion series.  As I listened to the pastor link these children’s books with deep intricacies of Christian faith, it suddenly became clear to me why I was so emotional after finishing them.    
     I was completely, 100% in love with Jesus.  I finally understood the sacrifices that He had made for you, for me, and all of humanity, and I knew that He had been in my heart all along.  It simply took Jesus manifesting Himself in the form of Aslan, the Great Lion, for me to truly appreciate Him and know that He was answering my desperate prayers that I had been saying for the past year as a struggling young Christian. 
     He worked out my kinks and led me to the church and back to Jesus through CS Lewis, the movie screening, and through Pastor David's sermons on it.  I know now that it was all part of the Plan.  I was finally fitting in as a true follower in the puzzle of the universe: that at that moment of that day in Ashley's room bawling my eyes out, I was truly not afraid anymore and could rely on Jesus to help me "shed my dragon skin."

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kindofdoon

Thanks for sharing this, Haids. It was enjoyable and informative to read.

Daniel Dichter, Production/PR
daniel.dichter@postudios.com

Haids1987

Thank YOU, Doon, for actually being interested. :)  I have never posted this story in such a public place before, but I'm so glad that this is a community where we can share such personal details about our lives without fear of judgement or belittling.

I wrote all this down a few weeks after my experience so I could always remember how it made me feel, and to share with other people--whether they're asking for my testimony, or if they simply don't understand my obsession with all things Narnia.  That's why I have the lamp post and "Aslan is on the move" tattoos; they're not just a shout out to CS Lewis' amazing storytelling abilities, they're true symbols of my faith and how Aslan has changed me for the better.  "But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan."
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snabbott


Steve Abbott | Beta Tester | The Silver Lining

Haids1987

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Erica Reed is Katie Hallahan.
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Enchantermon

So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!

Deloria

I'm very impressed you felt comfortable enough here to share all that. :) It can't have been easy.
 
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Haids1987

Thank you, Deloria. :hug:

See, this is another prime example of why I love it here.  Deloria was right, it wasn't easy (I read through it about four or five times before posting it because I was freaked out it was too personal/cheesy/boring), but I knew that if I shared it here with all of you guys, it would be okay.  I've gotten to know you all, and, like I said, I can be frank without the fear of being judged or mocked.  And you're all so supportive all the time, and I so appreciate it!  Thank you for giving me the courage to share my story with all of you. <3 <3 <3

(Posted on: February 07, 2011, 05:35:08 PM)


So now that the shock has worn off and reality has set in, I can tell you guys about what happened during my absence.

Most of you remember me being in the wedding last year for my high school friend, and how I was being driven to insanity by the bride, Jennica.  After the wedding we were kind of in and out of touch over the past year, since my feelings were still hurt over the way things went down, and we haven't seen each other since then.

I woke up on Thursday morning and 6:15 to get ready for school, and I saw that I had missed a call from an unknown number on my cell phone. A message had been left at 5:45, only a half hour prior to me waking up: "Hi Hailey, this is Donna [a friend of Jennica's], and I'm calling on behalf of Jennica's family. I don't know if you heard, but she was admitted into the emergency room last night, and so I'm calling close friends and family before it gets out on Facebook. Call me back at this number." She sounded perfectly calm, so I continued my routine and left for school at 7:00.  I called my mom on the way and told her what Donna had said, and she was like, "Don't worry, Hailey. I'm sure it's nothing serious, the emergency room could mean anything, from an ear infection to a tubal pregnancy. Just call back and see what's going on."

After I got my coffee and was on the road to school, I called Donna back. I asked what was up, and she asked if I was in a place where I could talk. I was like, "Yep. What's going on?" She was speaking so normally, so calmly, that I had no indication of what she was about to tell me. She said that Jennica had been admitted into the emergency room the night before with severe migraine pain and seizure-like symptoms. She went unconscious in the early hours of the morning, and was pronounced dead around 5:30.  Since she was so calm, I was childishly expecting her to go on to say that Jennica was revived and was now stable, etc, but the lull in conversation lingered for a moment before she continued, "Jennica is no longer with us."

This was when the world stopped turning.  My heart was going in overdrive, and I felt like someone had hit me over the head with a brick. I don't even remember what I said to her. I know I said something about being sorry that she had to be the messenger, and asking a million times if she was okay, but all of a sudden I realized that I was parked outside of my mom's work (she works as a preschool teacher at a church) and was hyperventilating.  Somehow I made it into her classroom, and one look at my face alerted her that something was wrong. "Hailey?" she asked uncertainly.

"She died, Mom." These three words brought me to near collapse on the floor. My mom had me by the arm in an instant and I found myself in an empty classroom, my arms wrapped around my mother so tightly that I must have been hurting her. I have never cried like that in my life. I couldn't breathe. It felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest. My hands were shaking, and my knees were literally knocking against one another, making it impossible to stand. All I could think about was Jennica's family, her 21 year-old husband who has to be the one to act as next of kin. They only celebrated their first wedding anniversary on March 19th.  Jennica was 25 years old.

Through the grapevine, I've heard that Jennica went to the doctor on Tuesday morning because of such severe headaches. I don't know what the doctor did for her then, but in any case she was admitted into the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. They did an MRI and found a huge, rapidly-growing tumor in her brain, and it was still increasing in size. She went unconscious at around midnight Thursday morning, and was on life support until her family decided to take her off. She had no brain activity at all, and was pronounced dead at 5:30ish.

I'm doing better now, but the initial shock at hearing that someone who had always been perfectly healthy and was so young had died so suddenly—it was just immensely sad and frightening. Like I said, we weren't super close anymore and had drifted apart over the year (which was entirely my fault; I'm horrible at returning phone calls and talking on the phone), but all the same, we had known each other since junior high and were friends all through high school. We skipped out of last period to go see Star Wars Episode III our senior year, and she was in a group of eight of my friends that rented a beach house the day after graduation. We had roots. Knowing that she is gone, that she leaves behind a grieving family and such a young husband...it's horrible. It's just sickening.

I'm comforted by my faith, though, and Jennica was also a very strong Christian woman. There's no doubt in my mind that she's where she always knew she would go. I just can't stop thinking about her husband. He's so young. He had to be the one to sign the papers to take her off life support. He had to approve organ donation. He has to decide what she will be buried in.

Anyway, that's my story. I'm still quite shaken up about it, and it still seems unreal sometimes. But God is carrying everyone through it, and I know, I KNOW, that Jennica is with Him.
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KatieHal

Oh my. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, Hailey--that's just awful to hear, especially about someone so young. I hope you're doing better, and that her family is coping as best they can as well.  :hug:

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Delling

Oh, Haids! :( That's awful. :( Sorry to hear it. :hug:
Noli me tangere! Nescio ubi fuisti!
Don't touch me! I don't know where you've been!

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darthkiwi

That's such a terrible thing to happen! And it all happened so suddenly. :( I'm truly sorry. :hug: I don't really know what to say.
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