Here's a little "get-to-know-Sarah" video I made. I'd like to think that this is what you might show someone if you wanted to convince them to have me come perform poetry somewhere. In reality, about 2 or 3 people will watch it (my mom will watch it several times, I can almost guarantee) and that will be that. Cest la vie.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Luke 23:39-43
For as long as I can remember, I have been captivated by this short passage of scripture. It comes in the middle of the crucifixion, seemingly in between other, more major plot points. But this unnamed man, referred to as "the thief" or "the criminal" gets to play a glorious part in the greatest story ever told.
We don't know this man's story, except for what he tells us. The only information he lets us in on is that he is being "punished justly." He is on his cross for his own sins, and he is well aware of that fact. But he is hanging next to Jesus. If I could trade a moment of vision with anyone from history, it would be this man. What did he see when he saw Jesus? How did he...know?
"Remember me when you come into your kingdom," he pleads.
Is this not our lives? Sinners. Thieves. Murderers. Betrayers. Is this not us? Unable to do anything good on our own. Sentenced to death for our own sins. Pleading with the Lord of the universe to remember us in his kingdom.
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
And so we have salvation. Our sins are laid upon another's cross and we are free to enter paradise.
Glory, glory, hallelujah. We are saved.
I give myself pep-talks constantly. Stand near me long enough and you are bound to hear me talk to myself.
"Keep going, Sarah. You can do this."
"Ignore that. You're above that."
"Be nice!"
"Deep breath, Sarah, deep breathe."
"This is one moment. This isn't your whole life."
That last one goes through my head quite often. I get caught on little things very easily. Little things burrow into my mind and pop up often. It is both my favorite and least-favorite quality about myself.
On the one hand, I can recall random things you say in conversations - even the way you said them, I remember little details from movies I've seen or books I've read. I can remember smells and textures and moments with amazing clarity.
On the other hand I can also recall all those times I did something stupid or said something bratty or insensitive. A lot of times these negative moments like to all pile up and act like they are my entire life. When that happens I just have to remind myself: "That was one moment, not your whole life."
I am, and I suppose we all are to some extent, that little kid in arts and crafts. I'm sitting there, stringing beads onto a necklace one at a time. And such is our life. We string it together, one moment at a time.
Solomon’s Light
Written: November 1, 2007 - February 8, 2010
I’ve heard of many artistic undertakings being called “a labor of love.” I’m not entirely sure that applies to my recently finished novel, tentatively title Solomon’s Light. To be honest it was borne of grief and overwhelming sadness.
In the book, Nova, my main character, is raised by her grandfather. Within the first few pages we learn of his passing and we begin to see the effects this will have on Nova’s life. She is left a rather unusual inheritance and soon takes off into space as the newest Captain aboard the spaceship Solomon.
Nova is an impetuous 16 year old girl when we meet her. She has no friends and no family to help her understand and deal with her grief so she chooses to express it as anger, which is easier for her to handle. She slowly adjusts to life in space and inadvertently makes a few friends and enemies along the way. With the help of her new friend Jack and the journals her grandfather left behind, she is learning about her past as she prepares for her future. When she is barely saved from a kidnapping attempt, she begins to realize just how dangerous her future might be.
The story begins with a girl some people called a captain, who didn’t know where she belonged in the world. It ends with a young woman who is the Captain and who knows where her place is. I feel my own story is very much the same.
I began this novel about 6 weeks after my father passed away. I was a 19 year old little girl, angry at the world. Some people called me a writer, but I wasn’t sure. I just knew that I was in pain and didn’t know how to deal with it.
Very slowly, I began to write. I would go days or weeks sometimes and never write or read a word. Gradually I began to see more and more of the story. The more I saw, the more I wrote. I would occasionally have times where I would slip into my own sorrow and ignore everything else. For 27 months, I slid between deep depression and the light that telling this story brought to my heart. As the weeks and months went on, I slid more towards the light than the other. Today I can say that the light is where I live. I am not under the oppression of my grief any longer. I am a writer, of this I am sure.
“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” - Revelation 21:5
While I don’t think it is the only story I have been given, I believe that right now, this is the story I was born to tell. God has given me a tremendous gift. I’m very excited for the time when I can share it with you.
Much Love,
Sarah Wofford
Things Lord of the Rings Fans Think Twilight Fans Ought to Know
written by Sarah Wofford, a supporter of fandom diversity
- You thought we were weird at the time but we were right about the magic of books, weren’t we?
- If you stop laughing at our elf costumes, we’ll stop laughing at the body glitter you made your boyfriend wear.
- If you *don’t* stop laughing at out elf costumes, one of us is liable to shoot you with an arrow.
- Be warned, our arrows tend to be handcrafted. And sharp.
- Legolas may prance a bit, but he doesn’t sparkle. Trust me. Our fangirls are very much okay with this.
- There is something inherently beautiful about a good death scene. We’re sorry that you’ll never get to experience that. It’s not because your characters are immortal. It’s because your author is kind of a wimp.
- There is a very good reason no member of the fellowship was described as being a “klutz.” Klutzes tend to die really quickly.
- I can’t say that any of us feel very sympathetic when people make fun of your fandom. We’ve been putting up with it for 60 years. Suck it up.
- We know you think Edward and Bella are really sweet and self-sacrificing, perhaps they are, but Arwen gave up paradise to be with Aragorn. And Aragorn, he put his own heart on hold to - you know - save all of Middle Earth.
- Be careful before you try testing our patience. We’re the people who have sat through 12 hours of Extended Edition DVDs. Often in one sitting.
- If you do happen to reach the end of our patience, remember: we have several languages to choose from in which we can call you some very nasty things.
- Do not try to outwit us. We learned from Gollum and a whole Shire-full of hobbits. We really enjoy making people sound like fools.
- Be wary of any Rings fan that wants to show you their “pointy hat trick.” I can’t explain to you why, but believe me when I say that it will be unpleasant.
- We’re pretty certain that Samwise Gamgee could kill a vampire whilst armed with nothing but a cooking pot, relying just on the strength of his heart.
- You may think you’re a fan. You may think you’re a fanatic. You may even think you’re obsessed. You have no idea.
Before I share this list with you, I’m gonna need you to understand something:
I watch a lot of movies. A lot. And there are still many great films and flicks from the past ten years that I have missed. Because of the sheer volume of movies I’ve seen, I’m going to give you a much abbreviated list. These are the movies that stayed with me beyond the roll of the credits. The ones I constantly quote and reference, the ones I throw in my DVD player on a rainy day (or a sunny day, or a sad day, or a happy day, or a… I think you get the point.) Here’s my Favorites of the Decade and the reason behind my choices.
(Oh, and this list is based on purely personal preference. Nothing technical.)
Shaun of the Dead – Aim for the head! This movie opened up the world of Zombie flicks to me.
- Honorable Mentions: Zombieland, Dead and Breakfast
Hot Fuzz - A buddy cop/action flick that is an homage to buddy cop/action flicks. And it’s *hilarious*. I quote this movie all the time, often without realizing it.
Stranger Than Fiction – I often put this movie on in the background when I write. To me, this film was ridiculously true to life, but I think you have to be a write to understand how I mean that.
XMen – In 2002, I dyed my hair to look like Rogue. In 2007, I had a poster of Wolverine in my bathroom. That’s all I have to say about that.
Honorable Mention: The Punisher – I think I rented it then watched in 8 times.
Batman Begins – I had always thought Michael Keaton was the best Batman. Then in walks Mr.Bale. I know some people prefer the Dark Knight, but enjoyed Batman not being upstaged by his villain. It’s his movie after all.
Honorable Mention: The Dark Knight – Because dorks weren’t the only people to take a comic book movie seriously!
Snatch – Made me realized that I really like English films. And it introduced me to Jason Statham.
Honorable Mentions: RockNRolla, In Bruges, Lucky # Slevin
Dodgeball – Ridiculously quotable. Side-splittingly funny. “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”
Elizabethtown – I liked this movie when I first saw it. Then it happened to me. After that, I realized I *loved* this movie.
Honorable Mention: Almost Famous – I automatically started singing along with “Tiny Dancer” when they were all on the bus.
Kung Fu Panda – An awesome Kung Fu movie with an animated panda, the animal which I personally believe would be my totem animal if I had one.
Honorable Mention: Chicken Little – Because I totally *got* that little chicken.
Serenity – This movie made me proud to be a science fiction fan. I still firmly believe that the best sci-fi isn’t one that’s drowning in gadgets and space suits, but one that is grounded in characters that *believe.* And this movie is all about belief. And it’s awesome. Like, space-western, gun-slinging, cool-heroes, everything-the-Star-Wars-prequels- weren’t awesome.
Honorable Mention: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Lord of the Rings – If you’ve ever been to my house, then you have undoubtedly met my life-size Legolas cut-out. Call me whatever nerdy names you want, I stand by my opinion that these movies are the best that this decade produced. Epic doesn’t even *begin* to cover the feel of these movies. I started crying about 2/3 of the way through the first one, and didn’t stop crying until a few hours after the credits rolled on the third one…3 years later. I honestly think Peter Jackson got inside my head. Minas Tirith, Edoras, Hobbiton… all of these were exactly like I pictured them in my mind. (sigh)
There you have it. My list. Please leave me your opinions and anything you think I left out, that should have made the short list. Although I warn you about arguing over the last two with me. That is a battle where many a brave warrior has made their last stand. :)
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139: 13-14
I love to tell the story,
'twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love.
- I Love to Tell the Story, hymn
I love to write. If you've ever met me, it probably took all of 30 seconds to realize this of me. I have the tip of an ink pen tattooed on my right wrist. I sometimes confuse things occurring my novel with current events. I've had to refrain from mentioning my fictional characters when someone asks for prayer requests. I write. I tell stories. It's what I do.
But why do I do it? I write because I am inspired to write. I am writing stories because my God did so first. I wasn't there when he made the universe, but I don't think he put pen to paper to do so. I doubt he even had a typewriter. Even so, you've got to hand it to him: he can tell an awesome story.
The world as a whole, sans humanity, would be an epic story in and of itself. But God added us to the mix. Billions of individual stories, all interweaving and linked yet unique and separate. They say that every writer has a set cast of characters in their minds. Shakespeare supposedly had about 20. I think I've got about 5 or 6. God? Yeah, he's had several billion - and he's not through yet. Amazing.
Tonight I was working on a new scene in my novel. Two of my characters were in a new place, having a discussion. My main character said something that could have been pulled straight from my own life. I realized that I am writing a story as a way to pay homage to the one God is writing for me. My life is an adventure. For that, I am thankful. I want to share the amazing adventure my God has blessed me with. He's given me a great way to do so.
To put it one way: I write a story, because he first wrote mine.
Much love,
Sarah
