WA 3 Final draft

Dear Rob Bell,

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith is definitely a very powerful book. The whole series makes you think about your religion, and your beliefs. They really make you open your mind to new things, and you actually learn a lot also. The books are very inspiring. You, even came out with videos called “NOOMA” that are also very thoughtful.

In Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. You pretty much just go back to the basics. You talk about what it means to be a Christian. You also talk about how to read the bible, so that we can understand it. This touched me in so many ways. My dad is catholic, and my mom is Lutheran, so I’ve grown up going to church every Sunday, Ever since I could remember.

Now, young life came into my life, and I was introduced to one of your videos. I then learned that you had written books. I was extremely happy when I heard this. I went out, and read one of the books that my friend had recommended to me. It was amazing. You really explained everything so well, and put everything into great perspective. There was this one part, when you talked about lying, and how it’s a sin, but God will still forgive us. That really made me change my way of thinking.

You also wrote another book called Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality. This one is also very powerful. You talk about how we are very sexual beings. The book talks about how we talk about ourselves as sexual beings without even asking who created us to be that way. This really makes you think. It made me definitely realize that I could just mess up, big time, and have sex with someone that meant nothing to me. You also talk about how God created us to make babies, so that they can experience a very vivacious life, like we have. Most of the time, we aren’t even thinking about that, especially as just a 15 year old teenager. It just made me really think that that is a very special moment in our lives. You, Rob Bell, are a very powerful man, and you really explain things with great detail, and relate it so much to teenagers.

I think that ever since I’ve heard of you; reading your books, or even watching the videos, you are this amazing and talented man, and I’ve been so inspired. I’ve wanted to pretty much change my lifestyle. I think that your books, really just gave me a whole new perspective on things. I think that I am definitely trying to be a more trustworthy person, even to the people who are, well, not the nicest to me. If a tough situation comes up, like someone being mean to me, I think about what you say in those books, and well just choose the better route. Your books have dramatically changed my outlook on life in a very positive way, and I just wanted you to know that.

Yours truly,
Kelli

WA 3 Draft 2

Dear Rob Bell,

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith is definitely a very powerful book. The whole series makes you think about your religion, and your beliefs. They really make you think, and you actually learn a lot also. The books are very inspiring. You, even came out with videos called “NOOMA” that are also very thoughtful.

In Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. You pretty much just go back to the basics. You talk about what it means to be a Christian. You also talk about how to read the bible, so that we can understand it. This touched me in so many ways. I’ve always gone to church, ever since I can remember. My dad is catholic, and my mom is Lutheran, so I’ve grown up going to church every Sunday.

Now, young life came into my life, and I was introduced to one of your videos. I then learned that you had written books. I was extremely happy when I heard this. I went out, and read the book. It was amazing. You really explained everything so well, and put everything into perspective. There was this one part, when you talked about lying, and how it’s a sin, but God will still forgive us. And that really made me change my way of thinking.

You also wrote another book called Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality. This one is also very powerful. You talk about how we are very sexual beings. The book talks about how we talk about ourselves as sexual beings without even asking who created us to be that way. This really makes you think. It made me definitely think about how I could just mess up, big time, and have sex. You also talk about how God created us to make babies, so that they can experience a very vivacious life, like we have. Most of the time, we aren’t even thinking about that, especially as just a 15 year old teenager. It just made me really think that that is a very special moment in your life. You, Rob Bell, are a very powerful man, and you really explain things with great detail, and relate it so much to teenagers.

I think that ever since I’ve heard of you, this amazing and talented man, I’ve been so inspired. I’ve wanted to pretty much change my lifestyle. I think that your books, really just gave me a whole new perspective on things. I think that I am definitely trying to be a more trustworthy person, even to the people who are, well, not the nicest to me. If a tough situation comes up, like someone being mean to me, I think about what you say in those books, and well just choose the better root. Your books have definitely dramatically changed my outlook on life in a very positive way, and I just wanted you to know that.

Yours truly,
Kelli

WA 3 Draft 1

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, by Rob Bell, is definitely one of his many very powerful books. The whole series makes you think about your religion, and your beliefs. They really make you think, and you actually learn a lot also. The books are very inspiring. Rob Bell, even came out with videos called “NOOMA” that are also very thoughtful.
In Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Bell pretty much just goes back to the basics. He talks about what it means to be a Christian. He also talks about how to read the bible, so that you understand it. This touched me in so many ways. I’ve always gone to church, ever since I can remember. My dad is catholic, and my mom is Lutheran, so I’ve grown up going to church every Sunday.
Now, young life came into my life, and I was introduced to a Rob Bell video. I then learned that he had written books. I was extremely happy when I heard this. I went out, and read the book. It was amazing. He really explained everything so well, and put everything into perspective. There was this one part, when he talked about lying, and how it’s a sin, but God will still forgive us. And that really made me like change my way of thinking.
He also wrote another book called Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality. This one is also very powerful. Bell talks about how we are very sexual beings. He talks about how we talk about ourselves as sexual beings without even asking who created us to be that way. This really makes you think. It made me definitely think about how I could just mess up, big time, and have sex. He talks about how God created us to make babies, so that they can experience a very vivacious life, like we have. Most of the time, we aren’t even thinking about that, especially as just a 15 year old teenager. It just made me really think that that is a very special moment in your life. He is a very powerful man, and really explains thing with great detail, and relates it so much to teenagers.
I think, that ever since I’ve heard of this amazing, and talented man, Rob Bell, I’ve been so inspired. I’ve wanted to pretty much change my lifestyle. I think that his books, really just gave me a whole new perspective on things. I think that I am definitely trying to be a more trustworthy person, even to the people who are well, not the nicest to me. If a tough situation comes up, like someone being mean to me, I think about what he says in those books, and well just choose the better root. His books have definitely dramatically changed my outlook on life in a very positive way.

WA 2 personal editing

It was Halloween; about 10:30 at night. My friend alexa and I were so bored, that we decided to take a walk outside. We were walking down the road, and came upon this old house. It looked really creepy and haunted. After much consideration, we decided to finally go up to the house. It looked so spooky, and we were very scared. I was so scared, and Alexa was also. Her face became white, and her eyes bulged out of her head. She did not want to go up to that house! The only thing blocking us from going inside was this huge black door, with tons of spider webs on it. It looked like someone hasn’t been inside this house in 100 years! Alexa just looked at me. She knocked on the door. No one answered. “Ok ummmmmmm lets go! This place is creepy! And no one is home anyways!” Alexa said frantically. I ignored Alexa. I mean, we wanted to have a good time tonight, didn’t we? I pushed open the door. She just stood there. I motioned her in, threatening that something might get her, if she was just standing outside by herself.

We slowly walked in. I saw the stairs and decided right then and there, that we were going up them. I started walking up, and Alexa just stood there. I yelled at her “come on wimp!” and she finally followed. All the way up, the stairs were creaking. Creeeeeeeaaaaaak. Creeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaak, over and over. We finally climbed the never ending stairs. We turned right into the pitch black room. Alexa looked up, and there was a sky roof. The bright lights from the stars were shining down on us. We looked in the corner at the very back room. There seemed to be a closet. The door was very rigid, and hard to open. We saw a very faint light in the back of the closet, right behind a white, antique chair. It looked like it had been made 50 years ago. We saw the light, and it was beaming through a little key hole, the size of a black bean. We looked around the closet, using our cell phones as lights of course, and finally found the key after about five minutes of searching.

I slowly put the key into the key hole, and very carefully turned the key. It opened. I peered in, and what did I see? A hand! I looked in farther, and there it was. The rest of the body! Somebody had been murdered here! Oh wait. Was he really dead? Alexa poked him to see. Nothing. About five seconds later, all we hear is the dead person whispering at us “leave my house, or your next…” we screamed so loud, people down the street must have heard us. What did we do next? But we ran! We ran as fast as we could. Out of the closet, down the stairs: creeeeaaaak, Creeeaaaaaak, out of the house, slamming the door, and down the street into my house, and under our beds. There’s no way we’re going to complain of boredom ever again. And I can guarantee that if Alexa and I ever hear of someone not having enough adventure, I think we’ll suggest for them to go to that haunted house, and see what they say when they come back, if they even make it back...

WA 2 Draft 2

It was Halloween; about 10:30 at night. My friend alexa and I were so bored, so we decided to go take a walk outside. We were walking down the road, and came upon this old house. It looked so creepy and haunted. After much consideration, we decided to finally go up to the house. It looked so spooky, and we were so scared. i was so scared, and so was Alexa. her face became so white, and her eyes bulging out of her head. she did not want to go up to that house! The only thing blocking us from going inside was this huge black door, with tons of spider webs on it. It looked like someone hasn’t been inside this house in 100 years! Alexa just looked at me. She knocked on the door. No one answered. “Ok ummmmmmm lets go! This place is creepy! And no one is home anyways!” Alexa said frantically. I ignored Alexa. I mean, we wanted to have a good time tonight, didn’t we? I pushed open the door. She just stood there. I motioned her in, threatening that something might get her, if she was just standing outside by herself.

We slowly walked in. I saw the stairs and decided right then and there, that we were going up them. I started walking up, and Alexa just stood there. I yelled at her “come on wimp!” and she finally followed. All the way up, the stairs were creaking. Creeeeeeeaaaaaak. Creeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaak, over and over. We finally climbed the never ending stairs. We turned right into the pitch black room. Alexa looked up, and there was a sky roof. The shining lights from the stars were shining down on us. We looked in the corner at the very back room. There seemed to be a closet. The door was very rigid, and hard to open. We saw a very faint light in the back of the closet, right behind a white, antique chair. It looked like it had been made 50 years ago. We saw the light, and it was shining through a little key hole, the size of a black bean. We looked around the closet, using our cell phones as lights of course, and finally found the key after about five minutes of searching.

I slowly put the key into the key hole, and very carefully turned the key. It opened. I peered in, and what did I see? A hand! I looked in farther, and there it was. The rest of the body! Somebody had been murdered here! Oh wait. Was he really dead? Alexa poked him to see. Nothing. About five seconds later, all we hear is the dead person whispering at us “leave my house, or your next…” we screamed so loud, people down the street must have heard us. What did we do next? But run! We ran as fast as we could. Out of the closet, down the stairs: creeeeaaaak, Creeeaaaaaak, out of the house, slamming the door, and down the street into my house, and under our beds. There’s no way we’re going to complain of boredom ever again. And I can guarantee that if Alexa and I ever hear of someone not having enough adventure, I think we’ll suggest for them to go to that haunted house, and see what they say when they come back, if they even make it back...

WA 2 draft 1

It was Halloween; about 10:30 at night. My friend alexa and I were so bored, so we decided to go take a walk outside. We were walking down the road, and came upon this old house. It looked so creepy and haunted. After much consideration, we decided to finally go up to the house. It looked so spooky. The only thing blocking us from going inside was this huge black door, with tons of spider webs on it. It looked like someone hasn’t been inside this house in 100 years! Alexa just looked at me. She knocked on the door. No one answered. “Ok ummmmmmm lets go! This place is creepy! And no one is home anyways!” Alexa said frantically. I ignored alexa. I mean, we wanted to have a good time tonight, didn’t we? I pushed open the door. She just stood there. I motioned her in, threatening that something might get her, if she was just standing outside by herself.
We slowly walked in. I saw the stairs and decided right then and there, that we were going upstairs. I started walking up, and Alexa just stood there. I yelled at her “come on wimp!” and she finally followed. All the way up, the stairs were creaking. Creeeeeeeaaaaaak. Creeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaak, over and over. We finally climbed mount Everest: the never ending stairs. We turned right into the pitch black room. Alexa looked, up, and there was a sky roof. The shining lights from the stars were shining down on us. We looked in the corner at the very back room. There, seemed to be a closet. The door was very rigid, and hard to open. We saw a very faint light in the back of the closet, right behind a white, antique chair. It looked like it had been made 50 years ago. We saw the light, and it was shining through a little key hole, the size of a black bean. We looked around the closet, using our cell phones as lights, of course, and finally found the key after about five minutes of searching.
I slowly put the key into the key whole, and slowly turned the key. It opened. I peered in, and what did I see? A hand! I looked in farther, and there it was. The rest of the body! Somebody had been murdered here! Oh wait. Was he really dead? Alexa poked him to see. Nothing. About five seconds later, all we here is the dead person whispering at us “leave my house, or your next…” we screamed so loud, people down the street must have heard us. What did we do next? But run! We ran as fast as we could. Out of the closet, down the stairs: creeeeaaaak, Creeeaaaaaak, out of the house, slamming the door, and down the street into my house, and under our beds. There’s no way we’re going to ever complain of boredom ever again. And I can guarantee that if me and Alexa ever hear of someone not having enough adventure, I think we’ll suggest for them to go to that haunted house, and see what they say when they come back.

W.A. 1 personal editing

One very emotional experience that I had in my life was having surgery on my knee. My life was going just great up until that one soccer game, when my knee popped; i knew it was all over. There was so much confusion in the decision making of my surgery, and the actually surgery was absolutely terrifying to me, and the aftermath of my surgery was very tough for me to handle.

I tore my ACL, in late October of 2006. I had to go to the hospital to check it out, and of course they gave me x-rays. Nothing was wrong, so they finally told me that I had to go get an MRI. the MRI sounded so scary! They stressed that i wasn't aloud to move at all, or they would make me lay there for an extra hour! My surgeon that was recommended to me worked with Martha Jefferson. He told me, when I went to go see him, that I wasn’t done growing and that if we did the surgery, my legs would eventually grow to be uneven. Due to this set back, I waited two or three months. I had to go to a physical therapist to strengthen my legs so they would be ready for when i had surgery. During this waiting period, my parents found out about a more advanced surgeon at UVA’s hospital. He told me that there was a surgery they could do on my knee that would allow my legs to keep growing without becoming uneven. Another setback, that really took a toll on me, was that I was not aloud to play any sports or even run until i had this surgery and my knee was completely fixed.

I was so afraid, going into my surgery. It was scheduled for January 26^th of 2007. There was so much anticipation and nervousness that was building up inside of me. I felt like I was going to burst. Surgery is a huge thing for me, because I can barely handle getting a simple shot at the doctors’ office. How was I supposed to handle something as big as this? It was about six fifteen in the morning, and one of the nurses came up to me and said the doctor was ready for me. I walked back and just the vibe of being in a surgery facility brought chills down my spine. It had finally sunken in: I was actually about to have surgery! She told me that a huge needle had to be inserted at the top of my leg, to numb my whole entire leg. She proceeded to explain, that the shot was going to be very painful and that they really needed me to be awake during it. At this point, I was in tears. I absolutely hate shots. After much discussion between the doctors, the anesthesiologist came in, and told me that they could do it after I had been put to sleep, but that I may feel numbness after my surgery. I was perfectly okay with that. About ten minutes later, they walked me down to the surgery room. They told me to lie down. They put the anesthetics into my IV, and told me to count backwards from ten to one. That was the very last thing I remembered before falling asleep.

The surgery took about two hours. I finally started to wake up, but it was so hard to open my eyes. I felt like they were glued shut. I think I may have even fallen back asleep. I got home, and was walking on crutches, but barely. I spent most of my first three days post surgery, in bed. I started going to physical therapy about three times a week for a month or two. He even had me off of my crutches a week after my surgery. I could not play sports, or do any running, for six months though. It finally became end of May/beginning of June, and Mr. Rogol, the athletic instructor at our school, gave me an agility test to see if I was capable to start playing contact sports again. I was! I was ecstatic, because before my surgery sports were my life. I loved them so much. I ended up going about nine or so months without playing anything. As you could imagine this was probably one of the hardest things i have ever had to do.

As you can see, having this surgery was a very tough experience for me to go through. My favorite part about this whole experience, was that my friend Katie Werner gave me a banner that really meant a lot to me. It made me laugh when the times were hard, and unbearable for me to handle. The one thing I can remember, and that I will take out from this experience, is just to live your life as full as you can, because you never know what might happen that can set you back a few paces.

W.A. 1 draft 2

One very emotional experience that I have had in my life was having surgery on my knee. My life was going just great, up until that one soccer game, when my knee popped, and i knew it was all over. There was so much confusion in the decision making of my surgery, and the actually surgery, was absolutely terrifying to me, and the aftermath of my surgery was very tough for me to handle.

I tore my ACL, in late October of 2006. I had to go to the hospital, to check it out, and of course they gave me x-rays. Nothing was wrong, so they finally told me that I had to go get an MRI. the MRI sounded so scary! they stressed at the fact that i wasnt aloud to move at all, or they would make me lay there for an extra hour! My surgeon that was recommended to me worked with Martha Jefferson. He told me, when I went to go see him, that I wasn’t done growing and that if we did the surgery, my legs would eventually grow to be uneven. Due to this set back, I waited two or three months. I had to go to a physical therapist to strengthen my legs, so they would be ready for surgery time. During this waiting period, my parents found out about a more advanced surgeon at UVA’s hospital. He told me that there was a surgery they could do on my knee that would allow my legs to keep growing, without growing uneven. Another setback, that really took a toll on me, was that I was not aloud to play any sports or even run until i had this surgery and my knee was completely flixed.

I was so afraid, going into my surgery. It was scheduled for January 26^th of 2007. There was so much anticipation and nervousness that was building up inside of me. I felt like I was going to burst. Surgery is a huge thing for me, because I can barely handle getting a simple shot at the doctors’ office. How was I supposed to handle something as big as this? It was about 6:15 in the morning, and one of the nurses came up to me and said that they were ready for me. I walked back and just the vibe of being in a surgery facility brought chills down my spine. It had finally sunken in: I was actually about to have surgery! She told me that a huge needle had to be inserted at the top of my leg, to numb my whole entire leg. She proceeded to tell me, that the shot was going to be very painful and that they really needed me to be awake during it. At this point, I was in tears. I absolutely hate shots. After much discussion between the doctors, the anesthesiologist came in, and told me that they could do it after I had been put to sleep, but that I may feel numbness after my surgery. I was perfectly okay with that. About ten minutes later, they walked me down to the surgery room. They told me to lie down. They put the anesthetics into my IV, and told me to count backwards from ten to one. That was the very last thing I remembered before falling asleep.

The surgery took about two hours. I finally started to wake up, but it was so hard to open my eyes. I felt like they were glued shut. I think I may have even fallen back asleep. I got home, and was walking on crutches, but barely. I spent most of my first three days post surgery, in bed. I started going to physical therapy about three times a week for a month or two. He even had me off of my crutches a week after my surgery. I could not play sports, or do any running, for six months though. It finally became end of may/ beginning of June, and Mr. Rogol, the athletic instructor at our school, gave me an agility test to see if I was capable to start playing contact sports again. I was! I was ecstatic, because before my surgery sports were my life. I loved them so much. I ended up going about nine or so months, without playing anything. As you could imagine this was probably one of the hardest things i ever have had to do.

As you can see, having this surgery was a very tough experience for me to go through. My favorite part about this whole experience, was that my friend Katie Werner gave me a banner that really meant a lot to me. It made me laugh when the times were hard and unbearable for me to handle. The one thing I can remember, and that I will take out from this experience, is just to live your life as full as you can, because you never know what might happen that can set you back a few paces.

My Surgery

One very emotional experience that I have had in my life was having surgery on my knee. There was so much confusion in the decision making of my surgery, and the actually surgery, was absolutely terrifying to me, and the aftermath of my surgery was very tough for me to handle.

I tore my ACL, in late October of 2006. I had to go to the hospital, to check it out, and of course they gave me x-rays. Nothing was wrong, so they finally told me that I had to go get an MRI. My surgeon that was recommended to me worked with Martha Jefferson. He told me, when I went to go see him, that I wasn’t done growing and that if we did the surgery that my legs would eventually grow to be uneven. Due to this set back, I waited two or three months. During this time, I was going to a physical therapist to strengthen my legs. During this waiting period, my parents found out about a more advanced surgeon at UVA’s hospital. He told me that there was a surgery that they could do on my knee that would allow my legs to keep growing, without getting uneven. Also, during the waiting period, I was not aloud to play sports or even run.

I was so afraid, going into my surgery. It was scheduled for January 26^th of 2007. There was so much anticipation and nervousness that was building up inside of me. I felt like I was going to burst. Surgery is a huge thing for me, because I can barely handle getting a simple shot at the doctors’ office. How was I supposed to handle something as big as this? It was about 6:15 in the morning, and one of the nurses came up to me and said that they were ready for me. I walked back and just the vibe brought chills down my spine. It had finally sunken in: I was actually about to have surgery! She told me that I had to get a huge shot at the top of my leg, to numb my whole entire leg. She proceeded to tell me, that the shot was going to be very painful and that they really needed me to be awake during it. At this point, I was in tears. I absolutely hate shots. The anesthesiologist came in, and told me that they could do it after I had been put to sleep, but that I may feel numbness after my surgery. I was perfectly ok with that. about 10 minutes later, they walked me down to the surgery room. They told me to lie down. They put the anesthetics into my IV, and told me to count backwards from 10 to 1. that was the very last thing I remembered before falling asleep.

The surgery took about two hours. I finally started to wake up, but it was so hard to open my eyes. I felt like they were glued shut. I think I may have even fallen back asleep. I got home, and was walking on crutches, but barely. I spent most of my first three days post surgery, in bed. I started going to physical therapy about three times a week for a month or two. He even had me off of my crutches a week after my surgery. I could not play sports, or do any running, for six months though. It finally became end of may/ beginning of June, and Mr. Rogol game me an agility test to see if I was capable to start playing contact sports again. I was! I was ecstatic, because before my surgery sports were my life. I loved them so much. I ended up going about nine or so months, without playing anything.

As you can see, having this surgery was a very tough experience for me to go through. My favorite part about my surgery was that my friend Katie Werner gave me a banner that really meant a lot to me. It made me laugh when the times were hard and unbearable for me. The one thing I can remember, and that I will take out from this experience, is that just live your life as full as you can, because you never know what might happen that can set you back a few paces.