Something to Think About.

            Only 15 out of 100 people are left handed!  Do you write with your left hand?  How normal are you?  No matter what age you are, you’re classified as normal.  Did you know more kids take a car to school than they do bus?  Over 57% of kids said they haven’t read a digital E- book.  Is technology taking over as quickly as we think?  Peanut butter mixed with jelly is the most popular sandwich combination.  Like peanut butter and fluff?  I guess you’re not as normal as you thought. 

            You hear people saying a human swallows 4 spiders in their sleep over their lifetime.  This myth has just been busted!  There is no scientific study to prove how many spiders we swallow in our sleep.  Maybe you don’t swallow any, maybe you swallow 4, or maybe you swallow 15!  Sharks kill over hundreds of people each year?  Incorrect!  Sharks kill nowhere near hundreds of people in a year; they don’t even kill that many people in a decade!  Here are 10 things more likely to kill you than a shark!  Tornadoes, bees, tree climbing, venomous snakes, dogs, lawn mowers, lightning strikes, hunting, fireworks, and earthquakes.  Crazy isn't it?    

               Did you know there were once 15,000 languages spoken on earth?  Now there are only 7,000.  Weird but true!  In the 1890’s the Wright Brothers designed bicycles before they did airplanes.  Only about 300 million people lived on this planet about 2,000 years ago; that’s less than the population of the United States right now!  In 1911, the Mona Lisa only became popular when it was stolen 400 years after it was painted.  The original Mona Lisa was never popular itself; its stolen identity was what made it popular.   The first candy cane in the 1600’s had no stripes!  Weird!  I hope I could entertain you with all of these interesting things about our planet.  I hope you learned something you didn't know before reading this blog post.  If not, sorry to waste your time.  For the last post this year, until next time, goodbye readers!  Have a great summer!  

Time is Valuable

Time is valuable.  Stop waiting for things to happen.  Go out and live.  Stop waiting for Friday.  Stop waiting for summer.  Stop waiting for someone to fall in love with you.  When you wait for things to happen let’s just say there not going to happen, and when you wait for things you miss everything happening in-between.  Your prince charming is not going to just magically come falling at your feet while you're sitting at home watching episodes of Gossip Girl on Netflix.  You are never going to be happy if you just keep waiting.  Life is only so long and you don't want to have regrets while you're lying in a hospital bed dying.  You never know, today could be your last.

In the book Heaven is For Real Colton’s time was limited.  On earth his appendix ruptured and it had been poisoning his system for over five days.  No one knew if Colton was going to live or not.  He was only four.  Never take your time for granted.  Not only on earth is your time limited maybe your time is limited in heaven too.  Colton says he was only in heaven for three minutes.  Three minutes.  That’s it.  Three minutes to take it all in.  Jesus.  His sister who died in his mother’s stomach, the one who he never got a chance to meet.  All of the colors.  His uncle Pop.  The angles singing.  Three minutes. 

Readers, please never take your time for granted.  Stop waiting and go and live.  Live in the moment and stop thinking about what is next.  I know the phrase ‘YOLO’ is dumb and way overused but seriously you only live once.  If you do it right, once is enough.  So stop waiting, take a stand.  Be adventurous.  Follow your dreams.  Step out of your comfort zone.  Live with no regrets.  Life is only so long and you don’t want to have regrets while you’re lying in a hospital bed dying.  You never know, today could be your last.  So, stop reading this and go out and live.      

Waiting for Summer..

Well lately I have been overwhelmed.  So much stress.  So much work.  Not enough time.  I haven’t had enough time to read in a while therefor I have nothing to write about.  I’m not going to write about the book I’m reading because I haven’t read anything new.  Who wants to read the same things over again?  Probably not you, and anyways it’s a waste of my time to retype it.  So, excuse me while I try to entertain you in the next 3 paragraphs.  Or however long our blogs are supposed to be. 

Well we only have 24 days of school left.  My brain is to a point where it doesn’t really want to function anymore.  Just like the last day of school.  No thinking ever really goes on during the day of June 4^th.  So many things are running through my head and I just can’t seem to stay focused.  I think I am more focused on the fact in less than a month I’m going to be laying out poolside drinking lemonade.  For some reason the focus is no longer there.  Like when you’re having a conversation with someone then you get a notification on your phone.  Now you are no longer interested in what the person is saying.  You are interested in what is on your phone.  This is how my brain is functioning right now.  Wait more like not functioning.  Written especially for you readers, because I know you all have been dying to learn what is going on inside of Lauren Dalton’s brain.  But, with 24 days left of school I bet you are feeling the same way.         

Like Columns?

Who doesn’t hate boring reads? No one likes to read books that put them to sleep. Just like people don't like to watch movies that put them to sleep. It’s the same thing.  Columns are a different story. Columns have voice and they are relatable. Columns don’t put you to sleep. They make you want to keep reading.  Personally I would read columns out of my own will, never like a classroom book.  Heaven is for Real reminds me of columns and I read it out of my own will.   

There is so much voice in this nonfiction novel.  The author Todd Burpo does a great job making sure the readers are able to feel the same about the situations he’s put in.  You feel like you’re his other child.  Instead of just being and outsider looking in you really feel like you are a part of the Burpo family. 

The books main topic probably isn’t relatable to anyone else on the surface of this earth. You probably don’t know someone who has been to heaven and back and you yourself I doubt has been to heaven and back, I mean unless you’re Colton Burpo; but that’s another story.  Although the main topic doesn’t relate to you Todd does a great job relating and connecting to his audience.  He cannot connect through the near death experience of his son but he can relate to you with smaller journeys along the way of this experience.  Heaven is for Real reminds me of columns and I read it out of my own will.  I advise you to read it too.     

Supernatural Burpo

Imagine you're batman flying through the sky or Spider-man shooting webs or hulk throwing buildings or imagine you're just Colton Burpo.

Welcome to the world of super naturals.

Colton's not your average superhero but he is definitely considered supernatural. Trips to heaven and back? Yes, this seems pretty supernatural to me. He can't spin webs and he can't fly. He's not very strong.  Hello, he's eight years old.  Did you really think he lifts?  So he's not hulk or Spider-Man or even batman but he is Colton Burpo.

Colton's trip to heaven was a few years before anyone had even realized that he had gone to heaven and back. Colton would sometimes say things that a standard eight year old would say but no one ever thought anything of it. Although, a trip to Nebraska got everyone thinking.

Colton had said he sat in Jesus' lap and he left his body on earth. He mentioned things like Jesus has a rainbow horse.  He said in heaven everyone has wings expect Jesus, he just goes up and down like an elevator.  Colton said in heaven everyone is young and no one wears glasses.  Colton told his parents that during his surgery they were in the hospital lobby praying. He claimed the angels sung to him and that he had met Jesus' cousin. "He nodded, eyes bright.  'Did you know that Jesus has a cousin?  Jesus told me his cousin baptized him' (Burpo 1010)."

These were all remarks that Colton had to experience. He didn't get these ideas from someone at school and at church they didn't release this much information. This stopped everyone in their tracks because they believed Colton had actually been to heaven.  Below watch Colton and his parents live with the story on the Today show.   

Was this Hulk's story too? At first no one knew he was extremely strong but after a while things began to leak. People soon figured out the true powers of the Incredible Hulk. Just like Colton at first no one actually knew he had been to heaven. After a while Colton leaked some information and now the whole community knows. Do all super naturals have a hidden story like Hulk and Colton? I mean after all they are related.

 

 

Always Believe in Miracles

“I have seen miracles just happen, silent prayers get answered, broken hearts become brand new. That’s what faith can do.” 

For those of you that don’t believe in miracles, open your eyes and believe anything can happen.  A miracle has just happened to the Burpo family you could even call it a blessing from above.  Taking a turn from everything going wrong to lots of things going right. 

There was much debt from the hospital bills and surgeries that had to be performed in order to save Colton’s life.  This was more than the family could afford.  Their garage business has been put on hold while Mr. Burpo recovers.  A part time teaching career and job as a pastor isn’t enough to support the family any longer.  The bills kept coming and they seemed endless. 

In a single week the Burpo family received gifts in the mail leaving their mailbox overstuffed.  Church members, close friends, and even people who only knew the family from a distance responded to their hardships.  With all of this help and support the Burpo family was able to pay the large wave of bills. 

Anything can happen so never lose hope, and always believe in miracles.  

Heaven is For Real

Do you ever feel like nothing's going your way?

 Sometimes you may think you have a bad life but chances are, it's really not that bad.  You may have a bad day but you probably don't have a bad life.  Although, being a part of the Burpo family is different.  The father of the Burpo family just recently had a cancer scare, kidney stones, and a gruesome leg break all in the same month.  This is just one unfortunate illness gone wrong.  You may be thinking how this could get any worse, a cancer scare, kidney stones, a leg break, and three surgeries all in one month and this is just one family member.   

Well, they also have a son named Colton.  Colton just recently had gotten the stomach flu.  Colton just kept getting sick.  You might think its just the stomach flu but remember Colton is only four years old and the stomach flu is still the stomach flu no matter how old you are.  Colton's appendix ended up rupturing and he had a near death experience where he had entered heaven for a short period of time; meeting old family members and the angels. 

Your life isn't so bad after all is it?  You know what they say 'Stay strong, because things will get better.  It may be stormy now but it can't rain forever.'  For the Burpo family hopefully they will stay strong knowing things will get better.  And for you too readers stay strong because it can't rain forever.