"Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land." -- Isaiah 32:1-2

"We do learn through pain...Without [pain] we do not grow. We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are" -- Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas Day/Their old familiar carols play/And wild and sweet the words repeat/Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

I thought how, as the day had come/The belfries of all Christendom/Had rolled along the unbroken song/Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head/"There is no peace on earth," I said,/"For hate is strong and mocks the song/Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:/"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;/The wrong shall fail, the right prevail/With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Till, ringing, singing on its way/The world revolved from night to day/A voice, a chime, a chant sublime/Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

"There are no 'ifs' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety" -- The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Hello, reader! My name is Rosa Cotton. (In case you're wondering, Rosa is a nickname a friend gave me years ago, and I added Cotton for my favorite hobbit lass, Rosie Cotton.)

Who am I? I am a lady seeking God's will for my life, blessed (or cursed, depending how you look at it) with a very active imagination and gigantic love for books. Almost any given day I get inspiration for different fanfics but struggle putting them down in words. I can take no credit for the stories I've written. God has given me this ability, and I pray Him will be glorified and honored through my writing.

"God knows all about the boats" -- A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot (applicable to anything that troubles us)

FAVORITE AUTHORS: Nancy Campbell Allen, Katherine Applegate, Jane Austen, J. M. Barrie, Stephanie Barron, Melanie Cellier, G. K. Chesterson, Agatha Christie, Wilkie Collins, Jim Davis, Kate DiCamillo, Charles Dickens, Melanie Dickerson, Daphne du Maurier, Elisabeth Elliot, Margarita Engle, Elizabeth Gaskell, Sarah Gibb, Patricia Reilly Giff, Karina Yan Glaser, Nikki Grimes, Shannon Hale, Georgette Heyer, B. J. Hoff, Lois Walfrid Johnson, Dick King-Smith, Madeleine L'Engle, Y. S. Lee, Gaston Leroux, Gail Carson Levine, C. S. Lewis, Grace Lin, E. C. R. Lorac, Max Lucado, George MacDonald, Patricia MacLachlan, Albert Marrin, Catherine Marshall, Michael Medved, L. M. Montgomery, Walter Dean Myers, Donna Jo Napoli, E. Nesbit, Charles Perrault, Jerry Pinkney, Sarah Price; Gayle Roper, Cynthia Rylant, Ruth Sanderson, Ruta Sepetys, Ntozake Shange, Margery Sharp, Dodie Smith, Mary Stewart, Maria Tatar, J. R. R. Tolkien, Debbie Tung, Patricia Wentworth, Jane Yolen

"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees, and flowers, and clouds, and stars" -- Martin Luther

FAVORITE BOOKS: 4:50 from Paddington; Agnes Grey; Amiri & Odette; Anahita's Woven Riddle; Believe It (Foles); Between Shades of Gray; The Bible; Bleak House; The Body in the Library (Christie); Book Love (Tung); Book of a Thousand Days; A Captive of Wing and Feather: a Retelling of Swan Lake; The Cheshire Cheese; Christy (Marshall); The Chronicles of Narnia; The Circular Staircase; Climbing the Stairs; Cold Comfort Farm; Destination Unknown (Christie); Devotedly (Shepard); Ella (Price); Ella Enchanted; Flipped; For Such a Time (Breslin); Free Among Ourselves (Bishop); Goose Chase; The Goose Girl (Hale); The Grand Sophy; Green Dolphin Street; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; The Heavens Before; Hidden Magic (Velde); Home Sweet Homicide; Jane Austen Society; Jane and the Man of the Cloth; Keep a Quiet Heart; Knight's Castle (Eager); Lady Vernon and Her Daughter; Life Among the Savages; Little Dorrit; The Little Mermaid: Make a Splash; The Magnolia Story; Mansfield Park; Melisande; Miss Bianca; Miss Pinkerton; The Moonstone; Mount Hope; Murder and Matchmaking; The Mystery Princess: A Retelling of Cinderella; An Old-Fashioned Girl; Part of Your World (Braswell); Pearl in the Sand; Persuasion; Peter Pan; Peter and the Sword of Mercy; Pride and Premeditation; The Prince and the Princess (Mayer); Prince of Song and Sea; The Princess and the Goblin; A Princess of Wind and Wave: a Retelling of The Little Mermaid; The Quest for Love (Elliot); The Runaway Princess; Sadie; Salt to the Sea; Sanditon (Austen and Another Lady); The Satanic Mill/Krabat; A School for Brides; A School for Unusual Girls; The Secret Princess: a Retelling of the Goose Girl; Snare of Serpents (Holt); Snow White (Phelan), The Stories We Tell (Gaines); The Suspicion at Sanditon; This is What a Librarian Looks Like; Till We Have Faces; The Tsar's Promise (San Souci); The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street; Villette; The Watsons (Austen); Web of Deception (Peart); What Once Was Mine (Braswell); While the World Watched; Wildfire at Midnight (Stewart); The Wishing Game (Meg Shaffer); Wives and Daughters; A Wrinkle in Time

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength" -- Corrie Ten Boom

FAVORITE MOVIES: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938); Aladdin (Disney); The Avengers; Black Panther; The Book Thief; Cannon Movie Tales: Beauty and the Beast; Cannon Movie Tales: Sleeping Beauty; Cannon Movie Tales: Snow White; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Cinderella (1997 & 2015); Donkey Skin; DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp; Finding Dory; Finding Nemo; The Great Muppet Caper; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; The Incredibles 1 & 2; Inside Out; The Jungle Book (2016); Krabat (1977); Little Dorrit (2009 BBC); The Little Mermaid (1989 & 2023); Lord of the Rings; The Magic Riddle; Mansfield Park (1983 BBC); Monsters, Inc.; A Muppet Christmas Carol; The Muppet Movie; Muppet Treasure Island; The Parent Trap; Peter Pan (2003); Queen Esther (Sight & Sound); The Rescuers Down Under; Sense & Sensibility (1995); Singin' in the Rain; The Slipper and the Rose; That Darn Cat! (1965); Toy Story; UP!; Wall-E; Wives and Daughters

"Every man's life is a fairy tale, written by God's fingers" -- Hans Christian Anderden

FAVORITE PAIRINGS: Ace/Nancy Drew, Aragorn/Eowyn; Arthur Clennam/Amy Dorrit; Bard/Tauriel; Bofur/Fem!Bilbo; Boromir/Eowyn; Calvin/Meg; Captain America/Black Widow; Charles Bingley/Jane Bennet; Curdie/Irene; Dawsey Adams/Juliet Ashtons; Digory/Polly; Dwalin/Fem!Bilbo; Edmund Bertram/Fanny Price; Eric/Ariel; Eustace/Jill; Finn/Rey; Frank Hardy/Nancy Drew; Geric/Anidori; Gleb/Anastasia; Henry Tilney/Catherine Morland; Mr. Howard/Emma Watson; Hulk/Black Widow; Ivanhoe/Rebecca; James Stringer/Charlotte Heywood; Kili/Fem!Bilbo; Lasalle/Percy; Laurie/Jo; Legolas/Arwen; Mr. Martin/Harriet Smith; Nat Eaton/Kit Tyler; Peter Pan/Wendy; Peter Parker/Shuri; Raoul/Christine; Rudy/Liesel; Samwise/Rosie; Sidney Parker/Charlotte Heywood; Tewkesbury/Enola; Torres/Bishop; Mr. Woodcourt/Esther Summerson

"O Lord God, be my Rock, my strength, my shield. I am weak but You are strong. For that I praise You. Amen."

FAVORITE SONGS: Aeon; Arabian Nights; Beyond My Wildest Dreams; Carol of the Bells; Carousel Waltz; Chanson du Prince (“Peau d'Ane”); Climb Ev’ry Mountain; Cody's Flight; Crystallized Beauty; Danse mon Esmeralda; Days in the Sun; Descendants of the Dragon; Do-Re-Mi; Dona Nobis Pacern (Jenkins); Erev Shel Shoshanim; Eternity (Dreams Come True); Everytime We Touch; Fall Again (Glenn Lewis); Flying (“Peter Pan”); For the First Time ("The Little Mermaid"); For the First Time in Forever (Reprise); God Help the Outcasts; Gold (Linda Eder); Gollum's Song; Grown Up Christmas List; Happy Holidays (Whispers); Hedwig’s Theme; Her Voice; Heroes & Thieves; Home ("The Wiz"); House of the Rising Sun/Amazing Grace (Athens Creek); I Dreamed a Dream; I’ll Make a Man Out of You; I’ve Seen Hell (“North & South”); The Inspector Theme (Henry Mancini); Let Me Be Your Wings; Light the Fire Within (LeAnn Rimes); Loneliness of Evening; Luck Be a Lady; Made of Stone; Malaguena; My Immortal; Ol’ Man River; No Woman, No Cry; Once Upon a December; Part of Your World (& Reprise); Pink Panther Theme; The Plagues; Portals (Avengers: Endgame); Prince Ali; Professional Pirates; Proud of Your Boy; Reflection; Requiem for a Dream; Resign Thy Club ("Hercules"); The Ring Goes South; Rocket to the Moon (& Reprise); Rudy Theme; The Safest Place (LeAnn Rimes); She is a Mystery (Ray Vega); Sleep (Whitacre), Slipper & the Rose Waltz; Slumber (“Sleeping Beauty”); Soliloquy (“Carousel”); Somewhere (There's a Place for Us); Speechless (“Aladdin”); A Step Too Far; Strike Up Pipers; The Sweetest Sounds; Ten Minutes Ago; Then You Look at Me (Celine Dion); This Christmas (Donny Hathaway); A Thousand Miles; Titans Spirit ("Remember the Titans"); The Trolley Song; Two is Better Than One; Under the Sea; We’ll Be One (Nikki Webster); Weep You No More Sad Fountains (Patrick Doyle); What a Comforting Thing to Know; When Will My Life Begin (Reprise); When There Was Me and You; Where am I Going?; Where Shall I Fly? (“Hercules”); Who is She (Patrick Doyle); Why Can’t I Be Two People?; The Wide Open World (“The Princess & the Pea”); Wild Uncharted Waters; Wunderkind; Zero to Hero

"There is little need that I should tell you of God, for every thing speaks of Him. Every field is like an open book; every painted flower hath a lesson written on its leaves. Every murmuring brook hath a tongue; a voice is in every whispering wind. They all speak of Him who made them; they all tell us, He is very good. We cannot see God, for He is invisible; but we can see His works, and worship His footsteps in the green sod" -- Anna Laetitia Barbauld

FAVORITE CHRISTIAN SONGS: All the Earth (Parachute Band); All is Well (BYU Vocal Point); Amazing (Point of Grace); Amazing Children (The Amazing Children); Amen (I Am They); Ancient Words; And Can It Be That I Should Gain; Beautiful Savior; Behold (Plumb); Behold Him (Francesca Battistelli); Blessings (Laura Story); Blue Skies (Point of Grace); Breathe on Me, Breath of God; Catcher in the Rye; Come What May (We Are Messengers); Consider the Stars; Cornerstone; Crown Him King of Kings (Ron Hamilton); East to West; Every Whisper Every Sigh (Annie Moses Band); Emmanuel (Michael W. Smith); Every Moment (Joy Williams); Expressions of Your Love; Fairest Lord Jesus; Fath (Tracey Harris); Faith, Hope & Love (Point of Grace); From the Squalor of a Borrowed Stable (Immanuel); The God Who Sees; God is With Us (Casting Crowns); Gratitude (Nicole Nordeman); The Great Divide; Hallelujah (Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration); He Will Hold Me Fast; He’s God (Edwin Hawkins); He’s My Son; Healer (Casting Crowns); His Mercy is More; Holy Healing; I Can’t Do This (Plumb); I Come By the Blood; I Glory in My Jesus; I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day; I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say; I Hung My Head (Annie Moses Band); I Run (Forty Days); I Still Believe (Jeremy Camp); I Will Be Kind; I Will Bring You Home; I Will Glory in My Redeemer; I Wonder (Joy Williams); Immanuel (Michael Card); In Christ Alone (Brian Littrell); In Christ Alone (My Hope is Found); In the First Light (GLAD); In the Name of the Lord; Is He Worthy?; Jesus Was a Little Boy, Too (The Amazing Children); Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners!; Jesus Will Still Be There; The Joy of the Lord; Know You (All I Once Held Dear); Lead Me On (Amy Grant); Like a River Glorious; Look What You've Done (Tasha Layton); The Love of the Lord Endures; Middle of My Storm (The Clark Family); Mighty to Save; My Glorious (Delirious?); My Tribute (To God Be the Glory); Nearer Still Nearer; New (Forty Days); No Eye Has Seen (Michael W. Smith); Not Alone (Queen Esther); O God, Our Help in Ages Past; O the Goodness of the Lord (Ron Hamilton); O How He Loves You and Me; Oh My Soul (Casting Crowns); Open Our Eyes; People Need the Lord; Perfect Peace (Laura Story); The Power of the Cross; Rejoice, the Lord is King; Rock of Ages (James Ward); Sandi's Sunday School Sing A Long; The Shepherd Knows Your Name (Foto Sisters); Speechless (Steven Curtis Chapman); Then They Will Know (Michael Card); Today (Tracey Harris); Total Praise; Voice of Truth; Walk on the Water; We are the Reason; We Turn Our Eyes (You Speak to My Fear); Well Done My Child; When the Wind Blows; Who am I (Casting Crowns); Whom Shall I Fear?; The Wonder of It All (Point of Grace); Wonderful, Merciful Savior; Yeshua/Our Father; Yet I Will Praise; You Found Me (FFH); You Know My Name (Tasha Cobbs Leonard); You are Mine (David Haas); You Said; Your Grace Still Amazes Me

"Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself." -- Matthew 6:31-34