About Me

My name is Lorina. I am a teacher, a freelance writer, and an ordinary girl choosing to serve an extraordinary God. "Onward and Upward" is a blog dedicated to publishing encouraging spiritual thoughts that will cause us to think and motivate us to press forward toward what is most important in life. Though the journey to become closer to Jesus, more like Him, and better prepared for heaven may seem long and difficult, may each thought presented in this blog motivate us to take one step closer.

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Ode to Resilience: Determined to Grow

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I received a plant as a prize from the fair, and this poem was inspired by my admiration for its resilience.  A prize you were, But you were not prized. Not planted,         Not watered,                Not given the time. Placed in a room, dark and forgotten. But you grew. Sure death was yours, I expected the signs. Not planted,         Not watered,                Not given the time. Thrown to the ground, lone and abandoned. But you grew. I didn't give you water or light. Your roots were bare all day and all night. There was no proper planting ground Of course no life could therein be found! But wait, is that... Oh, what a rebuke. Surviving.         And thriving.                 Growing to Produce Beautiful flowers fit for the use Of blessing. Oh, little plant No trace of dismay. Determined.         Resilient.                 Life-fighter, I'd say. To follow your steps will thus remain An honor.
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(Re)Defining Me

Lo • ri • na [luh - ree - nuh] Noun      1. ............... How do I define myself? Is my definition true enough? broad enough? lived enough? valued enough? It seems a little odd to think of myself as having a definition. I mean, words have definitions, right? But to define is simply to set forth the meaning of something. And isn't it true that life has meaning? Without definition, a word lies meaningless. To my logical mind, I see words as having both a creator and a purpose. Without a creator, a word never existed. Without meaning, a word isn't used. When God willed me into existence...           He became my Creator.           He gained the right to define [give meaning to] me. My students, like many, try to take shortcuts. In an attempt to write as few words as possible, I sometimes find them writing partial definitions for their spelling homework. When attempting to use those words later on, will they be used correctly? Maybe, maybe not. It quick
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Sparrow Inspiration

Does God have a purpose for me? Its a question I've pondered over and, well ... agonized over for years. It seemed that God had used every avenue possible to convince me. Faith is a very crucial factor, I know. But since I couldn't see it, didn't feel it, it seemed too hard to believe it.   More than one year ago, a friend penned these words to me:           You're too talented to follow in anyone else's shadow.           You're too valuable to live someone else's destiny.           You're Lorina... and God has plans for you! I wondered if my friend was right. A destiny seemed hard to believe in when today seemed like nothing special. But my friend's words remained tucked away in my mind, only to surface later on when I heard "A Sparrow Song" written by Alison Brook. I wasn't sure about this song when I first heard it... But I came to see in this song a message that has impacted me greatly. Here are some of the words: I&#
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