Thursday, June 19, 2008

Who feels Robbed?

Stacey and I love to watch movies. Admittedly our tastes can differ, but I really love most of her movies, I even liked the Notebook, and Pride and Prejudice is freakin' amazing! We watch old movies and musicals and spend lazy Sunday afternoons in the flicker of movies three times as old as we are, and sings the melodies to the hallmark classics such as "there once was a man..." from The Pajama Game, or "All I want is a room somewhere..." from My Fair Lady, and so on.

So... Stacey and I sat down Sunday to watch 'Gone with the Wind.' The anticipation building from the moment we bought the film. Here is the most watched movie of all time. Often hailed as the masterpiece of cinema and the benchmark by which hopeful writers, actors, directors and even producers hope to stand against. But....
both she and I feel robbed! Robbed of the eighteen dollars for the second-hand four disc DVD set, and the four hours it took to watch it!

Scarlett was a terrible character, she just moved from selfish and naive to selfish, cruel and using! And then the ending... home is the only thing that matters, tomorrow is another day? I would have happily watched another two hours just to see her redeem herself.

I do cannot understand how this is the most beloved movie of all time! I think there is a conspiracy, your parents and mine got together to talk up this movie and jokingly steal four hours from our lives. Stacey and I won't be doing this to our children! I would much rather watch the Wizard of Oz to understand "there's no place like home." At least Dorothy learns something and becomes a better person at the end. I like happy endings, if that makes me uncultured or closed-minded, then so be it. For there is no ending as disappointing as that which refuses to resolve, it is a flaultering thing, as when you're robbed of a sneeze. All the anticipation with none of the comfort. So tell me, who feels robbed?

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

On the Will of God

Romans 12.1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Herein lies a mytery, here lies that which no man may answer except by acts of forbidden divination and corhortation with the father of lies. 'What is the will of God for your life?' The cliche rings like a clear bell on a foggy day, pricking the ears of us who cannot see ahead. I cannot pretend to act as if I knew God's secrets, his plan for the individual anymore than I may pretend to understand fully, the tragedy in the world. As with the former, the latter: I must trust my God. He has written, "we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we may walk in them.(Ephesians 2.10)" It would seem that God's will for our life is a linear thing, a series, but are we alowed to see ahead? May we, as children peep in closets and attics for christmas presents, peer into the mind of God?

Yes, we indeed may do so, for he has revealed his mind in the person of Jesus Christ. It is written that "no one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side has made him known. (John 1.18)" Another translation reads, that He has explained Him. The mind of God is revealed in the Son. Jesus we understand lived his life in perfect submission, even submission to death (Philippians 2:8), and we have him as our example (1 Peter 2:21).

If the desire of God in our lives is an observable, mentally tangible thing then we could very easily be outside of God's will by being in the wrong place. Am I out of God's will if I am at the counter at work, when God would have me in the back room? Is God's will for my life based on my location... or my action? Is it God's desire that I, in ritual din and clamour attend to guessing his desire for my location, or should I seek to act in accordance with my high calling as a Christian (Ephesians 4:1)? Perhaps Paul is correct in referring to God's will as that which is Good, Acceptable, and Perfect (Romans 12.2), instead of being in the correct place at the most beneficial time.

Lastly, I would contend that seeking to understand the hidden things of God is a divination in most modern regalia. We walk through life as one approaching a curve, we must not break our necks in a reaching for the future but trust the one driving the carriage. Let us revel in that which we know. God revealed will and desire for our lives, that of internal piety that manifests itself for others but is not seasoned by the praises of the same.... that of proclamation of the Good News of reconciliation with God by the blood of Christ!
Remember, Deuteronomy 29:29
"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Procrastination...

So this was on Deanna's blog and I'm trying to procrastinate on my biology labs...

10 Years Ago:
I was 12 years old, my parents would have just gotten married (Dad and Brenda), and I was in the (awkward) summer before eighth grade. We just finished building our house in Magnolia and were either about to move in or just moved into it...

5 Years Ago:
I was 17, had just finished my first semester in college (MoCo), and was still living with my mom and sister. I was working as a dental assistant, pizza delivery girl, and sno-cone girl (all at once!), and was still dating Blake.

5 Months Ago:
I was getting into the hey-day of wedding planning!!! School started, I was stressed about school and wedding planning, but Mike and I were getting so excited to be married!

5 Things on my To Do list today
1. Finish two biology labs
2. Write two discussion posts for school
3. Make dinner
4. Hang out with my hubby!
5. If I have time, scrapbook!

5 Snacks I enjoy:
1. smooshed fruit leather
2. flavor-blasted goldfish
3. wee-brie on garlic triscuits
4. turkey or venison jerky
5. ice cream

5 Things I would do if I was suddenly a billionaire:
1. Pay off my student loans
2. Give some to DBC and RFKC or VOM
3. Buy a home in the country
4. Buy new cars for Mike and I
5. Invest/Save a bunch of it

5 of my Bad Habits:
1. Biting my nails (yes, still!)
2. Procrastinating
3. Being lazy
4. Not eating healthily
5. Forgetfulness

5 Places I have Lived:
1. The Woodlands, TX
2. Magnolia, TX
3. Denton, TX
4. McKinney, TX
5. Plano, TX

5 Things People don't know about me:
1. Some people probably don't know I play viola and violin
2. I have extremely severe allergies
3. I can only cross one eye at a time
4. I generally read (at least) one book every day
5. I want to write a book

Saturday, June 14, 2008

The Craziness Didn't Go Away!

Before the wedding, I was completely anticipating a relaxing summer, with minimal stress and lots of time to hang out with my hubby...

Yeah, that hasn't been the case.

I'm taking two stupid online classes for Summer I, and they both take an ENORMOUS amount of time! I have 6 tests in 4 weeks, 2-3 labs per week, 6 discussion posts per week, two quizzes per week, and 4 research papers in 8 weeks! Its chaos! In any case, one week is done, only three left.

Other than school this week, I attempted to make my very first chocolate souffle.

It looked great when I pulled it out of the oven, but when we dug in, the bottom wasn't finished cooking. Oh well, it was still really yummy! We'll try again later.

If you know Mike and I, you know we love to cook, and it is a main activity we do together! Some of our really yummy creations this week - banana pancakes - burgers with the cheese INSIDE the burger (Mike's creation!) - green peppercorn-crusted sirloins with a sherry cream sauce (PHENOMENAL!).

Something else new we are starting: we are going to be taking over the drama and worship for the 1st and 2nd graders Sunday School at church! I'm pretty excited about it; I love kids and I love being crazy and goofy. Mike is pretty excited too, but he has never worked with young kids before, so this will be a new experience for him! We are really excited to get to serve together, we never have before so it will be cool to do that!

Have a great week!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Two Weeks of Marriage!

Well, we have been married for two weeks now, and we both are loving it! We had an amazing honeymoon, and have been busy setting up our home! While not everything is unpacked, and we are still bringing some boxes of stuff over from Mike's old apartment, we are slowly getting into the groove of living together and learning how to combine two full apartments-worth of stuff into one (where we can still walk!). Here are some random pictures from our first week together (not including our honeymoon, where pictures can be seen on my facebook profile...):

Mike playing guitar at our desk...


We went to a RoughRiders baseball game last weekend! We won! Yay!

We had to get a new showerhead because Mike is too tall for the one that was originally in the shower, so here he is installing the new (crazy awesome rainfall) showerhead!


Other new things - summer school starts for me next Monday (poo!); I started a new Bible study yesterday that I am THRILLED about - its the Beth Moore Stepping Up Bible study, and I am really excited for it; and Mike got the DVD set of Indiana Jones - we have now watched all three (well, he has seen them a zillion times - it was my first time to watch them.).

I began playing my viola again two nights ago, I am going to audition in a month for the Denton Bible Church orchestra (our church), so I am trying to get back into it. My fingers are killing me! No longer do I have the calluses I used to have, so my poor soft fingers are taking quite a beating! Poor Mike has to listen to me scratch and screech through my old music, and it is not pretty... he went to sit outside two nights ago so he could read while I made mirrors crack...

At this point, I suppose there isn't that much new stuff to blog on simply because we have only been married for two weeks! More stuff to come later...