Excess = AG

Ok, so I've been on the "simplify," "excess" bandwagon for quite a little bit now. I haven't flown through my book yet (distracted by all the other books I could be reading), but alas, much unconcious marination has been going on (yes, I know I ended a sentence with a preposition, all you grammar police - nothing can be done). So, in this marinating on excess mindset, I took my daughter, Rachel, to Alpharetta for her "I'm almost 11 years old, and I get to go on my trip alone with just Mommy" trip.

We got to the American Girl store on Friday morning. -- Let me just hault a moment here and offer a little preface, I love American Girl. I love all that it teaches, all that it stands for, and I can even stomach the astronimical prices because seriously, have you seen the detail on those tiny little shoes?! So please do not hear me ragging on American Girl and saying that AG is what is wrong with the world today. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Having said that, what I saw at the AG, was emaculate, perfectly dressed women with 3 or 4 little daughters, ages 4-7 years old, carrying lots of big boxes (if you know AG, you know the big boxes are the "money" boxes). I saw those little girls carrying their previously purchased hundred dollar dolls, by the foot while dragging their hair across the floor - I thought Rachel might choke the little girl in line in front of us! These 40 to 50 (the store is always PACKED) little girls had multiple dolls and their moms where piling up more. These children have no idea of the sacrifice it took to buy them all of these expensive things! Am I saying that it's wrong to buy things if you have the money? No. Am I saying that it's wrong to make your precious little angel dance with joy at the sight of a new American Girl? No. What I think I AM saying is that these 5 year olds are already piling up the "stuff" without any idea of what was sacrificed to have them, so they are starting off their little lives already in the mindset of excess - without even realizing it (gestures with both hand in air in "fed up" gesture)!

Enough said. What are your thoughts?

Well...I'm beginning a journey, wanna come?

Howdy! Obviously I have not kept up with my blog. I'd like to blame the kids or Bobby, or school, or the dog, or even the 9 new snails (Amy, you are trouble!), but the fact of the matter is, I have a hard time sticking with things. I get all excited about whatever the new thing is, and I can't wait to get going. I go along fine for....not very long at all, and then I get distracted by the next NEW thing - you know what I'm talking about all my sanguine friends! So, I'm changing gears on this Blog thing. I started with Movies and seeing Jesus in life. I may come back to that, but right now I feel like God is sending me on a journey, and I need to document it. I realize that I only have 5 people following this, and those 5 may have given up on me. But I am terrible at journaling (see above), and I feel like if I have this "out there," and I am accountable to the void that is Cyberspace, I might keep up with it - maybe. For several years God has been gently telling me "simplify" "Get back to your first love" "give" "get rid of your crap" (well, maybe God didn't say crap, but I know he meant it). Then, when I went to Greece last year on a mission trip, he renewed his whispering to me - materialism, give, etc. Now I don't think I'm particularly materialistic, but as Jen Hatmaker said, "My closet [and every other space in my house] tell a different story." I have too much crap! I'm not sure what all the spiritual lessons are in this, but I know that God has said clearly (which doesn't happen frequently to me) "SIMPLIFY." So I have started reading "Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" in an effort to work on this. We'll see how it all goes...

"The Ultimate Gift"

Good morning friends! Perhaps I should re-introduce myself, since I haven't been able to post anything in about 5 or 6 months. Our life has been pretty insane since October, and I confess, I have not made time to post. I hope I am back though!

For Movie Monday I want to tell you about a movie that we love. I'm not sure if it even ever hit the theaters. It's older - 2006 (Abigail Breslin was just a little fry then), but it is so good.

It's called The Ultimate Gift. I don't want to give anything away, but I can give just a nutshell synopsis. The family patriarch dies and leave a bagillion bucks. The family is very materialistic and is fighting over the inheritance. There is one grandson (Jason) that is a true product of his family and the money that they have - materialistic, entitled, snobby, lazy, self-centered, etc. His grandfather, through his will and a series of "gifts," tries to teach Jason about a life beyond his money and himself.

The movie is moving, and full of lessons for us all. It is also a great example of Abigail Breslin's acting chops. At 10 years old, she nails the emotion and spunk of her character's situation in life.

Great for the whole family!!

Thirsty Thursday - Jesus in a Speedo!

Our youngest daughter, Sarah, is on the swim team. She loves it! She wears her swimsuit to church (under her dress), and she wears her fins (you and I call them flippers) around the house. I have even come in occasionally to find her watching TV while wearing her goggles! She can’t wait to get to swim, and she never fusses, even when she swims a mile (with very little rest) during practice. She just can’t get enough.

She has two new swim suits that she just got this month. Every time I see her standing up there in her blue Speedo suit, with her little pink goggles and swim cap, I can’t help but see Jesus, because, you see, Jesus gave her the wonderful new blue Speedo. And while, in her mind, she just got a new groovy swimsuit, in my mind, God taught me a wonderful lesson. He taught me to truly understand the concept of giving and receiving.

2 Corinthians 8:15 says, “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.” I have experienced the receiving half of this verse, but now I desire to experience the giving half the way it has been shown to me.

In the last 3 months, God has given us so many blessings, from money for a mission trip, to family blessings, to …. yep, you guessed it - a Speedo! God showed us, through a precious family who gave us a TON of clothes (that they could have sold for a lot of money), how to TRULY give. On a beautiful Thursday afternoon, our three girls were able to find clothes, shoes, swimsuits, jackets, jammies, etc, enough to make a new wardrobe each (literally). Through that sweet family, God taught me the principle of giving. Not just the “collect our OLD things and put them in the drop box“, but to really give. He has stirred in me the desire to be able to give the way this precious family has done - and more!

Thank God for all of our blessings - especially the blue Speedo!!

Movie Monday - Favorite Character Type

For this week's movie topic, what is your favorite TYPE of character? Do you like the strong, sweet, bad, complex, simple-minded, etc? For instance, my favorite is the underdog. I love to see the weak, sick, misunderstood sap come out on top.

Some of my favorite characters are....oh, there are so many:

I love Edward Scissorhands in Edward Scissorhands - he's so kind and innocent, but no one understands him.

I love Ed Wood in Ed Wood - he's totally eccentric and misunderstood and horrible as a director, but boy did he have passion.

I love Elle Woods in Legally Blonde - she's the exact opposite of the rest of the Harvard Law students, but she outshined them all, while being true to herself.

I love Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday - she showed that you can be just as smart as all the rest of the people, smarter actually because she was authentic, and still be herself.

I love Michael Oher (and Leigh Anne Tuohy, for that matter)in The Blind Side.

I love Louanne Johnson in Dangerous Minds, Mark Thackeray in To Sir With Love, and Erin Gruwell in Freedom Writers - they did not accept that her students were failures just because of their race, economic standing, or anything else.

I love Frances Ouimette in The Greatest Game Ever Played (as I've already stated in the previous post). Really like him.

I love Akeelah in Akeelah and the Bee.

I love V from V for Vendetta.

I love Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness.

I love Beatrix Potter in Miss Potter.

I love Wesley Gibson in Wanted.

And the list goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on....

So, what type do you like? And who are some examples?

Movie Monday - Jenn recommends......

I have pondered for days about what movie I should write, or what aspect of movies we could discuss. I have thought about old movies, new movies, Monte Carlo (cause I saw it this week), favorite movies, favorite characters....and I think we must certainly discuss them all at some point, but not today.

Today, I want to share a movie that I saw several years ago. It was not well publicized, but it was one of those gems hiding away. It is called The Greatest Game Ever Played. I LOVED THIS MOVIE! It would definitely make it to my Top 20 list. I highly recommend getting it from Netflix (or whatever). It is the true story of golfer Frances Ouimette(if you don't love golf, don't let it stop you), and stars Shia LaBeouf (before he was famous), under the direction of Bill Paxton.

I went alone to see this movie and was truly able to experience it without distractions. I had never heard of any of the actors, but decided to take a chance because I love a true story. Boy am I glad I did?!

Shia LaBeouf did an amazing job as Frances. I could tell, even then, that he was going to do well in the business. He has great expression, being able to convey a page of stage directions in just one look. In one line, Frances, describing a musician, said, "It is like the music just comes through her from somewhere else..." That is excatly how golf was for him. He just had a gift and a passion, and these were undeniable in his life. It is easy to see why Bill Paxton wanted to tell this story.

The other actor that I just loved was Josh Flitter, who played the role of Eddie Lowery (caddy to Frances). He was a young kid, and I had never seen or heard of him, but he blew me away. He was so witty and had perfect comic timing for one so young.

In short, don't miss this movie. It is about passion and follow-through and how your place in life is not determined by money, name or anything else.

5 stars!!

Thirsty Thursday - "Jesus on Top Shot"

When I’m looking, God shows up in some of the craziest places. His latest appearance was last week on the show “Top Shot.” It’s a reality show with marksmen competing for $50,000 and the chance to become Top Shot.

One of the competitors is a Christian counselor named Dustin. He’s vocal about his faith (not in an obnoxious kind of way, but they know what he believes), and he doesn’t have anything after his name as a title like, “All Time National Champion of the World of Guns” or anything like that. So the team saw him as their weak link, and voted to send him to the “elimination challenge” (if you lose this, you have to leave). The comments before the challenge showed just how confident everyone was that he wasn’t gonna be coming back. Dustin was feeling the pressure, and even he seemed a little uncertain. I felt badly for him.

…….the dramatic cliffhanger before the commercial and thennnnnnnn….. The Challenge……

Dustin “smoked” his competitor. The crowd goes wild!! It was the upset of the day. He shot 24 of the targets and she only got 11. He had everything going against him, according to “the world” - He is a Christian, he is a Christian counselor, and …well, no title, so everyone expected him to lose. But that’s not how my God works!

God’s M.O. is to bring beauty from ashes, so what Dustin and everyone else (including me) thought was a bad thing (the elimination challenge), God used for His good. At the end of that night, all the teammates were praising his shooting and had TREMENDOUS respect for him. God took this little Christian counselor from underdog status to a respected member of the team. With comments like, “I didn’t know just what a strong shooter he was,” Dustin secured his place on the team. Now he will be able to continue to influence his teammates (and the world) for Christ in his gentle way for another week.

I love the way God works in ALL things for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.

Did you see Jesus in any little, out of the ordinary place this week??