A Movie For The Girls

"I'm gonna leave this [curtain] open! Cause... It's called civil *rights*. This is the '90s!"

This movie had me ROLLING! I really don't think it was something that guys could really get but believe me. . . every woman in there was L*Her*AO. Although, I didn't cry, as I would normally, especially something as close to home as a challenge on a close female relationship. It really made me think about how close my friends and I are getting to DOOMSday and it made me wonder how likely it would be that we all stay Best friends forever.

My mother is not what I would call the most socially-equipped person. She's beautiful-- just for emphasis-- GORGEOUS, quirky, funny, BRILLIANT, and all of these other awesome qualities, but she's not really a "Girl's" girl. She actually is pretty distant from those kinds of relationships. I wouldn't 100% consider myself "The 'Girl's' Girl" but I love my girl friends. They mean the world to me and I can't wait to share these moments with all of them. At this point I feel like my bridal party will be 85 deep on my side and my poor husband-to-be is going to have to collect volunteers, so that every girl can have someone to walk down the aisle with.

Maybe not, but I will say that this movie made me think about how much fun it would have been to have watched this with the girls and how much more fun we are going to have when it's each of our turns to walk the plank.

My rating is: 4.5

Happy Viewing :)

Lie To Me

Lies are the seeds of everything evil in this world. It seems like the world is bad enough without lies. All lies do is make it harder for you to know what to believe and what not to believe, what to accept and what to reject. [Tell Me Another Lie]

I hate that I, too, am now a liar. Not to say that I never lied before, but there was a point when I believed that telling the truth had value. I believed that lying was a way to hide the reality in which there was no point of hiding from man, because God knew. So I vowed to tell the truth. [Lie To Me]

Lies destroy souls. They corrupt the mind and pollute the heart. Lies of love. Lies of fidelity. Lies from the past. Now I lie because my heart no longer sees value in the truth. [Tell Me Another Lie]

How could you stare in the eyes of someone you care about and tell them a lie that you know will one day rip them apart. How can you tell someone that you ever cared, with an expectation that they would believe you, yet all you do is lie. Then, imagine the person is blessed with intuition or luck and is already aware of the truth, how then can you still. . . lie. [Lie To Me]

Lying is what tore us apart. Like a seed, you allowed fear, paranoia, and jealousy to creep into my heart. Like a thief, you held on, knowing that I could move on. Like a fool, you still tell the same stories. [Lie To Me]

Now the liar has become the lie to my heart. She can't decipher truth, so she casts your words as lies to my mind, who tells my mouth to say "I wish you well and a million good-byes." For this reason, you must fade away. At one point, I wished for forever, now the only option is that you to. . .

Tell me another lie.

Purpose Driven. . .

If your life's purpose was a car, which car would it be? Would it be the type of car that you would trust you children to ride in, or would it be the latest model of a luxury car? Would it have 4 wheel drive or would it frequently be in the shop, with you left to find other rides? Since I have yet to make my point clear. . . Why are you here? Why do you get up in the morning? Why do you go to sleep at night? What's driving you?

Too much? Okay. . . I let's take a step back.

So, a few days ago I was driving to work and thinking about what I had to do next. I just graduated from graduate school, just got my first job (& paycheck ;p), just got my new apartment, and just order my new bedroom set. I was feeling pretty good. So good, that I started to think, "Wow, I made it." One would think that it would be happy time, but I was suddenly faced with the thought. . . "If I've made it, then what am I going to do with the rest of my life. This?"

Then, I panicked even more and thought, "what if I get complacent here? What if I forget everything I ever wanted because I accomplished some of my goals? What if I get bored and forget all of the other cool things that life has to offer!?" Then it hit me. I no longer knew where I was going. I was on a train to grad school and a full-time job and hadn't even considered what I would be driving next. To loose the metaphors, I no longer understood my purpose.

At one point, my purpose was to graduate from school and get a job but now what? What I am going to spend the rest of my life doing? There are so many people living, who forgot why they were ever living? Either they are just trying to survive, which at times we all do, or they have always been told what to dream. I don't want to believe in a substitute vision for my life.

So, after I set all my practical goals for saving, building credit, and handling bills and revisited my passions. I revisited my love of life, joy and laughter; justice and strength; love and family; identity, culture, and creativity. I thought about all of the things that ignited my soul, children, God, Love, and Wisdom. . . and I made a commitment to myself and God: "Now, more than ever. . . I need to understand and live out my purpose."

What does it matter how successful you are if you never use your power to help people, and what does it matter how much money you have if everyone around you is broke and suffering? I made a commitment to be driven by my passions. God gave us all desires for our hearts, that thing that you've always wanted. For some of us, it is having a family, for others of us, it is our job; yet we all have something that ignites us and would be ultimately fulfilling.

For me, I've always wanted to be a counselor. I think I'm going to work for a few years to transition into adulthood, maybe start a family and then I will pursue my PhD in Counseling Psychology to be a Marriage and Family Therapist. I want to work with families, most likely in the church or community, but I also want to work specifically with teenage girls during their development into women. I would also like to support organizations that promote fair education to people who are not afforded such.

I have by no means figured life out! I just believe that if you are not moving forward, you're moving backwards. Time doesn't stop for no man, so pick a direction and go. Switching directions is all a part of the process, but when there is purpose to life. . . everything seems to fit together. So in the end that it what is ultimately driving me. . .

What's driving you?

Fictional Christian

What does it take to be a man or woman of God. . . because at this point I fear that I am not it. I fear that the church has been telling me for my entire like that the rules to being a Christian are much too stringent for just ANYONE to fit in. No, it requires a peculiar type of person, who is empowered with the strength of God to accomplish greatness, with out sin.

Yes, if you thought that Jesus died and washed away all of our sins, you are correct; but I feel as though it is not the same in my brother and sister's eye. For once I reveal my transgressions, I feel pushed aside, ostracized, and unclean; Left to forever wash the sin from my thighs or my mouth or my thoughts, just to fit in. How hard is it to get to God when you are forced to go through his people? How much do they look like God? How much do I?

Am I merciful? Am I forgiving? Do I judge those who have committed "greater" sins? Some days I feel like a fictional Christian. I feel like I can't talk about what I'm really going through, with someone who could pray with me and would still see me as a child of God. I feel like because I do sin, sometimes forget to pray, and still can't find a church home that I cannot be considered as a follower of Jesus Christ. I feel like Christians spend their whole lives learning what not to do, that they don't focus on the scriptures about love (Matthew 22: 36-40) or forgiveness (Matthew 18: 21-22), or what it actually means to be saved.

Salvation is nothing that you did for yourself by accomplishing perfection, but what God did for all of those that make the choice to believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 10: 9-10). The lie is that you can't be a Christian, if you've sinned. The truth is that if you keep your focus on God. . .all other things will pass away.

If you've ever felt this way, just know that people, Saints or Sinners, don't hold the key to your salvation. Jesus does and he gave you the power to make one choice to guide all the rest of your choices. Read it and believe it for yourself.

Thank the Lord, who reigns on the thrown, who passes judgement based on our hearts and not on our actions. I love you.

Your Daughter,

Falling in Love with Me