Thoughts while Traveling

I was reading this article on my most recent favorite movie, The Village.

This is why I like it and recommend it to anyone.

"But there is real poetry in Shyamalan’s camera work, evocative setting, and sureness of storytelling purpose. Though there aren’t many big thrills, and the pacing lacks the punchiness of previous efforts, the gradually unfolding layers of meaning here provide a different kind of reward for the sensitive viewer. “The world moves for love, it kneels before it in awe,” says Hurt’s character. That line and what the villagers have done to illustrate it carries more emotional resonance than whether or not monsters are jumping out of the shadows, and offers further proof of Shyamalan’s thoughtful and evolving agenda as one of our most interesting filmmakers today."

Go see it, it may surprise you and make you think!

I am going to be a dork and go to a seminar on time management tommorow. Ha! Lord knows I have probably needed that at a much earlier juncture in my life. Graduate school will do it , I tell ya! It really isn't a walk in the park on a sunny day~even though I walked through the park on a sunny "today" on my way to acting/directing class. (That's poetic...that's pathetic!)That one is really going to be good for me. I am soooooooooooo pumped and ready to dive in. The Research and Writing in Communications class is gonna be a beast, though. I am feeling hives forming under my skin at just the thought of what's to come. But...the Dream Giver is on my side.

Has God ever placed a book in your hands at PRECISELY the exact moment you needed it? Well, it happened again to me. Wow. "The Dream Giver" by Bruce Wilkinson is a HUGE source of inspiration and most of all, PEACE, right now. I really might as well have legally changed my name to Ordinary, because his journey is my own. God, thank you, for helping me break down the barrier of fear. It's not pulled down completely yet, but give me the strength to keep chipping away at it. It's YOUR dream, after all, and I am your Ordinary.

Here's a thought for the day:

A PERSON IS TRUE OR TRUTHFUL WHEN SOMETHING SAID EXPRESSES OR CONFORMS TO THE THOUGHT IN ONE'S MIND.

Today was a very long day at work. But, it all became ok when I came home to my fabulous husband who had cooked dinner and looked so cute. He's great and I feel so blessed. I say that simply because (and every married person out there can identify, I am sure..) sometimes you don't FEEL blessed even though you know deep in your soul that you are. The there are the moments when you get to feel it. And it's good. We had our dinner out on our porch underneath the plants we have hanging (that miraculously are still thriving) ~me sitting in my awesome hammock chair(which my husband so lovingly installed). It was nice. Peaceful. i love our little place. It's OURS. I feel like I am at HOME. I like it. Justin, I am so glad that you are mine. No one else would do.

I hope that I can still feel peaceful when life picks up very soon. Classes start Monday. Work continues. Discipline. Structure. Time management. Stretching. Growing. Bring it on.

"GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD! HIS FAITHFUL LOVE ENDURES FOREVER. HAS THE LORD REDEEMED YOU? THEN SPEAK OUT!..." PSALM 107

Today is a new day and it is a gift. Lord, give me an opportunity today to share you with someone, and make me ready.

I (finally) talked to my brother at length yesterday. I miss him very much but I am very excited to see what God is doing in him and where He's taking him. Booth, I am so proud of you. You will always be my favorite human.

I am afraid.
I got a message yesterday from someone in the theatre at Regent asking me to come and audition for two plays. Do you know how long it has been since I have auditioned for a play? A while. BUt on the other hand, I have known that this was coming....the opportunity for me to find what has been lying dormant in my soul for so long and allow God to make it fly. Yesterday in my blog I was thinking more along the lines of Justin and HIS dots being connected. Me? So soon? It's really putting myself "out there", which I have been too afraid to do the past few years.

I am standing at the edge of a river, where the anointed raging water is moving quick, fierce, and powerful. There is always great risk involved when flying (or rather, swimming?--Seems as if I have created a new creature in my mind, a flying trout!)

I have wanted to jump in and join in the journey so bad for so long. It's my passion and my heart, a burning in my bones like Jeremiah and Sara. There is a quote I have used for many years to spur other people along in their own faith and lives. "In order to find the fruit, you have to go out on a limb." When is the turning point where one starts taking one's own advice?

I sound so frail and weak. Reality is, I was frail and weak and life is just starting to look very different for me. Is God providing a way for me? Why is that so hard to grasp? He IS my creator and my Father...

I learned a hUGE lesson back in 2001. That I must DO IT AFRAID. Whatever that "it" is. I don't remember being this afraid in a long time. I need help.

So I was driving home from work yesterday and singing along with Phil (it's not as fun as in real life) when the Lord hit me between the eyes with a reminder of his character. Actually, it was more like a little inside game of connect the dots. Surprisingly, I am very thick-headed and stubborn (there is a hint of sarcasm there) , and sometimes God has to put a magnifying glass up to my out-of-focus eyes and show me all too clearly what He's doing. Allow me to elaborate. If you haven't noticed by my random and spaced out blogs lately, I have FLYING on the brain. I know I have mentioned before how much I love the line, "I'd rather die than not have wings to fly..."
well, I do. Because I would. To take away my freedom is to take my blood from my veins. Now, over the years God has re-configured this trait a bit, and still has more to do in this area. I am a stubborn child sometimes. Because that's the thing I have learned : It's not MY freedom. I have known this for a long time. But if I wasn't granted this freedom from my creator, I wouldn't know what love is, and ultimately, what and who God is.

Now. Back to flying. And dot-connecting.

Melissa is a girl I work with. Last week she looked like she was having a really rough time. I asked her if she was alright, and she simply told me with tears in her eyes that God was working in her. I chose at that moment to just say, "Ok." Real deep and encouraging thing to say to a sister in Christ, Anna. Well, I panic sometimes and freeze. Anyways, that's not important. Yesterday, I asked her again how she was doing and she lit up and told me a story.

She told me how she had felt for a while that she was supposed to attend law school. She was already accepted for next semester and was ready to register. She said she was never very interested in law, but that she thought it was the best way to obtain credibility and respect in a society where all she really wanted to do was make a difference. It had never occured to her until last week that there was any other option. She thought of law school as something to "endure for Jesus" and she believed she would emerge much more wise, knowledgable, and disciplined. That's what Jesus asks us, isn't it? To "take up our cross?" yes, it is. Well, the story continues. She went on to say how she had prayed last weekend that if law school wasn't right, God would do something big to change her plans.

Well, long story short, she actually began "skipping" on the sidewalk to the law school to withdraw herself from the program and then skipped right over to the School of Communications and put in her application for the script and screenwriting program. She has always come alive when working with kids, and she loves more than anything to write plays for children. So, there is the moral of the story. She "gets to" (as she put it) pursue what she loves and what brings her to life. And to hear her describe it, she says that God told her she didn't HAVE to do what she thought was needed to be obedient, that being obedient is what brought her here to Virginia, and what brought her to this freedom.

I wonder if anybody else can see what I see through this. I see...

To witness the absolute joy on the face of someone who laid herself down and surrendered and THEN received the desires in her heart....is beautiful (seek YE first). And it reminded me of some other "dots" that needed to be connected. The heart that is attached to mine is one of those dots.

What does this have to do with flying? Phil knows.

"...for I must die if I'm to ever have those wings to fly..."

Thanks, Melissa and Phil. Thanks, Lord, for the close-up illustration.

It's hard being a dreamer and trying to explain to a non-dreamer what your plan of action for your life is. Especially to a non-dreamer that you have just met. And actually, being a dreamer doesn't necessarily mean you are aware of your specific calling and won't stop till you get there, although there are those types of dreamers. Justin leans toward that pursuasion, while I have so many dreams going on I have to constantly lay my life down and TRUST that the Lord will use whichever one He needs most. And that works for me. It wouldn't work otherwise. Justin has had in his heart since he was a child a dream...and it will come to fruition.

Patience and Persistence.

We talked about confidence -and the lack thereof that creeps around in us at length last night.
We have come to the crossroad, and we have chosen this certain path. Our creator is on our side, how can we lack confidence? Our confidence is HIM! Our flesh is weak and needs to stay right there where it is. Our hope is in you, God! Don't let us start trying to be strong in ourselves. YOU.

Patience and Persistence.
TRust and Faith.

"You can fly.

Why are swings so incredibly delightful? Personally, I spent hours on swings as a child and would still enjoy swings if they hadn’t started making the seats so small.
Remember the day of enlightenment when you suddenly realized you did not have to wait to be pushed to swing, that you could propel yourself through the air by pumping your legs—ahh, what freedom!

My day of enlightenment was followed rather quickly by a day of disillusionment. The hollow metal swing sets of old would start to jump if you went too high. Some kids weren’t bothered by the jumping. This kid was certain the jumping was a solemn summons to explore the slide.
Now swing sets are riveted to the foundations of the earth and immovable except by a herd of elephants with poison ivy.
Our playscape—as jumbo swing sets are now called—came in several boxes ready for assembly by any old Ph.D. in engineering. Our children love it.
Our son loves the ropes, the slide, the bars, the clubhouse, the merry-go-round…but his first playscape love is still the swings.
Swings give one the feeling of weightlessness—for a few moments you press the laws of gravity. For a few moments you can fly.

Dreams do much the same thing. As we dream we press past the confines of what is and what has been. As our minds dare to see the unseen, our imagination fuels our faith and we begin to trust God for something more.

Some folks became afraid to dream years ago. Dreaming was dangerous because life was unanchored.

But God is not like the hollow swing sets of old. He is immovable. Connected to Him, it is safe to dream.

So dream away. Dare to do the undone, to see the unseen. Anchored safely to God, fly in your faith. And know that Father God smiles over the dreams of His children."
-Alicia Britt-Cole