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True beauty comes from a depth of soul that can only be attained through living many years well.
–Captivating
Last night Tommy and I went with some friends to see Fireproof the movie by the same people who produced Facing the Giants. It is a great movie, not just a great movie for a Christian film. There are some hilarious scenes and some pretty intense action scenes plus romance, all the things you expect from a great movie. The thing that stood out to me the most is the honesty of the film. While most movies are idealized, this film was a truly honest look at the struggles that occur within most marriages. We have gone through many struggles in our marriage, so I could completely relate to everything that Catherine, the wife in the movie, was feeling. I meant to ask the guys, but I suspect that they could say the same for Caleb, the husband’s character in the movie played by Kirk Cameron. The movie is very open about Caleb’s struggle with pornography which I believe is a struggle most men have but are afraid to admit.
On the downside, it did get a little preachy in a couple of places. Of course, I think I’m probably especially sensitive to that because I’ve seen the damage that in-your-face religion can do. I think they could have still gotten the message across that God is the one who was responsible for the changes in Caleb’s character without some of the scenes that were included.
I’m assuming the movie was filmed in Georgia like Facing the Giants with a low-budget and many local actors. Living in the south, that didn’t bother me too much since I know many people like the ones in the movie. My concern is that this quality might be a turn-off to people in other areas of the country although they may be drawn in enough by the story to overlook this aspect.
Overall, it is an excellent, entertaining story with a great message that only the hardest of hearts could keep from being moved by. I highly recommend it!
I don’t know why I feel the need to put my neck on the chopping block by discussing my political views. I guess it’s because I’m reading two VERY DIFFERENT political sort of books right now, Bill O’Reilly’s Culture Warrior and Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw’s Jesus for President. I’ll try to tag all my political posts as such so that you can skip them if you find my views offensive.
First of all, my thoughts on Bill O’Reilly’s book. I’m reading it because my dad has been pestering me to since he gave it to me last year. He really wants me to read it before the election, so I’m trying to do that. I know that Bill O’Reilly has a tv show which I’ve never watched, and I know very little about him. I really don’t usually like to talk bad about people. I’m sure Bill O’Reilly would be a nice-enough person if I met him. But since he has no problem ripping people to shreds in his book, I think it will be okay to give my first impression of him. First thoughts are that he comes across as an arrogant blowhard. I’m thinking that this probably appeals to some of the older generation such as my dad, but this does not appeal to me at all. I think that I would probably be right in saying that it doesn’t appeal to many my age and younger. He comes across in such an over-the-top way that I want to question even the things that I already agree with him on.
This makes a strong contrast to the tone of Jesus for President. The authors come across as people who are humbly and honestly seeking to live for God in all areas of their lives, including God’s views on kings(rulers), empires, and the poor. They start in the “Hebrew scriptures”(I like their term for it rather than the Old Testament) and walk through the Bible looking at God’s views on these things. Here’s a quote to hopefully whet your appetite (I REALLY want more people to read this book! 
:
The Sabbath laws were put in place not just so people could go to worship services on Sunday (or Saturday) mornings but to make sure that the Hebrew people didn’t revert to the exploitative economy of the empire from which they were saved. If they were going to be a peculiar people, then they needed a peculiar kind of economy. Instead of trying to reform the empire’s economy when they were in Egypt, God brought them out to this new place so that they could cultivate an entirely new economy. Yahweh’s economy of life rather than the imperial economy of death.
The Sabbath laws were sort of like God’s system of checks and balances on Israel’s economy to make sure that no one got too rich and no one got too poor. God knew the painful reality of human sin all to well and the probability that the Hebrew people might drift back into a society of haves and have-nots. To prevent this distorted economy from developing, God got creative and came up with these Sabbath laws.
I love this quote, “the imperial economy of death,” and think that it’s particularly appropriate with all of the talk/worry about the economy this week.
It seems to me that Bill O’Reilly is against the rich having to share their wealth. He seems to think that they earned it all on their own, so they should get to keep it. He accuses people who think otherwise of being Communists. I think most people with any knowledge of history know that although the ideals of Communism sound good it simply does not work (ie. former Soviet Union, Maoist China). I think most compassionate people would just like for our country to make it a little bit easier on people who have had a rough start in life or are down on their luck or have made some bad choices(haven’t we all, after all–some just have longer lasting consequences than others).
I believe that ultimately the government will not be the ones that make a difference in the lives of struggling, suffering people. I believe that it will be individual Christ-followers choosing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of helping their fellow man, not just their money either, but their time, their education, and other resources.
I have been meaning to share this story for quite some time, and now seems like a good time. The town where we live is unusual in that their is not a “good side” and “bad side” of town–people who live on S. Montgomery might beg to differ 
. There are patches of “bad” mixed in with the “good”. So we have some housing projects two blocks from the house we have lived in for ten years. I drive by these housing projects nearly every time I go somewhere. So I began praying years ago that God would show me someway to help the people who live there.
Two years ago in December, a lady came around asking if she could rake leaves or do something to earn money for her children’s Christmas presents. I was on my way to a Christmas tea with some dear friends, but Tommy and I quickly decided to let her rake our leaves. (I actually love having the crunchy leaves all over my yard!) I talked to her a few minutes before I left, and we connected. I knew immediately that God had sent this person to me.
We have known each other for almost two years, and she has become one of my best friends. Most people would say that she is lucky to have me in her life because I have helped her in a lot of ways. But they don’t see the whole story–the ways that she truly gives back to me. She is one of the most encouraging people I know in a world where I’ve found that there are few encouragers left. There are plenty of people who want to tell you what you’re doing wrong(in this very blog ironically enough ).
The reason I want to share that story is to say that over the past two years I have also walked alongside my friend and seen how very hard it is to pull yourself up when you get to the place that she has been. It is a long hard road. Did she make bad choices? She will readily tell you “yes”. Does she deserve to stay where her choices led her? I don’t think so. If you look at Scripture, we all deserve death. My friend loves her children deeply and is working extremely hard (harder than many of my friends) to make a better life for them.
I will say that this has taken A LOT of time on my part even time away from my family which I consider my most important job. But I believe that in the long run the lessons my children learn from this will be far more valuable than any of the “school” lessons that I teach them.
I like the following quote I read in Simple Times e-zine:
“Busy-ness ruins relationships.
It substitutes shallow frenzy for deep friendships.
It promises satisfying dreams, but delivers hollow nightmares.
It feeds the ego, but starves the inner man.
It fills the calendar, but fractures the family.
It cultivates a program, but plows under priorities.”
–Anonymous
This year is the first time I’ve really been interested in politics in a while. I’ve been pretty disillusioned with the government in general and truly doubt lawmakers’ ability to make any real change. So while I’ve always done my public duty of trying to research candidates before each election and voting, I really haven’t put much stock in any of them.
This year however during the primaries I became intrigued with Obama and his different sort of approach to politics. He’s seems to be a far cry from the business as usual politics of the past few decades of my life anyway. To be honest, although I plan to vote for him I honestly doubt that he can accomplish much of what he plans to do. I’m just a skeptic, I guess. But I have to support his desire to make some changes and avoid the politics as usual approach that so many Americans have grown weary of.
My dad is horrified that I’m actually consider voting for the Democratic party. Real Christians don’t do that, do they? :-0 I have to admit that I was equally horrified about 15 years ago when a very close Christian friend who I highly respected shared that he was very active in the Democratic party. I honestly believed at that time that no Christian could support the Democratic party. I’ve come quite a long way in my thinking.
So my dad has been sending me e-mails about the evils of Obama, most of which I checked on truthorfiction.com and can’t remember that other website–you know the one. I found the e-mails to be wholly or partially false. Dad gave be Bill O’Reilly’s book Culture Warrior for my birthday last year. I have yet to read it–I always have a stack of 10-20 books in my “to read” pile. And I put it on the bottom. He sent me an e-mail asking me to read it before the election. So I did start it last night. I’m not that impressed after the first few chapters. I am also reading Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne before the election. Here’s an excerpt from a letter I am in the process of writing to my dad:
Just want to let you know that I started reading Culture Warrior last night. I am planning to finish it and another book I’m reading called Jesus for President before the election. Your determination to change my political views shows to me one significant difference in the way you and I think. You trust more in people’s ability to change things than you do in God’s plans for the world, not just our country. This skewed view of Americans that we are God’s favorite country is totally contradictory to the Bible. God loves every starving and/or AIDS-afftected person in Africa just as much as He loves you and me. While I will fight to keep America and it’s freedoms from falling, I believe that sometimes God’s plans are bigger than our plans. If He thinks we’ve had enough time to transform the world with all of our wisdom, wealth, and resources that we have MOSTLY chosen to use only to benefit ourselves, He may have plans to bring our nation down. I don’t know. I DO know that I love my country, and I do not want this to happen. While I can do my part, the rising and falling of a nation is ultimately out of my hands. What IS within my power (or rather God’s power working through me) is my ability to change my little corner of the world and make it a better place. I constantly point out to my children how much better off we are than people in most countries and try to teach them to appreciate our freedoms and wealth. But I also teach them that with great wealth and resources comes great responsibility. Reminds me of the verse about to whom much is given much will be required. While I teach them the importance of loyalty to our country, I also teach them that our ultimate loyalty should be to God. I don’t want my children to experience the horrible things that they might if the U.S. falls from power within their lifetimes, but I am teaching them that they can endure ANY hardship they face in life if they put their trust completely in God.
I do believe in separation of church and state, however, Christianity is not meant to be one part of our lives separated from everything else. If we are fully devoted followers of Christ, it will permeate EVERY part of our lives. It also doesn’t mean we go around talking religion everywhere we go. It does mean we go around living as Jesus lived whether that is with our family or at work or in the political arena.
Dad asked me via e-mail recently what I though of Palin. I shared with him that I heard that her speech was awesome. I am not purposely researching the candidates. I just don’t have time for that. I just hear whatever I can on tv(our satellite got knocked out when the tree hit so not much news there) or radio. But I have stumbled across two not-so-flattering blog posts on Palin by accident. I would like to share them for whatever they are worth. I honestly have not even finished reading the second one because it’s so long. First one is here. Second is here.
Just want to share these with those of you seeking guidance about the election. My personal opinion is that McCain chose Palin as running mate as a last ditch effort to try to win the election. Just my two cents and I promise it’s not worth much.
I do plan to post more of my letter to my dad in further posts. The rest is not about politics but about my other views on life that differ from his and from a lot of traditional Christians’ views. As I was writing it, I just kept thinking of people I needed to share this with. So I plan to post it here for all to see. Also, Dad, sorry if you read this before I send your letter to you. (I don’t think he reads my blog.)
One more note–if you are a Christian who is deeply concerned with the state of the world, not just our country although it certainly has enough problems, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Irresistible Revolution: Living As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne. It is one of the most challenging and thought-provoking books I have ever read. I’m still struggling through what I believe about some of the things discussed in that book.
We received our pre-approval to adopt Suhui in Wuhan SWI, Hubei province, China! Rachel Suhui is five-years-old, one month older than Titus. But she is much smaller than he is. Before I saw the photos of her I told Titus that they would be like twins. Then when I opened the third photo I was immediately struck by her mouth because something about it reminded me of Titus. Several people have said that she looks like Titus or looks like part of our family. She has a congenital heart defect and has had one surgery. She will need another surgery soon after coming home. She is currently living with a foster family. We are optimistically hoping to travel before the end of the year, but it is possible that we will not travel until early next year. So here’s Rachel!
This is the photos that reminds me of Titus.
This is one of my music posts. So if that doesn’t interest you, skip it.
I LOVE music! It has an amazing power to touch deep places that few other ways of communicating do.
I pulled out an old favorite tonight. Jars of Clay’s Good Monsters. I read this quote in the liner notes: “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.” –Edmund Burke 1729-1797
Sorry, couldn’t find a good youtube video of the song Good Monsters that didn’t have the embedding code removed. You can go here and watch the video. Here’s the lyrics:
All the good monsters open their eyes to see the wasteland where the home fires rise and the people shouting “Why, why, why”
Do you know what you are? Do you know what you are?
All the giants wake from their sleep and roll outside of safety’s keep and the pain makes them feel so alive
Do you know what you are? Do you know what you are?
We are bored of all the things we know Do you know what you are? Do you know what you are? Not all monsters are bad but the ones who are good never do what they could, never do what they could
All the good monsters rattle their chains and dance around the open flames they make a lot of empty noise while all of the bright eyes turn away as if there wasn’t anything to say about the justice and the mystery
Do you know what you are? Do you know what you are?
We are bored of all the things we know and we are forms of everything we love, we love
If good won’t show its ugly face Evil, won’t you take your place? Nothing ever changes, nothing ever changes by itself
We are bored of all the things that we know Do you know what you are? ‘Cause we are, we’re so in love with ourselves
We are forms of all the things we love
We are still awaiting pre-approval from China to proceed with our adoption. Since I cannot post the photos I really am dying to post, I’ll post photos from our summer.
Early this summer Tommy, Eli, and I along with good friend, Angie, went to Memphis to hear one of my favorite artists, Sara Groves, and Matthew West.
Here is Sara performing
Here is Angie, Sara, and I–we have an identical photo from five years ago–the first time I went to see Sara in concert.
Eli really loved Matthew West–in fact, Tommy ended up buying him several of Matthew’s cds. I love it when my kids find great music to love! Here is Eli with Matthew West
Already posted this once but I couldn’t resist. The early part of our summer included lots of baseball games to watch Caleb dive, slide, and literally throw himself into whatever he happened to be doing at the moment. He’s one tough cookie!
My sister, her girls, the boys, and I spent a couple of days at my dad’s late in June. Caleb got to do one of his other favorite things–fish. He caught a huge number of fish–I can’t remember how many!
Dad set up a little kiddie pool for the kiddos to play in. Here’s my darling niece Nora Blayre before…
and after she dived head-first into the pool!
Then we all went to spend a few days at my mom’s. The boys and I also go spend the night at Granny’s house when Christy and her girls visit even though mom lives in Starkville also. Here’s my sweet niece Eliza. She has Caleb wrapped around her little finger. All she has to say is “Caaaaleb, I need someone to swing me,” and he comes running.
My niece Mary Carsen made it pretty high up one of Granny’s trees. Pretty good for a city girl!
Here is Titus in his boots he wears at Granny’s:
Mary Carsen, Titus, and Eliza after swimming in our pool
Titus’ birthday is July 2nd, so we tell him all the fireworks and celebrations are for him. Here’s my big five-year-old getting ready to blow out his candles! He’s showing me his excited face!
We planned to go visit Tommy’s mom for 4th of July, but Caleb ended up getting sick. So we had a relaxing holiday at home. Here are photos of us shooting fireworks in the backyard. Eli got brave enough to light some.
Caleb with a sparkler
Tommy holding a Roman candle
Slip’n'Slide photos of Caleb and Titus:
We had an Olympic Opening Ceremony party on August 8th. It was loads of fun! I ordered Chinese lanterns and dragon decorations that I plan to reuse for Chinese New Year celebrations. We had a Mario and Sonic at the Olympics Wii tournament, and the boys organized Olympic competitions for the kids outside. We also had everyone bring Chinese take-out to share. Here is a photo of Caleb and his best buddy Robert with their Olympic gold medals
Eli and buddy Brian
Friends Piper and Jayden are pulling for the US
My boyfriend and me
Finally, photos from our trip to Nashville. These are photos of the Dragon Boat Festival we went to. The day started out with a dragon dance that was called “the waking of the dragon.”
Dragon Boat Race
We love stopping at different places along the Natchez Trace Parkway when we drive to and from Nashville. One of our favorite places to stop is Lower Glenn Falls. We planned to stop and play for about 15 minutes, but we lost track of time and stayed for 45 minutes! Here are the boys playing in the stream.
Titus and me in the “cave”
Titus and Eli with the dam they built
It had just rained, and we were greeted by many beautiful butterflies!
Titus with his rock from Lower Glenn Falls. He’s in his pjs because his clothes got soaked, and the only clothes I could reach in the trunk were his pjs–the trunk was packed with things for Rachel from my trip to Target.
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