*From day four:
Do you remember that part at the end of "Return of the King" where Sam is trying to encourage Frodo? That's how Louie is with me in regard to all my weaknesses but especially with my "weight weakness." Sam says, "Then let us be rid of it...once and for all! Come on, Mr. Frodo. I can't carry it for you...but I can carry you!"
* From day twelve:
Do you remember that scene in Captain America where Dr. Erskine says, "The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So good becomes great and bad becomes worse." Well, my "serum" amplified everything that was bad in me.
* From day twenty-one:
as Iris says in The Holiday, "You're supposed to be the leading lady in your own life." :)
* From day twenty-one:
as Iris says in The Holiday, "You're supposed to be the leading lady in your own life." :)
It seemed like more than three. But I guess that's because I think about movie quotes all the time. They help me narrate my life. I hear a voice over in my head that describes what is going on around me. Is that strange? Ha! It seems strange as I type this out.
I wonder why I do that? I mean, I love movies...LOVE movies. But why do the words stick with me the way they do? I regularly quote Braveheart with Louie. It's one of our favorite movies...if the coffee is a little strong in the morning a good boisterous, "That'll wake you up in the morning, boys!" jumps out of my mouth. Or if I'm leaving Chloe alone with some friends at the mall, in my mind I'm thinking, "You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you!" from The Last of the Mohicans. Yes, overprotective mom here. And then one of my favorites, if we are walking outside and the kids are complaining about a little exercise I'll start running and yell, "There's some blue sky. Let us chase it!" from Sense and Sensibility.
Yes, I'm a dork. Did I mention I am the quirky leading lady of my own life? Emphasis on quirky.
I wonder if the reason I think about movies is because movies echo a great need in my life. I have a need for my life to matter. I want it to be exciting, romantic and adventurous. But if movies echo a need in my life then what propels movies? I mean why are romances and adventures so popular? Why do we pay good money to watch other people risk, fall in love or rescue others?
In The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg writes, "Frederick Buechner once wrote that every age has produced fairy tales. Something inside us believes or wants to believe, that the world as we know it is not the whole story. We long for the reenchantment of reality...So we keep spinning and repeating stories that hold the promise of another world." He continues, " Fairy tales are not just stories about the transformation of the world around us. They are usually about the transformation of the central characters: frogs becoming princes, ugly ducklings becoming swans..."
I want to see transformation in my life. I want to be the risk-taker. I want to be the one that goes behind enemy lines and rescues the orphans (that was a Monday Night movie I saw when I was 12 years old and has always stuck with me). Why? Because all of us have been created to live by faith. Life in the Spirit is about taking risks and following Jesus. We watch movies many times to live vicariously through the main characters. Watching others take risks may meet a surface level need for our own faith deficiencies.
The amazing thing about Jesus is that we don't have to just watch others live by faith. We don't have to be spectators in our own lives. You are the hero of your own story. You are the leading man or leading lady of your own life. Like I said before, I imagine Jesus running from broken person to broken person and looking back to see if we will chase Him to meet their needs...to love them...to get messy and be involved.
Look around you. Where is Jesus? What's He calling you to do with/in your life? I guarantee it will be more exciting than any movie.
But I will continue to pilfer movie lines. Hollywood people are just better writers than I am. :)
Love from the islands,
Twyla
Yes, I'm a dork. Did I mention I am the quirky leading lady of my own life? Emphasis on quirky.
I wonder if the reason I think about movies is because movies echo a great need in my life. I have a need for my life to matter. I want it to be exciting, romantic and adventurous. But if movies echo a need in my life then what propels movies? I mean why are romances and adventures so popular? Why do we pay good money to watch other people risk, fall in love or rescue others?
In The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg writes, "Frederick Buechner once wrote that every age has produced fairy tales. Something inside us believes or wants to believe, that the world as we know it is not the whole story. We long for the reenchantment of reality...So we keep spinning and repeating stories that hold the promise of another world." He continues, " Fairy tales are not just stories about the transformation of the world around us. They are usually about the transformation of the central characters: frogs becoming princes, ugly ducklings becoming swans..."
I want to see transformation in my life. I want to be the risk-taker. I want to be the one that goes behind enemy lines and rescues the orphans (that was a Monday Night movie I saw when I was 12 years old and has always stuck with me). Why? Because all of us have been created to live by faith. Life in the Spirit is about taking risks and following Jesus. We watch movies many times to live vicariously through the main characters. Watching others take risks may meet a surface level need for our own faith deficiencies.
The amazing thing about Jesus is that we don't have to just watch others live by faith. We don't have to be spectators in our own lives. You are the hero of your own story. You are the leading man or leading lady of your own life. Like I said before, I imagine Jesus running from broken person to broken person and looking back to see if we will chase Him to meet their needs...to love them...to get messy and be involved.
Look around you. Where is Jesus? What's He calling you to do with/in your life? I guarantee it will be more exciting than any movie.
But I will continue to pilfer movie lines. Hollywood people are just better writers than I am. :)
Love from the islands,
Twyla
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