Ready and.......Break.

I'm headed off to Chester, PA for Spring Break. "But why," you ask, "would I want to go North, where it's colder?"

I'm headed, along with the HokiePundit and other Navigators, up to Frederick Douglass Christian School.

In other words, for the next week, I get to go back to kindergarten.

Pray that we would have good fellowship and that we would be a blessing to the teachers (and others) at the school.

The Passion Revisited

I went and saw The Passion again tonight. This time I'm not going to wait to write about it. In fact, I walked right in and sat down to do this...no distractions this time.

This time I was able to go with a friend who I have been wanting to go with since the movie came out. I was really hoping that the movie would impact her in some way. I realized on the way home that I needed to see it again as well. I feel as if the first time I went, it was more as watching a movie for a movie's sake. I was continually impressed by how beautifully done the story was and how certain aspects were portrayed. I kept looking for scenes wondering how Gibson was going to interpret them, how they would transpose to screen.

I left the movie the first time thinking it was wonderfully and powerfully done. But I think the first time 'round I was more interested in method than message. This time, I didn't have that to distract me. I was able to catch little things that completely blew me away, tie some things together that I had skimmed the first time.

This time, I cried.

Warning: Rant Ahead

I couldn't really believe this when I first read it, but it's true.

Online service, oh really? Worship, prayer and scripture...All the perks of a church service with none of the fellowship...Am I missing something here? I mean, isn't fellowship the main reason for gathering as a church in the first place? This way we can be even more detached from those we should be building up, learning from, and holding accountable.....

Wait, let me check....No, Hebrews 10:25 still says (emphasis mine):

not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Sheesh....and how are you supposed to take communion? Break out the Wonder Bread and Juicy Juice at home? I don't think that's what is meant by childlike faith....

Oooohh, I like this.

Hinei Ma Tov

I went to bible study tonight with a trembling heart. I was troubled, and a bit terrified, by things I've been seeing in the world around me and the world as a whole (and yes I am being vague). Needless to say, I needed some encouragement. I've said before how important I believe fellowship among believers to be, and tonight was no different.

I think tonight was one of the best bible studies we have ever had, just really analyzing where our fellowship should be and what we have been missing out on.

We had a really wonderful discussion about how, in order to have really true fellowship and be able to encourage each other fully, we have to be vulnerable. We have to be open, honest, and direct whereas we are usually reserved and vague.

It is hard to be completely open with people. I know that I have this layer of scar tissue on my heart that has only recently (within the past year or so) begun to break down. So personally, it is still really hard to put myself completely out before people. I've developed so many defense mechanisms that I have to break those habits. One of the many ways I learned to keep myself from getting hurt was to let my intellect completely override my emotion to the point that, when emotion was shown, it was in extremes. I don't like that. I like to be able to cry with someone in their sorrow or rejoice with them in their joy. I used to think of myself as sympathetic, but I've noticed lately that I have not been nearly as compassionate as I had thought. One of my prayers has been the words of Ezekiel 36:26, for God to "remove the heart of stone from [my] flesh and give [me] a heart of flesh."

I was talking about this with a sister who mentioned that she had the opposite problem: letting her emotions completely guide everything and getting far too involved without thinking thinks out intellectually. Which leads to another aspect of fellowship we talked about in study, how much we have to learn from one another. We can learn from others in areas that we are weak, and teach others in areas that we are strong....

Not a whole bunch of new or revolutionary concepts, but it really meant a lot to me tonight to be able to share the burdens of my heart. Definitely renewed my spirit...

Old fish, new fish

Today is the Seussentennial. So happy birthday to one of my heroes!

Some other fun birthdays I've found for this month:
1: Frederic Francois Copin (1810); Alton Glenn Miller (1904)
3: Alexander Graham Bell (1847)
4: Antonio Vivaldi (1678)
6: Elizabeth Barret Browning (1806); Louis "Lou" Costello (1908); Michelangelo de Lodovico Buonarroti-Simoni (1475)
9: Amerigo Vespucci (1454); George "Babe" Ruth (1905); Ferdinand II (1452)
11: Lawrence Welk (1903)
12: Amelia Earhart (1905); Amanda Holmes (1985) ;)
14: Johann Strauss (1804); Billy Crystal (1947); Albert Einstein (1879)
17: Nat "King" Cole (1919)
18: John Updike (1932); Poppin' Fresh, the Pillsbury Dough Boy (1961)
20: Ovid (43 B.C.); Domenikos "El Greco" Theotokopoules (1541); Fred Rogers (1928)
21: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685)
22: Chico Marx (1887); Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948)
24: Ehrich Weiss "Harry Houdini" (1874)
25: Flannery O'Connor (1925)
26: Robert Lee Frost (1874); Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams (1911)
28: Dr. Jonas Salk (1905); August Anheuser Busch, Jr. (1899)
29: Pearl Mae Bailey (1918); Me (1984); Oscar Mayer (1859)
30: Francisco Jose de Goya (1746); Vincent Van Gogh (1853)
31: Rene Descarte (1596); Franz Joseph Haydn (1732); Mary Boykin Miller Chestnut (1823)

And, oh, so many more....

I saw The Passion on Friday. I'm not quite sure why I haven't said anything about it until now, maybe I just didn't know what to say.

I don't think I have much to say that hasn't already been said by others. I will say it was absolutely beautiful. I wanted to cry, but I didn't. At least not then. I didn't break down until I took communion on Sunday.

I have a friend that wants to go see it and I hope to be able to join her.

Hmm...

Apparently some individual(s) on my hall don't appreciate my singing; even though I sing alone, in my room, with the door closed, at times when few people are around, my voice doesn't have the power to carry far through concrete, and I don't have any neighbors except my RA. These critics, however, are generous enough to leave their comments on my message board. Of course, these are the same intellects that think it's funny to switch the nametags on all of the doors in the hall, pretend to do cheerleading routines in the hall at 2:30 AM, and have deep discussions over whether 'tis better to get drunk on Thursday or Friday (i.e. when it would be more convenient to deal with a hangover).

Have I mentioned that I am looking forward to living off campus next year?

Quick Quote

Money is not the key to all happiness but it unlocks some interesting doors.

The irony of it all being that this comes from a fortune cookie--um--fortune found in the compartment of a really swell box purse I found at Goodwill.