I have been wondering about things that I could write about. I know God is trying to get to me right now and again, being too wrapped up in my stuff, I can't hear him. Do you ever feel like that?
Anyway, I love to watch movies. I love to read reviews of movies. I love to hear other peoples ideas about movie reviews. I know that when I read the reviewer in the Star Telegram Friday pull out section, I generally don't agree. They usually think it sucks and when I watch it, I enjoy it. That being said, Gary Cogil on ABC local, he is usually right on. I can watch him and know that when I see the movie, I will usually agree with what he has to say. So, me, being the ever so opinionated person I am....not....I am going to review movies on my blog when I see them. Now don't be afraid, I don't go to that many movies, so it shouldn't be too many for you! But, I do like to pay per view them! I mostly watch kiddo movies with the girls, so I may review some of them too.
When I review the movie, I will put "Review: Name of movie" in my title section so you won't have to read it if you don't want to. If you would like me to review one for you, you can email me the name of the movie and I will try to check it out. Don't worry, the service will be free. :-)
Also, when I read a book, I may review that too. I have really started reading a lot lately. I try to read one fiction then a non fiction. I am on a fiction one right now.
Anyway, I am excited about this venture. If it goes well, I may try to get some reviews into the newspaper somewhere. Hehe...Trying to be the Roaring Lamb that God needs me to be!
Let me know what you think about my idea. I have some others, but I am going to start with this one.
Until we read again! wt
Monday, December 24, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Ponderings from a forwarded email...
I just read this great email called, "God's Busy". I have added it with my thoughts afterward...Read on:
A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq andAfghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist and a member of the ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform, I'll give you exactly 15 minutes." The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God, I'm still waiting." It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.
The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "What the heck is the matter with you?" "Why did you do that?"
The Marine calmly replied, "God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot, So, He sent me."
First off, how totally cool is that? I hope it is true. I think sometimes people need God to knock them out. I know I need to be reminded on occasion. (I am glad He hasn't hit me yet...) On the other hand, how many times has God sent you to take care of His business and you were too busy taking care of your own? I believe as a culture in todays times, we are way too busy. We keep our schedules cluttered. We keep our minds filled with what we saw on TV last night, what we have to do next or who did what to who last night. We keep our childrens lives filled with music practice, softball practice, gymnastics, computer games, television, you name it. What happened to slowing down and taking a moment to listen to what God has to say. Yesterday at church, Blake (our youth pastor) preached on this very subject. He talked about how we need to take time for God. Even God knew when to rest after a busy week. (See the Creation story in the first book of the Bible) He spent a whole day resting. We always talk the big talk, about how we are going to start doing it, but I challenge you to follow through and walk the big walk. I bet if we started slowing down and resting, we would be a lot more open to God's will for our lives. Maybe he has someone we need to knock out for him, but we can't hear him because we are so busy. Maybe He has something for our kids to help Him with, but we have them so busy, they can't hear Him either??? The question is, will they figure it out before they go deaf? Let's stop and get our boxing gloves ready and see what happens next!
A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq andAfghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist and a member of the ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform, I'll give you exactly 15 minutes." The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God, I'm still waiting." It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.
The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "What the heck is the matter with you?" "Why did you do that?"
The Marine calmly replied, "God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot, So, He sent me."
First off, how totally cool is that? I hope it is true. I think sometimes people need God to knock them out. I know I need to be reminded on occasion. (I am glad He hasn't hit me yet...) On the other hand, how many times has God sent you to take care of His business and you were too busy taking care of your own? I believe as a culture in todays times, we are way too busy. We keep our schedules cluttered. We keep our minds filled with what we saw on TV last night, what we have to do next or who did what to who last night. We keep our childrens lives filled with music practice, softball practice, gymnastics, computer games, television, you name it. What happened to slowing down and taking a moment to listen to what God has to say. Yesterday at church, Blake (our youth pastor) preached on this very subject. He talked about how we need to take time for God. Even God knew when to rest after a busy week. (See the Creation story in the first book of the Bible) He spent a whole day resting. We always talk the big talk, about how we are going to start doing it, but I challenge you to follow through and walk the big walk. I bet if we started slowing down and resting, we would be a lot more open to God's will for our lives. Maybe he has someone we need to knock out for him, but we can't hear him because we are so busy. Maybe He has something for our kids to help Him with, but we have them so busy, they can't hear Him either??? The question is, will they figure it out before they go deaf? Let's stop and get our boxing gloves ready and see what happens next!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Gone into the Light...
Once upon a time I was me. It seemed like a long time ago, but praise to God, I am new today. I went to a retreat a few weeks ago hoping for a change. I say hoping because that is what I was doing, hoping. Not praying. I knew that others had come through it and they had been changed and I wanted change too. (see post below called Letting Go). Anyway, I wanted to be made whole again so that I could see Gods miracles and blessings in my life. I knew that I was being held back because of things that I continued to hang onto in my magical backpack that no one but me and God knew was there. I would say they were gone, but they weren't. They were just pushed deeper so I could keep on pretending. God knew though. He knew that He had blessings waiting for me and He stood there, arms crossed, toe tapping, eyes rolling saying, "C'mon Wendy, quit talking and start doing. I have a bagful of blessings piling up here..." Can you see Him? He is probably doing it to you too.
During our retreat, we heard about the things in the dark that we do and hold onto that keep us out of the light, (hence the name Marvelous Light.) We heard about bondage and things of the occult, (which is more than you would have thought). We heard about legalism and idolatry. Most of all we heard about forgiveness. One of my dear friends and I have talked a lot about that in the past. She is very wise. She had given me some of her story but at the retreat, she gave all of it. When she talked about her story in full, it filled in the rest of the blanks for me and I got it. I understood all that she had said to me and more. She helped a lot of people that weekend. At that moment I realized that the biggest thing holding me back from receiving the full blessings of God was the spirit of unforgiveness. I realized that I said I forgave but I just called it something else. I pointed fingers at other things. "Well, they made the bad decisions, they are not humble, they sure do have issues!" In reality, all those things are true, but because of my unforgiveness, I harbored anger and resentment. Those two things alone are enough to drive you insane when your mind starts thinking about it. Your stomach starts to boil, your blood starts to rush, your head feels heavy and before you know it you are taking it out on everyone around you who loves you. Then the ball starts rolling, they take it out on the people around them and around them and around them.... No wonder there are so many angry people.
But for me, NO MORE. I refuse to let Satan take my joy away anymore. I refuse to let Satan take my blessings away anymore. I know that I was changed at the retreat because I had an opportunity this weekend to let the anger retake control. I did not do it. I was faced with the one thing that would get me seething mad and I did not bite. Instead, I chose to remain calm. My stomach did not start to boil, my blood did not start to rush, my head did not feel heavy. I was completely and irrefutably unaffected. Even when I realized nothing was happening, I still was unaffected. Even when the disscussion heated, I still remained calm. At that moment, I knew that my prayers at that retreat with the 2 other women in my triad were heard and delivered upon. I knew that that burden in my magical backpack was gone. I knew that God had answered my call to take them away from me. Wow, what a freedom I have received! I have been blessed beyond meausure since then. The most recent was last night. No, it wasn't money or anything like that but it was something that I heard on TV. Had I walked into the room at any other moment, I might have missed it. I had a double header last night with our church softball team. After I played another terrible game with no hits in either game and wanted to quit playing altogether because I was so frustrated, I came home to hear Joel Osteen preaching on the television. He said that people are always trying to do things to impress other people. He said that God gives us certain things to be good at and when we venture out of those things and get frustrated we end up wasting our energy. He said we should be impressing ourselves with the things God gifted us with. I know that can be taken several ways, but last night, at that moment, I realized that at some point, I wanted to be really good at something that I maybe was not so good at. I had lost the fun and was trying too hard. My entire family was extremely good at softball and baseball. My Grandpa was going to play in the minors after the Korean war, but because of an injury, he did not get to. My mom was All-Star in high school. My dad did not get to play till he was older due to a heart condition, but he was good too. So at that moment, when I heard those words, I believe that God was giving me a blessing saying that it was okay to be not so good at softball because I am great at other stuff that He wants me to be great at. Isn't that the most important? So, when I play softball and yes, I will play again, I just need to have fun and bring the joy back in my game and play for me because it's fun and not everyone else because I want people to think I am good. Now, had I not gone through and reached into Marvelous Light that awesome November day, I don't know that I would have heard the blessing. People wonder if you can hear God talking to you and I say yes, you just have to be listening...
During our retreat, we heard about the things in the dark that we do and hold onto that keep us out of the light, (hence the name Marvelous Light.) We heard about bondage and things of the occult, (which is more than you would have thought). We heard about legalism and idolatry. Most of all we heard about forgiveness. One of my dear friends and I have talked a lot about that in the past. She is very wise. She had given me some of her story but at the retreat, she gave all of it. When she talked about her story in full, it filled in the rest of the blanks for me and I got it. I understood all that she had said to me and more. She helped a lot of people that weekend. At that moment I realized that the biggest thing holding me back from receiving the full blessings of God was the spirit of unforgiveness. I realized that I said I forgave but I just called it something else. I pointed fingers at other things. "Well, they made the bad decisions, they are not humble, they sure do have issues!" In reality, all those things are true, but because of my unforgiveness, I harbored anger and resentment. Those two things alone are enough to drive you insane when your mind starts thinking about it. Your stomach starts to boil, your blood starts to rush, your head feels heavy and before you know it you are taking it out on everyone around you who loves you. Then the ball starts rolling, they take it out on the people around them and around them and around them.... No wonder there are so many angry people.
But for me, NO MORE. I refuse to let Satan take my joy away anymore. I refuse to let Satan take my blessings away anymore. I know that I was changed at the retreat because I had an opportunity this weekend to let the anger retake control. I did not do it. I was faced with the one thing that would get me seething mad and I did not bite. Instead, I chose to remain calm. My stomach did not start to boil, my blood did not start to rush, my head did not feel heavy. I was completely and irrefutably unaffected. Even when I realized nothing was happening, I still was unaffected. Even when the disscussion heated, I still remained calm. At that moment, I knew that my prayers at that retreat with the 2 other women in my triad were heard and delivered upon. I knew that that burden in my magical backpack was gone. I knew that God had answered my call to take them away from me. Wow, what a freedom I have received! I have been blessed beyond meausure since then. The most recent was last night. No, it wasn't money or anything like that but it was something that I heard on TV. Had I walked into the room at any other moment, I might have missed it. I had a double header last night with our church softball team. After I played another terrible game with no hits in either game and wanted to quit playing altogether because I was so frustrated, I came home to hear Joel Osteen preaching on the television. He said that people are always trying to do things to impress other people. He said that God gives us certain things to be good at and when we venture out of those things and get frustrated we end up wasting our energy. He said we should be impressing ourselves with the things God gifted us with. I know that can be taken several ways, but last night, at that moment, I realized that at some point, I wanted to be really good at something that I maybe was not so good at. I had lost the fun and was trying too hard. My entire family was extremely good at softball and baseball. My Grandpa was going to play in the minors after the Korean war, but because of an injury, he did not get to. My mom was All-Star in high school. My dad did not get to play till he was older due to a heart condition, but he was good too. So at that moment, when I heard those words, I believe that God was giving me a blessing saying that it was okay to be not so good at softball because I am great at other stuff that He wants me to be great at. Isn't that the most important? So, when I play softball and yes, I will play again, I just need to have fun and bring the joy back in my game and play for me because it's fun and not everyone else because I want people to think I am good. Now, had I not gone through and reached into Marvelous Light that awesome November day, I don't know that I would have heard the blessing. People wonder if you can hear God talking to you and I say yes, you just have to be listening...
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