POV Wednesday – A Father’s Touch

The church we’ve been attending is a brand new start-up holding services in an old fancy furniture store. My Daniel and I sit up in the balcony where we can see the entire ‘sanctuary’ floor and stage, as well as the sign in tables for the kids’ classes sitting outside their classroom doors.

For the past several weeks, about two songs into worship, I’ve noticed a family arriving. Mom with four boys, the youngest about five. I watch as mom signs little boy up to go into his Sunday school while he has a serious anxiety attack behind her. He seems absolutely freaked out and unwilling to leave his mother as he clings to her legs, pleads with her, shakes his head, tenses up his little hands.

Now this, through my untrained eyes, does not look like a temper tantrum or any other attention-getting reaction. This poor kid is afraid. Even when a nice volunteer lady comes out to escort him in, he panics.

By the way, he doesn’t do this audibly. I mean, he doesn’t disrupt the service going on at all.

He eventually goes in. And I don’t see him until the next week when the same scene occurs.

Well this past Sunday, we are singing song two, I look down, and there’s the family. This time, however, two huge differences meet my eyes.

First, Dad is with them, and is the one signing little boy up for his class.

Second, little boy is calm as a cucumber. No crying, shaking, hiding, trembling. He even proudly puts the sticky name badge on the front of his shirt himself. He walks right in to class unassisted. No problems.

Let me tell you, I got tears in my eyes! I wanted to cheer for him, ‘Way to go! You did it!” I wanted to throw the little tyke a party. Somehow, at some point, he conquered his fear!

Now, I have no idea what happened, of course. As far as I can tell, mom is no monster. She was quite patient with him without being coddling. I mean, he always eventually had to go into the class after she reassured him with hugs and kisses.

But for some reason, I get this feeling that the change hinged on the fact that Dad stood by his side.

It got me thinking.

There’s a lot of stuff we have to do in this life. And we don’t always want to do it. We may even throw a fit from time to time. But if the Father is standing next to us, if we allow Him to usher us to and through the responsibilities of life, then somehow they just don’t seem as scary.

The Father’s presence equals Peace.

So, while I’m privately rejoicing for this kid I don’t even know, I’m also thanking God for him and his example to me, as well as taking time to sense the ever-present Peace of my Father God.

Peace to you, my Dry Ground friends!

(photo by photobucket.com)

Movies You Might Have Missed Monday

I hate to sound redundant. Lacking variety troubles me. But when you see a good thing, well, you can’t argue with it.

What I’m getting at is that this week’s movie (again) features Jimmy Stewart, in one of his first starring roles, this time paired up with Ginger Rogers of dancing fame.

While Jimmy is a shoe in for a good movie, Ginger Rogers also makes an impression. She’s so much more than a dancing duo a la Fred Astaire. She’s gorgeous, for one thing, and a captivating actress.

In this film, Vivacious Lady from 1938, Jimmy plays Peter Morgan, a college botany professor browbeat by his stuffy, prestigious father who happens to be the college’s president. Peter is sent into the city to retrieve his cousin, Keith, who is fond of club hopping and carousing. Peter finds him in a particular club staking out a particular club singer he’s fascinated with. In a quirky twist, Francey (Rogers), the singer, ends up hitting the town with Peter. A whirlwind romance ensues, and within 24 hours, Peter and Francine are married and headed back to Old Sharon, where Peter and his family live.

A few obstacles complicate their newlywed bliss right off the bat, not the least of which is Peter’s parent-picked fiancé awaiting him at the train depot.

The rest of the movie is the couple’s attempts to reveal their nuptials to his parents and the fiancé, to keep hidden their relationship until his parents know, and to overcome the differences in culture and society threatening their marriage.

Vivacious Lady is romantic, comical (LOL moments), and endearing. Peter wears his heart on his sleeve, abounding in tender gestures of love and adoration. Francey delivers snappy sarcasm and shows a lot of gumption.

It ends up being a good lesson in relationships, particularly marriages, but also parent/child ones as well.

I love Vivacious Lady. Maybe you would too?

Happy Movie Watching, Dry Ground friends!

(photo by photobucket.com)

Weekend Tune Up

Um... yea. Couldn't have said it better myself! Check it out and be encouraged!

Happy Weekending, Dry Ground friends!

POV Wednesday – Thought of the Day

I’ve always liked the concept of the ‘Thought of the Day’ because sometimes all it takes is one sentence to get you thinking, to make an impact, to change your perspective.

That happened to me a couple days ago when I read the following in the notes of my Study Bible:

“God exerts Himself to rescue those who desire Him.”

While pondering the fact that I need rescuing, that I have been rescued, or that I should take the temperature of my desire for my God, the thought that strikes me most in this sentence is this: God exerts Himself…

By definition, that means: to apply influence, pressure, or authority in an attempt to have a powerful effect on a situation or to make a strenuous physical or mental effort.

I don’t know about you, but after reading such verses such as:

Gen. 2:7 “Then the Lord Go formed the man from the dust of the ground.”

Psalm 8:4 “…what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

Job 22:12 “God is so great – higher than the heavens, higher than the furthest stars.”

Psalm 103:14 “For He knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust.”

Luke 12:25-26 “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worry over bigger things?”

…the fact that God exerts Himself when it comes to the business of rescuing me gives me great pause, awes me into silence, and gives me a glorious thought to think of for today.

Thank You, Jesus.

Peace, Dry Ground Friends!

(photo by photobucket.com)

Movies You Might Have Missed Monday

I’ll pretty much watch anything starring Jimmy Stewart. He’s one of my faves in the world of classic film.

That’s not saying that I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen (Did not particularly care for It’s a Wonderful World, a slapstick detective story with Claudette Colbert). But one I liked that may not be on the radar for most co-starred Rosalind Russell (whom I also loved in Auntie Mame and His Girl Friday). This one’s No Time for Comedy from 1940.

Russell plays Linda Paige, a Broadway actress starring in a play by new playwright Gay Esterbrook. A native of Minnesota, Mr. Esterbrook is due in town (NYC) any minute to rewrite some awkward scenes in the third act. While the director and producer have serious doubts about the play, Linda goes to bat for the green writer and it ends up a success. The same night the first reviews show up in the newspaper, Linda falls for Gay’s small town charm and Gay falls for Linda’s metropolis glamour. They get married.

Four years later, after four successful plays, the Esterbrooks are at a society party where Gay meets Mandy Swift, the bored wife of a rich investment broker. Her meddling meets with Gay’s serious case of writer’s block, and his marriage is threatened. Mandy’s made him think of everything he doesn’t have and hasn’t accomplished, and in his vulnerable state he falls for it. But he quickly finds out that what he’s gained leaves behind all the wonderful things he did have. It ends on an upswing, but that’s the only hint I’ll give you.

This movie reminds me of the Garden of Eden and how it shows up every day in our own lives. The snake tempted Eve by attacking her sense of contentment. He implied that she should be unhappy with what she had because of what he claimed she didn’t have. He presented the argument, and she chose to believe, that all the perfection of the Garden and her fellowship with God meant nothing without the knowledge of good and evil. Thus, she tasted the apple, and we know the rest of the story because we are living it.

In the movie, Mr. Esterbrook has got it good, better than he seemed to realize. In a state of frustration, he leaned toward the apple that dangled in front of his nose that made the argument that the current condition of his life was nothing compared to his ‘potential.’ Oh, there’s a word to screw with a sense of pride if I’ve ever heard one! Well, Mr. Esterbrook leans, but thankfully does not consume the apple, which makes for a lovely and romantic story.

It got me thinking – when in my life am I tempted by the things I don’t have? When I’m stressed out, for whatever reason, I find so often that my sense of contentment is challenged, which tickles my pride, and results in depression and/or sin.

The solution is to count my blessings and to give thanks to God in all things. He knows much better what I need, what I can handle, even what I would like than I do. Sure, sure, present my requests to Him (Phil. 4:6-7), but after that, I must trust in His sovereignty over my life.

That’s where the Peace that passes all understanding comes from. That’s the secret to contentment.

Anyway, if you’re so inclined, check out No Time for Comedy starring Jimmy Stewart and Rosalind Russell! It’s a good one!

Peace out, Dry Ground friends!

(photo by photobucket.com)

Weekend Tune Up

Not so easy in the world we live in, but I suggest giving it a try - Be Still by Steven Curtis Chapman. For me, it's the tune up I need to keep on trucking!

Happy Weekending, Dry Ground friends!

POV Wednesday - Be Still

I live most of my life in my brain. What I mean is, that I’m an analytical person. I need logic, order, a system, a reason. Emotions are secondary at best, unless there is a reason to have them. Haha.

Seriously, though, I am constantly trying to make sense of things. Blessings or hardships, ups and downs, good and bad. How often have I said, “There’s a reason for everything!”?

Yes, I believe that to be true, but we’re not always going to know what that reason is. Sometimes the reason is so far beyond our capacity and/or limited eyesight that the only option is faith.

Now, faith is not without reason. However, applying faith in our lives does take trust, often times in what we can’t see.

It’s like a kick in the pants to realize that understanding is not the main goal to life.

When things don’t make sense, when logic has flown out the window, when common sense ceases to be common, when there’s no rhyme or reason for the struggle, when you’ve banged your head up against that roadblock a thousand times and it still hasn’t budged, it’s time to be still.

Tempted to bluster and resist, I have a hard time stopping the striving and sitting still. How will my questions be answered? How will this barrier be moved? How will life go on if I just sit still?

Ultimately, that’s not for me to understand.

Inside, I resist, refuse defeat. At the very least, I will understand what’s going on!!!!

Well, I could keep slamming my head up against the wall if I really wanted to, but nothing will happen until I learn to be still.

Here. A devotional I read a few days ago that said it so much better, turned the light on for me. It’s from Sarah Young’s “Jesus Calling” daily devotional (Aug. 7). I hope it illuminates for you too, and helps with whatever you’re facing at the moment that is just not making any sense.

Understanding will never bring you Peace. That’s why I have instructed you to trust in Me, not in your understanding. Human beings have a voracious appetite for trying to figure things out, in order to gain a sense of mastery over their lives. But the world presents you with an endless series of problems. As soon as you master one set, another pops up to challenge you. The relief you had anticipated is short-lived. Soon your mind is gearing up again: searching for understanding (mastery), instead of seeking Me (your Master).

The wisest of all men, Solomon, could never think his way through to Peace. His vast understanding resulted in feelings of futility, rather than fulfillment. Finally, he lost his way and succumbed to the will of his wives by worshipping idols.

My Peace is not an elusive goal, hidden at the center of some complicated maze. Actually, you are always enveloped in Peace, which is inherent in My Presence. As you look to Me, you gain awareness of this precious Peace.

I don’t think this is saying to give up figuring or solving or thinking. Not at all. But in the midst of whatever is stressing you out, remember the Master, remember Who is in control, and listen for His direction. Don’t clutter life up with needless busyness or worrying or barrier-busting when He will take care of the heavy lifting. In the middle of a struggle, we can still experience Peace if we just take the time to be still and surrender the necessity to understand it all.

Peace to you all, Dry Ground friends!

(photo by photobucket.com)

Movies You Might Have Missed Monday

If asked to name one iconic actress from the classic beginnings of film, Bette Davis would no doubt make the list. Before I’d seen one movie in which she stars, I knew her name. So when I began this quest to explore the greats, I had to check her out.

One of the first ones I watched was from 1942, Now, Voyager. It’s a strange title, but taken purposefully from a Walt Whitman poem that becomes important to the main character, Charlotte Vale, played by Bette Davis.

At first glance, Bette Davis is no beauty. Her too large eyes and uneven teeth don’t leave an immediate pleasing impression, but as her talent outshines everything else she mesmerizes. Like watching a sunrise, you realize suddenly that she’s stunning.

Miss Vale is a young woman, adult but treated like a child by her controlling, elderly mother. Mrs. Vale tells her daughter what to wear, what to eat, what to do, all while berating her for shortcomings and failures. It’s driving Charlotte to a nervous breakdown.

Thanks to the intervention of a compassionate sister-in-law who introduces Charlotte to a psychiatrist, played by Claude Rains, help arrives. The good doctor convinces old Mrs. Vale to let Charlotte come to his sanitarium.

Months away from her tyrannical mother does wonders, but Charlotte is terrified to go home. With the help of her sister-in-law and the doctor, she goes on a cruise instead for a little extra time to herself. She meets Jerry, played by Paul Henreid, and for the first time feels appreciated. Problem is, Jerry’s married. Not happily, but he’s determined to stay true to his wife. His heart betrays him, however, and he and Charlotte embark on an emotional affair of words and declarations of love.

Still, though parted, Charlotte finds courage to face and stand up to her mother. She even grows enough to impart help to someone else, because, as she explains, someone else had helped her when she needed it most.

While not demonstrating the purest of intentions as far as marital fidelity is concerned (emotional affairs are dangerous too), I still like this story for many reasons. We’re all made to love and be loved. When the heart is a vacuum due to the withholding of love, especially in a parent/child relationship, the human life is deteriorated and scarred. One word of affection can change all that. Charlotte blooms into her own person once she’s set free from her mother’s control and encounters gentleness, but she also continues to serve her mother when she comes back while still holding on to her new self, showing a great deal of forgiveness and mercy to what some may determine an undeserving, bitter old hag. Charlotte also extends this mercy to Jerry’s daughter, Tina, who has grown up in much the same way as Charlotte did with an unloving mother. It’s really a movie about the power of kindness.

Now, Voyager is the perfect canvas for all the drama and unrequited romance of classic era film. It showcases Bette Davis brilliantly, for which she garnered one of her eleven Oscar nominations, and gives us a shining answer to the question: why was Bette Davis a star?

Happy Movie Watching, Dry Ground friends!

(photo by photobucket.com)

Weekend Tune Up

This weekend, lighten up and get your boogie on with Newsboys' Love, Liberty, Disco!

Happy Weekending!

POV Wednesday – Cooking 101

Have you ever seen that bumper sticker/Facebook banner that says, “I understand the concept of cooking and cleaning, just not as it pertains to me”?

That describes me with painful accuracy.

Well, the cooking part.

The weirdness of me is that I’d rather clean than cook.

I don’t like to cook, not to mention I’m not very good at it either.

I mean, my Daniel’s and my first fight was over my inability to boil water and the fact that I make scrambled eggs incorrectly.

Who can’t scramble eggs?

Me, apparently.

At any rate, I am saved from a life of microwave dinners, cereal and salad because my Daniel DOES like to cook. And he’s good at it. No need for measuring cups and recipes, he knows how to improvise and create, throwing in this, trying that, to come up with some five star (IMO) meals that keep me heading for the treadmill every day. Sometimes, I’d much rather stay home for dinner than go out just because I know it will be delicious.

However, I can, and sort of like to, bake.

I figured out that this is because I follow directions. It’s in my DNA to do so, while it is my Daniel’s nature to explore. So he can cook, but baking not so much. This, incidentally, is my only rationale for having a sign hung in the kitchen reading, “Lori’s Room.” That and because it has strawberries on it, which goes with the décor.

Anyhoo…

I’m not always successful at the baking thing either. Several weeks ago I attempted improvisation whilst whipping up a batch of oatmeal cookies. If truth be told, it was Explorer Dan’s idea just to “add some honey” to the batter. Sounded reasonable to me, so I tried it.

Um… yea… that didn’t work out so great. I ended up with… oatmeal brittle? Oatmeal bricks? I don’t know. So half way through the batter, I ended up just pouring the rest of it in one pan and shoving it in the oven. The culinary phantoms had foiled me again.

I even confessed my failure on Facebook.

So my Daniel gets home from work and I rant over the tragedy, having kept all the crispy, sticky oatmeal chips as evidence of what happens WHEN YOU DON’T FOLLOW THE RECIPE.

Funny thing happened.

He liked the cookies (heated up in the microwave and dipped in honey, but still). AND, the one pan full of batter actually turned out YUMMY! I had unintentionally but successfully made oatmeal bars!

As I made another batch of oatmeal bars this morning, I thought about how life doesn’t always turn out how I wanted or expected. I want oatmeal cookies, but end up with brittle. It’s easy to get down on myself or complain about circumstances, compare my shortcomings to what I perceive as others’ successes, pant for the greener grass.

What I need to remember is that, while I might not have the intended cookies, I just might have something better. I have what God has wrought, and that has to be good according to His Word.

Yes, our actions have consequences and not all of them are good. But even then, when the recipe is not always followed to the T, God’s sovereignty and love triumph.

If I can let go of the tragedy that I don’t have cookies, I will be able to see that God has showered me with scrumptious blessings upon blessings, an abundant life. When I’m able to see that, I have a thankful heart.

Are you worried about what you don’t have? Or thankful for what you do?

Have a great day, Dry Ground friends! You ARE blessed!

(photo by photobucket.com)

Movies You Might Have Missed Monday

It’s no secret that Marlon Brando is one of the best actors ever. But most people, I would wager, if asked to name one of his movies, would not hesitate in saying, “The Godfather.”

Yes, yes. Marlon Brando played Don Corleone, and did so in memorable, spectacular fashion. I would never say anything to diminish that fact.

However…

Almost every other movie he ever made came before The Godfather, therefore reminding us all that his notoriety came before as well.

I have mentioned previously his performance in the musical Guys and Dolls, proving he could sing and be a gangster-sort at the same time. But he was known more as a tough guy, even before The Godfather. A lot of that image came from today’s film pick, The Wild One, from 1953, in which Brando plays Johnny, the leader of a marauding motorcycle gang.

Johnny is a punk, a havoc-maker wherever he rides, followed faithfully by his dozen cronies of equal toughness and love for havoc-making. There’s no rhyme or reason for the mischief. They’re like locusts, disturbing the peace in every nook and cranny of well-mannered, innocent, white-picket fenced America.

One town delays them because Johnny takes an interest in café waitress, Kathie, played by Mary Murphy. While he figures out what she’s all about, his gang gets rowdier and causes problems for the other townsfolk. It just gets worse when a rival gang shows up, lead by Chino, Lee Marvin in a small but outstanding role. All of the trouble comes to a head when a townsman is killed. Johnny is (falsely) accused and arrested.

During the course of the story, Johnny and Kathie make an impact on each other neither one expected. In Johnny, Kathie finds a terribly hurt, defensive, wounded young man. In Kathie, Johnny finds a grace he’s never experienced before. In the end, redemption is both offered and received. In an unexpected package, it’s really quite a beautiful story.

The script is simple, the acting too, but the effect is enduring. I decided quickly, I love The Wild One.

Happy Movie Watching, Dry Ground friends!

(photo by photobucket.com)

Weekend Tune Up

I like this song. Reminds me to give thanks in all things! Happy Weekending, Dry Ground friends!

Lyrics:
I never like Mondays or bad news
Or breaking in new shoes
And mornings when I can't find my phone

Nobody likes traffic or short nights
Or sit-ups or long flights
But sometimes that's just the way it goes
It's funny what You use to help me grow

So I'll learn to love these days
Life along the way
In the middle of the crazy
God Your love is so amazing
Through the ups and downs
You're the only hope I found, oh
Lord to meet me in the madness
So I'll learn to love these days
I'll learn to love these days

I can see silver lining
When the sun's not shining
Even when you choose to bring the rain
Oh but there's freedom in believing
And trusting You're leading
'Cause You're Lord of all my joy and all my pain

Chorus

I could waste the hundred years
You gave me here
The days when You were near
The days when I was out there
Looking for what comes next

Ohh

Cause every minute, every hour
Every day is such a gift
And I'm content
I'm thankful for each breath

Chorus

I'll learn to love these days (x2)

POV Wednesday – Chin Proof

I got a pet chinchilla (‘chin’ for short) at the beginning of the summer. Fiona the Fluffy Faced Ninja.

She’s not as time-consuming as a dog or finicky as a cat, but she does have a few particular care needs.

With a sensitive digestive system, she can’t have ‘treats’ or incentive food items. On one hand, her diet is nice and simple. On the other hand, training her is next to impossible.

The temperature must remain cool, strictly between certain degrees, and the air dry. Overheating is very dangerous for chinchillas.

Classified as a rodent, a chin’s dental health is of paramount importance, achieved as long as she has massive amounts of things to chew on. But it must be the right types of things –woods, mainly, in the short and specific category of non toxic to chins.

She needs daily exercise. An exercise wheel in her cage is the ideal arrangement, but we can’t afford a chin palace at the moment and her current enclosure is just big enough for her sleeping log, some hopping room and her food/water.

In order for her to get the exercise and attention she needs, we have play time twice a day, a chance for her to get out of her cage and jump around. This must be in a highly controlled environment because of the chewing habit. So, the bathroom is her playground. However, though fewer than in an entire household, certain chin-proofing things must occur to make it safe for her to play.

For instance, she fits through the tiny crack under the door, the very first thing she headed for the first time we tried play time. So, barricade door with 2x4 of non-toxic wood. Check.

Then, baseboards are made of wood. A succulent buffet in the eyes of a chin, but stained and treated thus toxic to her. So, another slab of ‘safe’ wood to protect the sink cabinet edges and lots of towels lining the walls for the baseboards. Oh, and she likes drywall – so a plastic corner secured over the one exposed corner wall piece. Check. Check.

Chins like to JUMP and can like a grasshopper. So, safe obstacles for jumping and climbing. Check.

An exercise wheel. Check.

A dust bath. Check.

We’ve been at this playtime thing for two months now, and let me tell you, I’m STILL finding things I need to chin-proof because Fi keeps finding ways to get in trouble.

See, chins are CURIOUS. She must find out what lies beyond each barrier. She is fearless, part of her Ninja personality, and will try anything available to try. The word ‘no’ makes no difference what-so-ever. It’s in her nature to chew and to leap, and that is what she will do.

When I physically remove her from chewing harmful material that she’s found, she makes her displeasure known by barking or nipping at my hand.

When I provide ‘safe’ things for her to chew, she finds the place to chew where she ought not to chew.

When I provide ‘safe’ places to jump and run, she finds places to jump and run where she ought not jump and run.

This morning, after deterring her one more time from something she’d gotten into, I thought about how God might see us.

Even living as a Christian, this life is not sin-proof. Though God provides everything we need to live a godly lifestyle, we still find ways to push the boundaries. Though He puts up obstacles meant to protect us, we stubbornly plod through and around them to satiate our incessant curiosity and drive for experiencing the unknown simply because it is in our nature, in our flesh, to do so. When He physically removes us from doing that which we ought not, we sometimes bark at Him or nip His hand.

How lovingly He continues to surround us with protection and ‘safe’ options. He’s so faithful not to give up on us, stick us in a cramped cage and ignore our needs. He just keeps giving us chance after chance.

My Ninja chinchilla acts on instincts. She’s an animal. Thus, I will continue to attempt chin-proofing her life so that she will be safe, even knowing I’ll never get a thanks for it.

But the least I can do for God as He and I work together to sin-proof my life is say ‘thanks.’ If I understand an inkling of His love, I’ll do more than that.

(photo by Yours Truly!)

Movies You Might Have Missed Monday

John Wayne did a lot of westerns, gaining a huge and lasting fan base. This week’s movie features John Wayne but is not a western! It’s called Without Reservations, and it’s a romantic comedy from 1946.

Christopher Madden, played by Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night), has written a best-selling novel about the future of romance and relationships, and she’s headed to Hollywood to collaborate with a producer to make it into a film. Just before boarding the train in New York, she finds out that her first pick for the hero, Cary Grant, is unavailable to play the part. She’s devastated and, while the train gets rolling, sets out to write a temper tantrum telegram to the producer. However, she stops short when across from her sit two marines heading to San Diego. One of them is Rusty Thomas, played by John Wayne, and he’s the spitting image of her hero pictured on the front of her book. She determines to talk him into the part. But as they start talking, and the subject of her book comes up because someone across the aisle is reading it, she discovers he disagrees with her philosophy on men and women. Discouraged, but still wanting him for the part, she conceals her identity and the three, Christopher Madden and the two marines, have a comical cross-country adventure.

Now, I’ve never been one of those girls who swoons at the sight of a man in uniform, but John Wayne wears one like no one else’s business. He’s so handsome and dapper and charming. He pulls off romantic one-liners without sounding whipped or corny. His manly persona made famous in all the westerns shines through in this clean-cut, military man role.

Claudette is cute as usual, showing off her brilliant comedic timing and wit. The supporting casts supports as it should, neither clouding nor distracting from the main performers. The second marine, Rusty’s friend Dink played by Don DeFore (T.V.s Ozzie & Harriet), is an adorable and likeable sidekick.

I like this movie for its sweet romance, frequent laughs, and for the opportunity to see John Wayne outside of his cowboy boots and hat.

Hope you’ll check it out!

Happy Movie Watching, Dry Ground friends!

(photo by photobucket.com)