Monday, October 22, 2007

Words...

As a reader, writer, wife, mother, listener to music, & child of God I know that words, whether spoken, written, or sung, are one of the most powerful things in the world.

They can uplift or tear down and destroy. They can create emotion from comedy and hope to sadness, anger, or despair.

As a reader, I love words that elicit happiness and provide laughter. As a writer, I want to be able to conjure up deeply felt emotions in others.

As individuals, we need to ensure that the words we speak (or write in letters and emails) are used appropriately, and convey the message we mean to convey. Especially in anger should we carefully choose the words we use so that, later when the dust settles, we do not regret the words we chose when our emotions were running on high.

As a woman of faith, the words I choose should be pleasing to God; whether chosen to encourage, inform, discipline, or correct, they should always be spoken with love. This is almost always easier said than done. I'm only human and I don't always remember to speak with love. Especially when my children have irritated my last nerve.

There is one Word that trumps all others... Jesus and the Bible. That's four words, you might think, but John 1:1 says:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." So they could be considered one and the same. The Bible is the inspired WORD of God, and is all about Jesus, beginning to end. It's all about Jesus, the name above all names.

Friday, October 19, 2007

What you need to know about Christianity...

It's not a religion - or at least it shouldn't be. It's about a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't let people turn you off from Christianity. People are human. They make mistakes. They sin.

What you need to know: John 3:16...

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that who-so-ever believes in Him shall have everlasting life.

What's it all mean?

God loved
God gave
You believe
You receive

There's no sinner's prayer... There's just you saying: "God, I believe in You. I believe that Jesus came to earth, died on a cross, and rose from the grave three days later. I believe that He died so that I can live."

That's it. If you truly believe in that - if you can truly accept Jesus the Christ as YOUR Lord and Savior. You will go to heaven.

If you want more information or to discuss this I'd love to hear from you!


Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Movie: Sydney White

My family went and saw the teen movie "Sydney White" last night. It's a spoof of Snow White, but I thought rather cute. I laughed a lot, which is always good. Some of the 'dwarfs' were a little too goofy for today's reality, but it's a fairy tale after all. For what it's worth, I'd recommend it. There's some bad language, but the kissing scenes are fairly innocent. Some implied nudity, but nothing you wouldn't see at the beach. And good overcomes the evil. Always a worthwhile theme.

Monday, October 8, 2007

On art and reading...

My daughter and I visited the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth this past Sunday to check out the Ron Mueck exhibit. It was very interesting. I'd gotten an email from my mom with pictures from his exhibit, so we went to check it out. Here is my favorite sculpture - (**picture removed due to copyright issues**). This baby is about 20' long and perfectly lifelike - as are all the sculptures. They come in various sizes. Some teeny tiny, some huge like the baby.

I finished two books this weekend. The first one was Here With Me by Beverly Long, the sequel to Stay With Me, which I have not read. A good story. I'd give it 4 out of 5... It kept me turning pages. My only issue with it was that the love scene was a let down. She had these wonderful lead-in scenes, where the hero and heroine would get so close to making love, but be interrupted. For good reason, mind you; that's not my problem. But when the time came and they actually did make love, the reader does not get to be a part of it. The bedroom door was closed and I felt slightly cheated.

The other book I read was The Things We Do for Love: A Novel by Kristin Hannah. Wonderful, wonderful book. I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down. Even took it to church so I could read while waiting for my kids to show up. It's not a romance, per se, although there is a romantic happy ending. I highly recommend this one. And I just might have to go in search of some of her other titles at my local libraries.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Earplugs, anyone?

My son brought home his trumpet from school last week. He wants so much to be like his cousin, Evan, so he wanted to join band and play the trumpet. Of course, I haven't heard him blow much, aside from those first few days. Playing an instrument is hard work, but well worth the effort.

I took band in junior high, too. Learned how to play a few songs on the clarinet and that was it. Never learned to read music, just memorized the fingerings for the songs. I know, pretty sad. I told my son to learn to read the music.

Of course, now he's working on a 'book' and wants to write a computer game (he thought he could just create a website and have a game - I had to explain to the dear child he needed massive programming skills to write something such as Runescape).

Well, better get the boy to school so he can learn to read the music and play that trumpet...