Move

We have moved into our new apartment just in time for the family to arrive this afternoon to stay there.

Our place is beautiful. i love it to pieces! I'll post pics as soon as i can...(so probably after the wedding)

Controversy

So I just finished Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code. I know I'm only 2-3 years behind the rest of the world, but please bear with me.

After so much drama about the book, movie, and court case, I figured that the contents of the book must be extremely well written and obscenely convincing. So I must admit that I kind of decided I didn't want to read something that would shake my faith up too much....(that is why the delay in reading) Then I decided that my faith wasn't worth having if I avoided things that challenged it. So I read the book...and was completely disappointed.

The book was a cheap paperback thriller. It started out as a great idea but the actual plot had holes that you could drive a truck through.

Churches around the world have been up-in-arms about the religious implications of this book. I really don't understand why they gave it the time of day. Most student of history could see the faults in the "facts" and logic jumps. The churches' outrage only added to the credibility of the falsehoods.

I think I was hoping for something that was really going to force me to reconsider my faith...Instead it caused me roll my eyes in annoyance.

life in a minute

8 days until my family arrives from America, via New Zealand

11 days until Brandon Price arrives from America

13 Days until Jenne Giem arrives from America

20 Days til Chris' parents arrive from New Guinea

24 days til our Wedding

24 days, 16 hours til i can have SEX!

(just keeping it all in perspective)

truth

"and the truth will set you free"

It is interesting how scared we humans seem to be of truth. For all our puffed up ego-centric ideologies, we really don't like to see the truth fully. The idea of looking at ourselves and being honest with what we see scares us silly.

I recently read an article that suggested that the SDA church had some areas of improvement to make. I was amazed at the backlash. The article was not attacking the church but merely showing areas that had proven to be weak. People were quick to be critical saying that "we shouldn't be critical of the church". why not?

Is the truth in our midst too much?
"I am the truth" (John 14:6)

Perhaps with the right spin on the truth we could handle it better. But is the truth still the truth after it is spun?

To the director of Xmen 3, Brett Ratner

Dear Mr. Ratner

I saw your film, X-men: The Last Stand several weeks ago. While I was most tempted to write this letter to you immediately I felt that a "cooling off" period was needed before I commented to you about your film. After almost 4 weeks I feel the cooling off period is over and I can say with full surety that your film was terrible.

I know that many people will criticize your deviation from the comic books, but I feel that the movies have been a separate entity. Thus, I feel that in the films all movement away from the comic books are not necessarily a bad thing. However, moving away from the story set up in x-men 1 & 2 is a mistake. You moved so far away from the characters and story we all fell in love with that you caused many of us fans to cry out in anguish. It was only through an act of God that rabid fans with pitchforks as claws didn't attack you!

Lets start with plot. Do you know that the difference between 'plot' and 'action' is? Because as far as I can tell, all the parts that needed plot you added action instead. So maybe your just confused. In order to help, I'll send you a dictionary to help clarify the difference.

Secondly, do you know that character can develop in a story??

Cinematicly, you've changed the style of the film from the first two. At first I was very angry that you changed the film style of x-men. (this is where the cooling off period paid off) After thinking about it though, every director should be allowed their own style of film, even if it is part of a series.

Lastly, gore does not make a good film! Your good at action, but please consider us people who actually WANT MORE! More story LESS gore!

Thank you for your consideration in this most earth-shattering problem.
K-Marie

Imitate

Today I saw a homeless man on the street. He was curled up and sleeping. He looked cold. I imagined myself as him, lying on cold cement in the cold winter air. I shivered.

“I would want a long coat to keep me warm,” I thought to myself.

I walked into a nearby second-hand shop to see if there were any long coats that might fit this man. I expected to pay $15 dollars, maybe $20 if it were a particularly nice coat. Being winter, many of the coats were already gone, but there was one long black wool coat that looked like this man’s size. I checked the price tag, $40. It was double what I had wanted to pay. I looked around for another coat, maybe one that was shorter. I found one. It was thin and badly worn. It was $12.

“I can afford $12” I thought. I picked up the coat and took one step towards the cashier.

“If you were cold, would this keep you warm?” I could almost hear God ask me.

“No, but it’s better than nothing.” I replied.

The voice was quiet, but reproachful.

“Fine,” I said, “I’ll get the expensive coat.” I picked up the long wool jacket and walked to the cashier. As I placed my money on the counter, I wondered if the homeless man would still be there when I went back. I wondered what I would do with this coat if he had gone.

“God,” I whispered quietly, “You better know what you’re doing.”

“This coat looks nice and warm,” the cashier smiled sweetly.

“It will be keeping someone very warm this winter” I replied not really knowing who the ‘someone’ was going to be.

I took the coat outside and found the man still sleeping quietly on the street. He had a warm cup of coffee in front of him. I leaned over him placing the coat over his sleeping body, like a mother would place a blanket over her child. I startled him quiet badly. He woke up with a jerk, spilling his cup of coffee on the road. He ignored the coat completely. He mumbled something that sounded aggressive but incoherent. He smelt horrid, like old sweat and dirt. His fingernails were long and dark from lack of grooming.

“I just wanted to leave this coat with you,” I said trying to calm him. He mumbled something about his wife leaving him but refused to look at me or the coat that lay discarded next to him.

“Are you okay?” I asked trying to get him to talk to me. He didn’t. He looked straight ahead, occasionally saying something I couldn’t make out. Finally, as he sat drinking his coffee, I just stood up and walked away.

When you do something special for someone it’s supposed to feel good. You’re supposed to feel like you’ve done something right. As I walked away from the man I felt hollow. I hadn’t done a good deed, I’d caused a homeless man to spill a precious cup of coffee and I didn’t even offer to replace it. I was repulsed by his smell and appearance. My ‘good deed of the day’ was painfully empty of the compassion it should have held. As an imitator of Christ I had failed and my failure shamed me, leaving me empty.

Christ was amazing. After spending 30-some years with us in our dirty, smelly world, He chose to give us a pricey gift. This gift would clothe us forever and give us a home to belong to. This gift would literally be our salvation. But we didn’t even say “thank you”. We were ungrateful.

I want to be like Jesus. My meager imitation is painful and embarrassing even in the best of times yet I continue to try. Why? Because Jesus asked me to treat the people like I would treat Him. While I may not do a great job, I can only get better with practice!

“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of these least of these My brethren, you did it to Me,” Matthew 25:40

Sanctity of Marriage in the USA

As found on "myspace"

Ronald Reagan - divorced the mother of two of his children to marry Nancy
Reagan, who bore him a daughter only 7 months after the marriage. That means he
cheated and got someone else pregnant, kids!

Bob Dole - divorced the mother of his child, who had nursed him through the
long recovery from his war wounds.

Newt Gingrich - divorced his wife who was dying of cancer.

Dick Armey - House Majority Leader - divorced

Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas - divorced

Gov. John Engler of Michigan - divorced

Gov. Pete Wilson of California - divorced

George Will - divorcedSen. Lauch Faircloth - divorced

Rush Limbaugh - Rush and his current wife Marta have six marriages and four
divorces between them.

Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia - Barr, not yet 50 years old, has been married
three times. Barr had the audacity to author and push the "Defense of Marriage
Act." The current joke making the rounds on Capitol Hill is "Bob Barr...WHICH
marriage are you defending?!?

Sen. Alfonse D'Amato of New York - divorced

Sen. John Warner of Virginia - divorced (once married to Liz Taylor.)

Gov. George Allen of Virginia - divorced

Henry Kissinger - divorced

Rep. Helen Chenoweth of Idaho - divorced

Sen. John McCain of Arizonia - divorced

Rep. John Kasich of Ohio - divorced

Rep. Susan Molinari of New York - Republican National Convention Keynote
Speaker - divorced

So ... homosexuals are going to destroy the institution of marriage? Wait a
minute, it seems the Christian Heterosexual Republicans are doing a fine job
without anyone's help!

a penny for your thoughts

It is near the middle of winter. Its cold, raining, and overcast. I was having a polite conversation with a friend, we were disussing the seasons.

"What is your favourite season?" i asked.

"Summer" She replied, " but this one will do for now"