Annie

Katie, Justin and I went to see "Annie" last night. It was put on by the The Jackson Recreation Children's & Teen Theatre. I wasn't really looking forward to going, but it was rather obligatory since Tiffany has a part in it as an "extra".

We all went to support Tiffany and I wasn't too thrilled about being there at all. I've never seen "Annie", but I HATE the song "Tomorrow" with a passion! I don't know why, I just do! I have also never seen the musical before and really had no desire to.

So, I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed it! The first act was so good! I laughed so hard at some parts I was shaking the entire row of seats trying to not be loud and obnoxious. The young actress who played "Miss Hanigan" was VERY GOOD! She had me laughing out loud so much!

The little girl who played Annie was amazing! Great little actress and boy could she sing! The whole cast did so well with it. They grabbed my attention and held it for the duration of the production. Bravo!

Afterward, however, that was a different story. We followed the cast, and Tiffany, over to Perkins for the "cast party". We were none too thrilled to be going out this late, it was after 10:30 when the cast arrived at the Restaurant and close to midnight before the food orders arrived. Katie, Justin and I were sooooooooo bored! It's amazing what people will do to amuse themselves just trying to pass the time. We sang the "Bored Song" that we created impromptu. We took some pictures of each other making weird faces and laughed hysterically at ourselves. We even audio-blogged:

That about sums up the cast party for the three of us!

Unfaithfulness

In SaLT with WaLT (small group) today, we discussed unfaithfulness. The study author, Bill Hybels, pointed out that when people are asked to make a list of the things they do not like about some people, unfaithfulness often tops that list. I said to myself that's not something I would think of right off that bat!

But Hybels went on to explain that when you say things like "I don't like how so-and-so says one thing then does another" or "it really irks me when people say 'count me in' but when the chips are down they say, 'count me out'". Then there are always those promise breakers.

One thing Katie has taught me is to never make a promise. She says promises are too easily broken. Also, making promises isn't biblical. Breaking a promise is unfaithfulness, and so is simply not doing what you say you are going to do.

Matthew 5:33-38 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long
ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But
I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by
the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the
Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair
white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything
beyond this comes from the evil one.

Simply let your 'yes' by 'yes' and your 'no', 'no'. If you say you will do it, do it! It is that simple! If you can't be trusted with something as simple as that, what is it you can be trusted with? If you say "I'll help you paint your house", then you better be there to help with paintbrush in hand! If you say "Sure, I'll go with you to the movie next week", then you better be there with your friend! Oh, here's one....have you ever said "I'll pray for you"? And have you prayed for them?

If you feel a need to say "I promise I will do it", or you say "I'm not gonna lie", what does that mean about anything you have said prior to you prefacing what you now say when you "promise". Tom shared in class today that one of the people he used to work with had a habit of saying "I'm telling you the truth, the truth here" anytime he was telling a story or something, and Tom always wanted to ask him if he normally lies, since he feels he needs to emphasize that he is telling the truth this time. So, I live by Katie's idea to never promise anything. I try to do what I say I'm going to do as well.

Something else that was noted in class today when we read the Matthew verses aloud, "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No', 'No'; anything beyond this is from the evil one.

Anything beyond that is from the evil one! He will trap you into unfaithfulness!

That was something I hadn't noticed before, and then in class today Katie verbalized the importance of the end of those verses we read. She said that when those verses are taught, the end is usually left off, and because the ending is often ignored, the teaching "let your 'yes' be 'yes'..." loses its punch.

It has always made sense that if we go beyond our "yes" by trying to validate it with "swearing to God" or "making promises", it is from the evil one. Feeling the need to validate something with a "promise" or "by swearing" actually invalidates everything else you say! That's powerful insight! But then to consider that doing that is from the evil one, that is not something to take lightly at all! It is precisely how significant faithfulness is to God, and why deceit is attributed to the evil one!

Great is Thy Faithfulness!

My Latest Concerns

First of all, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Battlefield 2 arrived in the mail today!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! It arrived a half hour before I leave for work! I'm not going to install it now because I will not want to go to work if I do!

Next thing...Calling all techies...I have these two movie (.mov) files. They are quite large, the one is over 100 mb. I'm new to this, but what is the best way to resize the file so it is smaller and can be sent through email, or uploaded to a server for people to download it from?

What Makes You Laugh?

My friend Katie tells me that she never knows what will set me off. She is referring to the things that make me laugh. Apparantly, at least this is what Katie beleives, I laugh at stuff "normal people" wouldn't laugh at.

So, I'm 38 years old and Larry the Cucumber makes me laugh! He is sooooooooo funny! Here's a sound clip of Larry describing how God made all the stars out of nothin'.

I also laugh at Katie a lot, she is really funny! Sometimes she is hard to follow because she PWEs a lot, that means she has "playing with eyeballs" moments, ie; she changes the subject a lot and does it without warning. We can be having a real heart to heart, and then out of nowhere she'll say something off the wall like "boy, moths sure do stink when they burn!" Where does she come up with this stuff!?!

I laugh at her kids at times, Tiffany can be really witty at times. She's the most fun when she's not trying to be funny! Justin can be dorky, but he makes me laugh. One night I laughed so hard because Justin was having trouble getting a load of wash keep from going off balance. He'd adjust the load, wait a second before walking away, and then as soon as he reached the door to leave, BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, and the washer stops. One night he adjusted the load in the washer about three times and never made it out the laundry room door! On the fourth try, LOL, I laugh just remembering it...(and it's one of those things that probably won't be funny to the reader because you just had to be here!)...he shuts the washer lid, resets the machine and it starts the spin cycle. Justin waits a second, and then takes off running from one end of the house to the other and pauses in the hallway leading to his bedroom. I didn't understand what was going on, but he had my attention! When he stopped in the hallway, he froze in a pose with his body heading toward his room, but his head cocked to one side as he listened for the off balance buzz signal from the washer. After about three seconds, he pumped his fists and said "YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!" LOLOLOL The washer was home free from that point on!

I laugh at sarcastic humor and wit. I'm not really impressed with slapstick comedy or stuff like that. I need intelligence. I get that from people at work, who can be very witty at times! They make me laugh, especially when we talk about some of the whacked customer issues that inevitably arise. For example, people walking into the CD store and asking "Do you have CDs?" or better yet, "Do you sell maps here?". (Why would I carry maps? LOL)

There are many things that make me laugh. Laughing is good for the soul,and it is a gift from God. It's healing and refreshing to let out a good belly laugh now and then...what makes you laugh?

Embrace the Mystery

The framily went to see "Herbie Fully Loaded". Well, actually Katie, myself, Tif and Katie's mom went to see "Herbie", but Justin and his grandpa went to see "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". I think the women had the best of the draw today!

"Herbie Fully Loaded" has some sentimental value to me. "Herbie" was one of the very first films I remember seeing in a theater as a kid. According to the International Movie Database, "The Love Bug" was released in 1968, so that would make me two years old when I saw it? Is that even possible for me to remember? My two grandmas took me to see it at a local theater in Canton, OH many many many years ago. I remember that the VW bug, Herbie, was at the theater on display too! That was so cool to see as a kid! "Herbie Rides Again" was release in 1974, but I know I was younger than eight when I saw the first Herbie movie. I just can't believe I have a memory from 1968, it would also ruin my belief that my first memory was the moonwalk as shown on tv at the moment it happened.

Sorry, I digress. So I really enjoyed "Herbie Fully Loaded". It was fast paced and didn't have any long drawn out scenes that bored me. There was action, sport, humor and since Herbie takes on human characteristics, it is easy to like him and want to root for the underdog.

Some of my favorite lines from the movie are some great one liners:

"I'm being carjacked by my own car!"

"Embrace the mystery that is Herbie"

"For a car, you aren't a very good listener"

This movie was just plain fun. Clean, family fun!

Extraordinary Faith - Women of Faith Conference 2005 (Saturday PM)

Chonda Pierce performed after lunch (I think, I'm getting all these things mixed up! Oh well, it's not the "when" but the "what"!) and if you haven't seen her live, you need to! She is absolutely hilarious! LOL She even revealed a bit of herself playing off of Sheila Walsh and her story about Spanx! Pierce rolled right over the top of her when she showed us her belly! LOL It was hysterical and I'm sure it embarrassed her children in a major way! This was my second time seeing Pierce and she never fails to make me laugh outloud. As a matter of fact, a few years ago I watched one of her videos and was laughing so hard that I recorded it on the computer and emailed the file to Katie. I still have it...want to listen? It's a soundfile of me cracking up at a Chonda Pierce story about her family camping and the noises they hear in the night. You know how you can get "spooked" at a strange sound far off in the distance? Well, as the family tried to comfort one another (as near as I can remember), someone said "that's the sound of wild bears eating the flesh off live animals." It was so funny! She reacted by humming "Kum-ba-yah", which you can make out in the soundfile. I can just see that happening on a camping trip!

Then we heard from Lucy Swindoll. She shared a very humorous story about a time in her youth when she "taught" her brother how to "smoke"! LOL She rolled up some paper, had her younger brother put one end in his mouth, told him to inhale and swallow when she lit the other end. She lit it and flames shot right up and burned Chuck's lips and tongue! LOL Well, it's funny to them now! LOL It's funny to me now! LOL Lucy claims that she is the one that first got him "on fire for God!" Her gift to the women in attendance at the conference was a match, because God will keep you smokin'!

We then had a mini concert by Avalon. It was so fun! I know a lot of their music and was most excited to hear Adonai and Testify, a CCM favorite of many. I got a little nervous when they completed their set and walked off without doing Testify, but they couldn't make it down the steps off the stage before they were headed back up to perform the classic amidst a thunderous applause. They were so energetic and their performance was so much fun! I took some video of those performances with my digital, but didn't upload it to the blog because of the size of the file, but if you want to see it, just email me and let me know. I'll be happy to send you the files!

The last speaker of the conference was Marilyn Meberg. She shared about laughter. She told us some very funny stories, but one part of her presentation was not planned for, and it received the biggest outburst of laughter of all! LOL She was sharing a story about one day when Lucy came to visit. (Lucy Swindoll and she are very close friends, and live in the same general neighborhood.) She told us that "Lucy came to the door, and some of you may not realize this, but Lucy suffers from frequent outbreaks of ringworm. She came in, looking rather clear, and we chatted for awhile." By this point, it was obvious, or rather curious, to those of us who have heard these speakers multiple times, that the whole ringworm thing was bizarre. We listened to her story and it ends up that when Lucy leaves, she decides to drive in reverse all the way home. The audience roared through the entire description of Lucy, sitting poised at the wheel, telling Marilyn through the open driver's side window, "I'm backing home!" And she did! She backed out of the drive and started heading the two blocks to her home in reverse! LOL Marilyn, not quite sure what to make of this, gets in her car and starts down the drive to catch her. She shares about the surprised looks on the men's faces at the road construction site, when the two cars, traveling very slowly, and nose to nose, go past on the way to Lucy's home! LOLOL

So, after that humorous story, Marilyn relays the fact that in the green room, prior to coming out for this segment of the conference, Jody McBrayer, from Avalon, said to her "I'll give you $100 if you can work the word ringworm into your talk." Well, Marilyn did it flawlessly! I was a bit relieved too! I hate to think that poor Lucy suffers with ringworm!

Marilyn's gift to us was the sound of laughter. Actually, all of the Women of Faith Speaker Team give us that gift. The creative, and often humorous way they have to share a message with us is remarkable. God really gifted those ladies and I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to see them, listen to their wisdom, learn from them, and get a Word from God through them. There is always so much to absorb after attending a WOF Conference that blogging about it just doesn't do it justice.

My hope is that next year I can attend the conference with my mom. I really think she would enjoy it, and I already know that I would! It would be so special to me to spend that time with my mom and go to the conference when it hits Columbus next year in April. I may have to plan my vacation around that weekend! Woohooo! I get excited just thinking about it!

Extraordinary Faith - Women of Faith Conference 2005 (Saturday AM)

On Saturday we awoke, got ready, then headed into St. Louis. After a quick Denny's breakfast, we arrived at the Saavis center. We arrived at just about 9:00 AM, so the place was pretty close to filled up by then, in time for the praise and worship set to begin the day. It was good that we arrived at that time because we could see what seats were available on the lower level and take them, so our friend who is so afraid of heights, would be more comfortable. We found some pretty decent seats with a good view!

After praise and worship, the morning began with some prayer and the "buzz" from Thelma Wells. She dances and swirls up to the stairs and onto the stage while an animated bee buzzes around her on the big screen to the music "Flight of the Bumblebee". She's so full of energy and joy! From her website: "Wells' signature bumblebee analogy (bees are scientifically not supposed to fly!), "The Buzz" buzzes through the Scriptures, capturing special meaning for women who are struggling to find hope and purpose in life." She had three "buzz" segments throughout the weekend and at the end, when all of the women present "gifts" to the attendees, Well's gave us all three spoonfulls of honey. The first one was most meaningful to me because she says "God will give you all the time you need to help you get the things you need to do done." It was basically a reminder to me that we shouldn't overfill our lives with things we don't need and get stressed when we can't get it all done.

We heard from Sheila Walsh, the first speaker of the day, and she shared a message about God being in control. At times she humored us with likening it to all the contraptions women use to "control" thier bodies, especially as they age. Her gift to us was a pair of spanks! LOL Walsh has a way of reaching in to someone's heart and opening up the deepest parts of it with her words. She shares so much encouragement and insight that it is truly amazing. What makes her able to do this, I think, is her hard experiences in life and the lessons that she has learned through her depression and her years of treatment for it. She shared a special story about finding a new psychiatrist after her recent move. She told us she only needed to see a psychiatrist once every six months and her intention was to be obediant to that because it allows her to get the prescription for her medication for depression. This new psychaitrist was someone she knew from her past in a different capacity, but he asked her something about her relationship with her father. He asked her if her father, who at a time before his death, was ever abusive to other family members? The mood of the entire arena changed when Walsh confessed that "no, he was only that way toward me". Apparantly he suffered from some type of disease, a mental disorder, which caused him to be quite mean-spirited and abusive, before his death. Walsh shared that his abusive treatment of her has eaten away at her for years and years after his death because she couldn't figure out why her dad hated her so much. The psychiatrist said "no, you have it wrong. People like your dad, in his condition, seek out the people who they know will love them no matter what and lay it all out on them." That changed everything for Walsh. She told us that her dad was right, she did love him no matter what.

After a short break, we came back to hear another "buzz" from Thelma Well's, and then another sketch from Nicole Johnson. This sketch was probably the most meaningful to me, of the three she performed. This sketch was based on the story of the woman who had a condition that caused bleeding for twelve years. Johnson just has a way of taking you to that scene, as it plays out and giving the audience a unique perspective on the story.

Her character in this sketch was a woman who is really unhappy with life, and part of her unhappiness stems from her infertility problem. She plays "Bible Roulette" (open the Bible, expect a word from God, put your finger down on the page, and that is the Word!) She happened upon the story of the bleeding woman. Johnson pointed out that the woman in the story must have been infertile, afterall, she had been bleeding for twelve years! She also noted that this condition made her unclean. Being unclean in that culture meant that the woman could touch no one, and no one could touch her. Anything that the woman touched because unclean, therefore she had to be very careful not to taint anything. Because of this, she most likely led a life as an outcast, comparable to maybe an AIDS patient today?

The bleeding woman was miserable, yet, along came this man named Jesus. He was known to heal people. She had faith that simply by touching his cloak, specifically the tassles on the bottom that represented the Law, she would be healed. Johnson took us through some of the thoughts this woman may have had as she followed him and tried to reach him through the crowds that were gathered. The woman was probably very nervous and afraid, afterall, she is unclean and could not touch anyone. For her to touch Jesus, or even just his cloak, meant that she would be breaking the law. She probably kept a low profile as she approached, and maybe even pretended to pick something up off the ground as she brushed the hem of Jesus' cloak.

After she touched it, Jesus asked "Who touched me?" Jesus knew who had touched him, because he felt it, he felt the power leave Him. Johnson shared that Jesus didn't need to know who touched him, but He wanted the woman to acknowledge that He had touched her. When Jesus asked "Who touched me?" He was really asking "Who was touched by me?". The woman, trembling, came from the crowd and fell at His feet. She bragged on Jesus and why she touched Him and how she was instantly healed. Jesus told her that her faith healed her. What an intriguing and creative way to see that story! It blew me away! Wow! That Nicole Johnson is absolutely amazing!