I blew it big time

Last Thursday night when it was absolutely freezing cold, I had to get into my car and go to class. Thinking it was at least warmer than it had been on Wednesday (beyond freezing), I decided to park back in my usual spot a few blocks away but where it is free. Halfway to campus, I knew I would majorly regret it when I had to go back at 8 pm. Sure enough, within 2 minutes, I was miserable and pratically ran to my car.

I jumped in, jammed the key in the ignition, and cranked up the heat while I sat there shivering for 2 minutes. I had just pried my fingers out of my pockets and put the car in gear when I saw two of my classmates walk past. They were huddled into their coats, and I immediately thought that I should offer them a ride. But my car was pointed in the wrong direction, and I just wanted to get home, and I could think of a million other excuses. So, I blew it. I drove off.

My heart started fluttering. The Holy Spirit wasted no time in convicting me, and it was a chance I knew was gone for good. I felt horrible. After all the wonderful lessons God's been teaching me lately, I couldn't even take 5 extra minutes out of my day to serve someone else and be a witness. Where's the growth? Where's the action to the faith I profess?

Fortunately, our God is the God of second chances. When I passed a car on the freeway with its blinkers on, I knew I had to pull over and see if there was anything I could do. The lady thanked me politely and said "no," but that's not what the stop had been about. It was about being obedient. It was about allowing inconveniences to interrupt me. It was about living on God's time schedule and foregoing my own stubborn will. The challenge will be in making such decisions a lifestyle, not the exception.

Placement

Praise God! (Seriously.) Not only did he provide a placement in answer to prayer, he also:
- made it fast (I start tomorrow)
- made it convenient (5 minutes away, so not necessary or a given)
- made it be a fun subject (geography!)

Movie Reviews

Since I'm practically unemployed, definitely placement-less, and both too poor and too cheap to do anything that costs something, I'm becoming quite the movie critic, sitting at home on my couch by myself. Two days ago, I watched Little Women, one I've actually seen before but had wanted to again since watching the high school play of it last weekend. I do like the story a lot, though I can't help feeling every time that it's just terrible that Laurie and Jo don't end up together. (Now I've ruined it for everyone who hasn't see it.) But the dialogue is just really wonderful, and I think the acting in this version, with Winona Ryder as Jo, is fantastic.

Yesterday, I watched the classic Gone with the Wind for the first time (yes, I know I'm behind the times). I had no idea it was such a long movie, but I never got bored, though of course, I did watch it in two installments. Having recently taught this era in history during my fall placement, it was fun to recognize so many things I'd learned: the various battles, Sherman's march to the Sea, the burning of Atlanta, 40 acres and a mule, carpetbaggers, .... The characters were interesting, and I appreciated the way my attitude toward Scarlett O'Hara changed throughout the movie from not being able to stand her to at least sympathizing with her plight, even if I can't say she's worthy of hero worship. The end wasn't quite what I expected and yet, it would have been wrong to have a cliche happy ending. It's certainly one I'll have to watch again.

Today I viewed The Holiday, a bit more recent. Can't say that I liked it all that much. It had its perks. The music was amazing (is there a soundtrack?), the sub-story about the old screenwriter Arthur was great, and Jude Law was quite the eye candy - not to mention he was playing a lot of girls' dream guy, all sensitive and mushy like that as well as being the perfect father to little girls - but overall, it was just okay. I found the first half of the movie to be really slow, and the second half ... just didn't wow me.

Tomorrow, I'm returning to more missed classics of my childhood; I plan on watching Breakfast at Tiffany's with Audrey Hepburn. If you have any other good suggestions, I'm open to them.

-16

Man, when it gets this cold, I really, really have to force myself to remember miserable, sweat-drenched days in Taiwan and think of the possibility that God could send me to Africa in order to feel the slightest bit of gratefulness for minus temperatures. People actually settled here?

Whose dumb idea was this?

Well, I'm now a blogger instead of a xanga-er. Here was my last post from Xanga and my first post on blogspot. It was written 2 weeks ago after my first skiing trip in the Alps in at least 2 years.


So we went skiing yesterday in the most beautiful place on God's earth. If I ever get some of the pictures onto my computer, I'll try to attach some in the next few days. For now though, I'm in so much pain. Fun as it was to go skiing in the Alps where the chair lifts actually take you UP in altitude and where slope runs last longer than 30 seconds, I must be getting older because it was actually hard work. Part of it was the fact that I had to borrow skis, and she hadn't used (or waxed) them in about 7 years, but I wasn't nearly as brave as I used to be nor as agile. Not that I've been shy about sharing my battle wounds with everybody.

On our way out of the high mountains, we passed by some Roman baths, and that got me thinking. The Romans used to live in this area. They came up and said, "Hey, look at all these nice hot springs, rich in minerals and set in these beautiful mountains. Let's make some baths! We'll have some hot pools, some cold ones, maybe give out massages in between, relax, wrap ourselves in comfy towels, breathe in all this fresh air, and live the good life." Then when they left, you have the Germanic tribes who move into the area. They see the mountains and think, "Hey, let's climb them, strap some wooden sticks onto our feet, and throw ourselves down these mountains over and over again. It'll be fun!"

No wonder they called it the Dark Ages.