I wanted to LOVE Narnia, but I'll have to give it a "B"

Ok, here's what they did well:
Pevensie children are great. They are exactly as I pictured and Lucy is so adorable and loveable! Mr. Tumnus is great, too.
There are funny moments that are truly funny and they fit well.
The battle scenes and depictions of all the animals are excellent, but I would've been surprised if it didn't. In fact, they did the best bloodless battle scene I've ever seen! Jada is an excellent swordswoman and her fierceness shows well in the battle.

Here's where I was disappointed:
Aslan. Liam Neesan is not who I pictured for the voice. They showed a gentle Aslan, but where's the power? CS Lewis constantly mentioned the fear of Aslan, but no one seemed very afraid of Aslan in the movie. *I* personally think we should've wondered up through half of the movie WHO to trust, the queen or Aslan? There were also moments in the movie where sound could have been dubbed to increase volume on Aslan - make his roar surround us better.

The witch. She was not very animated. We were not so frightened of her power very much. She should've had more volume in her voice so that we'd be scared of her OR the music should've been scary music.

The musical score. Except for the few vocal arrangements, the score had no melodies that stuck.

Overall, my biggest issue is with the Director. He did not catch the spirit of Lion, Witch, & Wardrobe. That is why, he lost some lines that were very important to the whole theme. I totally understand the loss of book to movie, but that's why I loved Lord of the Rings. The themes were never lost even as total scenes and lines were changed and added.
We could've felt deeper Edmund's disgrace, the horror of the witch, the power of Aslan, BUT then it probably wouldn't have been rated PG. So, I probably just wish there were a PG-13 version, lol! This version is very safe, shallow, and kiddie.

Aaaaaaggghhhhhhhh

I have to make fudge, tonight, for the school's PTO craft bazaar that will be Saturday.

Tomorrow, I have to make 3 costumes for my kids because they will be on our church's float in the parade, this Saturday.

Friday, I have to set up for the float, in the morning. In the afternoon, we're going to see Narnia with church friends.

Saturday, we have to get the float ready at 7:30am so that we can walk at noon in the parade.
I have to get bulletins, my SS lesson done, and prepare hubby's message powerpoint presentation.

Sunday, usual chaos. But, at 2pm, people are coming over to our house for membership class.

Sunday evening or Monday morning, I have to prepare my "testimony" for a "This is Your Life" Ladies Event for my mother-in-law. She's leaving her homechurch and moving, so they're doing a special dinner for her. They want me as their keynote speaker bc their church also supports our church. Monday night is the surprise event for my mother-in-law.

I haven't wrapped any presents. The tree is not up. I haven't written out one Christmas card, yet. I feel so overwhelmed!!! I can't even imagine if I worked!

Contemplations on Baby Jesus and adoption....

I am regularly on a discussion board (teachingmom.com) for homeschooling moms. Although I only homeschool my boys their first couple of schoolyears, I find comraderie with many of the women, there. A poll they had got me thinking. They asked who you would want to have a long "sit and chat" with if you had an opportunity, living or deceased. I knew I'd definitely want to talk to Mary, Jesus' earthly mother, and in a heartbeat, I'd love to talk to my biological parents. I don't know who they are, and since I was abandoned as an infant, I'll probably not know in this lifetime.

But, it got me thinking about what I'd say to them. I think I'd like to meet them because, even though they didn't make one difference in my *real* life, they do affect my approach to problems, and I'd love to see if some quirks they have are evident in my own boys. What mannerisms have I inherited from them? Sometimes, characteristics skip a generation. There are some things that our middle son is so different from either his father or myself. Would we see my biological mom or dad in him? I'm almost certain we would! What makes me laugh now, is that he's SOO much like my (adopted) sister!! So, we always joke, "oh yeah, he's so much like his aunt." Of course, physically, that's not true - nothing was inherited in our family. My adoptive parents adopted myself, then my younger sister (not bio), and then my older sister (again, not bio). We have a good laugh when strangers tell us that we look alike!

It also got me thinking, what did MARY, Jesus' mother think as she took care of her infant? She really had the opportunity to SEE character traits of HIS Father! Wow. She must've been awed so many times. She must've felt the burden, too. It's bad enough trying to be a perfect parent to a bunch of brats, lol. I can't imagine trying to parent the perfect child! Or, maybe what's worse is how she felt when the second child came along, lol!!! What a shock for her! Those are definitely things I'd want to talk about with her. I didn't have the shock, myself. My first child was definitely the hardest, as an infant. Each son got easier and easier, after that. My youngest son is so easy-going! I wonder if she found herself modeling her own Son? I guess, there are times that my children are so ready to quickly obey God! And they surprise me, and make me wonder why my attitude wasn't better, like their's?

I also wanted to talk to Peter Jackson. That's only because I loved how he made the Lord of Ring movies. They are probably my favorite movies, of all. Hmm, I guess I'd want to talk to Tolkien, too - afterall, he wrote the book!

I didn't list anyone popular, today. Fame is so highly overrated. I used to be star-struck. But, you quickly learn that they are just *people* and some of those stars are not exactly interesting people to me, lol! Then again, I am of little interest to most people!! I am definitely one of those boring people. I think if anyone likes talking to me, it's because I listen well, but that's about all I offer. I do not have a scintillating personality by any reach of the imagination, lol! Even my husband told me what he loves about me most is that I'm so even-keeled. I did a personality test that told me I was a "diligent." I think that's okay, though. I'm safe, secure, and I like making my home feel safe, comfy, warm, and cozy. Peaceful.

Fox Local News came to our house, today.....

It was the same issue (healthcare newsletter as an alternative to life insurance). This time, a lady and the cameraman came. The guy set up his camera quickly. They only interviewed my husband. That was quite a relief for me! They only asked a few questions. They took lots of pictures of my kids playing in the snow, and they took footage of the photos we had of our youngest son in the hospital. They said that IF it gets aired, it will be December 26 (they like to work in advance so no one has to work on Christmas day). It should be the 5:00pm or 10:00pm news on Fox. Most likely, our local station will show it, but there's a possibility that it will air on other Fox networks, also (in other parts of the country).

I *truly* hope this is the last TV interview we have to do! These things are not only stressful for me (making sure everyone looks good and the house too), but then there's ALWAYS a good chance they won't show it!

I wore our church logo fleece sweater, but I wasn't in the interview, and most likely not even on camera, so no one will get to see it. Too bad - I tried!

Nov 1, Good Morning America came to our house....

November 1, 2005
Three guys came over this afternoon. They put their camera stuff in the livingroom, and sat hubby and myself on our loveseat. The interviewer (Max) spoke to us off-camera and asked us a bunch of questions about the Healthcare Newsletter we're a part of (Christian alternative to health insurance). He loved the idea of people helping each other out. He said they tape a lot, and cut out tons, lol. So, I have no idea how long the segment on us will be!

The cameramen were so nice! The one guy talked like Donald Duck as he was setting up, making my boys laugh their heads off. Max said he does that to everyone, even John Travolta, lol.

They, then took footage of us around the table. I felt very awkward and I know it will look weird, haha.

They were here about 2 hrs, exactly. Whew, I'm so glad it's over. Now, I'm going to cringe to see myself on TV! Ugh! The guy said it's slotted for Thursday, but there's no guarantees, they move stuff around all the time. I need to get my brother-in-law to Tivo it!

**Good Morning America never did air it, as far as I know! Perhaps one day they will, but I decided not to waste my time watching every show.

Crying days....

I should probably call it whining days. Today feels like a whining day to me. We had people whine about stuff and it makes me want to whine. Waaahhh!! Hmm, it doesn't feel any better.

We had our last core team meeting, this afternoon. Everything in church went smoothly. I found another person able to teach - that will definitely help us out! Yet, even though everything went well, I felt the unrest in the core team.

Most felt very tired. Many probably didn't feel they grew spiritually, much, this year. Actually, if I analyzed myself spiritually, I'd say I didn't feel like I grew much, either. But as I was thinking about it, I thought, I'm definitely learning patience, and persistence. I'm learning to adjust when things don't go well (which happens often enough). I haven't felt like I could *rest* one moment, this year (at least during church). But, am I not looking for a sense of comfort? I'm looking for a commonness in a typical, old, traditional church. My soul is constantly looking to go back to the norm that I grew up in. It won't happen - or at least, it won't happen for a long while.

So, I AM learning a lot! And if I'm learning to be patient, to hold in my fears about people leaving, to allay my fears about no visitors choosing to stay, then I'm certainly growing spiritually! Why do I measure how I grow spiritually by how good I feel about myself and God? Why do I measure it by how much MORE I know about the Bible? There's definitely moments that I need to increase that knowledge, but why do I minimize the value of my spiritual growth through *practical* measures?

It's taking everything in me to not quit. I daily resist my urges to gossip to someone. I regularly hold back my tongue so that I can listen to other's problems. I'm no longer spending time to feed myself, but spending much time feeding others.

It's tiring. I will need breaks, soon. But, I know those breaks will come, and I have a peace about that.

Dh told the core team that the next meetings we'll have will be leader meetings. He told them that if they don't feel they should be a leader, then they've already done much more than we ever dreamed. We wouldn't be disappointed. They are free to go, with our continued friendship. That was so nice of him to say, but I didn't want him to say it. I wanted to shout, "noo, you can't leave!!!" I don't want them to leave! They mention what bugs them, and they are just tired. I know deep down, they'd just like to go to a bigger church and sit and relax. But, they can't. They're stuck being faithful, here, and working HARD. Setting up, running throughout the service, then breaking down. *sigh* At least that's how I feel. I'm really tired. I don't even do much during the week, but Sunday is so tiring. So, there's my whine.

If I really think about it, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I wanted to hear that from the core team, today. But, I didn't hear it. I only heard that some of them wish to be elsewhere - to get a break. I don't feel that way, and it's not because dh preaches. I don't even get to hear dh preach, so I'm not hooked to him, if you know what I mean, lol. I saw other churches and I don't want to be there. We got to visit a whole bunch of churches before we started ours. I had no connection or desire to become a part of any other church in the area.

So, I know *what* I do Sundays is so much work, but it's worth it to me. I just want it to be worth it to the core team. I don't know if it is for them. I hope we can truly schedule breaks for them, often enough, that they will love ministering, again. And then, maybe they will choose not to leave. I hope it's not a lesson that God is deciding to teach us. I have definitely become attached to all of these families that are a part of our church. Just had to share my low point, today.