Saturday, May 31, 2008

One Wedding and a Sequal



Did two things today...I went to a wedding, and I finally saw Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull. The movie was Great! I was a little scared, because I'd read some not so great reviews...but once again the critics were wrong! Why do we even listen to them? I went with some friends, and I actually made them sit through all of the credits to make sure there were no surprises at the end. I made the mistake of leaving at the end of Iron Man, and I missed the cool Avengers tie in...Never again will I let that happen. From now on I'll stay after the credits no matter what the movie is!


The wedding was also Great. The now married couple are two great people I know from doing youth camps here in California. The wedding was outside, surrounded by mountains and trees, and it was beautiful. I will be honest and admit that the older I get, the more I'm tempted to get a little depressed when I go to weddings. Not that I'm not happy for my friends...or that I'm some psycho desperate single woman. But I do want to get married, and the more and more I see people getting married around me, the more I start to think that maybe I'll be single for the rest of my life. And that's a tough cookie to swallow! But I can honestly say that whatever God wants for me, is what I want. No matter how hard that may seem. I don't mean to make it sound like that's been an easy decision for me. It's definitely taken me some time to get to the point where I can say that, and REALLY mean it. Check out these great verses I found today...

Psalm 38:9-10, 15
All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not
hidden from you. My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even
the light has gone from my eyes. I wait for you, O LORD; you
will answer, O Lord my God.

So it really all comes down to trust...Do I trust God with my life? He knows my heart, my desires, my everything. If I've truly surrendered myself to him, then I know where he's leading me is the best place for me...wherever that may be!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Introductions...

Hello blogging world! My name is Poppy...I live in Southern California, and hopefully this blog will be my take on my life, and the world around me. Here's a little more about me...I'm originally from Cleveland Ohio (home of the Cleveland Browns!) I have two younger sisters, that are twins. Their names are Lovey and Dovey.


Both of my sisters are married, and I have lots of cute nieces, and one nephew (Yes he's SPOILED!) These are the oldest two, Tahani and Richelle



Then there's Ivy, Kaiya, and Robert (or Bobby Jr. as I call him)


Can you handle the CUTENESS?!! On a side note...my family is insane. Now I know you're probably thinking, "Hey, every ones family is a little crazy..." Let me assure you that my family beats you all! Things to know about me...I'm Loud, Funny, Creative, Sarcastic (I'm working on this one!) and all kinds of other crazy stuff. My number one goal in life is to Know Jesus. I want to live like him, look like him, and love the heck out of people like he did...Right now I'm going through an amazing time of growth in my relationship with God. I attribute that to the fact that within the past 6 months I've spent more time reading, studying, and meditating on the bible than I ever have before. I've been a youth leader for more years that I can count now, and I'm always tell teenagers that the word of God can change your life. Now I'm finally putting that into action in my own life. Imagine that!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Once


I finally saw the movie Once, and I thought it was pretty darn great! It was touching, sad, creative, and joyful all at the same time. Without giving too much away, it's basically about two people who meet and get to know each other through music. And boy is the music fantastic! In fact, I can't wait to run out tomorrow and get the soundtrack. One of the best songs from the movie is called "Falling Slowly"...it's the song that won the Academy Award for best song this year. I really can't say enough good things about this movie...you just need to experience it for yourself.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Fading


Check out what I read today...

"The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them." ~ Psalm 135:15-18

I was so struck by the part of verse 15 that says that idols are shaped by human hands. When we make idols, we're shaping the god that we want. We make the god that we're most comfortable with. Let's face it, the TRUE God can be really uncomfortable! He asks us to do things that are Hard. Plus he wants to come in and totally take over our lives. Sometimes it's tough to really let him do that.

So when God gets too tough we turn to our idols. Ones that won't speak unless we want them to. Ones that won't see or hear anything we do. Why is is that we're so willing to settle for less? I think it's partly because we don't want to let God change us. We're scared that he's going to ask us to do something that we don't want to. Or that he'll ask us to give up something that we desperately think we need. Surrendering ourselves to God means letting go of our rights. And that's not easy.

Verse 18 is a little scary..."And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them." It sounds like dealing with idols will make you numb. Before you know it you'll have eyes that don't see, and ears that don't hear...It'll become easier and easier to ignore the voice of God, and the needs of the world around you.