Sometimes I Write

Can’t. Stop. Running. Feet. Tired. Body. Tired. Brain. Tired. But a good tired. What a whirlwind week this has been. I went to a retreat last weekend – which I struggled through. Then I came home and hit the ground running. My engine is still idling as I cruise to the side of the road to give you a quick update.

THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS YOU’LL HEAR TODAY IS: (I’m assuming of course)

Max is finally going to be baptized this Saturday at 3 p.m. MST. We’ve invited all of our friends in the Denver Metro area and we wish that all of you whom we love – spread across the continent as you are – were able to join us. If you’re interested in emailing Max a note of congratulations or encouragement, call or email me and I’ll pass along his email address to you. Benny and I will be baptizing him together and words cannot express how excited I am to be a part of it all!!! I’ll post pictures after the weekend, but I’ll be blogging before then.

Please join me back here on Friday for my review of Amy Wallace’s book, “Ransomed Dreams”. She’s an amazing new writer and I’m happy to promote her work! See you then!

I’ve been fascinated with the Titanic story since I was about 12 years old. I’m not sure why. Even if I tried, I don’t think I could narrow it down to just one reason. Lost love. Lost treasures. Man’s ego. Stories of heroism and acts of selflessness. The harshness of the class system. Luck. Famous people. All of these things have fed my imagination as I read everything I could get my hands on about this tragedy.

When James Cameron made his movie and took Titanic down into history again (as the highest grossing film ever) I watched it five times on the big screen. That is also when I fell in love with Kate Winslet. Not in a lesbian way, but in a “Wow! She’s beautiful, talented, has an accent, and I want to watch every film she’s ever made” sort of way.

I loved the movie, but there were several things that didn’t sit well with me. First was the naked drawing. It would have been a great film without her being naked. He could have drawn her body with clothes on and it would have been just as beautiful. No need to arouse people everywhere with pictures of breasts. Second was the sex in the Model T. I believe sex belongs in marriage, not lustily participated in with a relative stranger on a cruise ship. Third was the way history was twisted to fit our modern day dialogue and actions. Kate’s character Rose flips off a man, slaps a man, and spits in the face of her now ex-fiancee. As far as I can tell from reading, refined women didn’t behave that way back then. It was improper. Then again, Molly Brown was on that ship and she had quite a reputation, so I guess it is possible. Lastly, according to records, there were few men who took up seats on the life boats when the ship began to sink. The movie made it look like many men were doing everything they could to get on those life boats including dressing as women and holding people at gun point. I could have done without the cussing as well…especially the “F” word. So yes, I had my issues with the movie. I also loved it.

I loved that Rose was rescued from a life that would have suffocated her; A life arranged by her selfish mother. I loved that they wove Jack and Rose in and out of the stories of the famous people on board and that Rose was a connecting point with the past. I loved the phasing shots of the real Titanic on the bottom of the ocean blended into the movie Titanic in all it’s beauty and glory. I loved the historical facts they got right. I loved the soundtrack! Music makes or breaks a movie, and the soundtrack was brilliant. Way to go James Horner. I loved “The heart of the ocean” necklace. I loved the Irish band that played at the 3rd class party. I loved the costumes and the sets. I loved the witty dialogue. I loved the older Rose and how she had “lived” as captured in photographs that she had insisted on taking with her when she travelled. I loved the movie, despite it’s flaws.

For you movie buffs out there, Wikipedia said: “It holds the record for the highest-grossing film of all time, generating over US$1.8 billion worldwide. It spent 15 weekends atop the weekend box office, making it second only to E.T. (16 weekends) as the movie with the most weekends at that position. In 1998 it was nominated for fourteen Academy Awards and won eleven, including the title of 1997’s Best Picture (the second Paramount/Fox co-production with that honor in 3 years after 1995’s Braveheart). Titanic shares the record for the most Academy Award wins with Ben-Hur (1959) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Along with 1950’s All About Eve (another 20th Century Fox film), Titanic also holds the record for most Academy Award nominations.

For you History buffs out there: The Denver Museum of Nature & Science will be hosting Titanic: The Artifact Expedition this summer. It opens June 22nd while I’m at Zenith. I’ll definitely be attending the exhibit when I get home from camp. I’m excited to see up close what I’ve only seen in books and on t.v. In the meantime, I’m going to the library to borrow the movie and watch it again. My fascination continues…

Benny took Max and Zoe with him to Texas so Pete and I have enjoyed spending time together this weekend. Being the youngest, he has spent the least amount of time alone with me. I had forgotten what it was like to have an only child. It’s a lot easier than three. Being the youngest has it’s disadvantages though. Pete isn’t used to being without his siblings and he doesn’t like it too well…especially sleeping alone in his room. Pete doesn’t know how to play by himself, and doesn’t really want to learn. He has been my shadow all weekend. I’ve really enjoyed the cuddle time.

Heather spent most of the weekend with us and came to church with us on Sunday. Our Easter service was fantastic and we had 4 baptisms afterwards. I enjoyed some really great conversations over the weekend, and felt very challenged and blessed by my friends. Benny and the kids will be home tomorrow night. I really miss them!

Linda called me on Saturday to ask for prayers. Her heart had yet to convert with the heavy medications her doctors had given her. She said if it didn’t convert by this morning she was headed to Colorado Springs to have the cardiac conversion done at the hospital. I have no idea what all that entails. All I know is that I’ve been watching way too much Grey’s Anatomy and I was a little scared for her. 😉 I called her last night and there had been no change. We talked about how she felt and what she had heard about the procedure. To lighten the mood I reminded her to wear clean underwear. LOL Then she outdid me with a story of her own that’s a little too personal ( but hilarious) to share here. So, I’ve been praying for her all day. Her daughter called me a few hours ago to let me know that everything went well and she will be returning home tonight sometime. I can’t believe that’s an outpatient procedure and they kick you out the door a few hours after it’s completed. Please continue to pray for my beloved friend as she heals. Her cardiologist told her she’ll still be feeling bad for awhile since she was in Atrial Fib for so long.

I hope you all have a great week! If you have time, go check out the amazing things by best friend can do with colored pencils!

ALL weekend plans are off. Benny’s grandfather died today and he’s going to be heading to Texas with his brother for the funeral. Keep them in your prayers.

Benny and I are going to be baptizing Max on Sunday and we are all VERY excited about it. He has a greater understanding of Jesus than I did when I was a teenager, and he’s 7. Max asked Jesus into his heart when he was three years old, then prayed for Jesus to be in his baby sister’s heart as well. Shortly after that he was regularly baptizing Elmo in our bathtub. This went on for weeks as he kept asking when he could be baptized and take communion. We kept telling him he needed to be a little older so he would understand better why we are baptized and take communion. He has mentioned it off and on since then. He and Benny have been reading scripture and talking about what it means, and we can’t think of any reason to keep putting him off. So the time has come and I can’t believe I get the privilege of baptizing my son.

Benny’s brother and his family are going to be in town this weekend, and we called his parents to let them know too. This is where the story gets interesting if not a little tense. The baptism will immediately follow our Sunday morning service. We assumed Benny’s parents would want to know, but wouldn’t come to Denver for the occasion. We wanted them to understand there would be no hard feelings if they didn’t come. You see, we were raised in an acappella church, and many who still attend believe it is wrong to worship with instruments. Obviously after reading my last post, you know where we stand on that issue. Benny’s parents do not share our views. At first they said they could just come for the baptism, now they’re planning on coming for the service as well. We were SHOCKED!

So now I have all of these conflicting emotions about Sunday. On one hand I want them to celebrate with us and not dampen the mood if they don’t agree with how we do church. On the other, it bothers me that my FIL will be going against his conscience by attending our service. I know this must be hard for him, and because I love him like I do, that makes me uncomfortable. I guess my wish is that they would come and worship…and believe that it IS worship even if it doesn’t look anything like how they normally worship. I can’t make them believe anything. But I LOVE singing with the band. I waited for so long to do what my band mates probably take for granted. God knows what a blessing it is for me, and that it blesses others too. So I hope it goes well on Sunday and I can be “normal” even with the added pressure of my in laws being extremely uncomfortable – which is their choice.

Please pray for the family dynamic on Sunday, and praise God for my little guy and the decision he has made. Who knows what good can come from all this? I’m looking forward to spending the day with family.