A New Experience

I have a friend who is interested in making movies. She wrote and produced one movie three years ago. It was a completely amateur film, but it turned out quite well. Anyhow, she decided this spring that she wanted to enter a 21-and-under film competition. That meant that no "major contributors"  could be over twenty-one. She asked if I would mind helping, and I jumped at the opportunity. 

So for the last three days, we've been working with a group of young people to make a sixteen-minute film. The last time she did a movie, I was only in one scene, and I didn't help at all beyond that. This time, I got to be her production assistant, as well as play a supporting role in the video. It was a lot of fun to be more involved in it. Learning the "roll call" before a shoot started, how various shots happened, etc. was a very informative time. I definitely gained a new appreciation for movie producers! Suffice it to say, when you watch a movie, just take a moment to realize that every one of those scenes easily took several hours to film. 

Adopted Into a Forever Family

My church is reading through the book "Follow Me" by David Platt, and the pastor's sermons  recently have been on supporting Scriptures. This week the focus was our adoption by God as His children. Here are my very scattered notes/thoughts from his sermon this week. The sermon was on several passages.

~ God adopted us because of His love for us, not because He had work for us to do.

~ Why does God adopt us? So that He can have a family to live with Him forever and ever. He is out to create a forever family.

~ What role does Jesus play in our adoption? He is our means of adoption.

~ We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption by God.

~ Truth about God should cause affection for Him to well up in us. 

~ God was delighted to adopt us!

~ The impact of our adoption fuels a lifetime of service, devotion, and love for God our Father.

~ Adoption isn't a marginal purpose of God - it is the central catalyst of His plan for us. 

~ Jesus addressed God as Abba, Father. If He is the firstborn of our eternal family, shouldn't I follow His example?

A Turtle's Tale

Today I met a pretty cute turtle named Troy. A friend of mine found him wandering around and decided to adopt him. Kind of. Where he's living, my friend can't have pets. So my oldest three nieces and nephews decided that they wanted to adopt Troy. Which was great! Except that we were at the dining hall, and home was a mile away... and we rode our bikes in. Obviously, none of the three of them could carry him, and their mom was already juggling two bags and had an occupied baby seat on the back of her bike. Logically, that left me to carry him home. Thankfully, there was a box available, and I'm fairly adept at riding a bike one-handed. Troy did make it home safely, although there were a couple of scares where I almost wiped out while trying to avoid over-enthusiastic kids. 

Troy is a small box turtle. He's probably five inches long from snout to tail. But you can tell he's already lived quite the life. His shell has all sorts of cuts and dings in it, and is missing a section of the edge. One of his back claws is missing, leaving just a stub. He uses his tail to help compensate for his missing leg. Despite all that, he's still curious. Yes, he was scared at first when we picked him up and put him in a box. However, after a little while of not being messed with, he was quick to poke his head out. For the rest of the ride, he kept his head out, even when the rest of his limbs were tucked safely into his shell. I thought that was pretty interesting. It made me think of myself. When I get hurt, I tend to pull into a shell. But I need to let it go sooner, and be willing to peek my head out and enjoy the ride. That's what I learned from Troy. 

A Little Miracle

Isn't it amazing the things that can catch us by surprise? I had one of those moments today. 

My sister had a baby on Wednesday. Obviously, I was super happy. I love being an aunt, and the more kiddos, the more love I get to share. Today I was visiting my sister and her family. As I was holding my niece, a thought struck me. Babies are a miracle. We don't think about that much, because they're so common. Almost anywhere you go you can see someone with a baby. However, if you really think about it, babies are special. The way they develop before birth, the way they are a complete (albeit small) human, and such. God truly outdid Himself in His creation of babies. 

Sermon Notes

Just a few of the things that stuck out to me during the sermon on Sunday. They will be rather disjointed, I'm sorry! The sermon was on Matthew 4:18-22, where Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow him and become fishers of men.

~ To follow someone, you have to be facing the same direction as them. 

~ Allegiance to Jesus affects every aspect of your life!

~ Jesus call is actually: "I am going to fish for men. Come join me!"

~ Human beings looked at God in the flesh and said, "Nah, not interested," or even worse, "Evil! Kill Him!" But He went through with His plan and died for sins he hadn't committed. He died for MY sins. Then he was raised to sit beside God in heaven. I think that this proves He is totally trustworthy. 

That last point... wow. It really made me stop and think. How often do I take for granted what Jesus did? He didn't have to go through all that torture. But He did. Because He loves me. Wow.