Green Castles in the Sky...

The Passion......again

2005-03-28T20:03:00.000-05:00

After seeing this movie the first time on opening night last year, I knew that it was something that I wanted to share w/ my son but my husband and I had decided that it was too graphic for him to see. Well...The Passion Recut hit the theatres and it was the perfect opportunity for him to get to see this film minus all of the graphic scenes that I thought might be disturbing to him. Ugh...so much for me thinking I was a 2nd time viewer and the movie wouldn't get to me like it did the first time. Even without the graphic bits, it still broke me down. My Jorden was a trooper. He sat there and asked for some help w/ the subtitles once in a while and patted my back when I cried. That one scene where Jesus is a little boy and he falls down and it flashes back while he is carrying the cross totally got me again! I forget exactly what he says, but something along the lines of "I make all things new...." ... Thank you Jesus! He hasn't said much about it, but I know that the seed has been sewn. It's up in that head of his just churning around a bit.

I know you've heard the hype, but if the graphic scenes for the uncut version are what kept you from seeing this film, now is your chance to see the cut version. Just as powerful.....

Keeping things in perspective....

2005-03-15T13:18:00.000-05:00

I've spent today cleaning up the house. Blech. BUT, in the process of it I've had my 2 year old dancing around me screaming "Again Again" everytime the vacuum stops and sweet little Brooke sleeping in her swing the whole time. Before I stop and complain about how I hate laundry, doing dishes and cleaning windows, I'm reminding myself to be thankful that I have the clothes to wash, the food to put on the plates and the windows in my own home to clean. Perspective....it's all about perspective.

It's gorgeous outside today. I'm hoping to get out after the bus drops off and take a nice walk in the park.

Oh Napoleon...

2005-03-10T14:49:00.000-05:00

GOSH! My whole post just disappeared!! I spent 30 minutes on a beautiful tribute to Napoleon and BAM...gone into cyber space forever. Napoleon Dynamite should go on in movie history as one of the best movies ever made. One of my very favorite scenes is when Uncle Rico picks up Kips steak and launches it at Napoleon on his bike. Genius.

I must share that my oldest son Jorden, has also become smitten by my moon boot wearing friend. At school they are personalizing Mother's Day cakes and Jorden has decided that my cake should say "It's a Sledgehammer." So much for the traditional "Happy Mother's Day." It's enough to bring a tear to a proud mom's eye.

Here's a few classic lines...
Napoleon Dynamite: Stay home and eat all the freakin' chips, Kip. Kip: Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter. Napoleon Dynamite: Since when, Kip? You have the worst reflexes of all time. Kip: Try and hit me, Napoleon. Napoleon Dynamite: What? Kip: I said come down here and see what happens if you try and hit me.

Don: Hey, Napoleon. What did you do last summer again? Napoleon Dynamite: I told you! I spent it with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines! Don: Did you shoot any? Napoleon Dynamite: Yes, like 50 of 'em! They kept trying to attack my cousins, what the heck would you do in a situation like that? Don: What kind of gun did you use? Napoleon Dynamite: A freakin' 12-gauge, what do you think?

Napoleon Dynamite: Do the chickens have large talons? Farmer: Do they have what? Napoleon Dynamite: Large talons. Farmer: I don't understand a word you just said.

Napoleon Dynamite: What kind of bike do you have? Pedro: It's a sledgehammer. Napoleon Dynamite: Dang! You got shocks, pegs... lucky! You ever take it off any sweet jumps? Napoleon Dynamite: [Cut to Pedro jumping] You got like three feet of air that time.

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The Power of Prayer

2005-03-09T15:06:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning and something was wrong w/ my eyes. When I looked straight, they were fine, but in the left hand corner of my eyes, it appeared like I was looking through a kaleidescope. It was really freaking me out. I thought it was just because I had been looking outside and it was really bright and maybe that's why. ?? Well, 20 minutes later, it was still happening. I tried calling Mark twice, and he wasn't picking up. I knocked over something on my kitchen counter because it was in the foggy zone and I couldn't see it. I knew my mom was off work today, so I called her house. She prayed for me. I sat at the dining room table w/ my hands on my eyes and fully knowing that my God is a healing God, I was truly believing in my heart. I can't describe how scary it was to have this problem w/ my eyes this morning!! Your eyesight is something that is taken for granted every day....

Well, my mom prayed and I believed and when I opened my eyes, they were perfect again. Not even the slightest symptom of what had occurred just moments before. I've always believed in the power of prayer, but I hadn't experienced it first hand like this before. Isn't that cool?

~... Thinking about the Bridge ...~

2005-02-24T16:06:00.000-05:00

I've been pondering on something. I look at my kids and am constantly amazed at the amount of adoration and unconditional love that I feel towards them. I love them with every single living fiber in my body. They are part of me. When they hurt, I hurt. When they smile, I smile. They mean more than I could ever even try to explain. It is hard for me to understand and comprehend that the love that I feel towards my own children is only a fraction of the love that Christ has for me.

You know, I think about Jesus. I think about him in the Garden asking his dad why he had to die. I think about how he was so stressed out and upset about what he knew he was going to endure. I think about how he underwent so much grief that it caused his body to sweat drops of blood. I think about him on the cross. I think about him hanging there....a king with his crown of thorns. A king with a broken heart and bleeding side. How at any moment he could have called on the angels on high. He could have made such fools out of everyone who stood around!! What a spectacle it would have been to see a crowd of sword bearing angelic beings landing on that hill and taking his broken body off of that cross and seeing him transformed before their very eyes into the true King that he is. I think about the sacrifice that he made. I think about him on the cross thinking of me. Thinking that the only way for me to ever live with his father would be through his own death. He knew he was the bridge. The only possible way. I think about this bridge....the bridge that he created for me so that when the day comes, I can join him. I believe this as 100% truth.

I think of the day sometimes. I'm driving back from soccer practice maybe, wait...lets change that...I'm driving to soccer...this way I can see what is happening. I hear a noise. What an understatement....the music on my radio is drowned out by this sound....What??? I'll pull over and check it out. As I make a turn into a parking lot, I notice I'm not the only one who is pulling off the road to find out what is going on. The noise is coming from the sky...but I see nothing. I'm about to bear witness to something that people have been waiting for for years. The sky parts just like the curtain before a show and the most brilliant light I've ever seen comes shooting between the clouds. My kids are by my side watching and pointing up to the clouds. I know what it is. I can tell by looking around me that some people know what it is too. There are tears running down our faces. Others looked horrified...shocked and scared.

Amidst the light are colors that I don't have a name for. The most beautiful colors I've ever seen. I try to compare them to colors that I know, but I never dreamed that these colors existed. They spill onto every square inch of the sky. I look over and my 2 year old is trying to reach up and grab them. There is someone coming. He is surrounded and although I know who it is, I keep on waiting for the confirmation. I see tons of people. They are angelic with faces of all colors. They are surrounding him. They are speaking in unison and all I can hear is "Holy, Holy, Holy". Within moments they are everywhere...North, South, East and West....but they begin to seperate and make an aisle. Coming down on a brilliant white horse staring right at me is my King. He's staring right at me!!! Little do I know that everyone is thinking the same thing. Around me one by one, people are dropping to their knees. Whether they want to or not, he commands it and they have no control over it. Through my tears, I can see the angels around him all bowing. He is glorified. I briefly wonder where my husband and my parents are...hoping that they able to have the same view that I have, but I know that everyone sees the same thing. My oldest son is next to me...his arms stretched towards the heavens with watery eyes. Suddenly nothing in the world matters anymore. Mortgages, what kind of car I drive, the new handbag I begged my husband for....nothing. He has returned.

"See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone according to the deeds he has done. I am the A and the Z. The Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." Rev 22:12-13

I think that Jesus envisioned the same thing when he was in the garden. None of this would be possible had he not died on that cross. He is awaiting that day too. I just pray that God give me the strength and wisdom everyday to realize what is important and what isn't. I reach out in faith and accept his promise. Thanks to Jesus for thinking of me and my family...he thought of yours too.

Paranoia strikes again!

2005-02-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

Stupid tornado warnings. I wish they wouldn't even announce a tornado warning unless it is about to land on top of my house. It freaks me out. The black sky and hail is enough to clue me into the fact that a tornado could occur...I don't need the dumb weatherman saying that Cherokee county is under a tornado warning. My coat closet is small enough without me and 3 kids sitting in it. My ever-brave fearless husband hovering in the living room w/ a sly grin on his face looks afraid only because I appear to have gone insane for a brief moment. My stomach is hurting from the anxiety and a heel from a pair of shoes I haven't worn in a year is poking me in my backside. Okay, the wind isn't howling anymore and I can see a break in the rain. As I exit the 3x2 closet, I feel like Noah stepping out of the ark for the first time in 40 days to observe my surroundings. Sector is secure!

Now, I also have my moms paranoia to deal with. Yes mom, I know you are reading! Mom insists that a blog is what could be...the most useless thing I've ever done in my life.

Mom: Natalie, why in the world are you posting things about yourself on the internet?

Me: Mom, it's a blog...alot of people do them. I enjoy writing my thoughts down.

Mom: How about a journal for you to use on the side of your bed.

Okay, maybe....but that would require me to pick up a pen and actually write. I don't think I have time to do that....and plus then I can't have fun customizing my blog and picking out cool templates to use! :)

Ahhh....the weather is just lovely. Time for bed.

You blog, I blog, We all blog!

2005-02-20T16:55:00.000-05:00

So this is it. My very first BLOG! Is that the right terminology? Anywho--I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and create my very own blogging journal. A perfect time to start...on a Sunday rainy and cold afternoon. The kids are sleeping...well, all but Jorden who is playing StarWars battlefront on PS2. We just got back from the park and right in the middle of my walk, it started raining! :( Sooo...I had to run back to the van w/ my double stroller packed w/ 50 pounds of baby (Callen and Brooke) and my dog (Shallah) running next to me....oh and don't forget Jorden on my heels on his scooter. Ugh. I wasn't ready for my walk to be over with that soon. I was really enjoying myself.

I missed church today. Not very happy about it, but Mark had soccer tournaments today, and I was just up for church on my own w/ all the kids. Callen is going through this "Don't you dare leave me" stage and it's non-stop "Callen is crying again, can you please come to the nursery?". So we wait till next week. Mark and I are on a journey to find God's purpose for our life. We're reading a book to help us do so and finding it quite informative! It's called "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. We do a small devotion everynight before we go to bed and take turns reading one chapter each night. So far the part that has stuck w/ me the most is when he talked about death and eternity. I've always had a problem thinking about death and the "finality" it seems to offer, but after reading part of his book, he explained that it is natural to think that way because God wired our bodies to live for eternity....to be immortal...so it's a natural feeling that death would make us feel uncomfortable. For us as Christians, it's not death....but the start of life. Our life on earth is compared to the very tip of a glacier, just the part that we see above water, but our entire life is really the rest of it that you don't see....that's eternity. He explained it ALOT better than I can!

Ok, well....that's about it. I don't forsee anything anything overly excited happening that I need to "blog" for today. I don't think I quite have the hang of this yet, but honestly...I"m just trying to fill up some space so I can hit 'publish post' and see what my very first blog entry looks like! haha ... I'm sure I'll get better at this in time. Okay, let's push the publish button and see what happens! Till next time......

Newbie Blogger~