A Fun Friday with the Gilmore Girls. Because who doesn’t want to wake up and play 1,2,3 He’s Yours every day.
So who would you marry? If you had to choose, would you marry older, younger, or just plain weird? Then there’s Luke and Dean if you count them, even though they’re excluded from the Gilmore Girls game.
Personally, I married older. (But not that old, so don’t get any ideas!) But if I had to choose someone else, not current lovable hubs, then I’d prolly pick Dean. Sure my hubs calls him a wuss, but he’s better than uber-old, uber-young, Kirk, or grouchy Luke. That just means I get a Yes Man out of the deal I guess.
Love this quote from Tim Hansel in A Treasury of Wisdom. Made me think about loneliness in a whole new way. Maybe the reason I’m feeling alone today is because that feeling is a reminder to seek God. Only knowing him more is the only way to be truly fulfilled. Never thought about it that way before.
Here’s the full quote:
Loneliness is a gift from God. A gift to open up our hearts and turn to his peace. It is a longing for a deeper
experience of his presence.
When we want God more than anything–more than success, more than peace, more than health–then we truly know how to pray. Then we discover him in his fullness.
-Tim Hansel
A great reminder that we are not alone. What do you do when you feel lonely?
This twisted fairytale musical was surprisingly lovable with stellar songs! Into the Woods translates well on the big screen, yet stays true to Broadway roots. I’m still shocked at how much I loved this movie.
Here’s the 4 surprising reasons I loved it. If you’ve seen it, maybe you’ll agree.
Surprise #1: The Music is To-Die-For
Yes, the music was my absolute fave part! Who knew Chris Pine could sing? Pretty much everyone in the movie was a really good singer, which is a nice change of pace after movie adaptations like Mama Mia went awry in singer selection. Though I must confess, after watching a Gilmore Girls episode where Paris Geller teases Brad for starring in the Broadway version I assumed the music would be as annoying as her taunts. But the lyrics were so much more poetic than most musicals. Now I’m hooked. (Ahem, don’t judge by this clip like I did. )
Surprise #2: The Story is Superb
Okay, fair warning; quasi-spoiler alert. If you didn’t know this already, the storylines don’t all end happily ever after. Which is truer to the Brothers’ Grimm versions. However, the character development was superb. In the course of dreams going awry in the woods, these formerly flat fairytale cutouts find a way to move past the death of their dreams. They each discover one simple, deep truth. We are not alone. Such a powerful message of hope. In fact, that’s one of my favorite songs in the whole movie. It’s the culmination of all the great character development. Gotta love it!
Not all the characters developed. Take the oh-so-lovable Prince Charming. Though Chris Pine really can sing, his character turns out to be smarmy in a charming way. Which in itself is a really nice twist on the fairytale version. Because really? Who falls in love after one dance?
Surprise #3: The Acting is Awesome
In my opinion pretty much all the main characters are contenders for the best performance in the show. The kids were fantastic singers, the baker was surprisingly good at both acting and singing, and Cinderella was a top-notch heroine to root for, not to mention one of the best singers in the show.
No surprise here—Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt duke it out for top performance. Both are amazing singers in the movie. I’m with you John Krasinksi, who knew Emily Blunt could sing? And yet, who plays a scary evil witch with such humanity like Meryl Streep? You see my dilemma. I guess we’ll have to wait for awards season to find out who wins.
Surprise #4: The Special Effects are Creepy/Pretty/Cool
I loved how the special effects in this movie only enhance the fairytale scenery, but still held a Broadway tone to them. I could totally picture this either way, as a movie or a musical, which made it all the more magical. This is one of those movies where the special effects, costumes, and lighting don’t overwhelm the story. They just make it better. And I for one am glad for it.
Have you seen “Into the Woods” yet? I’d love to hear your take.
Here’s one of my favorite parts of Home Alone. Don’t worry, Joe Pesci makes it out fine. This movie has always been in my top 4 favorite Christmas movies along with Elf, It’s a Wonderful Life, and While You Were Sleeping.
Psalm 139 is one of my absolute favorite Bible passages for many different reasons. It’s a great passage about how much God knows me, how He made me, and how He has great plans for me. When I reread this passage recently, verse 12 struck me in a new light.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
–Psalm 139:11-12 (NIV)
How many times do I want to hide from God? When I mess up, aka sin, or just plain get it wrong. I always want to run and hide, but I never feel like I can. And now I know why it never works. In Bible college, my theology professor tried to explain it to me. There was one question on the test that I got wrong–and I didn’t understand why. He told me that we are always in God’s presence. There’s nowhere to hide. “For darkness is as light to you.” Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
If God is everywhere, even in my darkness, then it’s not really as dark as it seems. Is it? Of course it still hurts when things don’t go my way. Sometimes it really hurts. But instead of it being pitch black, maybe it’s really a charcoal gray with a light in the corner, waiting to burn away the darkness.
“Even the darkness will not be dark to you.” That means even in the darkness God is with me, holding me tight. Telling me it’s going to be okay. When I stop trying to fix it and let him take over . . . it’s on, baby. He’s made a habit of transforming my blackest moment to charcoal gray, to light gray, to white as snow. In His own unfathomable, out-of-the-box way.
It’s still a process for me. Hey, I’m still learning, too. Learning to look for the light in the darkness. To watch and pray for it. And one day there will be no more darkness.
