Time for some more flashback funness! Are there any theme songs that stick in your head? Or bring back memories of new episodes or videos that came out that you were so excited to see?
I loved McGee and Me when I was younger. The theme song is soooo 1990′s – but it still makes me smile:
Have you ever heard of Psalty the Singing Songbook? Or McGee and Me? Duncan the Donut Man? Steve Green Hide Em’ in your Heart Songs? Wee Sing? I hadn’t fully understood the breadth of the Christian youth sub-culture until a discussion during small group last week. Half of us grew up in Christian homes and were laughing and carrying on about these fun things, and the other half was looking at us like we were completely crazy.
Let’s start with Psalty. A huge royal blue singing hymnal? Totally normal in my world. Thus begins a fun series of flashbacks of fun, quirky things you may only know about if you were there. If you aren’t used to him though, I warn you, it’s a little scary. You might just want to fast forward to after the song is over…about 2:45.
My favorite line is “It’s going to be a Hopallujah Blast!!!” Hahahahaha. Soooo cheesy, and slightly creepy.
I love the Harry Potter series. Really, in my opinion it is one of the best stories I have read in a really long time. And though I’m not sure if JK Rowling believes in Jesus, the redemptive elements woven through her books are beautiful. The character of Severus Snape just amazes me. He was a character I immediately disliked, and I could never understand why Dumbledore seemed to be on his side. Until I got to the last book, that is. I remember sitting in my bed at 3 am, wide awake trying to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in one sitting, crying as Harry (and I) realized the truth about who Snape really was. Finally I understood the anguish Snape’s character was in throughout the years, and I came to love him and what he did in sacrificing so much for the woman he loved.
Rowling wrote his character brilliantly, and the way Alan Rickman depicts Snape in the movies is breathtaking – most notably in the last one. Rickman was everything I pictured Snape to be – cold, aloof, snide, greasy, careful, and tortured. The moment I was anticipating the most in the last film was when the truth about Snape’s character is revealed, and I was not disappointed. It was done so well, and cemented in my mind the idea that Alan Rickman deserves an Oscar for his role as Snape. I read this article the other day where he talks about his time doing the Potter movies, and they agree with me as well. 
I love that JK Rowling filled him in from the beginning – she gave him the one secret that was hidden from everyone else until the final book was released. I think that is what makes him so good in the films – he knew and was everything his character was supposed to be from the very first take.
Staff conference childcare kicked off tonight with a bang, literally. The toddlers attempted a mass breakout after about an hour of being in their room and broke the baby gate guarding the door in half. In HALF. Haha. I really wish I had been there with a camera, because that is awesome. Complete chaos for the workers, but hilarious nonetheless.
Another fun moment was during our pre-childcare meeting with all the workers. One of the 3 year old boys walked by, saw us, and exclaimed “CHILDCARE!!! I LOVE CHILDCARE!!!”, and then proceeded down the hall singing a little song about childcare. It makes it so fun when the kids love it and are excited.
The 11 & 12 year old group has had a rough history in childcare, as they are right on the cusp of being too old, and finding childcare booooorrrriiinngg. So, in an effort to spice things up, I created a scavenger hunt for them to go on around the hotel. The points system allowed for a wide range of points to earn, as one of the quests was to count every animal they could find in the hotel. Each animal was one point. The funny part is that we are in the Great Wolf Lodge, and there are animals literally everywhere. Literally. The carpet, wallpaper, light sconces, lobby, artwork, even occasionally parading along the ceiling. They did boys against girls, and the winning team gets 30 extra minutes at the water park tomorrow morning. The boys won, accumulating over 1,000 points! I think it was a hit!
I was hanging out on the Miriam-Webster Dictionary website the other day (yes, I do that…..and yes, I know I am a nerd), and came across this article of the top-10 most unusual phobias (you may have to click on “skip this ad” at some point to get back to the article – it will only do that once). Now, I am not a big fan of Halloween at all, but in keeping with tradition of this scariest of all holidays, I hope you enjoy reading this article about strange things people are afraid of as much as I did.
Also, true confession, I may have a minor case of #7: Kakorrhaphiophobia
For the past couple of years I have been “trying” to lose some weight. Not a ton, just a few pounds to get me in the ‘healthy’ range for my height. I’ve tried everything: diets, exercise, positive self-talk, consistent weigh-ins, writing down numbers, keeping charts, etc. My motivation over the years has been mostly aesthetic in nature. I was trying to lose the weight because I didn’t like the way I looked, or because I didn’t feel healthy, or because I thought I should. And, unsurprisingly, my efforts have ultimately failed. It is not that the actions in and of themselves were bad – on the contrary – they can be good and helpful. However, I am slowly coming to the realization that those motivations do not hold up very long under the temptations of delicious foods. I love to eat, and I come from a long line of people who also love to eat. In light of that and the aforementioned failed motivations, my gut reaction is almost always to either cave in or rationalize my eating habits (and even lack of exercise), because my motivations were not serious enough to deter me from eating good food.
But things are beginning to change. Most importantly my attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs about food and how those affect my relationship with Jesus. I am starting to see an impact in my life that I am trusting will last more than a couple months. You see, it isn’t about the weight anymore. It is also not about looking pretty, or being thin, or anything else. Whether I am trying to lose 5, 10, 20, 50 or 100 pounds, if my perspective and motivations aren’t right, then nothing I do to change myself will last forever.
There is a long-standing joke among the Franklins that some people eat to live while others live to eat, with us falling into the latter category. We laugh because it is true, but recently I have realized that it doesn’t lessen our responsibility before the Lord to care for the bodies He gave us. And here we arrive at the heart of it: before the Lord. As much as we often try to fight this truth, we are not on our own when it comes to how we eat and care for our bodies. We might think that this is a little thing, that the Lord doesn’t really care what we do with our bodies or how we eat (something I found myself believing too), but now I disagree. He does care, very much.
My initial plan was to write one post about this topic and leave it at that. However, even as I have been writing this over the last couple weeks, I am realizing how much there is to this topic – much more than can be covered in one post. So, I am going to write a series of posts on this topic dealing with the topics of gluttony, idolatry, self-discipline, what we eat, exercise, thoughts/attitudes, and how all that fits into food and Jesus. I am not saying I am an expert or have this figured out, but I invite you to join me as I dig into the Word and learn more about these issues. The more I learn the more I see my life changing, especially as I understand that it isn’t about me. It’s always about Jesus.
Yesterday was so short and busy I didn’t even have time to write an update! I slept in until the crack of 11:00, woke up in a lot of pain, took some vicodin, moved out to the couch and took a nap! After the vicodin had worked its way into my system, I got up and took a shower, then mom and I headed out to check out the Charming Charlie accessory boutique in Carmel. We had a great time and both found some fun additions to our jewelry collections. It was nice to get out of the house for a bit and enjoy the sunshine! We made it home in time for a lovely dinner on my patio before the rain came, and then packed everything up for the big drive back to DC today.
We woke up bright and early, got the car loaded and headed out to the doctor. The time had finally come to get the stitches out!! Good news – everything is looking great and healing up nicely, and the stitches came out easily. The not so great news is that in order for the healing to continue going well, I have to leave in the conformer. Ugh. But it is ok. Getting the stitches out helped release a lot of the pressure and my pain has been pretty low the rest of the day. Our drive is going smoothly, and we have stopped in Morgantown for the night. We’re enjoying some relaxation and the fresh baked cookies that were awaiting our arrival.
Till tomorrow….
As promised, here is the epic finale (resurrections story) from the Jesus Storybook Bible:
Happy Resurrection Day!
Last night my friend Shanda and I went to a Good Friday service at her church, and this is one of the hymns we sang. The entire service was full of rich, meditation-worthy songs and passages of scripture. It is good to be sad on Good Friday, knowing that the only reason it is called ‘good’ is because through Christ’s death our iniquities were covered and our relationship with Him was restored to those who believe in Christ.
Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted:
