We were exiting the highway on Wednesday night, when Zechariah said, "There's my church!"
I was feeling a little feisty that night, so I told him, "No, that's MY CHURCH."
It didn't faze him at all. He very sweetly said to me, "I share, Mommy." He sure did put me in my place!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tear Down These Walls
"I'm not scared of anything!" Junior gave a shout. Then he pulled the covers high to keep the monsters out!
But there, in the all the shadows, in the corner by the chair, was something that had three long ears and tufts of shaggy hair.
Over on the bookshelf, behind his favorite book, six or seven beady eyes peeked out to take a look. Then outside the window, hiding in the tree- was that a woolly mammoth bat? No, it couldn't be.
Everything he looked at, and all that he could hear got scarier and scarier. His knees soon knocked with fear.
Junior couldn't go to sleep. His eyes were open wide. Then he remembered something that made him smile inside. Junior said, "I'm not afraid of things, though big or small. God says He will take care of me. He's bigger than them all!" --BigIdea's VeggieTales
These past couple of weeks God has been showing me just how big and strong He really is. I wish I could say I never needed the reminder, but each and every day I'm held accountable to my humanness. Every day I see my weakness and my tendency toward fear and worry.
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post In My Darkest Hour which was the beginning of my journey with the new car we purchased. Since then, we have been through many ups and downs. The car has been to the mechanic 3 times, and the problem has not yet been completely solved. In fact, it's actually escalated.
To start off we were having trouble shifting gears, and thought it might be our transmission. Since then we had found the source of the problem to be an air intake sensor. This was causing the fuel to be too rich which in turn caused the engine to give misinformation to the transmission, which made the gears shift at the incorrect time. Its amazing how one thing can lead to another and pretty soon your car just doesn't work quite right. The problem was easily solved and taken care of by a $150 bill.
The most troublesome and somewhat disturbing part was how the dealership fit into all this. You would think they might have caught this issue and fixed it themselves. $150 to a dealership is probably nothing when it comes to making a good sale. However ... instead they sold us the car pretending it was in perfect working condition. I don't know anything about cars, but I knew as soon as I drove away and tried to get up to speed that something wasn't quite right. They had to have known something was wrong with the car. The car's gas tank was completely empty so we couldn't leave the lot to test drive it; we were forced to stay close by, driving around in their field. We never had a chance to shift gears until the car was in our own possession.
As our car saga has continued on, the most saddening thing has come out. Our mechanic that finally was able to pinpoint the problem and get it fixed, informed us that after 25 years in the business, he's never seen anything like this. The dealer we purchased the car from actually disabled the check engine light on our car. It's not just that they took the light bulb out, it's actually disconnected somehow. That's very unethical and not to mention illegal.
You can imagine the emotions that I have gone through over the past week. On one hand the fact that they intentionally set out to deceive us just hurts, and then there's the anger that they could be so careless. What if we had an accident and someone in my family was hurt? Money is more important to them than the safety of a human life?
God has brought me through it all. I know that no matter what, He is in control. As I heard this news, I couldn't help but start to withdraw into myself, and fear began to creep up. It seemed like the more and more I thought about it, the more I was afraid. I was imagining the worst case scenarios and feeling overwhelmed. I tried to get a few moments of peace and quiet where I could just cry out to God, when Zech climbed up on my lap with his book, "I'm Not Scared!" Reading to him at that time was really the last thing that I felt like doing.
I made it through almost the entire book, with only two pages remaining when I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I read the line "Everything he looked at, and all that he could hear got scarier and scarier. His knees soon knocked with fear." I was Junior sitting in my chair paralyzed with my fear. I kept hearing new things, and new fears were taking over me. What was going to happen? And where was God?
Then just like Junior as I read the next page in the book, my tears turned to a smile. "I'm not afraid of things, though big or small. God says He will take care of me. He's bigger than them all!" God is so much bigger than a person who cheats or lies. Because no one can cheat or lie to God. He knows everything. And not only does He know everything, He takes care of it all. God is my protector. He can solve my problem that needs to be fixed.
As I went off to church that night, my mind was in a much better place. I knew that God was there. Every time when I'm in real trouble or hurting, God always seems to speak to me through music. It's a way to connect on a deep heartfelt level that I cannot even begin to explain. As we were singing the song Tear Down These Walls by Hillsong, God was continuing to work on my heart.
All day long I had felt a bitterness creeping in slowly. I wanted to be angry. I felt like I had this right; that I had been wronged greatly, and needed vindication. I was just hoping and praying that someone would ask how my day had gone so I could give them the 411 on how I'd been hurt, and deceived.
As I was singing the words to this song God was showing me the truth about what I was going through. I couldn't believe that the dealership would do that, when God just dropped these two words into my mind. Why not? What am I expecting from them? It was very obvious when we were signing the title to our car that the man was not a Christian. Three times he spelled my husband's name wrong, and after I told him it was like the book of the Bible, you would have thought by the sound he made or the look on his face he had never heard of a Bible before, let alone that it would even have books in it.
Why are we always so surprised when the world acts the way that they do? They are simply going with their sin nature. "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." Romans 3:23
We, who have committed our lives to Christ, should be held to a higher standard. But we cannot expect the world to do the same. They don't have a book that guides their life, and a God who they can go to in times of trouble. They have to look to themselves and figure things out.
How scary is that?
I am so grateful that I have the listening ear of a God who is big and strong; He has an answer for every problem. I wish I could say that I picked up on this quickly, and that God burned in it my heart, so that I would not forget what He was saying to me. But alas, I was slow. I wanted to post this a week ago, and something kept stopping me. I just couldn't bring myself to write it, or even think about it. I was still holding on to unforgiveness, and I needed a reminder of the words to this song; to actually tear down the walls I had allowed to grow.
Those walls you build may at the time seem to protect you, but they also can keep out the good. I spent a week feeling sorry for myself, and building up walls to keep everyone out, including God. I was mad. I allowed my circumstances to distract me from the purpose of my life.
It doesn't take much to take your eyes off of God. I kept my focus on my problem, and it became too much. It was only today after more tears and pain that I realized my walls need to break. I needed to stop looking to myself for answers like the world does. I needed to look beyond where God was and always is.
The only way to truly overcome is to maintain your FOCUS on God.
"Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed- that exhilarating finish in and with God- he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" Hebrews 12:2-3
For anyone who read my previous post, In My Darkest Hour, the song was playing on the radio as we pulled into the parking lot of the auto service center and learned this news about the check engine light being disabled. "When all around me starts to fall, and when my faith it seems so small, even in my darkest hour, I WILL BELIEVE." I know God was preparing me for the road that would lie ahead.
The Rest of the Story:
The Light in Me
The End
But there, in the all the shadows, in the corner by the chair, was something that had three long ears and tufts of shaggy hair.
Over on the bookshelf, behind his favorite book, six or seven beady eyes peeked out to take a look. Then outside the window, hiding in the tree- was that a woolly mammoth bat? No, it couldn't be.
Everything he looked at, and all that he could hear got scarier and scarier. His knees soon knocked with fear.
Junior couldn't go to sleep. His eyes were open wide. Then he remembered something that made him smile inside. Junior said, "I'm not afraid of things, though big or small. God says He will take care of me. He's bigger than them all!" --BigIdea's VeggieTales These past couple of weeks God has been showing me just how big and strong He really is. I wish I could say I never needed the reminder, but each and every day I'm held accountable to my humanness. Every day I see my weakness and my tendency toward fear and worry.
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post In My Darkest Hour which was the beginning of my journey with the new car we purchased. Since then, we have been through many ups and downs. The car has been to the mechanic 3 times, and the problem has not yet been completely solved. In fact, it's actually escalated.
To start off we were having trouble shifting gears, and thought it might be our transmission. Since then we had found the source of the problem to be an air intake sensor. This was causing the fuel to be too rich which in turn caused the engine to give misinformation to the transmission, which made the gears shift at the incorrect time. Its amazing how one thing can lead to another and pretty soon your car just doesn't work quite right. The problem was easily solved and taken care of by a $150 bill.
The most troublesome and somewhat disturbing part was how the dealership fit into all this. You would think they might have caught this issue and fixed it themselves. $150 to a dealership is probably nothing when it comes to making a good sale. However ... instead they sold us the car pretending it was in perfect working condition. I don't know anything about cars, but I knew as soon as I drove away and tried to get up to speed that something wasn't quite right. They had to have known something was wrong with the car. The car's gas tank was completely empty so we couldn't leave the lot to test drive it; we were forced to stay close by, driving around in their field. We never had a chance to shift gears until the car was in our own possession.
As our car saga has continued on, the most saddening thing has come out. Our mechanic that finally was able to pinpoint the problem and get it fixed, informed us that after 25 years in the business, he's never seen anything like this. The dealer we purchased the car from actually disabled the check engine light on our car. It's not just that they took the light bulb out, it's actually disconnected somehow. That's very unethical and not to mention illegal.
You can imagine the emotions that I have gone through over the past week. On one hand the fact that they intentionally set out to deceive us just hurts, and then there's the anger that they could be so careless. What if we had an accident and someone in my family was hurt? Money is more important to them than the safety of a human life?
God has brought me through it all. I know that no matter what, He is in control. As I heard this news, I couldn't help but start to withdraw into myself, and fear began to creep up. It seemed like the more and more I thought about it, the more I was afraid. I was imagining the worst case scenarios and feeling overwhelmed. I tried to get a few moments of peace and quiet where I could just cry out to God, when Zech climbed up on my lap with his book, "I'm Not Scared!" Reading to him at that time was really the last thing that I felt like doing.
I made it through almost the entire book, with only two pages remaining when I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I read the line "Everything he looked at, and all that he could hear got scarier and scarier. His knees soon knocked with fear." I was Junior sitting in my chair paralyzed with my fear. I kept hearing new things, and new fears were taking over me. What was going to happen? And where was God?
Then just like Junior as I read the next page in the book, my tears turned to a smile. "I'm not afraid of things, though big or small. God says He will take care of me. He's bigger than them all!" God is so much bigger than a person who cheats or lies. Because no one can cheat or lie to God. He knows everything. And not only does He know everything, He takes care of it all. God is my protector. He can solve my problem that needs to be fixed.
As I went off to church that night, my mind was in a much better place. I knew that God was there. Every time when I'm in real trouble or hurting, God always seems to speak to me through music. It's a way to connect on a deep heartfelt level that I cannot even begin to explain. As we were singing the song Tear Down These Walls by Hillsong, God was continuing to work on my heart.
Tear down the walls see the world
Is there something we have missed?
Turn from ourselves
Look beyond
There is so much more than this
And I don't need to see it to believe it
I don't need to see it to believe it
Cause I can't shake this
Fire deep inside my heart
Look to the skies hope arise
See His majesty revealed
More than this life there is love
There is hope and this is real
Cause I don't need to see it to believe it
I don't need to see it to believe it
Cause I can't shake this fire burning
Deep inside my heart
This life is Yours and hope is rising
As Your glory floods our hearts
Let love tear down these walls
That all creation would
Come back to You
It's all for You
Your Name is glorious
Glorious
Your love is changing us
Calling us
To worship in spirit and in truth
As all creation returns to You
Oh for all the sons and daughters
Who are walking in the darkness
You are calling us to lead them back to You
We will see Your spirit rising
As the lost come out of hiding
Every heart will see this hope we have in You
All day long I had felt a bitterness creeping in slowly. I wanted to be angry. I felt like I had this right; that I had been wronged greatly, and needed vindication. I was just hoping and praying that someone would ask how my day had gone so I could give them the 411 on how I'd been hurt, and deceived.
As I was singing the words to this song God was showing me the truth about what I was going through. I couldn't believe that the dealership would do that, when God just dropped these two words into my mind. Why not? What am I expecting from them? It was very obvious when we were signing the title to our car that the man was not a Christian. Three times he spelled my husband's name wrong, and after I told him it was like the book of the Bible, you would have thought by the sound he made or the look on his face he had never heard of a Bible before, let alone that it would even have books in it.
Why are we always so surprised when the world acts the way that they do? They are simply going with their sin nature. "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." Romans 3:23
We, who have committed our lives to Christ, should be held to a higher standard. But we cannot expect the world to do the same. They don't have a book that guides their life, and a God who they can go to in times of trouble. They have to look to themselves and figure things out.
How scary is that?
I am so grateful that I have the listening ear of a God who is big and strong; He has an answer for every problem. I wish I could say that I picked up on this quickly, and that God burned in it my heart, so that I would not forget what He was saying to me. But alas, I was slow. I wanted to post this a week ago, and something kept stopping me. I just couldn't bring myself to write it, or even think about it. I was still holding on to unforgiveness, and I needed a reminder of the words to this song; to actually tear down the walls I had allowed to grow.
Those walls you build may at the time seem to protect you, but they also can keep out the good. I spent a week feeling sorry for myself, and building up walls to keep everyone out, including God. I was mad. I allowed my circumstances to distract me from the purpose of my life.
It doesn't take much to take your eyes off of God. I kept my focus on my problem, and it became too much. It was only today after more tears and pain that I realized my walls need to break. I needed to stop looking to myself for answers like the world does. I needed to look beyond where God was and always is.
The only way to truly overcome is to maintain your FOCUS on God.
"Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed- that exhilarating finish in and with God- he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" Hebrews 12:2-3
For anyone who read my previous post, In My Darkest Hour, the song was playing on the radio as we pulled into the parking lot of the auto service center and learned this news about the check engine light being disabled. "When all around me starts to fall, and when my faith it seems so small, even in my darkest hour, I WILL BELIEVE." I know God was preparing me for the road that would lie ahead.
The Rest of the Story:
The Light in Me
The End
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Revised: Things to Do When Kidz Say They're Bored
This week, Gabriel has come up with his very own, revised copy of "Things to Do When Kidz Say They're Bored." I thought he came up with some very intriguing new ideas. And I'm sure there are a few things that you never would have thought to do!
Computer
Nintendo DS
Read
Play outside
Treasure hunt
Play in your room
Ride a bike
Make a maze book
Make a story
Play downstairs
Go to a playground
Build a tent
Play with your baby brother
Play with your big sister
Go to grandma's house
Go to your friend's house
Play Super Mario Brothers
Watch plants grow
Hot chocolate party
Play with chalk
Play Webkinz
Make Sentences
Sock Fight
Make food for families
Bake cookies
Make monsters
Play checkers
Play chess
Watch a movie
Play with your aunt
Play with your bird
Pretend you are a hero
Make parts of books
Make all new friends
Watch people play Nintendo DS'
Play with your big brother
Play with your baby sister
Play telephone
Bible study
Color a picture
Play in the snow
Play on Super Mario Wii
Go on a walk
Go to the museum
Do science experiments
Play on the laptop (You need a grownup to put the password in)
Watch library movies
Color pictures of dragons
Color pictures of monsters
Color pictures of people
Color in a coloring book
Make cool food
Pretend you are a chef
Make a fake volcano
Go to the library
Make a CD
Make crafts out of yarn
Go to the school playground
Pick up trash at a park
Swimming
Play in the sand
Ride on a vacuum cleaner (You'll probably need a grownup's help for this)
Take a nap
Plan a sleepover party
Blow up a balloon
Watch a timer
Listen to music
Pretend you're a zombie caught in a blanket
Go to the zoo
Make your own zoo at home
Say things in Z ... like Za-manda
Play on the guitar
Do sports
Make a pet out of your brother or sister
Play soccer
Play football
Play hockey
Play tennis
Play softball
Play basketball
Make a blog
Make a book of monsters
Make a adventure book
Watch adventure movies
Bob for apples
Jump on the trampoline (not everyone can do this if they don't have a trampoline)
Swing high
Slide down a slide
Make a hat
Dress up
Drink soda pop
Sit at a pond
Play on the monkey bars
Hop on rocks
Jump in the leaves
Do a picnic
Eat a cake
Dress up as a soldier
Blow out a candle
Study fish
Study bats
Study squirrels
Bake cupcakes
Make a list of fun things to do!
Nintendo DS
Read
Play outside
Treasure hunt
Play in your room
Ride a bike
Make a maze book
Make a story
Play downstairs
Go to a playground
Build a tent
Play with your baby brother
Play with your big sister
Go to grandma's house
Go to your friend's house
Play Super Mario Brothers
Watch plants grow
Hot chocolate party
Play with chalk
Play Webkinz
Make Sentences
Sock Fight
Make food for families
Bake cookies
Make monsters
Play checkers
Play chess
Watch a movie
Play with your aunt
Play with your bird
Pretend you are a hero
Make parts of books
Make all new friends
Watch people play Nintendo DS'
Play with your big brother
Play with your baby sister
Play telephone
Bible study
Color a picture
Play in the snow
Play on Super Mario Wii
Go on a walk
Go to the museum
Do science experiments
Play on the laptop (You need a grownup to put the password in)
Watch library movies
Color pictures of dragons
Color pictures of monsters
Color pictures of people
Color in a coloring book
Make cool food
Pretend you are a chef
Make a fake volcano
Go to the library
Make a CD
Make crafts out of yarn
Go to the school playground
Pick up trash at a park
Swimming
Play in the sand
Ride on a vacuum cleaner (You'll probably need a grownup's help for this)
Take a nap
Plan a sleepover party
Blow up a balloon
Watch a timer
Listen to music
Pretend you're a zombie caught in a blanket
Go to the zoo
Make your own zoo at home
Say things in Z ... like Za-manda
Play on the guitar
Do sports
Make a pet out of your brother or sister
Play soccer
Play football
Play hockey
Play tennis
Play softball
Play basketball
Make a blog
Make a book of monsters
Make a adventure book
Watch adventure movies
Bob for apples
Jump on the trampoline (not everyone can do this if they don't have a trampoline)
Swing high
Slide down a slide
Make a hat
Dress up
Drink soda pop
Sit at a pond
Play on the monkey bars
Hop on rocks
Jump in the leaves
Do a picnic
Eat a cake
Dress up as a soldier
Blow out a candle
Study fish
Study bats
Study squirrels
Bake cupcakes
Make a list of fun things to do!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
In Loving Memory
It was a very sad weekend at our house, as we all had to say goodbye to a very dear friend of ours. The coffee table that has been so much a part of our family has been cracked beyond using it. It may sound very funny; however it's been hard for us. We've been surrounding that table for so many years; it's difficult to imagine how we're going to live our lives without it.
It's held many flower vases from my husband...
It's been used at all our parties...
It's been colored on by all my children...
It's been worked on by my husband for hours and hours...
We've prayed many many prayers around this table, including our prayer journals each morning...
I've shared many meals night after night here... And one of our favorites of all, I can't even count how many pizzas we've shared as a family during our Friday movie nights...
My family has had multiple gatherings around the table...
It's held all my children's birthday gifts each year as they grow older and older...
I've shared many intimate birthday parties around this table...
We've feasted on chocolate several times...
This table has been the center of a romantic evening many times...
And we've played numerous amounts of games at this table...
My list could go on and on. I don't have pictures of everything that has gone on around this coffee table. It's been a very important part of our lives, and it's sad for me to see that it's gone. It leaves a big hole in my living room that I soon hope to fill again.
The thing I keep telling myself is that it's just an object. It's something that can be replaced. It's hard to look at it that way, but it's true. There is probably hundreds of my table that were sold to people all across the state. It seemed special to me because of all the happenings around it, and the people that were there to make it happen.
The table started out flawless, and slowly got some nicks and dings, some water spots on top, and then eventually a small crack came in the glass top. We still used the table even with the crack, but in the end the crack grew large enough that we couldn't ignore it anymore. We had to get rid of it, or one of my children might have been hurt when the glass top would have shattered.
How often do we have relationships with other people that are like my table? They start out flawless and beautiful in the beginning. We only see the good in them, and we haven't yet been exposed to their weaknesses. Over time, nothing can remain perfect, and undamaged. Our relationships can start to develop water spots, or nicks, or even a small crack in the surface. Once that crack appears, it's very hard to ignore it. It's like an ugly blemish just staring you right back in the face.
How often have you had some small crack in your relationship that you ignored and let it grow until it was so ugly you could no longer stand the sight of them? Everything they did caused you pain, or every time you saw them you were reminded of that blemish.
For me, it's so easy to focus on missing my table because it's up close and personal. It's in my home, and I see the empty place every day. But what about our friends that we've allowed to crack and break like that table, do we still miss them? Are we afraid they're going to shatter so we've written them off, never to speak of them or to them again?
The glass top for my table was never really attached to the wood frame. It could be replaced and my family would be able to start using the table again. However, it's too costly for us. We would rather just buy a new coffee table. Isn't it sad that sometimes we treat our friendships with other people just like that? We would much rather just get a new friend than work to fix the problems or the crack in our old friendship.
No crack can be too big for God to fix. Don't allow your small blemishes in your friendships to grow any larger than they already are. You don't want to get to the place where you must face the decision of whether or not it's worth it to keep your friendship.
I know I have relationships that aren't perfect and beautiful anymore, but I want to hold on to them, and talk about what's going on before I decide to just replace them. I want God to restore them back to the beauty that once was there before.
"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. " Proverbs 27:17
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Veggie Pizza
I recently got in my possession the recipe for this wonderful vegetable pizza. I tried it at a baby shower a few months back, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I got the recipe from my friend last week, and I am so thankful to her for it! It's so delicious!
We made it tonight for our dinner, and everyone loved it. My pickier eaters in the family got rid of a few of the vegetables, but overall it was a bit hit. It's also so easy to make; within 20 minutes we were sitting down at the dinner table eating. The pizza makes a great snack too!
You roll out 2 packages of crescent rolls on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
While that's cooking, mix together 2 packages of cream cheese, 2/3 cup of mayonnaise, 1 tsp. dill weed, 1/4 tsp. onion powder, and 1/4 tsp. garlic powder.
After the crust has cooled you spread your cream cheese mixture on to it, and then top with veggies. I cut up some cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, and black olives. Sprinkle with seasoning salt, and it's ready to eat.
We made it tonight for our dinner, and everyone loved it. My pickier eaters in the family got rid of a few of the vegetables, but overall it was a bit hit. It's also so easy to make; within 20 minutes we were sitting down at the dinner table eating. The pizza makes a great snack too!
You roll out 2 packages of crescent rolls on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.While that's cooking, mix together 2 packages of cream cheese, 2/3 cup of mayonnaise, 1 tsp. dill weed, 1/4 tsp. onion powder, and 1/4 tsp. garlic powder.
After the crust has cooled you spread your cream cheese mixture on to it, and then top with veggies. I cut up some cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, and black olives. Sprinkle with seasoning salt, and it's ready to eat.
Taste and see how good it is!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Free from Sin and Guilt
Movies. I love them! If I'm ever feeling down and depressed, or things just aren't going my way, I head to the store and buy a new movie. I know it doesn't fix my problems, but sometimes it sure does help me forget about them. The movie could come from the $5 bin at Wal-Mart (I literally have spent hours browsing that bin), or I could pick out a previously viewed movie from Hastings. Those are my two favorite stops to get the good stuff. I mean the good stuff where I can indulge myself and I don't have to pay a lot for it.
With my shopping always comes the dilemma of, what can I actually buy out there? It seems like the movies are getting fewer and fewer to choose from. Number one, because I'm buying all of them, and number two, clean movies are hard to come by.
It seems like you can always find something IF you are willing to put up with a little sexual content. Everyone has a line that they draw in the sand, and that is where my line's been drawn. I will NOT subject myself or anyone in my family to impurity.
I looked up the definition of purity and found this to be a perfect explanation. "Freedom from sin or guilt; innocence." That is exactly what I want for my family. I want to watch a movie without feeling guilt. I want to keep my own innocence, and the innocence of my children. The only way to do that is to set a good example.
I have had lots of personal conversations with God about this, and He has spoken very clearly to me on the subject. I cannot watch a movie if it's rating comes from having sexual content in it. I can barely watch an onscreen kiss without my cheeks starting to turn red. I know where kisses lead. I don't want to go there. I made a commitment to my husband and to God. And I will honor it to the best of my ability.
Unfortunately, that means there are really good movies out there that I just can't watch. It kills me to see a good preview and then find out I can't see it. So many times there is nothing wrong with a movie except for 1 minute where something led somewhere I couldn't wouldn't go.
For me, one of my all time favorite websites is Pluggedin by Focus on the Family. I have it as a favorite link on my blog. I go there over and over again. If you aren't familiar with it, you should become familiar. I love them! They have reviewed practically every movie. There are a few older ones that don't appear on their website, but all the ones that come out new in theater will be listed.
They very conveniently have each movie broken into several categories. The first part will explain the basic storyline. Sometimes there will be a spoiler warning, and you don't have to continue reading if you're planning on seeing the movie. These are the sections: Positive Elements, Spiritual Content, Sexual Content, Violent Content, Crude or Profane Language, Drug and Alcohol Content, Other Negative Elements, and then the Conclusion.
I usually just skip straight to the Sexual Content part because that's what is most offensive to me. They do such a detailed review that there are never any surprises for you. They will go so far to tell you who is showing cleavage, to who wears a bathing suit or short skirts. You don't have to be shocked when you're in the theater, thinking, "I can't believe I'm watching this!"For a long time, we just didn't get to watch very many movies at all. I was very saddened by this, and spent lots of time in prayer pouring my heart out to God. It just didn't seem fair. I felt like I was missing out on so much sometimes for just 30 seconds. Couldn't I just fast-forward the movie? But always at the end of the conversation, my answer from God was the same. I want to be free from sin and guilt. I want my life to be pure. And that is a guideline that God has given me specifically. I know it is different for other people, and please don't feel like I'm saying you must be exactly like me. You just need to be willing to ask God what He wants for you, and from you. And as long as you're following God's advice, you can be free from sin and guilt.
In was in one of those times that I was crying out because of the unfairness when I had a revelation. I edit movies all the time. I put our home videos together; I've done a few as gifts, or for church projects. Maybe I could just edit those seconds out?
Over the last year, I found a solution to my problem. That is what I wanted to share with you today. I've had requests to edit certain movies, and I've loaned my edited movies out. So for all my friends who have asked about this, or have been interested, I thought I would share a short tutorial on how to edit your own movies. And the key word there is your own movies. It's illegal to copy movies and sell them. Everyone knows that. I will actually buy a movie with the intent to edit it, and I replace their DVD with my own edited DVD. Special features have never interested me much, so I don't usually even mess with them at all. I just end up with the main thing, the movie. Subtitles will come with it, but you'll have to reset them while you're watching it after each edited spot. Small price to pay, I think.
My favorite editing software that I use for this purpose is a free program you can download online. It's called DVD Shrink. I have version 3.2
I always have my DVD in the drive ready before I even open the program. Once your program is open; you click on Open Disc one of the icons near the top. After you've made sure to select your movie in the correct drive, it will take a few minutes to open the disc.
You're then going to click on Re-Author also located in the top bar.
Now you're going to look on the right side, under MAIN MOVIE, you should see something called Title 1. You will drag that over to the left side of the page, in the blank white area.
This is the part where PluggedIn comes in handy for me. They put very good details into their description that I don't usually have trouble finding the bad parts to get rid of. I usually know how many scenes or enough about the scene to know kinda where to look.
You're going to now click on the blue arrows that point left and right, that read Set Start/End Frames
After you've clicked on it, this will open up.
I'm editing The Firm with you, a movie I've been meaning to get around to for awhile now. Sometimes older movies have inaccurate reasons for their ratings. This is a perfect example. It said it was rated for Language and Violence; however it had a very inappropriate scene in it that I'm going to get rid of.
The really nice thing about this program, it doesn't allow you to see things very closely. That comes in handy when you're working on a project like this. The box you will be looking at to edit is very small, literally the size you see before you now. It also lets you go frame by frame, that's even better than seconds. You can very accurately get rid of what parts you want to, and you won't have to worry that you left any of it in there.
You're going to start piecing your movie together now. You will leave your Start Frame alone this time, unless your scene is during the opening titles. Now you'll need to know where the scene is you want to leave out of the movie. We're not really deleting it; we're just not going to select it as the part we'll keep.
So for my movie, I have kept the start frame at the beginning, and I'm going to put my stop frame at 40m 20s 02 frames. You can play with it a little to see where you want to cut off. I personally just like to get rid of the whole scene. I've never felt like I've missed out on anything by doing this. This program does not have sound, so that can be tricky if you're not deleting the entire scene, another good reason for me to just get rid of it all. After you've figured out your first chunk of the movie, click OK.
If there were more scenes you wanted to leave out, you would just continue to piece your movie together doing the same thing we just did. For each scene you want to leave out, you're going to need to drag Title 1 over again. You can have as many Title 1's as you need, they will all piece together to form a continuous movie.
After you have a full movie, from start to finish, you're going to click on Backup! located near the top of the screen again. It will have you save your file as an ISO, and once that is finished encoding you can burn it to a DVD. The encoding process can take up to an hour. It does go much faster if you don't preview it while it encodes. This movie may read that it will take 46 minutes, but without previewing it finished in 26 minutes.
It may seem complicated, but it's really not; it normally only takes a couple minutes for me to go through the process. This is certainly not something I would do for every movie. Most of the time, we will just opt to not watch it. However, there have been a few occasions where a movie was really talked up for us, or it was a gift, and we wanted to be able to see it for ourselves. This has been a really wonderful solution to our problem. It's so nice to have the option to watch a movie without feeling the weight of guilt.
With my shopping always comes the dilemma of, what can I actually buy out there? It seems like the movies are getting fewer and fewer to choose from. Number one, because I'm buying all of them, and number two, clean movies are hard to come by.
It seems like you can always find something IF you are willing to put up with a little sexual content. Everyone has a line that they draw in the sand, and that is where my line's been drawn. I will NOT subject myself or anyone in my family to impurity.
I looked up the definition of purity and found this to be a perfect explanation. "Freedom from sin or guilt; innocence." That is exactly what I want for my family. I want to watch a movie without feeling guilt. I want to keep my own innocence, and the innocence of my children. The only way to do that is to set a good example.
I have had lots of personal conversations with God about this, and He has spoken very clearly to me on the subject. I cannot watch a movie if it's rating comes from having sexual content in it. I can barely watch an onscreen kiss without my cheeks starting to turn red. I know where kisses lead. I don't want to go there. I made a commitment to my husband and to God. And I will honor it to the best of my ability.
Unfortunately, that means there are really good movies out there that I just can't watch. It kills me to see a good preview and then find out I can't see it. So many times there is nothing wrong with a movie except for 1 minute where something led somewhere I couldn't wouldn't go.
For me, one of my all time favorite websites is Pluggedin by Focus on the Family. I have it as a favorite link on my blog. I go there over and over again. If you aren't familiar with it, you should become familiar. I love them! They have reviewed practically every movie. There are a few older ones that don't appear on their website, but all the ones that come out new in theater will be listed.
They very conveniently have each movie broken into several categories. The first part will explain the basic storyline. Sometimes there will be a spoiler warning, and you don't have to continue reading if you're planning on seeing the movie. These are the sections: Positive Elements, Spiritual Content, Sexual Content, Violent Content, Crude or Profane Language, Drug and Alcohol Content, Other Negative Elements, and then the Conclusion.
I usually just skip straight to the Sexual Content part because that's what is most offensive to me. They do such a detailed review that there are never any surprises for you. They will go so far to tell you who is showing cleavage, to who wears a bathing suit or short skirts. You don't have to be shocked when you're in the theater, thinking, "I can't believe I'm watching this!"For a long time, we just didn't get to watch very many movies at all. I was very saddened by this, and spent lots of time in prayer pouring my heart out to God. It just didn't seem fair. I felt like I was missing out on so much sometimes for just 30 seconds. Couldn't I just fast-forward the movie? But always at the end of the conversation, my answer from God was the same. I want to be free from sin and guilt. I want my life to be pure. And that is a guideline that God has given me specifically. I know it is different for other people, and please don't feel like I'm saying you must be exactly like me. You just need to be willing to ask God what He wants for you, and from you. And as long as you're following God's advice, you can be free from sin and guilt.
In was in one of those times that I was crying out because of the unfairness when I had a revelation. I edit movies all the time. I put our home videos together; I've done a few as gifts, or for church projects. Maybe I could just edit those seconds out?
Over the last year, I found a solution to my problem. That is what I wanted to share with you today. I've had requests to edit certain movies, and I've loaned my edited movies out. So for all my friends who have asked about this, or have been interested, I thought I would share a short tutorial on how to edit your own movies. And the key word there is your own movies. It's illegal to copy movies and sell them. Everyone knows that. I will actually buy a movie with the intent to edit it, and I replace their DVD with my own edited DVD. Special features have never interested me much, so I don't usually even mess with them at all. I just end up with the main thing, the movie. Subtitles will come with it, but you'll have to reset them while you're watching it after each edited spot. Small price to pay, I think.
My favorite editing software that I use for this purpose is a free program you can download online. It's called DVD Shrink. I have version 3.2
I always have my DVD in the drive ready before I even open the program. Once your program is open; you click on Open Disc one of the icons near the top. After you've made sure to select your movie in the correct drive, it will take a few minutes to open the disc.
You're then going to click on Re-Author also located in the top bar.
Now you're going to look on the right side, under MAIN MOVIE, you should see something called Title 1. You will drag that over to the left side of the page, in the blank white area.
This is the part where PluggedIn comes in handy for me. They put very good details into their description that I don't usually have trouble finding the bad parts to get rid of. I usually know how many scenes or enough about the scene to know kinda where to look.You're going to now click on the blue arrows that point left and right, that read Set Start/End Frames
After you've clicked on it, this will open up.
I'm editing The Firm with you, a movie I've been meaning to get around to for awhile now. Sometimes older movies have inaccurate reasons for their ratings. This is a perfect example. It said it was rated for Language and Violence; however it had a very inappropriate scene in it that I'm going to get rid of.
The really nice thing about this program, it doesn't allow you to see things very closely. That comes in handy when you're working on a project like this. The box you will be looking at to edit is very small, literally the size you see before you now. It also lets you go frame by frame, that's even better than seconds. You can very accurately get rid of what parts you want to, and you won't have to worry that you left any of it in there.
You're going to start piecing your movie together now. You will leave your Start Frame alone this time, unless your scene is during the opening titles. Now you'll need to know where the scene is you want to leave out of the movie. We're not really deleting it; we're just not going to select it as the part we'll keep.
So for my movie, I have kept the start frame at the beginning, and I'm going to put my stop frame at 40m 20s 02 frames. You can play with it a little to see where you want to cut off. I personally just like to get rid of the whole scene. I've never felt like I've missed out on anything by doing this. This program does not have sound, so that can be tricky if you're not deleting the entire scene, another good reason for me to just get rid of it all. After you've figured out your first chunk of the movie, click OK.
Just like we did earlier, under the right side, MAIN MOVIE, you're going to drag Title 1 back over to the left side again. You should then have two of Title 1. You're going to click on the blue arrows that point left and right, Set Start/End Frames. This time your start frame will be different. You're going to need to start where you left off earlier in the movie, but not including the scene you want to leave out. I will be starting at 45m 36s 25 frames. I got rid of almost 5 minutes. I like to be a little more on the cautious side, so I probably left out more than I had to. I leave the end frame exactly where it is because there was only one scene I needed to leave out.
If there were more scenes you wanted to leave out, you would just continue to piece your movie together doing the same thing we just did. For each scene you want to leave out, you're going to need to drag Title 1 over again. You can have as many Title 1's as you need, they will all piece together to form a continuous movie.
After you have a full movie, from start to finish, you're going to click on Backup! located near the top of the screen again. It will have you save your file as an ISO, and once that is finished encoding you can burn it to a DVD. The encoding process can take up to an hour. It does go much faster if you don't preview it while it encodes. This movie may read that it will take 46 minutes, but without previewing it finished in 26 minutes.It may seem complicated, but it's really not; it normally only takes a couple minutes for me to go through the process. This is certainly not something I would do for every movie. Most of the time, we will just opt to not watch it. However, there have been a few occasions where a movie was really talked up for us, or it was a gift, and we wanted to be able to see it for ourselves. This has been a really wonderful solution to our problem. It's so nice to have the option to watch a movie without feeling the weight of guilt.