Lessons from a Movie

I just finished watching Saved!, which is one of my favorite movies ever.  For those of you who don't know, it's a satire on Christianity.  You should see it, if you haven't.  A lot of people here at Union probably wouldn't really enjoy it; pretty much everyone who I've shared it with here haven't liked it.  I love it, anyway, and that's what matters.  ;)  

One of the main things the movie always makes me think of is judging people.  Thinking you are better than someone because you are a Christian, or haven't made the same mistakes, or have different views about what it means to be a Christian.  Tonight while I was watching it, I picked up on something else.  

There are several events in which a character claims, "Jesus told me to!"  Of course, Jesus "told" them to do things that are sins and do not end well.  It hit me that people may use that excuse to do something drastic, something that toes or even crosses the line between moral and immoral.  Just look at the Crusades, the Inquisition.  In the movie, Mary (main character) has sex with her boyfriend, believing that Jesus told her to do it in order to "cure" her boyfriend's homosexuality.  I'm not saying that any of you would do such a thing; I'm giving an example here.  

The whole movie is basically Mary's journey to discovering what it really means to be a Christian, how knowing right and wrong does not guarantee perfection.  This comes from having made a big mistake.  

We all make mistakes (duh).  We've all made big mistakes, had times at which we thought the world had ended as we knew it.  Nothing could be done to rectify the mess we made.  How untrue!  

God uses every one of our mistakes for His purposes.  He doesn't clean it up for us; He teaches us lessons, gives others examples, reaches out to pick us up from them.  He wants us to turn to Him when everything goes south - and even when it hasn't.  

I don't think I've been very eloquent in expressing my desired message (disregarding this sentence), but I only had a small point to make.  Maybe it's one you've never thought about, or just one you've forgotten (as it was with me).  Mistakes suck:  They can hurt you and everyone around you, they can cause major complications, they can make you feel like you are the biggest idiot on the planet.  However...

If God didn't use our screw-ups, what else would He have to work with?

BYOJ - Bring Your Own Joy

As Christians, we are called to joyful.  To be thankful for each day we've been given and treat it as though it is our last, because it very well could be.  

I never really got that.  I think I believed that happiness was something that happened as a result of your situation, what's going on around you and to you.  I thought I was supposed to wait around until happiness found me; it wasn't something I had to look for.  Now I see it differently.

God calls us to be joyful.  Okay, that shouldn't be that hard.  But then God tells us we will suffer.  We will not have it easy.  With every step, Satan is pulling us back, tripping us up - doing his best to bring us down.  So... how on earth are we supposed to be joyful about that?  Isn't that the exact opposite of happiness: being constantly attacked and torn apart?  

It is.  The thing is, we still have every reason to be happy.  You know why?  I truly hope you do.  It is because we have salvation.  We have been redeemed by an incredible love that we cannot hope to comprehend.  We are not bound to this world!  We don't belong here!  What a relief that is, knowing that we are destined for so much more, that we will soon escape a world we are not meant to be in.  We are God's children, and we are only here for a short while before we are called home.  

So I have no excuses for feeling down or wallowing in self-pity.  My life as of now is not glamorous or perfect, but my future looks a lot like Heaven.  

But I have to fight for this joy.  It is vital that I remember who I am living for and what He has done for me; I have to remind myself that my joy comes from Him alone.  It doesn't come from winning a game in soccer, doing well in school, my friends, or my family.  All those things are just really amazing perks.  I have a Savior that was willing to die for me, a God who knows every niche of my soul, a Creator who made me the way I am for a purpose that only He fully understands.  Those facts should override everything else, for they are what truly matters.  They are what should drive my sense of joy every single day, every single moment.  

This journey of becoming honestly joyful is going to be unimaginably difficult, I know.  It is so easy for me to get caught up in the world around me and forget Who is most important.  I tend to get brought down in a spiral of negative emotions; I effortlessly point out the aspects of my life that are imperfect.  Nevertheless, I am called to this:  To remember Christ who died for me and be joyful in that fact alone.  I need nothing else to make me happy.  He sustains me always.  

Boo

Spring break is over.  Classes start tomorrow.  

Boo that.

Crazy Classes

Professors are being test happy. Which is just making all of us students sad. I understand that they're trying to get us caught up with the original schedule, but it's still stressful. I'm afraid I'll forget another test like I did week before last. Every Union student you talk to has at least two tests each week; previously, it was like all the professors decided to have tests the same week. It was not this constant - it would just all hit at once. Now it's hitting all at once all the time. Haha. Boo tests.

At least today my stats professor didn't have class after our test. I hate when they do that. I want to take my test and get out! However, she is hardcore and believes that even with all this academic craziness we should still get five tests in. :( Oh, and getting four hours of library time in along with all this is just...blah. I don't study well period, and me being in a room with a ton of other people is just going to make that worse. However, I will do my best to put in some time. Thank goodness I'm not working during the week...

I cannot wait for spring break. It will be such an amazing timeout from all this! I can't wait to see Lauren in Tacoma!!! :D And Jen and I are discussing possibly going to Chicago the last few days of break to see Wicked on Broadway. How sweet would that be?? Hopefully we can decide and finalize today so that we can buy tickets. :)))

I'm ready to get out of here for a little bit... Can you tell? ;)

Can I Just Say...

There is a reason I play soccer.  And not basketball.  

:)