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The Bucket List

"Witness something majestic"
"Skydiving"
"Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world"

It should have been a no-brainer that pairing up Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson would result in a tremendous film. Though, I could see where there would be some reluctancy to do so considering their personalities. They both are masters of the art, and have been for a long time. They are both very strong-willed in their roles, filling spots that usually connote characters willing to accept the status quo or even an improvement. Each man is an oscar winner and they both have distinctive voices that could never be mistaken. Naturally, the question of who would receive top-billing may have mattered at one point in their career, yet I'm guessing these gentlemen probably put that aside when figuring out how to convey the message.

I would argue that the greatest films are definitely akin to the parables of Christ. Entertaining, certainly, yet inspiring - even moreso. In this regard, I examine The Bucket List as a modern day parable, where the message outweighs the entertainment and the star-factor. Simply put, the film teaches us how to love ourselves. Huh? Why doesn't that make sense? Why should I "love myself?" Well, Christ tells us to love others as we love ourselves, so logically we must love ourselves first to follow His direction. There is however, a good and nourishing way to love ourselves as well as a destructive and sad way. Jack Nicholson's character (Edward) had spent his life loving himself in the way so many of us think is the best - fine girls, exotic adventures, billions of dollars, etc. Carter, played by Morgan Freeman, had loved himself through finding joy in sustaining his family, hard work, and mental and spiritual enlightenment.

The notion of a "Bucket List" with no limit on funding, presented both men the opportunity to really love themselves (do the things they wanted to do). So, naturally, the human response is to satisfy the dreams that were more a part of Edward's life than Carter's. In this regard, Carter spends weeks with Edward crossing off things on their shared bucket list - everything from skydiving to seeing the Wall of China. The message becomes clear in the end when Edward learns how to truly love himself after realizing there was no added joy in how he had been loving himself over the years.

Anyway, you get the picture. I won't spoil the rest of the film as I think it is really great and was very well done. I hope you'll watch the movie sometime soon, as it is sure to open your heart and your mind to a little more of life that you could be experiencing - without spending a penny - and with that, a few of the items on your "Bucket List" that you can cross off, even today.

In Him,
David

"The watermelon's really taking off!"

Andrew heard us say that one day last week and he says it every time he comes out to look at it with us! He's right though! Just look at the picture to see for yourself.

We've adopted quite a few bugs in our garden. There are two remarkable green spiders. One on the pepper plant and one on one of the corn plants. The one on the corn plant had another bug in it's pinchers today, so we're definitely keeping these green guys around. We also have seen the most adorable, yet probably harmful, green inchworm, a bright green grasshopper that has doubled in size, these beetles that look a lot like lady bugs but aren't, and a colony of ants living under one of the bean plants.

It looks as though the corn may actually bear some fruit, so that's exciting! My tomato plant is growing nicely, and flowering abundantly for several weeks, but there are no beginnings of tomatoes. My grandmother said I should fertilize and also buy and apply something called Bloomset, since several of the flowers have just dried up and fallen to the ground.

Thanks for sharing our lives with us!

Rachel

Five Months Old Today

Hannah Joy is 5 months old today! How the time has flown! She is still living up to her name, she is such a joy. The picture of her in her carseat with all the animals is particularaly precious because her big sister Elizabeth gave them all to her! The red and white polka dot outfit is from Aunt Katy. Thanks, Aunt Katy! Hannah also has figured out how to roll from back to tummy. I'm brainstorming the baby-proofing, because it's only a matter of time now before she's crawling!

I love this picture of the four of them playing a card game about space on the floor one night after dinner.

We've been busy! We travelled to N. GA this weekend to visit David's brother Mike and his family. The kids and I had such a great time playing the Wii, hiking, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, catching frogs and lightning bugs and visiting with their cousins.

Speaking of Lightning bugs, who would have guessed that lightning bugs don't live in Montgomery, AL! If I'm wrong about this, please post a comment correcting me! However, I have yet to see one, in either of the houses we've lived in over the last 20 months.

More on bugs...does anybody have a clue whether we should spend $290 on a yearly termite insurance policy? The money goes into a pot with everybody else's and then, IF we get termites, despite the treatment they gave the house, they will pay for any damages done by the sneaky little critters. The guy who worked for the company who came and inspected to make sure we didn't have any, seemed to think it wasn't really necessary. The lady who answers the phone thought differently, of course.

And, regarding bugs and Elizabeth, that little beauty will pick up just about any worm or beetle on God's earth! We found a big earthworm under a rock on our hike this weekend and she wanted to put it in her pocket and then feed it to Skippy, the pet turtle! So, we did just that!

I never cease to be amazed at these young lives I have been charged with. They are learning their place in the world and their place in God's kingdom. I sure love 'em a lot!

Rachel

Oil Crisis

Someday I'm going to start a really straightforward blog with my unadulterated, unfiltered comments/thoughts about what this country is heading towards. I doubt it would help anything, but it would sure make me feel a little better! Until then, you're stuck reading and re-reading my dry criticism of PG-13 movies and constant reminders of the cuteness of our children.

I've got to say, though, I don't care what party you may or may not be affiliated with - this gas thing is a pretty big deal. A major motor company just announced they would be shutting down production lines for four of their trucks. That's huge in this country! We have prided ourselves in doing things "our way" and the American consumer is starting to realize that it just isn't possible all the time.

The crunch at the pump has gotten a lot of folks thinking - including myself. So, I'm looking at ways to boost fuel efficiency by hypermiling (an interesting concept) or by installing a machine that pumps hydroxide gas into the combustion chamber, reducing the gasoline requirement. We've also been using CFL bulbs throughout the house almost exclusively and a programmable thermastat since last September. If I consider making the leap to super-charging my engine with hydrogen, I'll be sure to blog about it. When I put up a straight-from-the-heart blog on socio-political-cultural environment of this country and what I think needs to be done to reverse our course, I'll post a link. But until then - you're stuck with more pictures of the cutest children on earth. Relish the moment!

Not too shabby!

Everything seems to be growing fairly nicely (including my lawn weeds - but that's another story)! Here we have the bush beans and a shot of the whole garden. You can see the corn stalks on the farm side and the watermelon sprouts in between the PVC pipe on the right hand edge. I'm really looking forward to watermelon!

In all, I have to say that the garden has been a lot more fun than I would have ever expected. I look forward to checking out its progress on a daily basis and I'm happy to keep it watered when I see that it's drying out. I just really hope and pray that we actually get some quality produce for this effort. Regardless, we've learned a lot in the process!

Hannah is growing in inquisitiveness. She is pictured here in her new Bumpo, a baby seat designed and patented in South Africa. She is developing her communication skills well (i.e. yelling louder at mommy when she's tired of a particular toy or when she wants to be held). It's gone so fast! I can see her urge for independence already manifesting itself in her little body. She sometimes pulls and pushes and tugs and acts like she's ready to just jump up and run! Yes, at four months! At her well baby check up two weeks ago, she weighed nearly 16 1/2 lbs.! She's a smiley little doll, though! Precious. I've begun praying hard for the wisdom to know how to handle this inquisitive growing baby, who will be a toddler before I know it! God has poured out His blessings on us all! Have we even bothered to look up to see them falling from the sky and make them a part of our lives? Have we bothered to tell Him thank you? So much, so very much, depends on how we choose to handle what happens to us in our life. Even if it's something that you feel is pretty terrible, ask God to give you His heart and mind about it, so you can grow and have peace.

Summertime Fun!

Well, though it is not "officially" summer, you could have fooled me! In Montgomery, AL today it was 98 degrees! We began the day at swimming lessons, where at 8:45 I had sweat streaming down my face!

Swimming lessons. Boy, the kids were really fearful about them. I made them repeat, "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me" and I shared some other Scripture with them about not being afraid, and then we prayed about it. Well....once we got there, I could barely keep them out of the pool! Elizabeth grew bored with her class and wanted to come join Andrew's to be with him, and Andrew really was struggling sitting still on the side. Once he realized he could jump in and touch the bottom, he wanted to continue doing that the whole time! They both practiced floating, which they weren't very comfortable with, naturally, and Andrew practiced kicking while holding on to a kickboard. Elizabeth practiced kicking while her coach helped her balance on a noodle. Today was the first lesson of 8, so hopefully they'll be swimming/floating more adequately by the end!

The kids were fortunate enough for their dear parents to acquire a FREE swingset over the weekend. David put it together on Sunday, and those kids played on it almost every waking moment on Monday, heat and all! They played on it all afternoon and this evening as well! I really never would have imagined that so much pure joy and laughter would come from getting a swingset! We have really enjoyed it and are so grateful to the family who outgrew it and passed it on to us.

Rachel