Saving Mr. Banks

We went to see Saving Mr. Banks this last week.  It was a delightful film!  I grew up watching Mary Poppins and Saving Mr. Banks is the story of the author and how it was made into a movie at Disney Studios in the 1960's.

I didn't realize it was a book but thought that Disney studios had created her for their movie.  Apparently there are 3 books about Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers.  Watching this movie definitely made me want to read the books.  

Saving Mr. Banks is about Redemption.  I love redemptive stories, I just don't want to watch something where the main characters never change nor become better people.  I think that's because I always want the best for people and want to see redemption in their lives, so movies where the characters are redeemed speak to my heart.  Mary Poppins and Saving Mr. Banks are both movies about the redemption of a main character.  Emma Thompson portrayed PL Travers in Saving Mr. Banks and it's Travers redemption that we get to watch in the this film.  In Mary Poppins, the redeemed character is Mr. Banks.

I hadn't really thought about that before, but it's true.  It's the father, Mr. Banks, who is stodgy and more concerned with investing in the bank than in his family.  His children love him and just want his time and attention but he is too busy.  By the end of the film, he is flying kites with his kids and Mary Poppins goes on to another family in need.

In Saving Mr. Banks, we are shown clips from PL Travers childhood and how her father was more active in their lives but died when she was young.  We get to watch her change and forgive herself over the course of this movie.  I don't often cry in movies but during this one, I almost had tears flowing down my cheeks.  It is so touching and fun, at the same time.

Sochi 2014 - wish I were going!

The Olympics in Sochi are soon and I really wish I were going.  I am not a sport enthusiast, nor a "hard-core Olympic fan" but I have always wanted to go to Russia and hearing about Sochi makes me want to go, cause it's in Russia.  

So I don't actually want to go to Sochi as it is closer to Turkey than the north pole, nor do I really want to pay the entrance fees for the Olympic events but I do want to go to Russia.  The places I would want to go see in Russia would be Moscow and St Petersburg and then somewhere remote along the Chinese border or the eastern side.  

I am not really sure why I want to travel to Russia someday but I do.  So hearing so much about Sochi in the news just reminds me that I want to go.

Anyway, that whole rant was due to some of my favourite advertising right now.  Whomever is responsible for the GM Goodwrench Winter Tires ad campaign should win something for it, cause it's funny, current and is a slogan that people will be repeating for a while.

Boxing Day Sale

This fall I became a Steeped Tea Consultant, selling tea through direct sales Tea Parties!  I am enjoying this new job and I will be able to continue it when I move at the end of January.  

Steeped Tea is having a Boxing week sale on selected items.  To shop for your favourite loose-leaf teas and look at sale items, go to  www.mysteepedtea.com/WARMYOURCUP  and click 'Shop'.

All orders can be shipped directly to your address and paid for online!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Pentatonix - Little Drummer Boy

It's Official so you can talk about it....

The Big News of my world is that I will be finishing my job at Camp IAWAH as of January 15th and will be moving back to Manitoba at the end of January!

I know, it's crazy, but the Lord is leading back there.  I have no idea what I will be doing when I get there, other than enjoying being closer to my family and spending some quantity time at Sanctuary House of Prayer, but I am at peace with the move and all that entails.

I will miss IAWAH, my friends in Ottawa/Westport/Kingston and area and miss living in a small town.  It has been a blessed 5 years and I have been impacted by so many people and changed by my life here.  I am thankful that God brought me here but it is time to move into something new.

The D-word.......Discipline, oh how you elude me

Discipline.......why is it so hard?  To be honest, I don't know except I am still becoming like Christ and therefore not perfect yet.  There have been baby steps of progress, but it is SO difficult and I feel as thought I am getting nowhere fast.  The small steps that I have taken have me becoming more disciplined in spending.

I talked about small steps in an earlier post and I should celebrate the steps I have made in spending less frivolously and the small strides towards eating more healthily and getting more exercise.  It just seems like one step forward, 6 steps back.

Discipline for me is always tied to tithing.  I know people don't like to talk about money, well Canadians don't anyway, but it really changes me to tithe 10% or more to the Lord, right off the top of my pay cheque.  He is honoured when I trust Him with my finances and somehow it translates into better discipline in my finances and other areas.  When I don't tithe, I struggle to pay bills and way over spend, never seeming to have enough.  When I tithe, I get everything paid, I enjoy some extras and there always seems to be a little for the savings account.

The weirdest part is that tithing makes me more disciplined in keeping my house clean, getting exercise and eating more healthily......... I don't get it, I just know it works.

So I have been disciplined about tithing and my finances have started to line up again.  Now I am working on moving more in my day.  It takes some thought and planning to get up from sitting, do something around the house or take a walking break at work or home.  But I am consciously taking some breaks to help my body and mind be more attentive and productive.  Some days it doesn't seem like much but every little bit helps, or so they tell me.  So I keep making a conscious effort to move more.

After that I will work on food.......I will take small steps to improve my exercise habits and celebrate improvements before I tackle what, for me, is the hardest thing to regulate, what and how much I eat.

Projects I have been working on.......more about to start!

One for Luc and one for Sophie.....here's hoping they fit!

Thoughts to Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder.....

"We don't burn out from going hard after God.  We get burned out because we are bored spiritually & motivated by the wrong things."  -- Mike Bickle

Very Small Steps to.......somewhere

It's been a long and tiring month.  It feels like two months since I posted but in reality, only 12 days.  In other words.....discipline is hard and I am struggling to take even small steps in the right direction.  I am doing it but man it feels like I am getting nowhere, fast.

The world and all it's advertising tells us to do what feels good and that earthly pleasure in this moment is the end goal.  

The Lord tells me to wait, have patience and to look to Him for pleasure and satisfaction and the end goal is maturity in Him and eternity.

Some days I wish Jesus were more visible so He could stand beside me when I am tempted to live by the world's standards.  Was is easier for the disciples because Jesus was right there?  Or is it easier for me because I have Holy Spirit living inside of me?

Rhetorical questions that I will never answer.....but food for thought.  

Some days I just need a reminder that discipline is good to practice and that it will be to my gain in eternity.....but pride and laziness tell me to do what I want when I want it and forget the rest.

Who am I going to listen to?  And what is the ultimate goal?  Do I really want to enjoy right now but lose out on better things later?

I am completely tracking with Paul in Romans 7, when he says that he does things that he doesn't want to do, and does not do those things he wants to do........

Since the only way out is through, I had best keep taking those small steps and let the Lord change me from the inside.