Comic Con 2015...?

I was hanging out with my brother Noah last week (you can find his witty blog over here at http://esomoon.blogspot.com) and we were talking about birthdays and growing up and all the adult-ish things that suck, etc. etc. It was brought up that he'll be 20 (?!) in January, and I told him I should get him something epic.

The conversation continued... who knew I'd have a brother so loving of comics and superheroes and Batman and The Flash....! I suppose, boy things. But the topic of Comic Con came up - it's an annual convention in San Diego of all lovers of comics (thus, the name). Noah mentioned what a dream it would be to go - so I told him "hey, lets go to Comic Con for your birthday!"

....what in the world have I gotten myself into.

I have a Captain America t-shirt, and have seen most of the superhero movies (would you believe my boyfriend is also an avid fan of all comic-like things?), but that's about it. Enter India: dancer, teachers, lover of books and coffee into the comic world. Culture shock? A little.

I've been researching how to get tickets (cough, sorry, they are called 'badges') for this event.... there are a lot of steps. And there's a good chance we may not get badges. You have to get an ID code months and months before the event (at least I've done that, thank the Lord) (oh and also, they can randomly turn off your ability to get that anytime they want).... then they randomly email you and tell you badges will go on sale sometime soon, so you hop on the internet and into their little 'waiting room' and wait for badges to go on sale. If you are one of the lucky people that gets through to get a badge, they are darned expensive (but even that exact amount remains a mystery), and then plane tickets to San Diego....?! Should have told Noah I'd get him a new car instead. So many unknowns... it's amazing.

In all honesty, I am pretty excited about the possibility of going. I know I will be way out of my league and my comfort zone, but after all, it's not my birthday. And who doesn't love experiencing something new? Even the process of maybe buying a badge for this thing has been exciting so far. Don't worry, I'll keep you all updated on the progress. Until next time. 

little things

local college homecoming parade this morning. spent some time watching the floats go by and drinking coffee with my lovely boyfriend.

I have a Captain America tshirt that I'll wear on October 31st. why pass up a reason to dress like a superhero?

it's my little brother's birthday today. 17. how the time flies. excited to celebrate that tonight.

phone call with my bestie yesterday. wasn't long, never is, but worth more than gold.

almost halfway done with work as I type. that's happiness.

to pick up a book and travel to another place is one of the best feelings. to end with a quote from a lovely tv show I'm watching.

"we may sit in a library, and yet be at all corners of the earth." 

between you and God...

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people might be jealous. Be happy anyway. 

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.  

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."   

- Blessed Mother Teresa

once upon a time....

....there lived a beautiful princess in a high tower atop a hill. Tales were told far and wide of her beauty and kind spirit. One day, a prince arrived at the castle, the tales having reached to his home far away. He took one look at the princess and his heart melted; it was love at first sight. The princess, too, was quite taken with the prince, but had one request. He must slay the dragon that lived in the land to the south before she would become his wife.

The prince, thinking this an easy task, bowed to the princess, assuring her that the dragon would be taken care of within the week. He left for the south and the princess was left to wait.

A week went by. Two weeks later, the princess received a note by carrier pigeon that the prince had run into some trouble. First, his sword wasn't sharp enough so he had to get that repaired. Then his horse fell ill, so he was continuing the journey on foot. The princess smiled, hoping that the prince would prevail and come back to her soon, the dragon's head in his grasp.

A month went by. Another note. More problems, bad roads, faulty armor, etc. His note assured her that the dragon would be dead in the next week at the latest. The princess was worried. Would the prince ever kill the dragon and come be with her? She frowned.

Three months went by without a word from the prince. The princess was sad, devastated. She thought her prince was a mighty prince, worthy of the task she had placed upon him. Perhaps not? The next day came with another note from the prince. He was in the valley, camped by the dragon's lair, and was going to kill him the next day. The princess was happy and elated. Would he really succeed this time?

Three days went by. Two weeks went by. No word from the prince. The princess had given up, thinking the prince dead. She sat in her room by the window and cried. This was not the life she had hoped for.

The next day dawned bright and clear and awoke the princess from her weepy slumber. A knock on her bedroom door. Sleepily she awoke and answered the door. Not her prince, but a poor, dirty farmer stood in her doorway. He had the head of the dragon in his hand. The princess looked into his eyes, realizing that he, not the prince, had slayed the dragon for her. His eyes were kind, his hair ruddy, and his skin tanned from working out of doors. Forgetting about the prince, the princess smiled at the farmer, overjoyed that he had killed the dragon for her. The farmer smiled back, and offered her the dragon's head as proof of his love and trust for the princess. The two were married soon after and lived happily every after.

The prince? He was still in the field in the south. Pacing up and down, wondering how to get a new horse to help him slay the dragon.

You see, boys and girls, don't be like the prince. For him, all the conditions had to be perfect to slay the dragon, which really meant that he was a coward, and didn't deserve the princess at all. The farmer took a risk and slew the dragon with nothing more than a hand-made bow. He is the one that the princess loves because he risked everything for her. Be more like the farmer who gave everything up for his princess. That, I am sure, is true love. 

happiness is important

My mom decided to take a pottery class. She's wanted to for years and years, and this semester she finally is doing it. I needed to pick up something from her last night, so I snuck into her pottery class for like 30 seconds. It was the best 30 seconds of my life. My mom was glowing, radiant, grinning, wildly happy. I had never seen her that happy before in my life. And why was she happy? She was doing something that she wanted to do, something she was having a blast doing, and just something fun she wanted to do.

I think this is an important part of life. I think God wants us to be happy. Part of being happy is doing what we love.

My mom is a busy lady. She gives of herself all the time for her family, and she does a boss job at it. And I think she's mostly happy doing that - it is a difficult task. But she was so happy doing that little thing for herself.... I wanted to jump for joy; I was so happy to see her that happy.

So take time out of your life to do something fun. Be happy. God likes happiness. There are a trillion Bible verses about joy. So be joyful! Easier said than done..... but do something that makes you happy. Even if it's meaningless in the grand scheme of things (like pottery. :) love you mom) 

time

I had the amazing opportunity a few weeks ago to dwell in God's presence for an hour at a random time in the weeee early morning. It was so cool. During that hour of praising, worshipping, and adoring God, I was reading some Psalms that praised His name. I can't find it now, of course, but there was a spot I was reading at where the author was saying something about offering up bulls and goats and sacrifices to honor God and praise and glorify Him and everything. Old Testament awesomeness.

So I was thinking, as I often do, having land, and animals, and servants, and all that, in the Old Testament, showed how rich you were. So to sacrifice animals, was a big sacrifice, because it was giving away their best and prized possession, in a sense, to God. What can we give away today, that is as big a sacrifice as that? I was thinking it might be money, but no, we have an over-abundance of money in America. Seriously. Everyone is working, all the time, to make tons of money that we don't need. And if you are a 'good Christian' you tithe your 10% with no worries and all is well. I don't think it's very hard for people to give 10%. (and of course there are exceptions to that, but I can see the majority being that way) Anyways, tangent. What is more valuable than money? Time. Duh. Time is a valuable commodity that no one seems to have a lot of these days. Especially me (at least, from my perspective).

I smiled, as I was sitting there, adoring God on that chilly Saturday morning. This is why what I was doing was a big deal. I was giving my time, to God. One hour, of my precious sleeping time (and believe me, it's precious), to adore my Creator. That's what we (or maybe just me. I may be preaching to myself and that's it haha) need to give. Time. God wants us to sacrifice for Him, and what better way than giving time? Giving money is still important, yes. But that's easy. Write a check and boom you're done. Awesome, but easy. Time? That's harder. And being a child of God is supposed to be hard.

I'm rambling.

But yes, the moral here, is give time to God. Especially if time is a precious in your life as it is in mine. 

'religious' art

Context: my brother is in a rap group and they made it to nationals for a fine arts competition. This week has been spent in Orlando, seeing the sights, getting sunburnt, enjoying the ocean, and experiencing a multitude of fine art. I was sitting with my mom, watching a group do a worship dance to a contemporary christian song. She looks over at me and goes "you should make all your dances religious next year". More context. I am a dance teacher. Next year (this up-coming dance season) I will have 15 classes in 5 genres. Exciting! Usually I use some 'Christian' music, because I like it, and some secular music, because I like that as well. Mom was making the point that she would like to see me use all 'Christian' music - or do all my dances with a religious theme of some kind.

I told her all my dances were religious whether or not the artist was someone like TobyMac. See, I dance to glorify God and I create art to glorify God. I'm pretty sure I can dance to a Coldplay song that talks about color and still glorify God just as much as dancing to a song by Matt Maher that talks about Jesus being risen from the dead. Art is art, and I think it can still be 'Christian' without using a 'Christian' song.

I once read an article by a man who was talking about how ridiculous it was to put the label "Christian" on music. His point was, if you are going to make a beautiful song, it will already convey God and His love because God and His love are the epitome of beauty. So there can be 'good' music, as in well written and having a good melody and beat and all; just as there can be 'bad' music, with lyrics that don't rhyme or notes that don't match. But you can't have 'Christian' music or 'non-Christian' music just because a beautiful song points to a beautiful God who created beautiful things. It was a good article.

Art is the same way, in my mind. If you have a sculpture of a person, you are elevating that person by sculpting them in a sense... but you are also elevating God who made that person. By thinking 'wow, that sculpture is amazing', so you would think 'wow, God is amazing who made that person'. See what I'm getting at?

Dance is the same. To me. I can praise God no matter what song I dance to or what genre I dance to because He made my body, He made me dance, and it's a talent I can use to glorify His name. Even if I dance to music other than songs they play on K-Love. Because I'm creating something beautiful by dancing and creating dances.