Monthly Archives: July 2011

Cowboys and Aliens ….and God?

A movie review provided by this bewildered movie buff.

I like movies. I watch a lot of them AND I’m also pretty observant so I am not blind to the obvious bias Hollywood and the media have against conservatism and, especially, Christians. If there’s a Christian in a movie, he or she is usually at least mentally off, the “really” bad guy, or the idiot.

When the preacher-man first made his appearance in Cowboys and Aliens, my first thought was, “Oh, great. Here they go again. This one is the nutcase of the town. He’s probably a mass murderer or the town drunk. Whatever he is, he definitely will not be a good guy.” Not only is he a good guy, he’s one of the wisest in town, a man of integrity and all-around nice guy. Not only that, the preacher tells the saloon owner that he needs to have faith to which he, Doc, replies, “”God ain’t done much for me.” Now, I know this isn’t exactly doctrinally sound but it’s not “too” far off base, but the preacher says, “You can’t expect God to do everything. You gotta earn His presence. Then you gotta recognize it, then you gotta act on it.”

Also heard in this flick:

“God don’t care who you were, son. Only who you are.”
“If there’s such a thing as a soul, this man had a good one. … Please protect it.”
“She’s in a better place.”
“Whether you end up in heaven or hell, it’s not God’s plan, it’s your own.”

The movie also includes self-sacrifice, overcoming bigotry, and a boatload of courage. This is by no means a family-friendly, Christian movie (although some parents thought it not a problem to bring their toddlers to the 10 o’clock showing. Good grief). There’s some language, immodesty, and a whole heck of a lot of violence (a.k.a “action-packed” which is why I chose that movie!) but I didn’t leave thinking, “What did I ever do to them?!” I won’t spoil the movie for you but if you want to know exactly what is in this flick or any other, you can go to Plugged In. Warning – this site tells you what you’re looking for but is a “spoiler site.” Cowboys and Aliens has some creepy-looking and quite original creatures, ships and I really want a bracelet like that!! Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig went above and beyond to bring life to their characters. I thought the whole cast did an amazing job at making this ridiculous scenario believable for the duration of the movie. It’s well-made and if you can get past that it’s yet, another, “aliens are here” movie, this is fantastic storytelling! The Cowboys and Aliens site is pretty impressive, too, and worth a visit.

There ya have it! My movie review. Enjoy!

What’s not shared is lost,

Michelle

Posted in Zookeeper & the F-Troop

So…I’m a Nana

Jul 28

Posted by zookeeper12

Autumn Rose

It was surreal. I was holding this precious little girl that looks SO much like 6 other tiny baby girls I’ve delivered but it wasn’t I that labored; it was one of those baby girls. My daughter. My first granddaughter. I had asked Corinne if I can be “Nana.” One, because I’m too young to be Grandma and two, so the grandbabies can differentiate between grandparents. And, third, because I’m too young to be a Grandma.

Craig, Jillian and I arrived at the hospital on Wednesday, July 19. Corinne had been experiencing “labor light” and was enjoying it. She was already at 5 cm so the hospital was keeping her. She had been permitted to eat pizza before we got there since she was going natural and not using any pain meds. She had been laboring since the day before and was starving. That didn’t make any difference when I was in the hospital. They didn’t even like me to eat crackers! The reasoning was that if I needed a C-section, they didn’t want food in my stomach. I was glad she was able to eat but jealous at the same time as I am still bitter about having to starve to death.

Anyhoo, for those that know the journey we have been on with Corinne, you know that this was emotional for many reasons. It’s so hard sometimes to trust that certain events in your life were really meant to be in God’s plan. But one thing I have no doubt of – there is NO child conceived without His consent. And so, I’m waiting with anticipation to see what God is going to do with this new season in all of our lives! It only occurred to us just before Little Autumn’s birth that our near future includes weekends with Autumn staying over playing with her Uncle Seth…who is only 1 1/2 years older than her. When she’s 20, Isabelle will be 26. They might just be hanging out! It’s strange, I tell ya.

So, back at the hospital, Corinne’s labor actually began to hurt and I could tell it was the kind of pain that gets the job done. She still managed to crack jokes and gab her head of in between contractions. Josh’s parents arrived that evening and we decided to leave Jillian at the hospital and we went to a hotel. We had asked Corinne & Josh if they wanted us there and they didn’t mind either way. We decided to get out of the way and let them have this special time. It was hard to leave but we knew she was in good hands. And Greater Hands.

Autumn Rose was born at 3:50am on July 2oth, 8lb. 1 oz., 22″ long. And she’s perfect. She’s beautiful. And she’s too far away, dang it. Okay, I don’t have to get in a plane to go see her so I am grateful. She’s only 2 1/2 hours away. But newborns don’t stay newborns long.

We took the whole herd and my mom up yesterday to see the new family. We crowded into the tiny apartment. It was like “how many people can we fit in a VW?” We managed and had a good visit. And I held Autumn. I have pics of everyone holding her and it was so precious to hear all of them ask, even my macho men, if they could hold her again.