Live Together or Die Alone

What is it about fictional characters that tug on our heart strings so much?

I went to see Harry Potter last weekend with the dear friend who got me reading the books. Even though I became a Harry Potter fan much later than most (I read the books at the end of 2009/beginning of 2010), I love the books dearly. There is something about the books that pulled at my very being and sucked me into this world and this story.

The final installment of the movies was very emotional for me. Yes, I knew what was coming...and yes, I knew who was going to die and who was going to live...but seeing it acted out was another thing altogether.

I feel the same attachment to L O S T. The hubby and I started watching L O S T later than most as well (we watched the first four seasons about 5 months before the fifth season came on TV). But, we connected with the characters and had to know what happened to them...as well as get some of our questions answered.

The final episode of that show was very emotional for me as well. We watched it with some good friends and the majority of us were definitely shedding some tears. Not all of our questions were answered, but I loved how the show ended. I loved the way they were all so connected to each other...and that connection is what brought them all back together in "the end".

Both Harry Potter and L O S T received quite a bit of criticism for the way they ended. You either loved it or you hated it...there was no in-between. For being on the love side, I began to wonder how people could hate it...and then it dawned on me...

The ones that hated the endings seemed to like them for amusement purposes...or just had the curiosity to find out what happened...and were disappointed they didn't turn out "the way they wanted".

My love for both stems from the relational aspect (as well as good vs. evil). My sweet friend from CO said that when L O S T was over, she missed her "friends". That, to me, is the perfect way to word it. I truly feel like I made a connection with Harry and Ron and Hermione...and Jack and Kate and Hurley. Their stories felt real to me.

We, as humans, need real relationships, with real people.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
(Galatians 5:13-14, NIV)

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:23-25, NIV)

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.
(Romans 12:4-6a, NIV)

I love that verse in Romans. We NEED each other to be complete. We are not supposed to function on our own.

I think that is what makes up the characters of Harry Potter and L O S T. Though Harry is always pushing away those closest to him, to protect them, they continually follow him anyway. Though many of the characters on L O S T tried to do things their own way, they failed...until someone came along and stood by them.

God never meant for us to live out this life alone.

One of Jack's (from L O S T) most well-known quotes was, "...If we can't live together—we're gonna die alone."

That is why I am so passionate about the things I do: the college group, my women's Bible study, our Wednesday night Bible study, blogging...because no one should have to walk this life alone.

My prayer is that you have someone or many someones in your life that are walking with you, holding you up, and leading you closer to Christ. If you don't, please feel free to email me (see right side bar).

And, remember most of all, you are LOVED.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
(1 John 4:9-12, NIV)

Cling to that, my friends.

Moments

Life is all about moments...

Moments that take our breath away.
Moments that change and mold us.
Moments we wish we could forget.
Moments we hope to hold onto forever.

And yet, we take these moments...all of our moments...for granted, all the time. We think we have so much time to do this or that...we always think we have a tomorrow...and we never realize, until it's too late, how important it is to appreciate what we have in our lives.

I've been struggling a lot this week with different moments...what they mean, what they could mean, and what I'm going to do in response to them.

I'm in a hard place...and I don't really know what tomorrow is going to look like.

Someone very dear to me is losing the reality of her moments. The moments she thinks she's living in are very different than the moments she's actually living in...and it breaks my heart. And, the hardest part about it is that she doesn't even know what's going on. She thinks we are all crazy and making things up...and it's just so sad.

It's been making me realize how very important my moments are...and how I should value them, not take them for granted.

As we are almost done going through Crazy Love in our Wednesday night Bible study, I'm reminded of a story Francis Chan tells about his mother's grandma...who did not want Jesus to find her in a theater if He were to come back in that moment.

With that story...and the reality I'm living in with this very dear person...I want to make my moments count. I want the things I choose to spend my time doing to be important things, things that matter, things that will bring glory to God.

That is what is on my heart.

(Linking up with Casey)

Blog Lovin'

I jumped on the Blog.Lovin bandwagon...

And, I'm very glad I did.

If you don't currently use blog.lovin to follow your favorite blogs, I highly suggest doing so. It has such a nicer layout than Blogger itself or Google Reader.

If you wanna follow me, do so here:
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Sunshine

I'm linking up with Gussy and her Inspiration Workshop again this week.

This week's prompt was Sunshine.

Unfortunately, I'm not feeling very sunshine-y today...and it's been much cooler here than it's been in a couple of weeks...so I'm pulling out some old photos to show some of my favorite sunshine.

These are from our honeymoon in Hawaii!



We really want to go back someday...and I hope someday we'll be able to!

Princesses and Happily Ever After

I had such a wonderful weekend.

In my last post, I talked about the Princess Day we were having for the college girls. It was so much fun! We did makeovers and watched Princess Diaries, Enchanted, and Tangled. We ate a fabulous meal and enjoyed super yummy pink cupcakes. And, we talked about how God sees us as princesses and how we should find our value in that. (Unfortunately, we had to rush that part a little...because we didn't realize how late it was getting!)

Here are some pics of our night:




On Saturday, we attended a wedding for some friends of ours. It was a beautiful ceremony. It is so obvious that their relationship is centered around Christ. Everything they said and did during the ceremony was all about their love for God, and their love for each other. It was so sweet!

Here are some pics from the reception:

(Me and the cute hubby with his short hair)

(Me and E.H.)

(Aren't they so cute?)

(Me and S.S.)

(Cheers!)

(My sweet friend and her beautiful family)

How was your weekend?