The Motions

Thought I'd share something reflective and challenging today. This is from Matthew West, and it's called Motions. May you find grace, peace, and authenticity in your walk with Christ this day.

This might hurt, it's not safe

But I know that I've gotta make a change

I don't care if I break,

At least I'll be feeling something

'Cause just okay is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"

No regrets, not this time

I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind

Let Your love make me whole

I think I'm finally feeling something

'Cause just okay is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"

Everywhere...

So, of course there is this overwhelming new trend in our society to continually update people on what you are doing at all moments of every day. No, I'm not referring to blogging or even texting. Personally, reading the Facebook Status Updates is all I need to try and keep up with my many "friends." No, I'm talking about this little thing called Twitter.

Now, what you'll see below is not of my own finding. I credit Zach Lind (the drummer of Jimmy Eat World) and his blog as the source. Zach's blog is a great source for tough, raw, thought-provoking Christian perspective. While I could rant and ramble about how ridiculously interconnected we all are, and how this digital world often times community without a healthy lack of privacy, I still have much to read. But this video provided me some HUGE laughs. Enjoy!

Shiloh and the Office

Been gone too long, but not without good stuff to share. Today, is the usual tidbit of quotes from our favorite Paper Company's Scranton Branch. Also, my daughter Shiloh (age 3.5) has really been dropping down some one-liners of her own, which I thought you all might get a kick out of. Enjoy! (and stay tuned for more hilarity coming soon)

March 2 - "I am taking responsibility. It is up to me to get rid of the curse that hit Meredith with my car. I'm not superstitious. But I am a little stitious." (Michael)

March 3 - "They say if you're nervous around someone you should picture them naked. I do not recommend this strategy. Try picturing them with more clothes on. Or a funny coat." (Pam)

March 4 - "We had a foreign exchange student live with us when I was young. And we called him my brother and I thought that's what he was. Then he went home to what is now formerly Yugoslavia, taking all my blue jeans with him. I had to spend the entire winter in shorts. That is what Ryan is like. A fake brother who steals your jeans." (Michael)

March 10 - "Okay, this is Dwight's Second Life. He's on it all the time. So much so, that his little guy here has created his own little world. It's called 'Second Second Life' for those people who want to be removed even further from reality." (Jim)

March 11 - "That's how it goes sometimes...You lose everything, and everything falls apart, and eventually you die and no one remembers you." (Dwight)

March 12 - "Maybe there's some sort of animal that we could make a sacrifice to? Like a giant buffalo or some sort of monster, like something with the body of a walrus, with the head of a sea lion. Or something with the body of an egret, with the head of a meerkat. Or, just the head of a monkey with the antlers of a reindeer with the body of a porcupine." (Michael)

March 13 - "When Michael plays the hypothetical game, I always say yes...and I am always busy." (Jim)

March 14 - "Okay, the green bar is what you spend every month on stuff you need, like a car and a house...The red bar is what you spend on non-essentials, like magazines, entertainment, things like that...This scary black bar is what you spend on things that no one ever, ever needs. Like multiple magic sets, professional bass fishing equipment..." (Oscar)

March 16 - "Do I need to be liked? Absolutely not. I like to be liked, I enjoy being liked, I have to be liked, but it's not like this compulsive need to be liked. Like my need to be praised." (Michael)

March 17 - "Darryl Philbin is the most complicated man that I have ever met. I mean, who says exactly what they're thinking? What kind of game is this?" (Kelly)


SHILOH KATE BARTEE:

- "You broke my heart...and you broke my feelings."
- "You're the winner, congratulations!"
- "Not quite yet..." (when asked if she was ready for breakfast)
- "I want a puppy. I'll name it Minnie."
- "Maybe we can go to church today, okay, Mom?" (on a non-church day)
- "I have MAJOR boogers!"
- "Swiper the Fox...he's mean...he broke and crushed my heart."

Something Heavenly

Below is a song by Sanctus Real, "Something Heavenly." While KSBJ (our Houston Christian Radio station) is in danger of over-playing this song to the levels of Chris Tomlin, I must say that the lyrics are amazing, reflective, and relevent to anyone who's ever been faced with a difficult situation or a tough decision or even a relationship where that needs reconciliation. This is where my family has been for the past few months, and where I find myself in daily surrender with the BIG questions for our Great God.



It's time for healing time to move on

It's time to fix what's been broken too long

Time to make right what has been wrong

It's time to find my way to where I belong

There's a wave that's crashing over me

And all I can do is surrender



(Chorus)

Whatever You're doing inside of me

It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace

It's hard to surrender to what I can't see

but I'm giving in to something Heavenly



Time for a milestone

Time to begin again

Reevaluate who I really am

Am I doing everything to follow Your will

Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills

So show me what it is You want from me

I give everything I surrender...

To...



(Chorus)



Time to face up

Clean this old house

Time to breathe in and let everything out

That I've wanted to say for so many years

Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me

It feels like chaos but I believe

You're up to something bigger than me

Larger than life something Heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me

It feels like chaos but now I can see

This is something bigger than me

Larger than life something Heavenly

Something Heavenly



It's time to face up

Clean this old house

Time to breathe in and let everything out

Office Love

So I was eating crow, "humble pie," whatever you want to call it when it came to the Oscars. I thought the Academy Awards show itself was fantastic, just sort of lame-o and predictable on the winners and such. I realize I've been away from some Office quotes, and it doesn't help that the show has been missing from new episodes for the past 2 weeks. And so, without further adieu, I will bestow upon this fine Monday a plethora of quotes that will make you smile, chuckle, and reminisce for the return of our great show. Enjoy!

January 30 - "Oh well. If they're not together now, then they probably never will be. I thought they'd be good together, like P.B. & J. Pam Beesley and Jim. What a waste. What a waste." (Kevin)

January 31 - "I have been compared to a young Paul Newman. It's the eyes, and the face, I guess. Also, I make my own salad dressing. I mix Newman's Italian with Newman's Ranch. I sell it at flea markets for a small loss. I could make a profit if I changed one of the ingredients to Wishbone, but I won't do it." (Michael)

February 2 - "When I'm at home at night in my own house in my sweats drinking some red wine and watching my mystery stories, the last thing in the whole God-forsaken world I wanna hear is the voice of Michael Scott." (Stanley)

February 4 - "I'm petrified of nipple chafing. Once it starts, it is a vicious cycle. You have sensitive nipples...they chafe, so they become more sensitive, so they chafe more. So, I take precautions." (Andy)

February 5 - "Here we go. Everyone, this is a day that will live in infamy. 'Cause today is the day that Jim and Pam become one...I love you guys so much." (Michael)

February 7 - "Agritourism is a lot more than a bed and breakfast. It consists of tourists coming to the farm, showing them around, giving them a bed, giving them breakfast." (Dwight)

February 9 - "When I came home, Sprinkle's body was in the freezer, where Dwight said he left her. But all my bags of frozen French fries had been clawed to shreds...Something's not right. The vet's doing an autopsy." (Angela)

February 10 - "Guess what? I have flaws. What are they? Oh, I don't know. I sing in the shower, sometimes I spend too much time volunteering; occasionally I'll hit somebody with my car. So sue me. No, don't sue me. That's the opposite of the point that I am trying to make." (Michael)

February 11 - "I have been involved in a number of cults--both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower. But you make more money as a leader." (Creed)

February 12 - "Who is this old fart? Did you just stagger off of the street? Out of a box or something? Who's this worthless bags of bones? Well, this guy is none other than one of the founders of Dunder Mifflin, Mr. Robert Dunder." (Michael)

February 20 - "Hey, Pam, by the way, it's great that you're dating, but when a new client calls, you have to just randomly assign them to a salesperson. You can't base who gets new clients on who you're sleeping with that week, okay?" (Phyllis)

February 24 - "Inspirational. What did we learn? Well, we have learned that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Because it is illegal, and you will go to jail." (Michael)

February 26 - "Spend your whole life trying to get people to like you and then you run over one person with your car. And it's not even one of the popular ones, and everybody gets on your case. Doesn't make any sense." (Michael)

February 27 - "Pam and Jim are together. Ryan is visiting. Only thing that could make this day any better is ice cream." (Michael)

Slumdog Millionaire

I'd like to comment for just a moment on one of the most talked about films of the past year. Carly and I saw this film a while back, at the recommendation of my younger Jedi-movie-watching brother, Payton. The hype was mild and growing at the time, and thus we went in with some expectations that not only would the film be different, but overwhelmingly special.

You know, Slumdog Millionaire was neat, and clever, and haunting, and fun...it was unique in a way that I'm not sure I'd encountered before. You know, sometimes when I see movies that have absolutely ZERO redemptive qualities--they're just a fun escape, senseless action or comedy or mayhem that I surrender to for 90-120 minutes. However, the buzz surrounding this flick was that it would contain many redeeming elements in it.

Danny Boyle (producer/director) has crafted a very fresh, hip film that raises the awareness of poverty and injustice in a different culture and part of the world. The images range from haunting to humorous, but at the end of the day I was just a tad thrown off. You see, Slumdog Millionaire is kind of like a brief glimpse into a world we can't understand, where are heart is moved for just a moment, and then we're back in our wealthy comfort after 2 hours. (this many times happens on a Mission Trip, where we're changed for a short time, but not the long haul)

For me personally, Gran Torino addresses issues that hit closer to home...not that we don't have poverty, injustice, and the deepest levels of America that we see in India. But moreover the underlying currents of hatred, racism, opportunity, and sacrifice. Eastwood's character reflects a generation, an attitude, a reality that exists not only in Detroit but all over this country. I was surprised and moved by the authenticity of Gran Torino's themes, and they are still with me today...much the same way the overwhelming message of disconnect from Crash is as well.

I have a special place in my heart for films which introduce and inspire me to understand other cultures (see The Mission, Apocaltypo), but for movies that aspire to communicate a redeeming message to their audience, I prefer one that's gonna stick weeks after I've seen it. Unfair as it may seem, this is where Slumdog fell short. But I sincerely hope you enjoyed yourself at the movies...

Tomorrow/Later today: my Oscar Picks.

Best Movies 0f 2008

Well at long last, here is my list of my favorite flicks from the past year. By no means will anyone who reads this list agree with it 100%, and certainly this will not match up with any experts or critics choices. However, there will be an explanation paragraph at the bottom, followed by my most-anticipated movies of 2009. Enjoy and happy watching!

Bartee's Best of 2008
1. The Dark Knight
2. Wall-E
3. Iron-man
4. Kung-Fu Panda
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
6. Sweeny Todd
7. Horton Hears a Who
8. Mamma Mia!
9. Cloverfield
10.Be Kind Rewind

What can I say? The Batman team of Nolan, Ledger, and Eckhart made Dark Knight superb. Ironman lived up to the hype, and actually exceeded my expectations. Of course I have a soft spot for a clever, well-done, humor-with-a-message animated flick...and that's represented by 3 of those on my list. Button was so very different from anything I'd seen before. Sweeny's music completely trumped the strange gore reservations I had, and the music of Abba makes Mamma Mia a blast on every level. And, Cloverfield is really the film that was trippy, edgy, confusing, and suspenseful wrapped in one. My #10 choice is just a sleeper for me.

Honorable Mention: Frost/Nixon (only because I haven't seen it!)


SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN:

Taken and Gran Torino

(these 2 films would be near the top of my '08 list, but because of when they came out and when I saw them, there's really not a place for them to exist...they are MUST-SEE flicks)


Looking Forward To
1. Robin Hood
2. G.I. Joe
3. Sherlock Holmes
4. Star Trek
5. X-men Wolverine
6. Transformers 2
7. Angels and Demons
8. Land of the Lost
9. Watchmen
10.Public Enemies


Coming Soon: My thoughts on Slumdog Millionaire, more Office love, and "Daily Words which stand out."