Being a sloth isn't as hard as being a worm.

So this week I feel pretty lazy. As far as 50/50, it's more like 1000/50. Movies aren't hard to watch, it's just the books I can't find time for. (Ironic, I know.)
Movies:
13) West Side Story - the story is ok, but the dancing is hilarious!!!!! Let's be honest, a majority of the people playing high schoolers def aren't.
14) Burlesque - wouldn't recommend it for the language or much of the content. Actually, just don't bother watching it.
15) Legally Blonde - I don't care what Reese Witherspoon says, I'd choose orange over pink any day of the week!

Books:
Debating between one about New Orleans' french quarter or a book of gathered written pieces from C.S. Lewis. Decisions, decisions.

This week is going to be very interesting in terms of how much sleep I get as well as how much homework I get accomplished. Right now, I have a large iced coffee that is assisting me in "homework". :)

(So how many days before May????)

Relationships are to be treasured, good and bad.

Just finished reading Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. What a great book! I've never read anything by Elliot before, but it is definitely worth reading, whether you're a girl or boy.
If you have struggled trying to understand how God desires friendships and relationships between men and women, read this book! If you're a single Christian man/woman seeking to grow in Christ, read this book!
There have been many seasons in my life where I've struggled with feelings to become more than friends with guys I knew but every attempt I've made was not godly. If you have experienced this or feel like this, I'm telling you, ya gotta read this book!
It's comforting to know that Jesus Himself struggled being a human with temptations. It's encouraging that the Bible provides numerous stories, the greatest love story of all was Jesus on the cross. When Jesus was riding on a donkey into Jerusalem for Passover, the Jews screamed, "Hosanna!" and did not understand that "salvation" was the exact intention of Christ on the cross at Calvary.

Wait a couple of days and see what happens...

The wonderful, white, fluffy stuff has almost disappeared as quickly as it fell just a couple of days ago. Today was a cold, dreary day as the rain started to melt away the snow. By 4pm however, the sun made a comeback. I'm glad that we did get snow, even though I'm more grateful that I got a snow day as a result, because it wouldn't be a New England winter without it. It makes the ground and the trees into a majestic scene that can be short lived though very much appreciated.

Today I watched the movie, the Blind Side and it made me hopeful about God's grace and the ability He gives us in circumstances to "pay it forward". Many times, especially in the American culture, we typically do not assume the role of being the helper. We generally are not instinctive to help out others. Help out a complete stranger? When that happens, it gets news coverage. Why? Because it is a rare act that as humans, we are not generally prone to doing. 

Some egoists would say that we do this out of selfishness, that the belief that we shall be rewarded somehow is the reason in which we choose to act. Now I do not subscribe to this belief, how depressing a world would be live in if everyone did something based on selfishness? 

Yet here we are, many times you'll hear how our society as a whole has progressed technologically. And in that respect, yes we have; however, we also as a society have continued to play the apathetic card in too many circumstances. Hearing about civil wars and famine in third world countries, or after listening to the news about the Middle East someone makes a comment that we should just "pull our troops out and 'nuke' them".

It's unfathomable, in my mind, why God allows us to continue to live; why He wouldn't just see us in our selfish ways, rebelling against His perfect path for us. What makes Him not just wipe us out and start over? In Romans, it says that because of God's grace and righteousness which he imputes on us, through Jesus Christ, that we continue to live. (Read all of Romans, it's that good!) That we may suffer, succeed, and live until death greets us.

For many people, this life is the creme de la creme. They go on living for themselves, numero uno as it were. And the fact of the matter is that this life is temporary. That when you die, you will stand before God and be accounted for everything that you and I did in our lives, the good and the bad. Some will believe that the good things they did have outweighed the bad and therefore God (being the merciful Judge that he is) would be persuaded to not banish people to hell. Unfortunately for them, this is the wrong way to think. If there was a judge who believed that a serial killer should be let free because of the numerous good works that he did in his life before he decided to kill people, we would consider that judge to be ill-advised. But praise be to God that He gave us a way to be atoned through Christ Jesus! Jesus took on all of our impurities, our sins, our faults, upon Himself at the cross. As He drew his last breath, he replied, "It is finished." (John 19:30) What is finished? The divide between God and His people. The promise that He gave to Abraham continues on.

Finally snow!

     Today was a snow day and instead of staying inside the entire day, which I was about to do cause I was on the verge of a Daniel Day Lewis marathon, I hung out with my friend and we went on an adventure.
Here are some of the pictures to prove our excursion...

The accessories on the snowman we provided, since the snowman looked a little plain and sad with only having one arm.

Regarding the 50/50 challenge, it's still pressing on. For movies this past week, I've seen:
#7: Much Ado About Nothing - Definitely recommend, and it proves again how bad of an actor Keanu Reeves is, however, do not let this deter you for there are plenty of great actors and actresses in this film.
#8 The Secret World of Arriety - it's the anime version of the borrowers. It's a children's movie, just to warn you.
#9: The Mighty Macs - It's about a college women's basketball team who wasn't even consider an opponent. If you like basketball, you should watch it. If you're obsessed with David Boreanaz, you shouldn't because he's barely in it.
#10: The Last of the Mohicans - After my teacher showed us a little bit of this film, I was hooked! It does have a love story in it, but the history is very rich in it. This takes places in the mid 1700's, during the French & Indian War between the English and the French. This was the only war that started in North America and "spilled over" into Europe.
#11: In the Name of the Father - Not only is Daniel Day Lewis in this, but Emma Thompson and Pete Postlethwaite (if you grew up in the 90's, he starred and narrated James & the Giant Peach)
After watching these movies, I can now say that I have less of a tendency to fear Lewis. After watching him in movies like Gangs of New York, his character portrayal was really good. Like scary good.

As for books, I'm currently reading (#8) Passion & Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. I've so far only read the first chapter and already am hooked! If you ever want to understand how to maintain a healthy balance of friendship with the opposite sex, ladies (and guys too!) should definitely read this book. I'm also excited to read this book because I'm leading a study on it, so I better know my way inside and out of it.