But his preferred medium at the moment is...you guessed it....Legos.
Specifically, Lego stop action film making.
He recruited 5 of 8 as a fellow voice actor, fired up his Flip camera and set about making some movie magic.
I like to think that he gets his Lego creativity from moi...as chronicled here...and here.
Not that I'm delusional enough to think that I would have the patience to render a stop-action film. Heavens, no. While I do love me some stop-action effects and think there is no higher form of it than that perennial holiday favorite of Rudolph and his little claymation buddies, to actually move little bits of material half-centimeters at a time and take shots of each and every move...well, that would require pharmaceuticals to render me able to be that fastidious.
Serious pharmaceuticals.
But 3 of 8 is willing to work with such scrutiny for his art. And he was willing to showcase a bit of it here, a little montage of Legos and Octamom.
Roll tape...
2010.
Twenty-ten.
Reminds me of how my kids would try to count. Twenty-nine....Twenty-ten.
I haven't set before myself a concrete set of resolutions for the year. We hit the ground running at the conclusion of the holidays. To be most accurate, we seemed to run through the holidays and just kept on running, even as the ball dropped in Times Square.
So I haven't exactly done what I promote here.
Selah.
Take a pause. Reflect.
But as I begin to turn over in my mind the areas I would like to experience improvement in this new year, points of weakness, points of needed progress, I find myself thankful again that I'm not just out on my own, reading another self-help book, trying to run the program, making the lists, checking off the bullet points.
Thankful indeed.
Because every morning, I get to start over, no matter the failure and frustration of the day before.
Every day.
Sometimes every minute.
Starting over.
To be a new creation in the Lord.
And He allows me to erase the tapes in my head that play over and over, "But that's just how you are. You can't change. You can't become something you're not."
Oh, yes I can.
Through Him.
So perhaps the foundation of my 2010 resolutions begins here. To embrace that I am a new creation. To embrace that I can start over. To embrace that the extravagant soothing of grace wipes the chalkboard of the soul to a clean surface, allowing me to write afresh the things He is laying on my heart.
And so the process continues, the laying aside of the old nature.
The revelation of the new.
Selah.
2 of 8 was babysitting the other little kids for me.
Lucky 2 of 8.
Because on her watch, we had this little adventure...
This would be sugar.
All over the pantry floor.
Are you starting to itch?
It's sort of festive, in a way. It looks like snow.
It seems that 5 of 8 was getting the sugar down to sprinkle a bit (or a lot) on his cereal. Since this is a household of 10 people, I typically don't buy anything in small quantities.
Including sugar.
As these photos have proved.
You've got to hand it to 2 of 8. She grabbed the camera, got some shots, then cleaned it all up.
All before I got home.
Love that girl.
But I do have a feeling that I'll be finding sugar granules for quite a while to come.
Let's get it straight from the eyewitnesses, shall we?
365 days... 52 weeks... 12 months...
That's how long it's been since Peggy, Annemarie, Wendy, Julie, and I first posted about the words we chose to focus on during 2009. During these months, we forged friendships together as we shared our individual journeys with one another.
Although I chose to focus on FAITH and JOY this year, I must say that I learned as much from my friends' words as I did my own. Balance, discipline, abundance, and excellence made their way into my own life as I read their monthly posts or looked at the photographs and other images that helped them tell their stories. I often found myself contemplating their words alongside my own.
When I chose faith and joy, I could already see a connection between the two... that by having more faith in God and in His plan for my life, I will be able to experience more joy in the daily moments that make up my life. I shared my words with my students and made it a point to think about the words as the days and weeks rolled past.
How did I do? I think in the beginning, I was more attuned to the words and what I wanted them to mean in my life. As the months passed, however, I found myself slipping into old habits of worry. Yet, in the middle of the day or during the evening at home, I would stop and really look at the world around me. And I would smile. Joy, I realized, is all around me if I open my eyes wide enough to see.
God wants each of us to be happy... to experience joy in our life each and every day. Why else would He send beautiful rays of pink and orange to greet us each morning? Why would the sounds of nature, from birds' songs to the crashing of ocean waves, soothe our souls? Why would He bless the earth with children whose carefree laughter is a clear invitation for us to experience joy?
He gives us these bursts of color and song as a gift so that we will know joy.
This post is our final reflection on our words for 2009. I chose the word BALANCE because I hoped it would empower me to leave my unbalanced life behind in 2008. Overall it actually helped in the most simple of ways. That is, when I was feeling quite stressed out throughout the year, I would, now and then, remember, "oh yeah – balance" and take a few deep breaths.
Today's reflection is about spirituality:
The philosophy of balance can be found in many of the world’s religions, particularly the eastern religions. In both Hinduism and Taoism, the idea of balancing your mind, body and spirit is very important.
In Hinduism it is believed that the body is made up of seven basic "chakras" or energy centers, each of which correlates to different bodily functions, levels of consciousness, emotional states and so on. In order to stay healthy, we need to ensure that these chakras remain balanced.
Similarly in Taoism, there is the concept of "chi", which is the vital energy that flows through the body. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that illness is caused by imbalances of yin and yang in the body, which blocks the free movement of "chi". Thus, to stay healthy you need to maintain the balance between yin and yang in your body.
In western culture, a commonly heard phrase is "healthy mind, healthy body", which encourages balance between mental and physical health. Having a healthy mind and body, however, is only a part of the story. As suggested by the following Taoist quote, we also need to bring our spiritual selves into balance:
"Unless the mind, body and spirit are equally developed and fully integrated, no [wisdom] can be sustained".
January 1, 2009 I made a commitment with my blog friends ….post each month about one WORD for the year. I chose ABUNDANCE.
In the beginning, I had been blogging regularly, receiving inspiration from other blogs, and sharing my blogging with close friends. I had already quoted scriptures that speak of Abundance. I understood that God wants abundance for us and wants us to recognize the abundance we already have no matter our situation. In January, for the first post I said this; “How will a WORD impact the way I am living? How will this one WORD teach me, challenge me, make me want to be a better person?”
Well, my commitment to this WORD saved me from myself. When I was depleted of spirit, I was reminded. When I was depleted of funds, I was reminded. When I was depleted of love of others, of love of self, of discipline, of faith, of balance and of excellence, I was reminded. I was reminded of my abundance every month by the words of this blog group. I was encouraged by their words and I was inspired to give more.
I learned that if you hold fast…keep moving…keep living…and keep giving, you will have enough. You will have abundance in your life. God promised it and even without faith we will have it. Faith just makes it better.
Mitch Album says “The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” I could say the way you get Abundance is the same….
I cannot say it any more clearly than the acrostic that I posted in January: Abundance is a verb. It is an act of life that requires one to move…to do, in order to become.
Atone for your hurtfulness.
Bid farewell to judgment.
Utilize your mind.
Notice your surroundings.
Draw on support from friends.
Acknowledge the gifts of others.
Nullify negativity.
Create moments of meaning.
Embrace the little things
I am looking forward to 2010. My word for 2010 is Gratefulness. Again I say, ““How will the WORD impact the way I am living? How will this one WORD teach me, challenge me, make me want to be a better person?” Come along with me those who will and commit to another WORD for your year.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (NIV) Hebrews 12:1-3
This is the last edition of my monthly reflections on the word Discipline. My friends and I started on our respective journeys twelve months ago after reading Caroline’s post having no idea where the road would take us. It has been wonderful trip.
I chose the word discipline to inspire, motivate and direct me through the year. It was a good thing to aspire to but one that I will probably never fully achieve. When I finally came to that realization, I finally felt more relaxed. The point was to reach for that goal with PERSEVERANCE. I fixed my eyes on Jesus who helped me to remain steadfast because knowing I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
So as I endured difficult times, those words carried me through. My goal was not to be the perfect parent or the perfect teacher, but be more planned and organized in both of these areas.
I haven’t exactly decided what my focus is for next year, but I am certain it will involve creativity of some sort. So don’t “lose heart,” I will be back with another series of posts.
