Nov 7

Written by:
11/7/2008 9:12 PM 

I have been blogging for a while now...just not on this particular website. I was recently re-reading some of the stuff I've written in the past and one entry from September jumped out at me. I think reading it was a reminder. So...I think instead of writing something new, I'm going to copy that entry here. I am on this blog quite a bit and it doesn't hurt for me to be reminded of this life lesson as much as possible!

Friday, September 5, 2008
This weekend marks a little party for me--otherwise known as "FREE HBO WEEKEND." I love this because it gives me a chance to watch movies for free that I wouldn't normally get the opportunity to watch.

There is one movie that I have to say, I really enjoy. I love the movie "Evan Almighty." I get so much out of this quirky movie--both simple entertainment and good life lessons. So, to my glee, I find out that this is one of the movies currently showing on HBO!!!  (I love Steve Carell...he's a riot. I absolutely love "The Office.")

At the climax of this movie, Evan (played by Carell) has turned into a modern-day Noah. He's built an Ark--at God's urging--and after enduring months of ridicule from friends and family, he finally is being vidicated by the destruction of a local dam which has resulted in flooding the neighborhood. As Evan, his family, and a large population from his neighborhood are clinging to safety on the ark--while floating down towards Capital Hill--the entire crowd sees that the ark is headed straight for a bridge, threatening to destroy the lifeline ark.
Evan, with his long white beard and hair flowing in the wind, dressed in a tunic and carrying a staff, suddenly gets a bright idea. Now that he's accepted his unwelcome destiny of being the new Noah, he climbs to the bow of the boat raises his staff and says to the wind and the water, "I COMMAND THEE!!!"

Nothing happens.

"STOP!" he shouts at the weather (desperate to stop the boat from slamming into the bridge.)

Still nothing happens.

Humbly, Evan looks up to the sky. "How about a little help here?" he asks.
Suddenly a huge wave comes and turns their coarse away from the impending doom.

LIFE LESSON TIME!!! Now I'm thinking about how this applies to life. No, I'm not planning to carry around a staff everywhere I go from now on (although it's a cool idea.) But to me it symbolizes my human nature to a "T".  When I get overconfident in my own abilities, I raise my own staff and try to control the wind and the waves of my life. Of course...that rarely works. After all, a staff is just a piece of wood; and I am not God.

But when I humble myself and stop trying to use all the fancy words ('I command thee?!?') and just say, "Hey, God? How 'bout a little help down here?" Suddenly the waves push me in another direction.

Notice something? I didn't say the waves and wind went away. I said they TURNED ME IN ANOTHER DIRECTION. (Whoa! All this from a movie???) No, really. The circumstances of my life don't necessarily change, but my viewpoint of those circumstances are changed. Now, God is controlling my direction instead of me trying to change my life. I think that's pretty cool. I love that movie.

Plus, Steve Carell is funny.