The TRUE POWER of Narnia...

I RARELY, RARELY, sit long enough to watch a movie...we don't have many in our "library". Other than Scott's hunting videos, 95% of our videos are based on true stories or movies with deep purpose/meaning and great lessons to be learned...to me.

I decided to turn on a movie as I puttered around the apartment this morning...again, I can't even tell you the last time I watched a video, or the last movie theater/movie Scott and I went and saw, so this was out of the ordinary for me...

I chose "Narnia". WHAT AN AMAZING MOVIE!!! The special effects are absolutely mind boggling,.. If you do not like my ramblings and "stories", "analogies", you may close this blog down now... :-) I won't take the time to depict each part of the movie, but if you believe in Christ, His great atonement and the role/s it plays in our lives and our part in our Heavenly Fathers great plan...this is a MUST see! Or, if you did not see/feel the symbolism in it the first time you watched it, PLEASE, watch it again. Also, it's VERY, VERY possible that you are all saying to yourselves, "duh, Jen"!, but I'm sharing it anyway...For those of you who have a deeper understanding of this movie, I would love to hear your thoughts on it as well...I really need to read the book!

Aslan, the Great Lion King, suffers greatly & even dies for the mistakes of a traitor, or a "prodigal child" - each of us

Each child represents characteristics that we have, good or...not so good.

* Lucy- The child like attributes that we should all carry with us, throughout our lives, VALIANT
* Edmond- The prodigal child, which we all are, none of us are perfect, yet he finds forgiveness, and Asland even states that his wrongs have been taken care of and should be spoken of no more. We should not only forgive those who have hurt us, but we must forgive ourselves and MOVE ON, learning from the past, yet remembering no more. JUST
*Susan-Motherly, or a care giver, GENTLE
*Peter- Protector, leader, courage, MAGNIFICENT

There is so much more in this movie that humbles me, yet also gives me HOPE to move forward, to always remember the great sacrifice and love our/my Savior and Heavenly Father has for me. The part of the movie that moved me to writing this post was the scene that Peter, the eldest brother, and Edmond, have learned that Asland was sacrificed and that Peter must lead the troops to battle the great evil. A little preface, Peter and Edmond have not said much of a kind word to each other during the movie...This battle will determine the future of an entire world, including themselves-not a light burden to be carrying on your shoulders. Anyway.. As Peter contemplates the battle that lies in front of them, Edmond tells Peter that he must lead them, and that their is a great army ready to follow him. Peter, states, "I CAN'T!" Then Edmond says," Asland believed you could," ... which at this, it means a lot, for Asland is the greatest king and is held in the highest honor of his people. ( This next part is the part that moved me into writing this post.) Peter than states, "So do I", Edmond stating his belief in his brother, Peter's hope brightens, his faith in himself and those he loves and is going into battle with, is what strengthens him enough to MOVE FORWARD, to not only face the great evil that stands in front of him, but to face the evil with courage, hope, determination and faith that they will win.

I've become such a softy in my old-young age...I had already cried at so many different parts of this movie, but I really let the ol' eyeballs squirt when this happened - let me tell you why...

I believe that the majority of the people who are reading this post know they are a Child of God, a son or daughter of the Greatest King, He did not send us into this "battle" called life to fail. He is not here in person, He will not deny us the OPPORTUNITIES and RIGHTS to grow and to learn how to become great sons and daughters. (Prince's and Princesses, Kings and Queens) Yet for me it is difficult to "move forward" at times, some times I just want to yell...well, I have yelled, "I CAN'T DO IT". As I turn to my Heavenly Father and BEG for Him to just let my life be perfect.. wink, wink... He sends an email, phone call, voice mail, or a note from one of my most beautiful sisters, telling me, "I believe in you." Those words may not be said, or written, but the very thought of the love I have for my sisters, and knowing how difficult life can be, I want to be strong and faithful for them. The true belief from a sibling has the overwhelming power to keep hope alive, and stretch my faith to higher grounds. The amazing examples that they have ALWAYS been for me deserves nothing less than my very best. We may not see the face of the Savior or our Heavenly Father each day, but we can feel His love and His faith in us as we turn to those we love the most, for that is one of the many miracles He puts before us.

To those of you who may be reading, who may not have the same type of relationship with your siblings or parents, I would like to challenge you to become that sibling, wife, daughter, son, husband, friend, etc. that inspires those around you to be the best they can be. And to you as a sibling, father, mother, etc. I plead with you to strive and even take some responsibility in understanding the true power of love, and belief and what it can do for your siblings/family and for yourself.

Toward the end of the battle scene, the great evil pierces the body of young Edmond, Peter sees this in action and the rage of love and determination moves him to a greater faith as he battles his way through to the great evil that seeks him. Though his love and courage are outstanding, he is a young man, with little experience, his skills fall weak to the greatness of evil shadowing him; after he has fought long and hard and given it his all and he is almost taken over by the great wickedness, a roar of courage and hope enters the scene as Asland "finishes" the battle.

The power we have as sisters, family should NEVER be taken lightly!! At times we may carry heavy burdens as we assume the positions/responsibilities of: wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, father, son, brother, grandfather, friend; please know that your Heavenly Father is aware of your sorrows, as well as your joys. The Savior loves and suffered greatly for each of us, don't let it all be in vain. Let us all fight this battle, called life, with love and faith and helping those around us do the same...Hey, it's all about finding "Joy In The Journey" right? RIGHT!

SLY

Spiritual Pep-Rally?

OK! So I want y’all to think back to the good’ol days of high school pep rallies! Especially HOME COMING! I’m sure there are some who did not feel the same I did, so I’m going to tell you what I see/feel when I think back on HOME COMING week at Kanab High School…There is MUCH more than what I will share here, I’m trying to keep it simple…wish me luck. ☺
















The red and white signs that plastered our town and businesses, our yards and our school proclaimed, “WE’RE THE BEST! BETTER THAN THE REST!” "GO! FIGHT! WIN!"The week was full of activities to get all of us excited for “The Big Game”. A giant bomb fire the night before the game seemed to represent the burning spirit of not only the school, but also us as individuals. Our beautiful community was bursting with KANAB COWBOY SPIRIT! We weren’t going to let anyone bring us down!

Now, there are A LOT of analogies that I could share here, but as I said I hope to keep to my main point of interest this morning…

Our lives are full of small and not so small “football games”. I feel that most of the time the signs we see around us say, “YOU CAN’T DO IT, DON’T TRY!” Then there is a flashing neon sign pointing to “the easy way out.” (The easy way out is different for all of us, maybe it’s drugs, alcohol, laziness, selfishness, confusion etc. etc.)

I want to challenge each of us to find ways to keep your personal pep-rally fire burning, not an easy task, believe me, I know.

For me, my recent, pep-rally; General Relief Society Meeting, General Conference, General Priesthood Session and an added bonus, Sheri Dew came out to Baton Rouge to speak to us, and shared her amazing spirit with us. New and encouraging signs like those that plastered the community just before Home Coming are now lining my thoughts; leaving very little room for the nasty neon lights, directing to the easy way out.


The re-occurring theme that stood out to me the last few weeks as these different events took place was, “FINDING JOY IN THE JOURNEY” Now, I don’t want to get too personal on this, so I’ll leave it at that, but I do ask that, if you have read this post, that you do 2 things:
(1) For the next couple of days, keep your eyes and hearts open to the simple miracles and blessing that you may usually walk right past, going unnoticed, or even cursing, under your breath. Make physical note of them.

(2) For the next couple of days, while doing your “boring, mundane”, chores, do them differently. For example, while cleaning your house; put your favorite music in and most importantly, TURN IT UP then “groove” as you scrape the boogers off the walls. Then going back to #1, write down you are so grateful to have boogers on the wall…for if you didn’t have boogers to clean, you would not have your beautiful children. I mean really, I don’t know the last time I had to clean boogers off my walls because my “grown-up” friends left them there.

This is getting long, but when I get my spiritual pep-rally, the “spirit fingers” come out and I get all excited about sharing what has helped be find greater “joy in the journey”… This past Sunday, Fast and Testimony meeting, I actually did spirit fingers from the pulpit…not realizing I had done it until I sat down…but, it was subtle, and it wasn’t like I did a toe touch to go with it or anything! ☺

Last of all, it’s easy to be excited when things are going well; The community has signs plastered around proclaiming “YOU ARE THE BEST!” and the ‘Rocky’ Theme song, “Eye of The Tiger” is blasting in the background, and the crowd is cheering your name! YOU CAN’T FAIL! Right?

Yet, much of the crowd you noticed started walking out of the game after half time, and they would have left earlier, but they wanted to see who won the raffle for the blanket. The last few minutes tick away on the scoreboard, and all you hear are a few crickets in the background. You say to yourself, “BUT I’m so close to winning, where is everyone, I don’t know if I can do this on my own?” The lights on the field power-off. It was a long rough game. As you lie on the dark cold field, not wanting to even try to get up, you’re alone, you’re tired, you hurt, you’re confused “Did I win? Did I loose?” you ask yourself. Then the sprinklers come on…the real important answer to the really important question is, do you stay where you are,give up soaking in self pity, because everyone left you? Or do you pull yourself from the ground and play in the sprinklers like you did as a child?



Find Joy in the Journey my friends! Find ways to keep yourself hearing "Eye of The Tiger" and seeing the "GO! FIGHT! WIN!" signs, long after the crowds have abandoned you. Learn, grown and better yourself from all of your little and not so little “football games”.

I love you all!!!