Lessons from LOTR

Hey! I haven't posted in a while because there hasn't been much to tell about. We have mostly done lots of chores for the past week.

Two nights ago I watched "Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring", and last night I watched "Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers". I absolutely LOVE the LOTR movies. I also gained a lot spiritually from it. Tolkien (The writer of the LOTR books) didn't intend for it to be allegorical, but I found it to be in some ways. Some of the things that really struck me are:
-The hearts of men are so easily corrupted and deceived.
-Frodo has to carry the ring, which is evil, with him, even though he doesn't want to. In the same way, we have the burden of a sin nature that we have to take with us, even though we don't want it.
-Frodo never HAS to put on the ring, but he does several times when he wants the easy way out of situations. If we have been saved by Jesus Christ, we never HAVE to sin, but we do so many times when we are tempted.
-Then there's Gollum: he started out as a normal, hobbit-like creature, but he allowed the ring, and what seemed like pleasure, to poison his mind. He became a hideous, worthless, disgusting creature. Likewise, as Christians, we don't have to be hideous creatures, but if let we the temporary pleasures of sin poison our minds, we will be.
-Gollum meets Frodo, and realizes that he doesn't have to be Gollum. He can be Smeagol, which is who he would be if he wasn't under the control of the ring. He realizes that he doesn't have to be a slave to its power. He wrestles with this for some time. He is torn between his addiction to the ring, and his desire to be free. By the end of the series, he has completely given himself over to the ring's power, and his greed for the ring brings him to his death. We also don't have to be ugly creatures. We don't have to give ourselves over to sin. If we are born again believers in Jesus Christ, we have the power to fight the temptation to sin. We can be made new in Christ. We DO have sin natures with us though, and if we don't continue to wrestle against them, we will give in. Sin has the power to tempt us still, and if we don't fight it, we'll give in, and sin always leads to ruin.
-Gollum struggles constantly with his own self. One side of him tells him that he NEEDS the ring, and that Frodo, who helps him and understands him, is a thief, while his other side tells him the truth. We, as Christians, often struggle with listening to lies that Satan puts in our minds, instead of the Truth from Christ. If we listen to the lies, we will give in to sin, and it will destroy us.

All of that goes to say that you can learn SO much from so many things, if you think about it! Instead of just watching a movie, I try to pick it apart and see what the worldview is, and what there is to be learned. I hope that all makes sense. That's all for now. God bless! :)

My birthday! :)

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't written in so long. It's been busy! Let's see... on Friday we headed to my Grandparents' house, and we spent the day with them. We watched TV for a long time and talked. Then we had supper and they made me a cake for my birthday! :) It was nice. I got a present which was jewelry, nail polish, and lip gloss. AND GUMMY BEARS!! I love those things - lol :).

On Saturday it was my birthday!!! YAY! We headed toward home at 8 AM and Mom said she was planning something special but wouldn't tell me what. After about 2 hours of driving, we showed up at Camp Lamoka, where my brothers work! See, I worked there for one week on a Ministry Team last year and I LOVED it, and my brothers always tell me how much fun they have working there, so I wanted to go there again and meet all their new friends! I met some friends, and enjoyed a couple of hours there, and I found out I was going to my brothers' friends' house with them to spend the afternoon there! I was nervous at first, but it turned out to be an AWESOME day!!

On Sunday, I had 2 friends over and we did a photo-shoot in a beautiful field. It was so pretty! We all wore coordinating colored dresses and the pictures turned out so nicely! Later, I opened my presents from my parents. I got: an AMAZING black hat with studs on it. (That sounds punk-ish but it's actually really cute) and I got very pretty earrings, and a big purple plaid pillow, and an awesome little purple plush doggy. The 2 friends I had over, Danna and Glory, gave me $14 and one cent! The one cent was because it was a day late. :) All in all, I had an awesome birthday and awesome weekend!

I have also been learning a lot about sin. I often feel like I'm a slave to sins that I keep doing over and over, but then I realized, I am NOT a slave! I have been freed by the blood of the Lamb! I don't EVER have to sin again!! I won't be perfect, of course, but it is very relieving to know that sin has no grip on me, and I never have to sin again. It's a battle though, and it has to be fought! It's guerrilla warfare. The enemy has been defeated, but refuses to give up, so he sneaks in and tries to cause as much trouble as possible. Therefore, we must watch and pray!! God has taught me so much. Please pray for me, that I will fight the battle and not give up.

That's all I have to say now, so toodles! :) :)