Superpowers

After watching a string of Marvel comics-based movies, I asked my husband what he would choose for his superpower.  He wanted the ability to heal himself, sort of like Wolverine from X-Men.

I’ve thought about this question before–deeply.  No kidding.  I think I would choose the ability to control water.  I would argue that water is among the top three most powerful natural forces on earth; I always get a chill up my spine when I watch disaster footage of Tidal waves on the Discovery Channel.

The thing about this superpower is that I remember the Wondertwins from the Superfriends cartoons when I was a kid.  “Wondertwin powers activate!  Form of a waterfall!”   So, I would be like one of the Wondertwins only without the androgyny and pointy ears.  And I already have a ready-made name–Aquafina or Dasani–I can’t decide.  Both sound cool.  Aquafina is more feminine and classy while Dasani is a little more “warrior princess”.

What would your superpower be?

 

Eleven Favorite Movies (By Category)

If you know me, you know that I really enjoy movies, and I’m pretty opinionated and a little snobbish (I’ll admit it) when it comes to my viewing tastes.  Movies can be little gems that are as powerful and effective as, dare I say it, a book.  They can also be absolute wastes of celluloid (or . . . umm . . . gigabytes?) that make you wonder why you just wasted two hours of your life!  Here is a list of movies that I found to be worthwhile:

Favorite Comedy: Groundhog Day–Bill Murray is a genius!  I still plan on going to Punxsatawney one day.

Favorite Drama: The Elephant Man–Talk about drama . . . I’m warning you, watch with a box of tissue!

Favorite Suspense: (Split Decision)  Rear Window and The Manchurian Candidate (original version)  An acting icon:  Jimmy Stewart.  Who can forget his shifty nervousness in the Hitchcock classic?  A music icon:  Frank Sinatra.   Who knew he was such a good actor?  This one gives you an idea of the panic surrounding communism that swept the country in the early 1960’s.  Angela Lansbury is in this one, and her character is creeeeepy!

Favorite Action: The Bourne Trilogy–Short on plot, but high on, well, action.  These movies get the job done–they entertain and keep you on the edge of your seat.

Favorite Martial Arts: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon–Martial arts meets a story and breathtaking cinematography.

Favorite Sci-Fi: The Matrix–Just the first one.  It blew me away in the theater; so innovative that movie-making has never been the same since.

Favorite Sport: (Split Decision)  Hoosiers and Remember the Titans–Both have good story lines and excellent messages about friendship and camaraderie.  Ladies, if you’ve never watched a sports-related movie, try one of these.

Favorite Indy: Strictly Ballroom–It’s quirky, I’ll admit, but it is funny and romantic, too.

Favorite Romantic Comedy: You’ve Got Mail–I love this movie, and I’m not usually such a sap, but I’m a sucker for this one!

Favorite Fantasy: Lord of the Rings trilogy–I actually saw the first movie of the trilogy twice in the theater (I never, ever do that–too cheap).  Amazing!

Favorite War: The Best Years of Our Lives:  This movie was made in 1946 and it follows the lives of three characters, veterans coming home from war.  I like it because it is an “old movie”, but it still feels relevant.  This is a really good one; try out a black-and-white if you haven’t for a while.

 

Christmas and the Carpool Catechism

Recently, my three-year-old son Asher has started to talk non-stop while I shuttle my daughter and other sundry children to-and-from school.  Usually, he talks the most on the return trip when he has my undivided attention.  And my undivided attention is absolutely required to respond to the barrage of theological questions that he lobs my way.  For example, the other day he asked how Jesus could live in one person’s heart but also in another person’s heart at the same time.  This question was the impetus for “Mom’s Minivan Thesis” regarding God’s omnipresence.  Another recurring question relates to how Jesus is God.  So we talk often about the Trinity, and Asher informed me that he wants to call the Holy Spirit “Holy Ghost”.  It must sound cooler or creepier to him, both of which are highly important to a three-year-old boy.  (We’ll be working on approaching God with reverence.)  With the Trinity open for discussion, imagine, then, introducing the concept that Jesus is fully God and fully man.  Mind-blowing!  I’m grateful for all these questions, even though I sometimes ask him to give me a few minutes of silence.

With Christmas just around the corner, I’ve been doing some thinking of my own.  Just this past Saturday, I had the opportunity to perform in a musical presentation produced specifically for an event at my church, our annual Ladies’ Christmas Breakfast.  This year, we had over three hundred women attend, with about two-thirds of that number being visitors.  For several years now, I have been tapped to write a skit, drama, or musical that relates to some aspect of Christmas.  I’ve had to look at Chrismas from a different “angle” every year in order to write something new and fresh.  This year, I really wanted to drive home the concept “Emmanuel”.  Jesus, Emmanuel, “God with us”.  This “angle” really only came to me after my hospital stay.  Previously, I had had a very hard time writing the ending, the part of the drama that presents the gospel and ties all the loose ends together.  But after my MS excacerbation and hopitalization (hey, that rhymes!), I knew what I wanted to communicate.  I had personally experienced Jesus as Emmanuel–God was with me in that hospital in a way I had never known before.  So, I hope this Christmas to meditate on the mystery of God becoming flesh and coming into our world.  That’s the “angle”, the idea–and it’s good to think about this mind-blowing fact.  But I also want to draw near to the person Emmanuel, experiencing His presence wherever I am, in a hospital room, in my home, and, yes, even in my minivan.

 

Parenthetical Statement

I am a wife.  A mother.  A daughter.  Sister. Aunt.  Friend.  And I happen to have MS.  For about three-and-a-half years, MS has been a lingering thought somewhere in the back of my mind.  Recently, MS has become more insistent, something like a voice over a loudspeaker announcing stops on a train.  Every once-in-a-while, you hear, “Next stop . . . ” or “We are approaching. . . .”  About a month ago, the next stop for me was the emergency room after searing, burning nerve pain brought tears to my eyes when anything–a t-shirt, fingertips–touched my skin.  Then there was the two-day admission to the hospital.  A MRI of my brain and spinal cord that probably resembled Swiss cheese.  An insensitive doctor who told me that I am a “ticking time bomb”.

Through all of this, though, there has been another Voice, gentler yet somehow louder.  Jesus’ voice has drowned out the fear with words of peace and joy.  Also, His grace keeps reminding me that strength is abundantly available to be a wife, a mother, a daughter . . . a friend.  And, so, in the grand scheme of my life, MS is really in parentheses.  It does not define me, but it definitely is a mission, one of the many that God has assigned to me.  So, I will share about this mission because, through it, I have seen the goodness of God.  It’s like a voice over a loudspeaker that keeps repeating:  God is good.