Little Things

Sometimes I live from moment to moment. It's like I can't survive without those little things that make me happy. Because, honestly, there aren't that many HUGE moments. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

The little things drive away the tears and make me smile unconsciously. Before I know it, I'm happy...and I know it's God sending blessings my way.

~ Standing in the pouring rain, basking in the light of a monolithic and victorious bonfire, and watching little orange sparks float in the sky like stars...while my friends laugh and talk around me.

~ Wearing 3D glasses for the first time and feeling adorkable.

~ Texting underneath my pink umbrella while raindrops cascade at my feet.

~ Watching Sense and Sensibility with an enthralled expression as I realized just how amazing Colonel Brandon is.


~ Washing my car at home in the sunshine with an old-fashioned bucket of soapy water and the garden hose.

~ Spraying the hose for a few extra minutes just so I can see the miniature rainbow I've created.

~ Feeling goofily happy about my cork necklace.

I haven't been taking pictures lately, or I'd add some to this post. I...dislike my camera. A lot. But I love photography. What am I going to do about that?

There is one thing, though, that can't quite fit on the little things list for this past week, and that is this: God loves me. He's molding me into just the ceramic mug I'm supposed to be. And if it hurts a bit in the process...

If I feel like I'm a zombie going nowhere...

If I dig deeper into the world of fantasy because I can't stand watching my life play out before me...

Then I'll take that in return for His love. I'll just keep walking. Keep trusting that He has a plan. I give up -- He doesn't. I get lost -- He knows I've never wandered beyond reach.

And He sends me little things that He knows will make me smile :)

Happy Day :D

Yesterday was just one of those days. It didn't go as I planned (ha! does it ever?). But so many random little things happened -- it felt like a perfect day :)

I got a cell phone.

Woot!! :D

Touch screen + keyboard + NO data plan = the perfect first phone. And it has a purple case. Need I say more?

I also got a job.
Not just any job either. A job at Panera.

HAHA! WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!! *leaps for joy* Best. Day. EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR!


Now, why do I say all this? To boast about Caitlin's grand ol' life? Nope. I'm saying this because I want to remind you (and myself) that these wonderful things are gifts from God.

I need to be thankful.

[I also feel like shouting my happiness to the world, and this is as far as I'm getting :p]

"God, thank you for all that you have given me. I pray that I use it all for Your glory...And that no matter what, You are my most prized possession."

{Braveheart}

I watched Braveheart for the first time last night. I'd seen bits and pieces of it before, but never the whole thing. Never before heard the words that William Wallace spoke resounding in my head. Never before felt the emotions playing across his face...and Murron's...and Isabelle's...and Robert the Bruce's...



This is one of the opening scenes...as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the most powerful. Something about the way neither William or Murron speak. It's just a connection between two children <3

Braveheart is a tale of {LOVE}


















A tale of {WAR}


























But mostly...Braveheart is about {FREEDOM} You see it in Mel Gibson's face, that desire for freedom reflected in his eyes (he plays William Wallace, in case you didn't know).



"They may take our lives - but they will never take our FREEDOM!"

William says many things that cut to the heart.

"Every man dies. Not every man really lives."

"I *am* William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men... and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?"

Scottish soldier: Fight? Against that? No! We will run. And we will live.

"Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take...OUR FREEDOM!"

Robert the Bruce: Lands, titles, men, power, nothing.
Robert's Father: Nothing?
Robert the Bruce: I have nothing. Men fight for me because if they do not, I throw them off my land and I starve their wives and their children. Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk, they fought for William Wallace, and he fights for something that I never had. And I took it from him, when I betrayed him. I saw it in his face on the battlefield and it's tearing me apart.
Robert's Father: All men betray. All lose heart.
Robert the Bruce: I don't want to lose heart!! I want to believe as he does.

A note on Princess Isabelle. I really liked her. She fought for freedom in her own way. And this line was delivered with womanly strength: "The king will be dead in a month and his son is a weakling. Who do you think will rule this kingdom?"

For those of you who have not seen Braveheart, I won't spoil the ending or storyline. I'm a girl and I'm not into gory/bloody battles, but this one was decent; the tale was beautiful and heartrending, uplifting...yada yada yada...But really though, I did love it:) And I would encourage you to watch it.

Oh, wait...there are some cuss words (gahhh). And a few extremely inappropriate scenes (two to be precise). They are easily skipped/fast-forwarded though.

Impossible

Being a follower of Jesus, I've often tried to convince myself that the word "impossible" doesn't exist. [It does, of course, but the boundaries that rule this world don't rule God.] Because of this verse: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13) I "have God" and so I can use His power to do anything, nothing will stop me.

Yes...and no.


I think we've got this a little twisted. Flip the verse around and reapply the meaning, and you come up with something like Matthew 19:26: "But Jesus looked at them and said to them, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"

It's not us using God. It always starts with God. Nothing is impossible for God. He shows us this by getting us through things, giving us things...and using us to do impossible things. We don't do them - God does.

Are you feeling any awe here? I am. Standing before God...I can't even imagine it. And sometimes I forget that. I forget who God really is. Just how big and holy he is. Nothing I've ever wanted or dreamed of can compare with Him.

"If you have been in the presence of the Almighty God, everything that once controlled you suddenly has less power." This quote is from a book I'm reading, When People are BIG and God is Small. It's about overcoming "fear of man" - aka insecurity, self-consciousness, peer pressure...etc. The solution? Focusing on who God is instead of on who you are.

It's an interesting concept.

Right now, I'm just enjoying searching the Word to discover God. I want to be in awe of Him and to delight in just being His daughter...His servant...



A light for Him in this world, burning with passion.

Filling the Bucket

A bucket list is a...list...(:P) full of hopes and dreams -- things that you want to fulfil before you proverbially "kick the bucket." Mine is fairly random.

I like to put lots of big things on my list; the small things just stay tucked away in my heart. I'm seriously considering pulling all of them out and stacking them on paper, one by one. We shall see. It's called filling the bucket, doncha know?

I have everything from:

Acquiring a pair of red shoes

to

Going skydiving

to

Starting a whipped cream fight

to

Riding in a hot air balloon


Anyway, my bucket list is here.

Find your own bucket and start filling it. I hope you take some things out now and again and label them as memories. A bucket list is only great fun if you take care to cross things off of it:)

[This post is being entered in a "Bucket List" contest by a fellow blogger.]

{i wish i could fly}

I've had a lot of thoughts swirling through my head these past few days, and not very much time to write them down. Beautiful words that will never hit the page. So I like to pretend I'm setting them free just by thinking them, tossing them to the corners of the earth, and they fly away on the wings of the wind...



Sometimes, I really wish I could fly.

I have a bit of a confession to make. I've sort of fallen in love with the Harry Potter series.



A couple of friends of mine are excited about the conclusion of the series (Deathly Hallows, Part 2), which is coming out next Friday night, and I'd like to go watch it with them. It's prompted me to catch up. I've read the first four books, then watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire through to Deathly Hallows, Part 1.

One of my favorite characters from the movies is Luna Lovegood. I never met her in the pages of the book, but I love her anyway. She's just so...eccentric:)









I'm planning on dressing up as her. Should be interesting. Her radish earrings and cork necklace are just the type of thing that is so unique I love to copy it...which probably ruins the unique-ness a bit. Oh, well.