My favorite Super Bowl commercial

Google has other great "Search Stories" here.

Making meaningful sense

Portland Monthly recently published an interview between "renowned atheist" Christopher Hitchens (author of God Is Not Great) and Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell.  I found this particular exchange interesting:

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.


JM: I find it both fascinating and heart-breaking that an atheist can sum up the gospel of Christ in such a concise manner, and do so much more accurately than a "Christian."


Thanks to Justin Taylor for directing me to this article.

Keep Calm

What do you look at while you work on your computer?

First Time Design!

My sweet former roommate and dear friend Hannah is going to be on HGTV tomorrow!

Read her blog post here.  Check out the show page at HGTV.com here.  And, most importantly, tune in tomorrow to First Time Design - Saturday, January 23 at 2:30pm.

Yay Hannah!

Random Thoughts

My dear friends Jessica and Matt got married yesterday. I love them both so much, and the whole wedding weekend was just lovely and perfect (well, except for the little window where I got sick!).  They are such sweet friends, and Jessica did an amazing job of making the wedding so beautiful and fun!  Even though I can't wait to visit them in San Diego, I'm very sad because I miss Jessica so much already.

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Are you watching the Golden Globes coverage on E! right now?  Man, I love award shows.  So far, my favorite looks are Lea Michele and Marion Cotillard.  And speaking of Ryan Seacrest, get excited for American Idol.  I can't wait for Ellen to start!!

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Right now, I'm in a six-week training course with Chick-fil-A.  It is awesome.  Everyday, I am more and more amazed that I get to work at such an incredible company with such incredible people.  That said, I don't have too much time at my laptop because I'm in classes/meals/studying for at least 12 hours a day (ie, limited blogging).  My class concludes with me working in a CFA unit for a week.  I'll be at Beechwood in Athens - yay!

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I've decided to start listening to NPR more.

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Have you tried a Bump-It?  Jen and Emily had Bump-Its this weekend.  We laughed at first, but man did that thing work.  Emily's hair looked awesome through the whole weekend.  It created the perfect poof.  I think I might be sold.

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Team Conan.

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If you haven't already, I hope that you will take time to support the relief efforts in Haiti.  There are so many EASY ways to donate money; it takes 10 seconds to text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross's relief efforts.  You can also donate through Compassion International, one of the finest organizations I know, here.  More than anything, pray for God's provision for the people and families who have been affected.  He alone is good.

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That is all for now.
xoxo
jamie

Fly me away

I very much like this Amazon Kindle commercial. I would be curious to know if owning a Kindle makes one feel this whimsical. I think it probably does not; however, reading an 870-page Harry Potter book that weighs 1.3 lbs while curled up in a big chair and drinking tea most certainly does.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

So, I'm doing it.  I'm telling you all, whoever you are and however many of you there may be, what my goals are for 2010.  I suppose that, since it's January 1, these should technically be classified as "resolutions." However, I feel hokey for making resolutions.  "Goals" works for me.

As a sidenote, I think most people dismiss resolutions with the following rationale: "I never keep them, so why make them in the first place?" I disagree, though. There is something inherently valuable in going through the process of goal/resolution-making. It helps you evaluate where you've been, figure out where you want to go, and then chart a course for how to get there. You wouldn't judge a traveler who determines where they are and where they want to go and then plots a route, would you?  Even if they get lost, you don't fault them for first looking at a map.

So here we go.

Spiritual goals

• Begin reading through the entire Bible chronologically - http://www.esv.org/assets/pdfs/rp.chronological.pdf.  I got an ESV Study Bible for Christmas, so I plan to read it thoroughly, including all commentaries and notes.  That said, my goal is to finish the Old Testament in 2010!
• Memorize 6 chapters of Scripture. I'm starting with Romans 8, which is chock-full of powerful scripture and, in my opinion, one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible. The other 5 will, I believe, be Proverbs 31, Hebrews 11, Isaiah 53, I Corinthians 13 and Ephesians 1.
• On a broad level, I want to be more intentional with my commute to and from work.  Less Bert Show, more prayer, worship music and sermon-listening.
• Decide where I want to go to church by August, and get plugged in in a small group and serving in the fall.

Physical goals

• Got to do it. Lose 15 pounds.
• One year my goal was to run the New York marathon. That obviously did not happen. So I'm starting with baby steps. I want to be able to run 3 miles/5K without wanting to rip my lungs out of my chest.  And since I'm signed up for a 5K at Chick-fil-A seminar in February, I best get on this one quick.

Miscellaneous goals

• Read one book/month:
• The Help, Kathryn Stockett
• Firefly Lane, Kristin Hannah
• Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, JK Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, JK Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling
• Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller
• Peace Like a River, Leif Enger
• The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley

(That's 11 books, 8 of which I currently have in my possession. I need a 12th...now soliciting recommendations!)

p.s. This goal is kind of cheating, because I love to read. BUT, I do buy books all the time and then forget to read them, so I'm nailing my list down!

• Lastly, I want to figure out what I'm doing with this blog.  "Lulled by the Train" is no longer appropriate for my life in Atlanta, so I need a new name, a new design, and new topics to write on. I need some inspiration to come in 2010.

Love to you all, and again, Happy New Year!

The Year of Hope: With a Vengeance

On January 2 of this year, I embarked on a journey to study hope.  As of right now, though, what I've called "The Year of Hope" is a misnomer, because I'm not done studying hope. In fact, I feel I've only scratched the surface. I can't walk away from my digging and learning and studying simply because it's December 31. So I'm deciding there will be a sequel. "The Year of Hope 2." Possibly with a subtitle like "Lost in New York" or "Judgment Day."

For now, though, I am so grateful for what God has taught me on hope. There are a myriad of lessons, but if I could sum up the hope of Christ, it would be this:

1. God is good.  He wants to prosper us and not to harm us.  He is the giver of every good and perfect gift.  We have no good apart from Him. He does not withhold anything good from His children. He works all things together for good for those who love Him.  He delights in us. He lavishes love upon us.

Sometimes it's easy to think that there are degrees of God's goodness, i.e., "He's more good to her than to me." However, I agree with what Paige Benton Brown says:

Can God be any less good to me on the average Tuesday morning than he was on that monumental Friday afternoon when he hung on a cross in my place? The answer is a resounding NO. God will not be less good to me tomorrow either, because God cannot be less good to me. His goodness is not the effect of his disposition but the essence of his person—not an attitude but an attribute.  And can God be any less good to me than he is to [someone else]? The answer is a resounding NO. God will not be less good to me because God cannot be less good to me. It is a cosmic impossibility for God to shortchange any of his children. If he fluctuated one quark in his goodness, he would cease to be God.

Amen to that.

2. God is sovereign.  All power belongs to Him. He determines our steps. He is head over all creation. He does whatever He pleases. He is the potter, and we are His clay.  And He predestined us to adoption as sons.

A sovereign god who is not good is a dictator who is to be feared.

A good god who is not sovereign is sweet but powerless, offering a pat on the back and a cheer but no answer for tomorrow.

And a god who is neither sovereign or good?  To even consider that combination seems ridiculous, but it is no different than the idols of sex, power and money that so many worship.

But - a God who is both good and sovereign?  A God who wants the best possible things for you and has the power to give them to you?  A God who does as he pleases, and what delights Him most is you?  Now that's the God I want to serve.

And that's the God who brings hope. 

I start to feel hopeless when I forget one or both of these attributes of God.  I feel hopeless when it seems like God has remembered everyone else but me.  I feel hopeless when it seems like He is not being good to me.  And I feel hopeless when I feel like my situation is never going to change, or when it seems that there is no possible solution to the problem that I'm facing.

But there is hope.  There is always hope.  And even when I cannot see what God is doing, the hope is there.

"This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe."
I Timothy 4:9-10

2009 in Review: Film

Favorite Movies of 2009: (500) Days of Summer, The Blind Side, Julie & Julia

Favorite Romantic Comedies (since that's 90% of what I see): The Proposal, 17 Again, Bride Wars

Favorite Movie That Was Not a RomCom, Romance or Comedy of any sort (the other 10%): Star Trek

Favorite Movies You Probably Didn't See: Paper Heart, Away We Go, Last Chance Harvey, Sunshine Cleaning

Favorite Depressing Movies: Up in the Air, My Sister's Keeper

Movies That Would Have Probably Been Favorites If I Had Actually Seen Them: The Hangover, Up, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Movies I Hated That I Totally Expected To Love: He's Just Not That In To You, The Time Traveler's Wife, New York I Love You

Movie That I Hate Even Though I Refuse To See It and Never Will, Come Hell or High Water: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Golden Birthday

Today is my Golden Birthday!

A person's Golden or Grand Birthday, more commonly referred to as their "Lucky Birthday", "Champagne Birthday" or "Star Birthday", occurs when they turn the age of their birth day (e.g., when someone born on the 25th of the month turns 25).

I quite like the sound of Champagne Birthday, and Lucky Birthday too!

No one got me this card I found online, but I don't blame them at all:

What will my Golden Champagne Birthday hold for me? My idea is winning the lottery, but I'm pretty flexible.  All in all, though, I'm liking the sound of being 27.  It has a nice ring to it.

Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes via Facebook, Twitter, and even the phone.  If day one is any indication, my Golden Birthday year will be very sweet indeed.