no disrespect, mr. jackson.

Over the weekend,  we brushed up on some Marvel films. Some of you are looking forward to The Avengers. Maybe some of you aren't. I'm curious, but I hadn't seen a few of the movies that lead up to it. I'm sure there are others I'll need to be aware of but we live with a bunch of Marvel lovers and I'm sure they'll catch me up. So we 'rented' some nice blu-rays from our friend, John, and hit the couch. (John has, oooh probably, every movie. Bonus.) I got a perplexed"Have you not seen any of these movies, Ali?!" question from Kyle when we started the second one.
How unbelievable of me.
First on the list was Thor. The next day we watched Captain America.
And, okay. If you have seen the movie, you know who Red Skull is. While watching the movie, I found that I knew nothing about Captain America. He was just a test subject? Had no idea.
Anyway, the first time Red Skull reveals his new look, the first thing that came to mind was that he looked like Michael Jackson. Particularly in the nose region.
Now this is not to bash Michael Jackson. Though I did not agree with certain areas of his lifestyle, I was a fan. I'm still a fan. There are many of his songs in my library. I saw 'This Is It' in the theater. Twice. Maybe I shouldn't have told you that. But the man had talent. No shame here.
It was just the first thing I thought. And I may have missed the next few seconds of the movie because that's what I was thinking about. Don't judge me, I got the gist of the plot.

{chad made this and sent it to a co worker because they had just been talking about the famous nose earlier that day.}

No disrespect Mr. Jackson. I just still don't know what you were going for there.

Side note: On my journey to trying to love the place I live, I'm really loving opening the windows in January!

beautiful day.

happy monday. ali

a new year, a new space.

welcome.

I hope the holidays have been great for you all! We've had many happy days with friends and family here in Michigan. A few under-the-weather days as well, but we are still glad to be in this cold and (hardly) snowy state that will always be home.

I just wanted to share an encouraging word with you all. I've been reading a daily devotional by Joyce Meyer in the bible application on my iPhone.

That woman is full of truth, challenge, and encouragement. This particular one I wanted to share really sums up what God has been teaching me this last year.

It has really  been life changing choosing to be joyful in all circumstances.

I'm choosing now to keep this mindset in 2012. Hopefully it is a revelation that sticks with me forever. I pray this encourages you all to press on as much as it did me.

Living with Contentment and Satisfaction
The Bible says that godliness accompanied with contentment is great and abundant gain. What I take from that is, a godly person who is content is in the very best place he can possibly be.

Joy doesn't come from having your circumstances in order and under control; it comes from what's in your heart. For example, the world is full of people who have what they think they want, and they're still not happy. In fact, some of the most unhappy people in the world are people who seem to "have it all."

Contentment is not about fame or being well-known, how much money you have, your position at work or your social circle. It's not found in your level of education or what side of the tracks you were born on. Contentment is a heart attitude.

There's nobody happier than a truly thankful person, a truly content person. The word content means 'being satisfied to the point where nothing disturbs you no matter what's going on, but not satisfied to the point that you never want any change.'

We all want to see things get better. But where you are right this minute doesn't have to disturb you. You can choose to believe that God is working and things are changing, and you will see the result of it in due time.

Life is all about the choices we make, so choose contentment and satisfaction every single day of your life. You won't go wrong when you do.

Prayer Starter: God, I want to be content and satisfied with where I am, right here, right now. Give me the strength to choose to be content every single day.
I want my contentment to come from You, not my circumstances. Show me every day that Your plan for me is perfect and that I don't need to worry.


But godliness with contentment is great gain. {1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV)}


A note to my wonderful family: Hopefully I'm not confusing anyone by the site change, but this will make things much easier for you guys to stay updated. So family, if you would like to receive an email when I post here, look on the right side of the page. You'll see a box that you can enter your email address in and once you do that, click "submit" and you'll be set up! Feel free to browse all the old posts on our Tumblr whenever you'd like.

Happy new year all!

Oh, also! It's Tuesday, so for some trivia from my dad.. Happy 86th birthday to George Martin, producer of most Beatles songs. (:

and keep choosing joy. ali