livin' life, day by day: January 2011

Monday, January 17, 2011

my name's forrest, forrest gump

     Forrest Gump is one of my all-time favorite movies. Although there may be some "not-so-nice" scenes, I always find myself cracking up at this movie. As I was watching it tonight, I thought, maybe we, as Christians, could be a little bit more like Forrest.
     Forrest continuosly got mocked for how stupid he was, but he never let it get to him. He would go on with his life, not caring what other people thought of him. He would make friends with the people who had no friends (Jenny and Bubba). And, even though Jenny continued to desert him, he would always go back to her.
     We, as Christians, should not let the outside world get to us. Like Forrest, we can continue to live a Jesus-like life, and not care about what other people think. We should be friends with those who are lesser than us, become friends with our enemies. We should continue to forgive, no matter what people do to us (and yes, I struggle with this one very much). It is not hard to live like Forrest, but he made it far in life (although it's not a true story, those parts of it could be). And although we may not get far in life the way he did, we will be far in our walk with God.
     Like Forrest we should be runnin', runnin' toward God. He's the one we'll always need in life. Even if we may be like Jenny, and only go to God when we need him, God will always be there for us.
     One more thing, always remember:

"Life is like a box of chocolates, 'cause you never know what you're gonna get."

signing off for now, this is chezzy louise

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

DEFIANCE

de-fi-ance: a daring or bold resistance to authority or to any opposing force

Most people will look at defiance as a bad thing, a resistance against an authority. Gangs resisting against cops, children against their parents, or citizens against their country. In those types of situations, yes, it is not a good thing. But, I see defiance as very bold and couragous. There are many times when defiance is a great thing. Like during genocides (the extermination of a national, racial, cultural, or political group). When people take a stand against the authorities during those times, they are praised a lot after the genocide is over, these people are seen as heroes. There were many genocides in history, and whoever defied against those authorities are very bold and couragous and are all seen as heroes to this day. Listed below are some of the most popular genocides with at least one hero from each one to honor and remember some of these amazing people.

Armenian Genocide (Ottoman Empire in Turkey, World War I): Vartan Sophaz & Mourael Chrimian. They were both war heroes, fighting for the autonomy of the Armenian people

Guatemalan Civil War (1968-1996): Rigoberta Menchu, she has dedicated her life to earn the rights for Guatemalans, and is a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Rwandan Genocide (1994): Captain Mbaye Diagne, he ignored the orders to not intervene, and began saving lives, including a bunch of children.

Jewish Holocaust (1939-1945): Operation Valkyrie, planned the assassination of Hitler (movie about this is really good)

Oskar Schindler, worked as a German businessman, but hired Jews to work for him in his factory. Each Jew he hired saved another life. The weapons they made in his factory were made just a little out of order so the Nazis couldn't use them.

Bielski Brothers: they are what inspired this post, the movie DEFIANCE is about them, and it is by far my favorite movie about the Holocaust and WWII altogether. If you ever have the chance, rent this movie, you will surely enjoy it. The Bielskis lived in the forest and ended up building a whole community of Jews and fought against the Nazis. They are truly amazing.