The Kind of Art that Makes Me Want to Cry

Every once in a while I come across a work of art that makes me choke up.

Granted, my life is a bit of a roller-coaster of emotions as of late, but there’s something about this that makes it hard to breathe… I don’t know what it is. I think it may be the simple beauty of “creating” … You know – how human beings are made in the image of our Creator, so we’re creative as well? Maybe that’s what gets me. Seeing others absolutely soar in their creative abilities.

I don’t know.

But this is still worth watching.

Hit the full-screen button in the bottom right hand of the player, and soak it all up.

ht: The Chronicles of Lewis

The token “Church Staff disclaimer” blog post.

Well, since I mentioned the whole Sitting In A Pub And Sipping Wine Thing in the last post, I figured I better write the token blog post where I make sure you all know that the things expressed on my blog are not necessarily representative of the Staff, Pastors, or congregation of The Chapel.

I am me and they are they and we are not always the same. And what I say here isn’t always what they’d say there. But they love me anyway.

So there.

Done.

Services are at 9am and 10:30 on Sunday mornings. Good music & great preaching. Make yourself at home.

With love for my church,

mandy

“Merge! Everybody Merge!”

(Brian Reagan fans? I hope you enjoyed that post title up there.)

We’ve been in the south for – oh – enough days for me to live an entire December week without wearing a jacket. And that, my friends, is my kind of a homecoming.

My accent is nearly back. Well, to me it is. People down here still seem to think it’s gone. But they don’t even know, Napoleon.

(Napoleon Dynamite fans? Yes?)

Sorry for the random comedy references – but my mind is a bit of mush. Since there’s no house to paint, we have passed the time by sitting in coffee shops, playing Rock Band on the Wii (and, no, you don’t have to peel the drum sticks outta my hands – thankyouverymuch), flipping cable channels (the epitome of boredom), hanging out with family and friends, wandering red-eyed through Target, and- um – eating an inordinate amount of food.

Inordinate, I tell ya.

When you stick the aforementioned activities into a span of about 7 days, your mind becomes mush.

Speaking of mush, I seem to have gotten away from my entire purpose for writing this post: MERGE. I’m trying to merge the new-me with the old-me. They are both in there somewhere. And they are fighting for dominance. I, of course, prefer a compromise. A merge, if you will.

What the heck do I mean by all this?

Well, there are things like the “songwriting” or the “Sunday-afternoon lazy coffee-shop date with Drew” stuff that I’ve gotta keep. There’s also the “globally-minded-Mandy” that is struggling for life now. After church this morning, I told (warning: shameless-name-drop) the Director of MAP, Int’l that I needed help keeping this part of me going. I think he and his family and organization are going to help.

There’s also “the t-shirt & jeans Mandy” that is coming back with a southern-belle-bonafide vengeance. I kinda like her, but I’d rather put on my city-slick knee-high leather boots when I get dressed for church – and/or other social activities.

About that southern accent? Wait for a video post.

OH! And what about the Mandy that sat in a quaint New England pub with a glass of wine (Cringe. Hi Mom.) while watching Big Papi spit in his hands? yeah… I don’t think I can let her out in public anymore.

Merge. Merge. Merge… Which parts do you think I’ll keep? And which should I throw away?

Dualistically,

mandy