It's Fall! Time to turn a new leaf...

P. Kevin here...

So I know our website has been fairly dry lately, but I think it's time to have something interesting or insightful everyday of the week to read. You guys spend all day at school, and then you're home, and you're studying, you're watching TV, you're playing video games, you're talking to your friends... it's hard to get a "God" moment everyday when there are so many other things going on. Sometimes after a busy day, we can forget that God wants our attention, even if it's just for a moment.



So I had a chance to watch "Where the Wild Things Are" with my small group yesterday after Sunday worship. We had a good time, but I have to say that the movie wasn't really what I expected. The previews made it seem like it was going to be an adventure movie, and critics gave the movie some awesome reviews. Me? I found it a bit boring because of those expectations. And I know my boys found it to be pretty dry as well... maybe even a little confusing. The movie was slow and there didn't seem to be much to look forward to once you saw Max interacting with the "wild things". The movie itself was very well made though. The "wild things" were done very well... the eyes of each character expressed things that most CGI characters in movies can't do. There was emotionality to the characters that I enjoyed. But it wasn't a "terrible" movie. It was just not at all what I expected.

But as with all movies, I was reminded of the fact that each of us want to belong. The main character, the boy named Max runs away into his imagination because he wanted attention... he wanted love, he wanted to belong. No one likes rejection. And so even in his fantasy world, he wants to be accepted, and so he lies about being a "king". Aren't we all like that? We become who we think someone else wants us to be. Think about the groups of friends at your school. Certain people hang out with certain people. If you have two separate groups of friends, if you pay careful attention, you'll see that for each group of friends, you're different with them. You talk and act a certain way around them. The fear of rejection and the joy of being accepted are very powerful things in our life.

I hope that you feel accepted in our Elevate JH ministry. You may not know everyone or care about everyone... but I hope that you can call this ministry home. It's not an easy process, but hopefully in the weeks to come, those on the edges would become part of the inside. And once we start making a greater effort, we hope that you'll make a greater effort too.