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    allisonteboauthor
    🌈 GIVEAWAY. . . I’m giving away two beautiful 🌈 GIVEAWAY. . . I’m giving away two beautiful HARDCOVERS editions of book 2 and 3 in Sharon Hinck’s Dancing Realm trilogy released by Enclave Publishing! . . The condition of these books is LIKE NEW. They have been read once and then stored carefully on a shelf. . . HOW TO ENTER. . 1). Follow me. 2). Share this post in your stories and tag me. 3). Tag five friends in the comments below and tell me your favorite fantasy novel! . . U.S only. Giveaway ends June 7th at midnight.
    “Life is wonderful!” – The Wind Rises . >>> “Life is wonderful!” – The Wind Rises . >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> . . It’s easy to forget how wonderful life can be. There can be conflict in the home, stress in the streets, horror in the news. And yet, despite all this, the miracle of life is a stark reality. Life is as real as death, and it’s beauties and wonders and whimsies infuse every moment. . Have we forgotten? . When was the last time we stopped to consider the sheer magic of Spring passing into summer, then into autumn, then into winter? What a thing of myth and legend it is that we can see nature fluff out her leaves every morning and make up her face, changing her garments not once, but four times a year, and each time, the season is slightly different, subtly unique, then the time before. . When was the last time we laughed with delight over the fact that dogs wag their tails and that throats hold songs? When was the last time we marveled that humans can fly through the air and sail beneath the sea? When was the last time we truly relished a rainbow, the reflections in puddles, the sound of children laughing, the smell of a crisp slice of toast, the feel of sun on our faces, or the way humans fit into one another’s arms so perfectly? . Yes, war is full of sin and suffering. There is war and famine both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But, oh, life *can* be wonderful, can’t it? . . And on the topic of wonderful things . . . I have several of the most amazing announcements that I'm going to be sharing in my newsletter and I'm sending it out this afternoon - a day and a half earlier than normal - because I'm too excited to wait! Click on the link in my profile to sign up.
    “I marmaladed a slice of toast with something of “I marmaladed a slice of toast with something of a flourish, and I don’t suppose I have ever come much closer to saying ‘Tra-la-la’ as I did the lathering, for I was feeling in mid-season form this morning." P.G. Wodehouse . . . . . . I am definitely tra-la-la-ing these days because one of my AUTHOR DREAMS HAS COME TRUE. . . I honestly did not think this would happen, you guys. I might have dreamed of it occurring someday far in the future, but not right here and now. I might be shaking a bit. 🤩 . . No, it's not a publishing contract, but it's a goal that I've cherished secretly for some time and I can't wait to tell you about it . . . . . . . . in my newsletter. . . Click on the link in my profile to sign up to my author newsletter and be the first to know about this exciting bit of news. I'll be screaming and emoting to you all on the 30th, so do pop over and make sure you don't miss the fun, Jeeves! 👉
    “Our house is a beacon in the storm. Our light c “Our house is a beacon in the storm. Our light can be seen by the town and by the ships, and every place else is dark.” - Ponyo . . . . . . . . To all the homemakers, you are the beacon in the storm. . . And, although mothers are the guardians of the hearth, the term “homemaker” doesn’t just encompass mothers. To the fathers that keep their yards tidy, repair broken things, keep their families fed and clothed with their paychecks, and protect and love their families—you light the beacon. To the children that do their chores, love one another, study hard, and play kindly—you light the beacon. To the grandparents and aunts and uncles and friends and neighbors who do their bit to make their corner of the world a more beautiful, more holy place—you light the beacon. To the individuals who guard their patch of home with fierce dedication, who fill their spot on Earth in godly order—you are the light on the hill . . The world is lit by the home of the Christian. Every place else is dark. A home is the representation of God’s order and design. It is an echo of creation before the fall, a whisper of the Heaven to come. The Christian home is so powerful that Hell rails against it with all its force, trying to beat down fathers, distract mothers, and confuse children. . . Loving your family, being kind to the people you meet, cleaning your house, taking care of your body, making an effort to look groomed, working hard at your job, rejoicing in your hobbies, eating good things—whether they be food, or stories, or music—these are the sparks that make up the light on your hill. . . Thank you for keeping the beacon lit. . . Tagging a few people that came to mind when I wrote this post about light keepers @joellenkemper @pennykearneybooks @jenellelschmidt @christinesmithauthor @victorialynnauthor @hkayewrites @karis.2018 and so many others! Thank you all. ♥️
    THE BEAUTY OF STUFF. . . I was recently comparing THE BEAUTY OF STUFF. . . I was recently comparing Nora Ephron’s films to Hallmark and one of the (many) things I thought was better in Ephron’s film was that the houses look “lived in.” Homes in Hallmark look like pristine movie-sets; so perfect they are soulless. There’s so much STUFF in Kathleen Kelly’s apartment. Soft, comfy textiles, rumpled armchairs, distressed furniture, piles of books. And the stuff isn’t perfect. There’s an eyesore chair, one of the lampshades is tilted, the shelves are crowded. This is the house of a human—not a supermodel. . . It’s one of the things that captivated me about Studio Ghibli. These animated movie sets are FULL of the most fascinating clutter. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, a film centered around the art of “moving in” is an excellent example of the stuff that makes up a home. . . When we first see the house it is empty (save for some soot gremlins), but in a few minutes it is full of life. One small room is full of empty bottles, packing boxes, towels, and useful paraphernalia of every description. I paused the film and just drank in this lovely mess – not because it glorified slack cleaning habits – but because of what the jumble symbolized. These tidbits of reality. Not glorifying mess – but reveling in the fact that people live here: interesting, fascinating, beautiful, souls who need a lot of stuff to survive and to make their habitats livable and beautiful. . . Humans are, by their very nature, collectors—carefully accumulating things that turn their home into a museum and monument to one of the things that makes us human. . . The trappings in each house represents something so precious – a lifetime of history, personal tastes, thoughts and feelings, recollections and moments, loves and hates, relationships and individuality. In a well-loved home, a chair isn’t just a chair – it is a reflection of a person and a lifetime of memories. . . Am I saying that houses should be dirty junk heaps? Am I saying that we shouldn’t clean and declutter. NO. What I am saying is that Ghibli (and a man named Miyazaki who truly loves people) made me appreciate that no house is perfect—and that’s what makes a house a home.
    QOTD: What’s a film in a popular franchise that QOTD: What’s a film in a popular franchise that you think deserves more love? . . For me, that’s WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE , one of several Studio Ghibli films that don’t seem to get the love they deserve. . . I’m not usually a fan of ghost stories but this film was an exception. Whether or not a character is a ghost or merely a memory/vision is left somewhat up to interpretation. Whatever Marnie might be is somewhat irrelevant, as her character really functions to tackle a theme that I keep coming back to again and again in fiction: dealing with death. . . Anna, a girl struggling with asthma and depression, buries herself in her art – but life and memory pulls her out of her self-built walls of charcoal and paper and to the edge of a marsh—where a mysterious house waits for her across the water hiding a girl who is just as lonely as she is. . . I won’t give away anything, in case you haven’t seen it, but suffice to say, by the end of the film, I had tears running down my face. Anna’s rage towards the uncontrollable parts of life, her resistance to letting go, and subsequently her forgiveness and acceptance of the people who hurt her deeply touched my heart. Like all Ghibli films, there is a triumph in the sorrow, a beauty of surrender as the characters not only learn to live with their empty places, but allow it to help them grow. . . There’s a touch of mystery as Anna seeks to find out who the “girl in the window” really is – giving this haunting film a thread of curiosity to lighten the melancholy mood. And while this film is melancholy it’s certainly not all sadness; there are soft moments of humor, rich moments of living, and joyous discoveries to offset the grief. . . The director for WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE is the same as ARIETTY, and you can tell. It has that same luminous and lush quality. The setting for the film is the Kushiro wetlands in Hokkaido, Japan – and I couldn’t stop drinking in the glorious animated forests and marshes. From the story, to the music, to the animation – the film is a work of art. But, more than that, it’s a reminder that you can be in someone’s life for the briefest time, but you can still change their life forever.
    “Hold this geode close to your eye…Do you see “Hold this geode close to your eye…Do you see the crystals? There are pieces of emeralds deep inside them. When you first become an artist, you’re like that rock. You’re in a raw, natural state, with hidden gems inside. You need to dig down deep and find the emeralds tucked away inside you. And that’s just the beginning. Once you’ve found your gems, you have to polish them. It takes a lot of hard work.”- Whispers of the Heart . . . Embroiled now in a rough draft that feels about as dull and ugly as a rock, I find myself sympathizing greatly with Shizuku. Bursting into tears at this juncture of the creative journey is completely understandable. . Pulling something from your heart and preparing to display it to the world is always a hard and vulnerable task. The fact that we will have to do this over and over again only makes the mining process look even less appealing. . Polishing—whether it’s our character or our job—isn’t an easy task. It is often dull, and sometimes feels pointless. We rub and we rub and we squint to see if our efforts have made any difference. . The world may one day see the flash and glitter of the emerald inside of us; it rarely sees the days, months, and years spent quietly rubbing away. But it is the polishing where the real work lies—that makes the gem inside shine. It is the tenacious chipping away that reveals the jewel. . It’s not enough to have a bent for empathy, a skill for cooking, or a knack for accounting—it is only when we work at the gift that the gift takes on deeper meaning. We are all given raw materials to work with when we come into this world, and those gifts are special, but it’s the polishing that makes them precious. . As I stare at my blinking cursor on my current WIP and try to summon up the courage to mine an ugly geode out of my raw materials, I remind myself that polishing is something that I’ve done many times before. I will be polishing till the day I die. There’s no need to be afraid of it, rather, we should look forward to it, for in doing so, we are imitating our Creator, who polishes us lovingly every day in the preparation for the day when we become emeralds. . Your life is a story: keep polishing.
    “Without even thinking about it, I used to be ab “Without even thinking about it, I used to be able to fly. Now I’m trying to look inside myself and find out how I did it." – Kiki’s Delivery Service . . At the beginning of 2021, something strange happened. . . I lost my inspiration. . . Writing suddenly became the hardest thing in my life, when it was present at all. But far worse have been the period when it has been absent entirely. Creation has been an act of sheer will, hard-won and intermittent, and in many moments, the joy of the creating has disappeared, leaving the grief of absence. . . It was in the height of this drought that my dear friend @joellenkemper sent me a package of Studio Ghibli DVDs, including My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo, and my views on storytelling changed forever. . . Thus began a feverish quest to watch all the Ghibli films. The third one (I think) that I watched happened to be Kiki’s Delivery Service. . . The story felt like it was made just for me. At the risk of overusing an overused phrase . . . I felt seen. I sat through the film and I was Kiki, the bright-eyed girl full of dreams and ambitions suddenly crashing and burning when her muse goes AWOL. . . I understood her pain and turmoil more deeply than I could describe. Watching Kiki finally stop fighting and go on an introspective quest to “find her why” caused me to reluctantly stop fighting and search my own heart. And in the end scene when Kiki finds her why again and takes to the skies once more, I was filled with hope for my own creative journey. Of all the Ghibli films, this film became mine in a special way, because it was like a page from my own journal, and it enabled me to look at my struggle as just another beautiful aspect of the creative journey. . . I’m still struggling, to be honest. My broom still doesn’t fly like it used to. . . But I am emulating Kiki, considering WHY I create. I spend more time than before praying about my craft and try to keep “busy in the bakery”—doing the tasks that God has given me to fill the creative emptiness, trusting that I’ll fly once more.
    QOTD: Have you watched any Studio Ghibli movies? W QOTD: Have you watched any Studio Ghibli movies? Which is your favorite? . This was a really tough ranking for me. I had to come up with nitpicks to get any kind of order. But here is my casual ranking of Ghibli films! . . KIKI: 10/10. I've managed to forgive that bit at the end with Jiji. 😅 . ARIETTY: 10/10. Perfection! . PONYO: 9/10. Trippy craziness that makes little sense, but still amazing! . TOTORO: 9/10. It’s perfect too, but I love Kiki and Arietty a SMIDGE more. . MARNIE: 8/10. This was wonderful, just a bit melancholy, so while I love it, I won’t have it on repeat as often because it makes me cry, haha. . PORCO: 8/10. Mostly I was just a SMIDGE disappointed over the open ending and, you know, the main character IS a pig. BUT IT’S STILL GREAT. . HOWL: 7/10. I know, I know. It’s a darling film. But I watched an edited version (some of it is too creepy for this sensitive reviewer) so I figured I would dock some stars for that. . WHISPERS: 5/10. There’s no magic, no wild world building, so that makes me lose a little interest. But this is still a very cute story about the creative journey. . CASTLE: 3/10. I just watched this one and there were a number of things that didn't make it a favorite. But, more importantly, it didn't make it feel like a Ghibli film at all! HOWEVER, I did like Pazu and Sheeta's relationship and the locations of the mining town and Laputa were cool. I also have a soft spot for robots. . The Wind Rises: 2/10. Though it has some wonderful bits of animation and a nice love story, I had trouble rooting for the guy who invented the planes that bombed Pearl Harbor. Plus, I'm never going to be a fan of sad films. . The Cat Returns: 1/10. This was bizarre, even for Ghibli. It is definitely uninhibited storytelling, and Anne Hathaway and Elliot Gould turned in a great performance, but that’s really all I can say for it. . From Up On Poppy Hill: 1/10. It has nice animation, and one of my favorite foreign pop songs (Sukiyak), but that’s it. Overall, it seemed like a soap opera to me, sorry. . Ocean Waves / Only Yesterday: 0/10. I didn’t like them one bit, and I’m not sorry. 😅 . . Okay, your turn! What are YOUR favorite Ghibli movies?
    QOTD: What’s one of your favorite pieces of fand QOTD: What’s one of your favorite pieces of fandom merchandise? . . This beautiful one of a kind book bag was designed by my immensely talented friend @joellenkemper - who has been a singularly special friend to me since the day we met. . . Joellen is the person who first introduced me to the world of Ghibli in 2021. And, if that wasn’t enough of a gift, she decided to make something of Kiki for me, since she knew I have a close kinship with her, to remind me that my creativity is always there with you – even when it seems like it’s gone. . . AND, this book bag arrived on a day when I was sick, so it was DOUBLE the pick-me-up. Isn’t Joellen amazing? It’s like her heart knows when her friends need her. Sometimes it almost overwhelms me how special a person Joellen is—she might not have a talking black cat, but I swear she’s still magical. . . Make sure you follow her amazing art account (tap on photo to see her handle) to see more of her beautiful illustrations! And don’t forget to tell me in the comments below about the piece of merchandise from your favorite fandom that YOU treasure.
    Guess what? The Goblin and the Dancer was nominate Guess what? The Goblin and the Dancer was nominated for the Realm Makers Readers' Choice Award! 😱 . . I was absolutely blown away to see my novel make the semi-finalist list. There are no words to describe how excited and humbled I am to see my goblin keeping company with so many amazing books and authors. 🤩 . . I can’t believe that Grik made it into the top 25! This wouldn't have happened without all of you, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for getting me this far. 😘 . . The voting is now open to decide the winners of the award. If you would take a moment to click on the link and vote for The Goblin and the Dancer once more, I would be so grateful!♥️ . . Click on the top link in my profile to cast your vote! 👉
    “A heart’s a heavy burden.” – Howl’s Mov “A heart’s a heavy burden.” – Howl’s Moving Castle. 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 . . I think in the last couple of years, we’ve all felt the burden of our hearts more keenly than ever. Some people, like me, feel not only the weight of my own heart, but the collective weight of the hearts around me—even beyond the walls of my home. I can feel how tired you are, how depressed, how frightened and utterly weary. I can feel your heart standing on the brink of giving up. . And I understand. I know how heavy a heart can feel. . Would it be easier not to know and feel all the pain and sin in the world? Assuredly. But would it be better not to sense that burden? Categorically, no. . We are made in the image of a God who feels. Our hearts are tiny echoes of His own—a heart more vast than the universe, and a Heart that feels the burden more deeply than we can possibly imagine. . In Howl’s Moving Castle, Sophie fights to restore the heart of the person she loves, even though a heart will be a heavy burden to him. A heart that feels will require a person to care, to fight, to work, to sacrifice. . But, like Howl, we can say that, despite what the costs, it is worth it. History shows us the horror that comes from being heartless. It is better to have a heart capable of breaking than to have no heart at all. . And when our hearts feel heavy, let it cause us to turn to the One who Bore All Burdens on the Cross. Let it encourage us to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit as a vessel of prayer, to groan and intercede in petitions and tongues, acknowledging that we don’t fully understand the weight and urgency, but God knows - and perhaps He is asking us to pray for something we don’t even know about. . If your heart feels a burden, maybe we should recognize it as an honor, for to feel the burden of a sinful world means that we are being given a new heart - the heart of Christ. It means we are being slowly shaped into Christ’s image. . A heart IS a heavy burden; so let us rejoice and pray, asking the Heart Of All Hearts to make the tiny miracle beating in our chests an echo of Him.
    You’ve probably realized by now that Studio Ghib You’ve probably realized by now that Studio Ghibli is very important to me! *grins* But let me try to explain it once more. . . Sometimes a book or a film rocks our soul to its core and fundamentally reshapes us as creative. In May of 2022, my creative life changed forever when my friend @joellenkemper introduced me to the world of Studio Ghibli. . . I’m still discovering new ones, and with every rewatch, I still find my mind being blown and my heart igniting. My imagination takes flight—renewed and invigorated. . . These films taught me so much about writing and reminded me not only of how powerful stories can be, but also of why I write. Their art makes my soul sing and their music wrings out my heart. They reminded me of the magic of living and of the magic I wish to convey with my own stories. They have been an “epoch in my life” in every sense of the word. For the first time in my life, I had something from popular culture which I could relate my books to! Before Ghibli, I had never been able to think of something from popular culture similar to my writing, nor did I understand what makes my “brand” work. After watching Ghibli, I finally understood that it’s the word WHIMSY that connects the seemingly incongruous elements of my writing: classic vibes, weird worlds, funny dialogue, heartbreaking moments, pathos and play, a dreamy reality—they’re all connected by the thread of whimsy that takes these parts and makes them into a pattern. . . But they have affected more than my writing: they have affected my life, too. As strange and otherworldly as they might be, they, more than almost any other stories, make me delight more in the real world. Ghibli venerates the preciousness of a cup of coffee in the morning, mist in the woods, the crunch of sneakers in gravel, the swish of a bicycle wheel, the play of shadow and light, the creak of a familiar house. With these otherworldly tales, it romanticizes the real world, with a deep love and veneration I’ve rarely seen. They remind me to revel in the ordinary. . . They are magic, pure and simple.
    THE #1 WAY TO CORRAL YOUR PLOT BUNNIES. . . Maybe THE #1 WAY TO CORRAL YOUR PLOT BUNNIES. . . Maybe this scenario is relatable to you. You have a deadline on your current work in progress, or you have committed to working on Project Such-And-Such for the rest of the year. . . But then . . . suddenly you get a new idea. Or you watch a Marvel movie and you're suddenly on the brink of death if you don't write something with that vibe RIGHT NOW but you can't, because your current project is a historical romance. . . This happens to me all the time. I don't often get plot bunnies, per say, but I get "vibe temptation" constantly. For instance, I recently watched Encanto for the first time and suddenly all I want to work on is magical realism set in South America about a family living in a magical house. Or, you know, as close as I can get to that without plagiarism. I'm not ready for that vibe (the colors, the settings, the atmosphere) to be over and I want to create my own version. But, I CAN'T TAKE THE TIME TO FOLLOW VIBES ANY TIME I PLEASE, LIKE SOME KIND OF UNTRAINED BLOODHOUND PUPPY. . . So, I have come up with a method to grant myself short-term gratification on these sudden storytelling urges while STILL remaining focused on my current writing projects. . . I'm going to be sharing my method for corralling my plot/vibe bunnies in my newsletter. CLICK ON THE LINK IN MY PROFILE TO SIGN UP BECAUSE I'M SENDING IT OUT SOON. 👉
    ”I’m going to explore in the house,” said Pe ”I’m going to explore in the house,” said Peter. Everyone agreed to this and that was how the adventures began. It was the sort of house that you never seem to come to the end of, and it was full of unexpected places." – The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe . . . . . . . I was recently re-reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and was grinning over the opening chapters where the Pevensie children explore Professor Kirke’s strange old home in the country. The mystery of unexplored rooms and an afternoon devoted to discoveries in every mothballed corner never fails to enchant me. It’s such a FUN scene and like all of Jack’s writing, it got me thinking about the deeper implications and I finally realized why the trope of “exploring a new house that we just moved into” is so universally tantalizing to us. . . What is it about moving in that excites us? It’s a staple of children’s fiction, and yet even adults (or, at least, the best kinds of adults) simply can’t resist this nicely-worn trope. The new house waiting to be known is as tantalizing as an ice cream cone, as giddifying as Summer vacation. Why is that? . . Because of the symbolism, naturally. If you look closely enough, every single trope on Earth has a spiritual counterpoint, and a deeper meaning, waiting to be found. . . I think the reason humans love the trope of exploring the new house is because it whispers of Christ’s promise that He has prepared a home for us full of many mansions, a promise that evokes anticipation, wonder, and awe. Perhaps even, a little bit of the most delightful kind of trepidation: the fearful delight of the unexpected. . . I think, in that Heavenly mansion that is custom-made for our souls, there will always be a new corridor, a new flight of stairs, a wardrobe door, even. The house will always be familiar and yet always new. There will be rooms of comfortable familiarity but also endless halls of unexplored corners. . . Why do we crave stories of exploring new houses? Because we know, in our hearts, that it’s what we are destined for. The magic of exploring Professor Kirke’s house will be what the children of God will be doing for Eternity.
    QOTD: Who’s one of your favorite authors? . . Co QOTD: Who’s one of your favorite authors? . . Constance Savery is easily in my top ten! Her writing is a blend of deep spiritual themes and charming wit, wrapped around some of the most relatable and brilliant characters ever written, in my opinion! And the charming and utterly irresistible YOUNG ELIZABETH GREEN is no exception. . . Elizabeth Green is an orphan who, at fifteen years old, has been offered her first post as a governess, in charge of Donata Deveril. Young though Elizabeth is, she has a rare gift for dealing with unruly children and though she is nervous at the thought of going into the world, she sets out with determination to love and care for her new charge. . . But as soon as she reaches Deveril Court, Elizabeth finds that a mistake had been made. Donata isn’t a naughty six-year old at all; she is a wild harum-scarum girl of Elizabeth's own age, rampaging round the countryside with her cousin Nelmont. The Deverils had expected a strict elderly governess who could take Donata in hand. The wily Donata quick takes control of the situation and convinces Elizabeth to masquerade as an elderly woman; a façade that grows more complicated every day as numerous misfires, and Elizabeth’s own uneasy conscience, come into play. Must she go back to the orphanage, a failure? . . Set against the background of Regency England, this story shows a gentle girl struggling to live up to her principles and to share her faith with a troubled family. It is utterly darling and I highly recommend it. . . . . #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookaddiction #booksbooksandmorebooks #booksofinstagram #booklover #bookmoments #readersofinstagram #readerslife #booklove #instabook #booknerd #bibliophile #readerofinstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #bookishcommunity #books #constancesavery #oldbooks #myfavoriteauthors #greenaesthetic #oldliterature #inspiringcharacters #booksilove #youshouldreadthis
    I think by now you have all realized how important I think by now you have all realized how important Studio Ghibli is to me. *grins* So it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that I am BEYOND EXCITED to be hosting a Studio Ghibli themed bookstagram challenge! . To make the treat complete, I have two lovely ladies co-hosting this event with me @christinesmithauthor and @brighterthansunflowers_gracie . To participate in the challenge, simply post pictures inspired by the day’s prompts and use the hashtag if you want your photos to be shared. . It is not necessary that all of your photos be about Studio Ghibli – just somewhat inspired by the daily prompts. You also don’t have to post every single day! Post as little or as much as you like! . Lastly, don’t forget to follow all the hosts! The challenge runs through all of the entirety of May, so I hope you’ll have a chance to participate! . I had so much fun coming up with these prompts and I hope you have fun interpreting them!
    “It's gone!' sighed the Rat. 'So beautiful and s “It's gone!' sighed the Rat. 'So beautiful and strange and new. I almost wish I had never heard it, for it has roused a longing in me that is pain, and nothing seems worthwhile but just to hear that sound once more and go on listening to it forever. No! There it is again!” he cried, alert once more. “Such music I never dreamed of, and the call in it is stronger even than the music is sweet!” Rapt, transported, trembling, he was possessed in all his senses by this new divine thing that caught up his helpless soul and swung and dandled it, a powerless but happy infant in a strong sustaining grasp. “Now you must surely hear it!" cried the Rat joyously. “Ah, I see you do! This is the place of my song-dream. Here, in this holy place, here if anywhere, surely we shall find Him!” . . (a few pages later . . . ) . . Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror— indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy— but it was an awe that smote and held him and he knew it could only mean that some august Presence was very, very near. Trembling, he raised his humble head; and then, in that utter clearness of the imminent dawn, he looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper . . . All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered. “Rat!” he whispered, shaking. “Are you afraid?” “Afraid?” murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with love. “Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet— O, Mole, I am afraid!” Then the two animals bowed their heads and did worship.... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> . . . . . . . . There’s a reason C.S. Lewis fondly quoted WIND IN THE WILLOWS in his papers, and even drew from it for inspiration. Intentional or not, Grahame's prose smacks of the divine, and when I read it, I too can hear that strange and beautiful piping that rouses a longing like a pain.
    QOTD: What’s a movie people should watch to unde QOTD: What’s a movie people should watch to understand you better? What’s a film that encapsulates YOU? . . For me, one of those films is MARY POPPINS RETURNS, a movie that centers around the premise that it’s easy to believe in magic when you’re young, but what happens when you grow up? . . It’s a more mature story than the original Mary Poppins: dealing with grief and tenacity of joy in the face of loss as the characters cling to an inheritance of hope and beauty despite all odds. And yet it loses none of the colorful buoyant qualities of the original film: in fact the sheer joyousness feels even more intense because of its emotional maturity. There is no easy magic here: it is insistent magic, the shining victory of someone who has learned to hold onto their inner child even during a Great Slump. Its sheer stubborn jolliness: it’s a celebration caught on film. . . There are so MANY aspects of this film that I loved, but one of the aspects that I must mention is the sheer amount of healthy relationships portrayed within it. There is so much respect between the family. It’s one of the few modern films I’ve seen where the children aren’t brats: they are sweet and well-meaning and want to please their father, but they are still definitely real. Their relationship between themselves and their father is very much like my relationship with my parents when my siblings and I were children. In addition, the love between the grown brother and sister meant a great deal to me, personally, and reminded me of me and my brother. There’s the odd idea that when siblings grow up, we grow apart (if we were ever close at all). Not so in my family—or in this unique film. It is simply one of many aspects that made it resonate with me. . . I can’t even put into words how special this film is to me: every time I watch it, I am overwhelmed with emotion. The spiritual parallels and significance bring tears to my eyes and make my heart glow. It’s the Mary Poppins I always wanted to see: the Mary Poppins of my heart.
    “I have seen two things that cannot reconcile. A “I have seen two things that cannot reconcile. A man dead, without question—and that same man . . . alive again.” . . . I saw Risen three times in theaters, and have watched it many times since. This is truly one of the most unique pieces of Biblical fiction I have ever seen. Plotted and filmed as if it were a drama about a police procedural, we are breathlessly drawn ever deeper into Tribune Clavius’s desperate search for the truth and the body of the slain Jesus. But when he finally comes face to face with Truth himself, it brings the roman soldier falling to his knees. . . Risen is one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen, painting a shining and respectful depiction of our Savior and how His resurrection rocked the world to its core. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, I feel the wild exultation of knowing Christ rise up inside me in a new froth of wonder and am moved to tears. Jesus himself fully utilized stories to engage us, excite us, and to teach us, and that’s why I think Biblical fiction can be so inspiring for us. This film sends my imagination jetting off on holy tangents and reminds me all over again of how terribly glorious, how magnificent, how very blessed it is . . . to be a Follower of Christ. . . . Christ is RISEN, He REIGNS and, one day, He will RETURN! Hallelujah to the King of Kings! May the Prince of Peace bless you this Easter. . . . #easter #easter2022 #happyeaster #eastersunday #celebrate #risen #easterstories #thecruxifiction #eastermorning #josephfiennes #roman #praisegod #heisrisen #christarose #christislord #praisegod #iamachristian #godisgood #christoursavior #jesus #jesuschrist #risen #risenmovie #eastermovie #eastercelebration #worship #worshipthelord #repentandbelieve #repentandbesaved #jesusiscoming #kingofkings👑
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