What Matters the Most?

Today I was at a Target, shopping with my wonderful grandmother, and, as usual, I was drawn to the stationary/office supplies section. I love to look at the matching stationary and note-cards, reorganize the Washi Tape that has been all mixed up (yep, there's my inner OCD-ness coming out), and look over all the notebooks. My eye was caught by a light-purple leather covered notebook with words embossed in the front. Picking it up I read, "Whatever Makes You Smile Are The Only Things That Matter."
  Hm, I thought. I wonder who came up with that? I reached into my trusty backpack and pulled out my own notepad, that scribbled a note to stick inside the journal.

To whoever buys this notebook:

Sometimes, the things that don't

make you smile are the things that 

matter the most. Love can hurt.

Sacrifice hurts. Bravery can 

hurt. But where would we be 

without them? Just remember 

that the hardest things in 

life might not make you smile,

but they are the things that

matter the most.

-SG

The person who wrote that must not have been thinking of war, or starving children, or someone giving of themselves, serving others unnoticed. These are the things that truly matter. 

  I think oftentimes, we forget that it's the hardest things that matter the most. Doing the right thing, standing up for the truth. I'm not saying that things that are happy or glad aren't important--they most certainly are--but let's just not forget those things that matter the most. I'm sure that God sending down His only Son to die among sinners was the most painful thing He had ever done. But in the grand scheme of all creation, that is the thing that matters the most.

The Shoe Room

A London bookstore destroyed in an air-raid

Today I had the privilege of watching the production, The Shoe Room, preformed by the Elite Dance and Theatre Company and presented in the N4th Theatre. The Shoe Room is set during the Holocaust, focusing on different people that lived and died in Germany, and what they had to go through.
  Someone asked me, "Why would you want to see a play like that? That's not fun."
  No, it wasn't fun. In fact, I cried several times. Why would I want to pay money to go cry? I'll tell you why. I didn't walk out of there laughing, saying I enjoyed it; rather, I walked out somber. It was a powerful, thought-provoking kind of production, one that made me thankful. Thankful that our world is not in a massive war. Thankful that I do not have to kiss my father every day, not knowing if the Nazis will come and take him. Thankful that my books will not be burned for containing contrary ideas to the governments. That I do not live in fear of air-raids. Thankful that I do not have brothers or a husband overseas.  Those Jews, Germans, Americans, and many, many others that suffered so much during the war gave their lives so that I could be free today. So that I don't live under a dictator.
  So why do I go see plays like The Diary of Anne Frank and The Shoe Room? To remember those that gave their lives so that I might be free, and to remember just how much I have to be thankful for every single day.
  If you live here in NM, I would encourage you to go see it; next weekend, the 30th and 31st, there are three more performances of this powerful production. It will leave you with more than just a good time, but with thought-provoking words, and a glimpse into the lives of those who walked in the shoes of World War II.

Let's Do This...;)

Guess what?

Left to right: McKenzie, our green-screen holder; me; Lincoln Lohr, who plays Robert Elliot; and Captain Director. :)

We finally finished filming for the movie we started this summer! I am SO excited to see how it turns out. Just in case you haven't heard about it yet, the movie is called Capture the Flag, written and directed by Matthew Evans, head of Los Metates Studios. (Matthew also directed The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair, through Encore! Theatre, which is how I know him.)

In addition to filming the two scenes we needed to wrap up the production, we also filmed some behind the scenes interviews, which hopefully I'll be able to post here when they're done. :)

And to get you all excited, here's the first trailer, hot off the presses. Er, not presses...laptop? I don't know. Enjoy the trailer!

And, may I just say, it's so cool to see my face on a trailer. ;)