Such a GOOD day.

I am overwhelmingly blessed. I wish I had loads of photos to put up with every post I made, but I don't :-( However, I had an incredible day and I'm going to write about it because I am bubbling over with joy.

Last night, after Outward and a movie night, one of my BFF's, Amy, spent the night at my house. That was stinking fun. We woke up laughing about random stuff like always. She raced home to change into workout clothes, then we met down town at the Y with 'other BFF,' Tara for our Zumba class, then some weights after that. Incredible.. I love working out.

After the workouts, we walked to Rice Time and got SUSHI. Love of my life. I had to race out of there for a dentist appointment at 3. Tara and I decided to make it a BFF date day, because we don't see each other nearly enough. It's so sad. SO after my appointment, she met me at Lancaster mall and we shopped.. looking at clothes, puppies, diamond rings ;-), taking a strip of BFF photo booth pics, and buying candy from the $.25 machines.

Then, again, I raced home at 6 to have a yummy dinner with my family at home.. then changed (out of my workout clothes from earlier) to meet Tara AGAIN at Santiam 11 to watch Twilight. Let me discuss this movie.

When Tara suggested seeing it tonight (her second time) I was not super thrilled. Both of my sisters are really into the movie and the books, and were talking about it lots over Christmas break when we were all together. I thought it sounded LAME even though they tried to convince me it wasn't. Just to go against the grain of the rest of ... all girls ... I decided to hate it and never want to watch it, haha. But Tara told me there was really pretty scenery in it and I went soley for that reason. :-) It didn't take long for Edward Cullen to captivate my heart. I tried to fight it, but it wasn't working. His mystery, charm and violently passionate love and jealousy for his love, Bella made me melt. Tara and I talked briefly afterward about how this movie is stirring up something in girls of all ages who watch it. While a lot of guys think the movie is dumb or cheesy, it has a way with the ladies, as it did with me. I realized a couple of things;

1. Women are designed to be pursued with this passion, to be longed for. It's something implanted in each of us - the desire to be needed a well as passionately loved. Far too often we (women) settle for less than a MAN who is willing to healthily pursue us. We think it is a complete fairy tale concept and far from reality. I believe it will be my reality...

2. This is the more important and bigger picture of this passionate love and jealousy. CHRIST loves us, His body, His church, His beloved and we have no idea of how big, deep and wide His love is for us, so we choose to believe other things about Him. That He is judgmental, waiting to zap us if we sin again, disappointed in us for one thing or another, and that we are constantly needing to appease him. It saddens me that we have turned God's love for us into religion. We are the ones missing out when we view Him this way. His love is so much bigger than that.

There is something about a love story, like this one, that touches us deeply, and I don't think it's silly, it's who we were created to be - Lovers.

Random that I found a message of the love of Christ through a movie about a teen aged vampire, but He has been speaking to me in many creative ways about His love for me, for us. I could go ON and ON about how we were designed to be pursued and longed for, and how only Christ satisfies that, but I am getting tired and it's late. One of my favorite topics though.

Drowning in His love,

Britney