I've learned how to laugh and I've learned how to pray
… from the Inside Out.
The last ten to fifteen years has been hard on a movie lover in America. Michael Bay became a thing. Judd Apatow became a thing. Sequelitis became an even bigger thing than it already was, and sequels, as we all know, aren’t as good as the original, which is bad when the original wasn’t very good in the first place.
So, these days, I wait for two things — Christopher Nolan and Pixar.
There’s an old joke that goes something like, “You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your family.” Or maybe I made that middle part up. Anyway, the point is supposed to be that you don’t really have a choice about who your family is.
But that’s not always true.
Thirty years ago, I looked around in our church’s vestibule (that our church had a vestibule tells you a lot, and that we called it a vestibule tells you even more) and saw the prettiest three-year-old I’d ever laid eyes on. We toss the word “breathtaking” around a bit too much (“You keep usin’ that word…”, Inigo would tell us), but she truly was.
On our visit to Cambodia a couple of months ago to see the WCG (don’t worry, we saw his parents and our other kids in Cambodia, too), we went to a magnificent, magical, and mystical place for kids. No, Disney Cambodia isn’t (yet?) a reality, this place is called Kids City.
Kids City is ten-stories of fun. Laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, playgrounds, science galleries, and plenty of other thrills for kids of all ages. And… clip-and-climb.
Clip-and-climb is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a climbing gym with all manner of different climbing stations. The climber puts on a harness, clips onto an auto-tightening rope at the chosen station, and heads for the clouds.
As a nation, we tend to be lovers of second chances, especially when it comes to talented athletes that play for our team. But it extends to the business world, too — Apple’s rise from being thirty days away from bankruptcy to the company with the largest capitalization in the world in just a few years, or GM’s rise from the brink (with a little government help).
In the spiritual realm, Jesus called our ultimate second chance “being reborn” or being “born again” (John 3:3), and said it was the only way to the kingdom of God. Nicodemus wasn’t sure what He meant, and I’m not sure many of us do, either.
In the context of this post, “reborn” refers to what’s happening to the blog formerly known as The Rice Paddy Two.
Here’s a little quiz I often give the people we counsel on finances. You only get ten seconds to answer each question, so put that fancy phone to use. Keep your eyes on the first question only right now — no peeking!
What’s the most memorable Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
Got it? OK, next question.
What’s the most memorable Christmas gift you’ve ever given?
In my experience, most people can answer the second question without a problem, but often struggle with the first one. That shouldn’t surprise us, because Jesus told us that it’s better to give than to receive.
The title’s a slight play on words for one of my favorite Christmas songs. Ryan and I have been giving each other ideas for posts for the last couple of months, and he did it again today (although this time unintentionally).
I should pause now and encourage you to use that link. Ryan’s one of my favorite people to “listen” to about music, even though I often disagree with his tastes. He’s knowledgeable, articulate, has a good ear, and the vocabulary of a good music critic. For all of those reasons, I forgive him his obsession with Charlotte Church and his dalliance with 4HIM.