Bitter? Better? (And Movie Recommendations)

"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."   ---Ephesians 4:31

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Here at Hobbit Cottage?  The days have cooled after our second hottest summer in all of record-keeping.

I sit at the green front porch table reading original Nancy Drews, drinking hot chocolate, watching the river and the trees down there change their leaf colors.

Earlier I may have checked-in on Homestead Tessie, read some Bible verses online and visited Facebook, perusing posts in case friends need encouragement. Adding posts of my own if God so nudges.

I hang laundry on the front porch wooden rack then water my garden; carry in tomatoes, bell peppers and green onions, wash each, then add them to our lunch which is dinner 'round here with only a snack in the evenings.

Passing Tom at his desk, I climb the stairs, sit here at my laptop then learn more about prepping. Make shopping lists, peer at my shelves of food storage and call it Good.

Perhaps I watch Youtube music reaction videos, then a couple of pundits, including a pastor or two. Weeks past I watched lots of pundits, but I've cut back. The way I see it? Today's news all boils down to this:

God is good, 

But many people are acting badly;

They need Jesus,

So pray, Debra. Pray.

And all day, every day? God's peaceful, calming, strength-giving presence. After all these years I could not live without it. Wouldn't want to. 

In the 70's we sang, "He's Everything To Me," and yes, now He truly is. Everything.

And during these days of our Country's chaos? I intend to remain oh-so-near that calming, strengthening God. I'll do what He asks because He equips me for those tasks. 

I'm without excuses to disobey, because God gives me only what I can handle with Him. I could aim to become another Billy Graham, but that would sadden God. The perfect plan He made for me would go uncompleted.

I'll guard my heart. Allow no bitterness at what the world's become because bitterness and anger spoil the peace, the calm. 

May my heart become better. Not bitter, not ever. That is also my prayer.

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A Man Called Ove. Oooo, we watched this yesterday and by the end? I was an emotional mess--the good kind. シ

We laughed and cried through the whole thing. A smattering of 'language' in the subtitles, a couple thematic things, but otherwise lovely. 

(Free with Amazon Prime.)

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The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet. This was an immensely quirky film! Smiles all the way through, except there are mentions of the passing of a sibling. Otherwise, pure delight. (This young boy was wonderful in his first film role.)

(Free with Amazon Prime.)

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Now, ask Tom, but I don't watch Rated R movies. He will, but I won't.

But.  ツ

Last month I felt weary of watching suspense films again and again while (usually) remembering all along 'who done it.' I craved something unknown to me. 

So at Amazon I spied a 1997 R film with Michael Douglas titled, The Game. Often those older R films can more closely resemble Today's PG-13 (whose boundaries keep stretching, have you noticed?). 

We took a chance and yes! This was less problematic than lots of PG-13 films. Perhaps 12 'naughty words' and no 'dark violence' that I can't handle. No you-know-what, either, other than a blurry scene on a small tv.

The week before viewing The Game I wondered, "Whatever happened to films that returned to you, tickled your mind the following week?"

Well, The Game did that. Kept visiting my head. Seriously, that hadn't happened in years. 

And now all suspense films--for me--get measured against The Game. Yeah, it was that excellent! 

(But again, it's a suspense film, not a Hallmark movie. Uh, no. heh. Oh, and for best results, don't watch any additional trailers or read any comments. Going into The Game, 'cold', as we did, is best!)

(Here's the Amazon link and for my fellow suspense-film-efficienados-- if you watch this, could you please tell me what you thought? I'd love to know.)  ツ

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"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15