Does the Devil [Really] Wear Prada?

Did you know that the original budget for costumes alone for the movie The Devil Wears Prada was $100,000 only to find out that the most expensive item costs just that?!  They had to raise the budget to more than a million just for the clothes.  What a dream!

Ok, so I don't particularly like the movie The Devil Wears Prada.  It's kind of like when you see a car wreck or a dead animal on the road.  You don't want to look, but you look anyway.  It was a typical Sunday afternoon.  My dad had made some really yummy food.  Fillet Mignon with bacon wrapped around it, baked beans and broccoli cheese rice.  I think my mouth is filling with saliva just talking about it, but i digress.  I turned on the tube to watch the usual Sunday afternoon movies that are on every week, and i stress every week.  The Devil Wears Prada happened to be on AGAIN.  I told myself, "Self, there has to something better on TV."  There wasn't, so I watched it AGAIN.  It's not really the movie that I dislike, or the actors or story.  It's more the fact that I cannot dress like those women.  I mean if I had a budget of $100,000 of course I would spend $1,000,000; and no I that is not a typo.  I secretly envy the women that carry themselves in beautiful garments and it kills me that I can't.  I would spend a lot of money on clothes.  I like clothes.  I like dressing for the occasion.  I like all things clothes, but I don't do any of it because I do not have that kind of money.

I could buy Chanel, Prada, Calvin Klein.  While I admire those designers and looking through fashion magazines, I like keeping a distance between this obsession of mine.  I am not really a "material girl" like Madonna.  I'm not a lot of things like Madonna!  Although my mom would tell you to take a look in my closet and see things differently.  I appreciate clothes and shoes and handbags, but I would never let those things get in the way of who I really am.  This society we live in is under the power of Hollywood telling us we need more, more MORE!!  We need the best things, the pretty things, the expensive things.  What's wrong with Target, Kohl's, or dare I say Wal-Mart.  And it's not just because I work there.  Sometimes Wal-Mart has some nice things at nice prices.  Don't get me wrong, if you shop at stores that have pricier items, or you have a lot of clothes, it's not a bad thing.  It's only bad if that's all you care about.  There's more to life that clothes.  Did I really just say that? Me?! Wow!  This must be what growing up feels like. Hmmm...

"That's all."

Jennifer Nicole

Have You Ever Seen the Rain...bow?

I have currently been reading in the book of Genesis and I have come across the story of Noah.  I love this part of history! But before I can tell you about Noah, you must read where it all began.

Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  God created Adam, and Eve for Adam to, as the Bible puts it so delicately, "be fruitful and multiply."  Everything was perfect in the Garden of Eden until Eve was tempted by the Serpent and gave into temptation and then offered it to Adam.  So the pair get kicked out of the Garden of Eden and sin is born.  

Let's move ahead to chapter 6.  Sons and daughters of man are born, and the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were beautiful.  Some say that the sons of God are angels, non-human; but they came into human form.  Basically they were "fruitful and multiplied" with the daughters of man.  This made God very angry because procreation was meant for humans.  God said that He would destroy the earth and every living thing that He had created and regretted that He did create it.  However, God saw favor in Noah.

Noah was a great, godly, faithful man.  God told Noah to build an ark because He was going to send a great flood to earth and destroy everything except Noah, his family and 2 of every creature (and a few more for sacrifices and food) to repopulate the earth later. So now there's water every where covering even the highest mountains.  Now we all know that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, but did you know that the waters stayed on the earth for another 150 days? It's true.  Read it in Genesis 7 about the great flood.  

Chapter 9 is where I start to feel a tugging on my heart every time.  God made a covenant with Noah that He would never send a flood again or destroy the earth in the matter that He had done ever again.  As a symbol of this covenant, God made a rainbow in the clouds.  So, now whenever it rains, a rainbow is seen in the sky as a reminder of God's promise! How amazing is that!  God is so awesome in His love for us!  I hope the next time you see a rainbow, you think about God and His loving mercy!

Keep the faith!

Jennifer Nicole

The Name of the Game is...

I have been raised in church my whole life.  I might as well have been born in the church nursery.  That's where it all began.  I am so blessed to have been born into a Christian family.  My testimony does not include a life before where I was a drunk, a drug addict, or sleeping around with all the boys.  I was simply a sinner, am a sinner.  But by the grace of God I have been saved! What a wonderful thing to say!  I have some time (and by time I mean all the live long day) in my daily life where I am on the computer, so I might as well document my thoughts and let you inside my head. Pretty scary, huh?

I was thinking about 2 Timothy 4:7 which says, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."  The author of the Timothys in the Bible was Paul.  Now his testimony is far more complex than mine.  He killed and persecuted Christians before he came to know the Lord.  At the time when he wrote 2 Timothy, he knew his life had been complete according to God's will.  He had preached the Word and glorified God in all that he did.  He even spent time in prison for being a Christian! Praise God we live in a free country where that doesn't happen!

But....and this is a huge BUT! The next verse declares Paul's future as well as mine.  "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."  I cannot wait to meet my Savior face to face.  What a wonderful day that will be! I feel like breaking out in song right here but I won't.  As Carrie Underwood puts it, "this is my temporary home."  My life is not yet complete here on this earth and I will patiently wait for God's plan to be made through me.  In the meantime, I will try my best to glorify God in all that I do.  He died on the cross to pay for my sins.  The least I can do is give my life back to Him!

Keep the faith!

Jennifer Nicole