Mess of Me

People in film are notorious for being unable to keep up relationships, to hold families together-- to even date for extended periods of time. Ever thought about why?

Most [Christian] people would say it's because they don't know God, and that's why the relationship doesn't stick. Legit answer, that, I'll give you; but it's not entirely right.

It's the mindset rather than the method that's messed up here. Do any of you (quite honestly) know how many hours a filmmaker spends working on a production each day? Give me a guess. Eight? Ten? Twelve?

It's higher. The average is 15+ hours of work on the set.

That is insane. That barely allows time for SLEEP, much less family and relationships.

Filmmakers have deadlines, and they work like crazy before production, during, and after. Then they start a new production.

Their life is their work. Relationships require effort to work out, and they can't give them that.

Actors have it similarly, though not as bad. When working on a film, they're putting in long days too, and their contracts often require them to go in to re-film certain scenes after the movie is over, or to record voice-overs. It's a long process; really long.

This mindset of work as all important is a big mess. It's a misplacement of priorities and I'm out to change it. Lord, show us what MATTERS!

-Tina

Little lights sparkling, falling snow glittering...

Drumroll, please!

It's winter! But then, you knew that. Where I am, it's been winter for almost an entire month! The snow is still coating the ground, and today at noon the clouds dusted us with just a bit more.

I love snow. I don't like cold much, but I love snow, so I can tolerate the cold if I can have the snow. I really do hope that it stays up until Christmas. Don't you hate it when you have a green christmas? I mean in the north, when it's not merely green but nasty, grayish-brownish-green.

Regardless of snow, however, I'm excited about Christmas. This year my little niece and nephew are going to be here for Christmas morning, and I'm beyond excited to see them waking up early and yelling in excitement over their stocking. When we trimmed the tree last Saturday (which they were here for) it was awesome to see the two of them concentrating so very hard to put the ornaments on the tree. Too cute.

I love my family alot. I'm really grateful that I have a cool family that loves me, and more importantly, that I can talk to. I was thinking to myself, and I honestly believe myself to be serious, that if I had every present I wanted and no family except my parents to celebrate Christmas with, it'd be a pretty sucky Christmas. I would much rather have my brothers and sisters home for Christmas and no presents.

Luckily we've got the happy medium, hey?

Merry Christmas, everyone!

-Tina

Tis not a fun thing at all...

To be sick. Especially when Thanksgiving is in only a few days and the family is coming home.

My head keeps pounding and my nose keeps running and my eyes keep watering. Like I said, not fun. I'm going to do my best to beat it back with vitamin C's and keep the pounding in my head down with aspirin, but it's still not good.

Getting sick like this makes me wonder, "What is there to be thankful for about this?" You know, cause it's almost thanksgiving. It's really hard. I can be thankful for my family coming home, and getting to see them, but being sick kind of spoils it.

The best thing I can do, I guess, is offer up my sufferings to God. It sounds a little cliche and overused, but it's something I've been learning about. It's the mindset of praising God in the storm (Like the Casting Crowns Song); trusting God that things'll turn out okay even if they seem awful at present. Sound simple? It's rock hard. I've just got to keep plugging away.

Pray for me!

-Tina