Peakapades

It has been so great getting to be Beauty in “Beauty and the Beast” for this little theater up north in Westminster. There’s something in me that just needs to be performing. I have been very thankful for the choir at church and especially for our drama team. It’s nice to be known at church as the “girl with the really good fake sneeze”. (I did a “Mary Monologue” Christmas ’08 as a modern day pregnant Mary out in the cold waiting for Joe to come back once he found a place to stay.) I have enjoyed immensely working with other believers and honoring God through singing and drama.

And this show is my first to do out side of CCU. I did one show in high school just because I was in the women’s choir and we sang in the opening song. And took a drama class in middle school and actually did several little productions in elementary school. But this is a whole new world I’m in now. There are 3 other actors besides myself in the show who are all divorced and tend to curse quite a bit. And the beast likes to make comments about me doing a pole dance on the ships mast…what a beast! So talking with Colten and praying a lot I’m trying to figure out how doing this show or doing theater period in a secular context brings Honor and Glory to God. I’ve been praying, and would appreciate your prayers also that I can be salt and light to the rest of the cast. They certainly like to tease me about being a Christian. The beast just asked the other day how I am going to attend church and do our show on Sunday mornings at 11:00am. I was able to inform him that we have a chapel service at 7:30am and I will try not to miss it. I talked with Colten about how I will have to be careful about what shows I do (what is the message they are conveying) and what roles I take on. I certainly feel that "Beauty and the Beast" has a positive message to put out there. This is one of the few stories in fairy tale lore where the hero and heroine fall in love over a period of TIME by getting to know one another. It also places the importance of inner beauty over outer beauty and selfishness. And fortunately I am not depending on theater for any sort of income and Denver has such a great theater scene, I think I will be able to avoid anything inappropriate. I would appreciate any input, comments or advice! And certainly prayers :)

And remember we open May 8th and run through June 27th!

http://www.the73rdavenuetheatrecompany.com/childrens-shows/

I am depressed today. I found out about this organization called International Justice Mission (I actually heard about it on KLOVE) and looked up their website to get more info.

If there is one thing in this world I HATE and loathe and cry just thinking about it, is the trafficking of women and children who are sexually abused. While I was in college I attended a presentation on this very subject and literally thought I was going to throw up afterwards--I was so disturbed.

I've felt the tugging to get involved more with ministries and finding more ways to help the poor. Colten and I give money to our church, of course, and also have been financial supporters of the Denver Rescue Mission for a few years now. We use our talents at church, and soon I would like to actually be able to volunteer my time at DRM. We have a Compassion International child, Andres, whose 5 we support and write to as well.

But the International Justice Mission is WHERE my heart is. The stories about the young girls they have saved from prostitution (as young as 12 years old) are heart wrenching. I was so bummed to find out their headquarters are in Washington DC. So the most I can do from here is tell others about it and give financial support. I'm thinking of hosting a fundraiser dinner with friends to raise money to send.

I know a lot of people know where Colten and I stand on the new Health Care Bill. But one thing I do want to point out is that Christians are not giving like we're called to do. My dad told me a statistic he read lately about how much Christians tithe and it was only about 4%. The Church should be the ones responsible for caring for the poor--not the government forcing us too. We should give because we can, we care, and we are called.

Please check out this website and give if you can! And if you are a Christian please remember to tithe what God has blessed you with!!!

http://www.ijm.org