If someone who I have never watched a movie with before, watches a movie with me, they may notice a few things. I squeal, and scream a little inside sometimes, which makes noise, too. I have a tendency to make comments throughout movies. Also, I laugh at instances that may not seem all that funny to the other viewer of said movie. Some people have said that I’m funny, but I think that inside, some people eventually find it annoying (cuz this happens a lot). Only my sister has bothered to tell me so, but I still try to contain my…excitement? Adrenaline? Whatever it is. This gets worse when I’m watching a movie I’ve never seen before, but even with a movie I have…I get real anticipatory of a scene coming up and might start laughing at it before it’s even on the screen. I also get this way when I’m reading; however, nobody knows what’s going on, so I guess it’s a little weird.
I get that excited about non-fiction, real life stuff, too. It just doesn’t happen as often. Sometimes I’ll be on the 4-Wheeler chasing or being chased by the ranger in the yard, sometimes it’s when I’m on the jet ski or even when I’m simply planning an adventure. I don’t always get that excited about fiction when I’m writing it, but when the idea comes to my head, yes, I’m laughing out loud. (If you’ve been getting the sense from reading this so far that I’m a little bit different, I probably am.) But, another thing that can get me this excited is JESUS. And on Sunday, when we went to an African American church in Milwaukee, I found people who I could relate to in this over-excited, showing it in a that’s-different kind of way. They didn’t even try to sustain their squeals of excitement—they let those squeals become shouts. Nobody cared when comments were made throughout the service (they all were doing so)! Have you ever seen the movie “Rack, Shack, and Benny”? It’s a Veggietales movie. Well, at the very end, they’re all singin a song and praising Jesus called “Stand Up.” (Unfortunately, there weren’t any good quality versions of that song on YouTube, or you’d be watching it now.) A scene is shown of the outside of the building, jamming out to the music. Well, that’s how this church would look if it were shown from the outside in an animated movie. There was dancin and there was shouting; there was clapping and there was stompin. It was great. And nobody was getting annoyed at the dancers and the shouters, the clappers and the stompers, because it’s NORMALCY. I could feel the floors shaking, for there were people stomping their feet in front of me and behind me. All this to the of the four-part gospel voices as they led the room in singing, “I give you ALL THE GLORY!” God is so awesome!
*A side note from a music nerd: I love gospel harmonies. The worship was AWESOME. They keyboardist was in charge, directing cues to the singers even as he was playing. He was just awesome, playing the “twinklies” during the times that the pastor and other people went to the front to speak, etc. There was a drumset playing at the same time as a percussion setup across the room consisting of bongos and congas, wind chimes, and a cymbal. There was also a trumpet playing, and the instruments alone were quite epic. Then you add ten very strong voices, and WHOA! It was great! I loved it! I loved listening to it and singing along with the third line of the thick, thick chords. The voices by themselves were epic. Have you ever heard one of them sing by themselves? What voices! Alright. And now, back to the blog you clicked on to read.*
I absolutely loved the enthusiasm. It was getting me excited about Jesus, too! I truly want to get that excited about Jesus all the time! And why should we not all be this excited about Jesus all the time?
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20
Jesus is all and does all good. He is God, who loves and has compassion for every person. He grants us mercy and gives us the gift of grace. And, on top of all of this, he longs to have a personal and intimate relationship with each and every one of us. If, on a scale from 1-10, you were to rate how much God desires a personal relationship with you? It’d be a 10! What would you rate your desire to know this being in a personal way? Do you know him already? Then let’s get excited!
Smiling with extra excitement,Anna =)^2
Anna E. Meyer 