The Hobbit: what the book and movies mean to us

Holly and Kelly: We are now 10 days away from the second movie of the Hobbit Trilogy; The Desolation of Smaug. Now I am sure that most of you are sick of seeing the stuff we keep posting on our social media sites. Here's just a few reasons why we are so excited for the upcoming flick:

*Lord of the Rings: Yep, we totally missed out on that movie trilogy. We were 11, 12 and 13 when the movies hit the big screen. I remember seeing previews for those movies and thinking how stupid they looked. Someone should have gone Sam with a frying pan to our heads.

*A story of hope, courage and inspiration: When you get past the scary Wargs, Orcs, trolls and goblins, that's exactly what this story is all about. Bilbo is basically an average Joe Hobbit who is so preoccupied with his space and things. But out of the blue, Gandalf takes all that away from him, stating in the movie "it will be very good for you." In my life, God has been the Gandalf in my life; taking away my comforts and putting me on this roller coaster that's called being in a relationship with Him. It's crazy, but worth it!

*The actors and crew: I cannot stress this enough, they really do care about their fans! Peter Jackson was quoted saying "I don't make these movies for the Oscars. I make them for the fans." He also does video blogs and hosts fan events. How many movie makers do you see doing that? Not too many. We were watching the World Premiere last night that took place in Hollywood. The actors spent a LOT of time with the fans signing things, talking to them and taking pictures with them. I will post a video at the end that brings this point home. You'll see what I mean.

*Tolkien; He was a Christian! Need I say more?! If you read the book you will see hidden Christian themes, or at least I do. My favorite is at the end when Gandalf tells Bilbo " you really don't suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit?" (and yes this is straight out of the book). Bilbo then states "Thank goodness!"

*Our faith: We can honestly believe that these stories have strengthened our faith and relationship with Christ. When you read about Bilbo and his struggles, Frodo and his struggles and the other characters and their struggles, you know they're real, even though the characters are not. Let's face it; we've all dealt with fear, pride, worry and doubt, and we've all had a Sam or a Gandalf in our lives to help us fight the good fight. Accountability partners? Exactly. I read about these struggles, reflect upon mine, am inspired and I thank God for what He has brought me through and for blessing us with an author and movie director that has inspired many, ourselves included. So there. Now you have it.

Prepare to grab some tissues for this one.

Debunking the stigmas

Holly: It's not much of a surprise that society tends to put people into "boxes".  You have your haves and have-nots, your loners and social butterflies, your twenty-somethings and your elderly, your single people and your couples...you get the idea.  Then there's us.  We're more on the "haves" side of things, we fit somewhere in between loner and social butterfly, we're both single, and we're both in our 20s.  We're also Christians.

I've seen a lot of stigmas associated with being a Christian.  I'm sure you have too.  "Christians don't know how to have fun."  (Whatever that means, anyway.  I guarantee my definition of "fun" and your definition are totally different).  "Christians think everyone's going to hell."  "Christians only listen to Christian music and don't watch movies with swearing or sex or any of that stuff."  "Christians are so hypocritical."  "Christians don't drink or smoke or any of that." "Christians are so judgmental."  "Christians think everything is BAD!" You get the idea, right?

I'm going to debunk ALL of these by saying that they're all full of crap.  Last night, Kelly and I went and saw "The World's End" in theaters.  I will be the first to say that it's filthy.  There's a lot of bad language and a lot of inappropriate-ness.  However, we saw it anyway.  Why? Because it's JUST A MOVIE.  It's not like Kelly and I are going to suddenly embark on a mile-long pub crawl.  No.  And that's where I debunk all of these stigmas.  Movies, tv shows, books, etc, things that are "questionable" are merely in this world for the sole purpose of entertainment.  It's just a movie.  It's just a book.  They're not real.  There's a quote from Facing the Giants in which someone asks "So you think God cares about football?"  The rebuttal is that God cares about our faith.  We can indulge in a totally stupid and funny 2 hour movie and keep our integrity in check.  Watching a movie is not a sin.  As for music...give me Mumford and Sons any day of the week.

Kelly: I remember at the first church I attended when I was about 8 years old. As you all know, Harry Potter had just come out and was starting to get well known. Holly and I were in our Sunday School class and our Sunday School teacher was very anti-Harry Potter because of the magic, witchcraft and wizardry that obviously happens. She blatantly said that Harry Potter was a sin. I remember going home and being very upset because I was thinking about reading it but because of what she said I didn't. Maybe that's why we waited so long to read them...anyway.

Last night, like she said, Holly and I enjoyed an R rated movie. I also have been known to enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage. (Bear in mind I said OCCASIONAL). I think what it just boils down to is ignorance. Just because we carry the name of Christ doesn't mean we're these sheltered, Bible-thumping fire and brimstone kind of people. No. When I was in Scotland 2 summers ago, I was the oldest in my apartment and my roommates were into that kind of party scene that included bar-hopping and the such. I am not really into that. Never have been. I remember I was in the kitchen making dinner and after repeatedly declining their invitations one girl asked me if I was a Christian. I said that I was. She then asked "oh so you don't drink because you're a Christian?" I'm going to use a Martin Freeman picture again to express my frustration then and now.

Again, I think it just boils down to ignorance. It's frustrating. So if anyone out there asks me how I spent my weekend, please please PLEASE do not gasp and be all flabbergasted if I reply that I went and had a drink with my friends. I believe there is absolutely nothing wrong with alcohol and R-rated movies. It's just if we let the drinking go farther than our limits and we start behaving in the way that R-rated movies sometimes are, then that in my opinion is when they can become problematic. Yet again there's another struggle, because today's culture is immersed with this type of behavior ALL the time. More often than not these types of behaviors are just casual, brushed off with "oops it just happened" or "oh it's ok. I'll clean up better next time." Now I ain't trying to preach, but it seems to me that the line between right and wrong has been so blurred in the past few years or so. And let's face it, our society has become so accepting of basically just a "doing it your way" type of lifestyle. Hey, that's great and all, but in my world living for myself is too small a thing to live for. God made me as the person that I am today; I think I owe it to Him to take care of this vessel He made in me. He's built something in my head that started young, because I've never been one to follow with what is "right" in today's world. So in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy what I enjoy and live my best for God. That's all any of us can do really. 

30 Days of Writing: A book you love

Holly: It took me a long time to come up with this one because, like Kelly, there are so many books I love.  Originally I was going to talk about "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", but a friend who we are inspired by chose that...didn't want to steal her thunder.  You should read that, though.  I mulled over a few more (eventually deciding to scrap "The Hobbit" too) until I decided on this:

It tells the story of a young student (the author) who is called to the bedside of a former mentor and professor of his, Morrie, who is suffering from the debilitating end stages of ALS.  They had not seen each other since the student, now an accomplished newspaper columnist, had taken classes from him almost 20 years back.

It's a very short read (about 100 pages...I can read it in a day), but full of insight, wisdom, poignant and touching moments.  Have a box of tissues handy.  For me, it made me think of the professors and mentors that have influenced me and my life.  I haven't read it in a while but I will again.  A must-read for everyone! 

Kelly: Well, this one is tricky. I mean, there are a lot of books I love. I could talk about The Bible, which would be an obvious choice, I suppose. It is a good book if you haven't had the chance to read it yet. I was going to talk about The Hobbit, but we all know I could give my LOTR/Hobbit likeness a break. So I figured I'd talk about the best of both worlds:

Walking with Bilbo; A devotional guide through The Hobbit 

Holly and I found this book through our recommendations on Amazon. Having not heard of it, we decided to give it a try. We read and discussed two chapters/week, which took us about 3 months to get through the entire book. Even though it was about The Hobbit, I really enjoyed it because it helped us see so many of the Christian themes that are associated with Tolkien's writings and it connected them with Scripture. If you are a Tolkien fan, then this devotional I would definitely recommend!