There and Back Again...

I FINALLY finished the ENTIRE Lord of the Rings Trilogy! It only took me since the middle of June. I think my favorite out of the three was The Two Towers. It was really the heart of the adventure. Then again, it's virtually impossible to beat the Battle at Pelennor Fields.

Quotes that I love:
From The Fellowship,
"'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. 'So do I' said Gandalf, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Timeless. Frodo's lamentation and Gandalf's advice seems fit for all eras. There are advantages and disadvantages to every time in history, but we were placed in our time for a reason. God knew the exact second that we drew our first breath, and the exact second when we will draw our last and everything in between. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 But I digress....

From the Return of the King,

Gandalf - “‘Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.’”

“So that those who live after may have clean earth to till”. Gives you something to think about.

Hmmm…I said The Two Towers was my favorite, and yet I don’t have a quote from it. Oh well. I cried a lot during these books…When Gandalf is reading Balin’s journal in the Chamber of Mazarbul, when Aragorn and Legolas are singing the lamentations of Boromir, when Sam thought Frodo was dead at Shelob’s Lair, when Theoden died, and, yes, even when Sam had to cast away his pots and pans in Mordor.

I would recommend reading the books before watching the movies (though you’ve probably already done both), because it’s more exciting that way. I, unfortunately watched the movies first, but the books were still adventurous and surprising. After all, Tolkien wrote things that Peter Jackson failed to capture; The Old Forest, Tom Bombadil, That exciting surprise in “The Pyre of Denethor”, “Ghan-Buri-Ghan”, the Scouring of the Shire, and much more. And aside from that, all the cinematography in the world can’t take the place of your imagination.

Anyway, I read them, and enjoyed them, and want to read them all over again; alas for school….

I've been tagged!

I got tagged by Ria, so here goes.

1. One book that changed your life.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. The first "big kid" book that I read.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once.

All of the Chronicles of Narnia.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island.

Well, if the Bible doesn't count, than I would want The Lord of the Rings (I know it's not really one book).

4. One book that made you laugh.

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare.

5.One book that made you cry.

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, and Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

6. One book that you wish had been written.

I don't know.

7. One book that you wish had never been written.

Bridge to Terebithia...Just Kidding, it wasn't *that* bad.

8. One book you’re currently reading.

The Return of the King, and Pride and Prejudice.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read.

See below.

I tag Holly, Katie, Mary Liz, Lucy, and David.

~reeeeeeeee!~ (Sorry, inside joke)

Congratulations to the fine young men who were vested into Dominican Habit on Tuesday (the solemnity of St. dominic)!

VBS....

Our Vacation Bible School is taking place this Monday through Friday. Our theme is "The Life and Times of Moses". Please keep us in your prayers as our 300 volunteers minister to these children. Thanks!