Folderol and Fiddle-Dee-Dee

If you have never seen this version of Cinderella, go out and rent it now! I think Blockbuster has it... It aired on TV on the Wonderful World of Disney in 1997, and it is one of my favorite versions of Cinderella. Perhaps this is for humorous reasons - the multi-racial cast makes me laugh, and some of the costuming is ridiculously over-the-top. But, the cast is amazing. I mean, seriously: Whoopi Goldberg (the queen), Bernadette Peters (stepmother), Jason Alexander (not sure what his title is...), Brandy (Cinderella), and Whitney Houston (fairy godmother). 

The songs are so fun in it, as well. They get stuck in my head and I find myself singing them throughout the day, but I LOVE it. If you don't like cheesy movies, you actually would probably not enjoy this like I do, though. It's cheesy. But it's Disney - what do you expect?

Whenever I watch fairy tales, I of course get sucked in with the idea of a Prince Charming pursuing me, searching the whole kingdom to find me, and so on. I would love to wear the beautiful dress and waltz around the room, feeling like there is no one else in the room besides us. But, honestly, if my life had to be like a fairy tale, Cinderella is not the one that I would choose. It has some great elements of the "perfect" love story (if you didn't read my post a couple weeks ago, I am writing a paper for one of my classes about that), but there are also things I would change. The biggest problem I have with the story is that the prince falls in love with her after one night of dancing. It's a "love at first sight" thing, but that's based on outward appearance, and that's not what I want for my love story.

If I could pick any fairy tale out there, I would choose Beauty and the Beast. Not only because it is my favorite Disney movie of all time, and not only because I can relate to Belle (loves to read, doesn't fit in with the cultural norm of what they thought a woman should be, etc.), but mainly because the hero and heroine fall in love after getting to know one another. She was not attracted to him based on outward appearance, that's for sure! They spend so much time together that their relationship develops into love, and that's what I want for my life.

I am not saying that the "love at first sight" thing doesn't work. Heck, I am not an authority on anything related to relationships! And I know that life is not like a Disney movie. And I am not picky on what will happen. Haha, the story isn't the problem; it's the finding of a guy that will put up with the mess* that I am sometimes that I haven't accomplished :) 

God's Faithfulness

Onto another topic, God has continued to be faithful as this year is wrapping up. I have three weeks left of class till finals; sophomore year has FLOWN by! And, looking back, I have been a tad bit discouraged with the way I spent my time in the dorm this year. I wasn't sure if I really made an impact on my Bible study girls because it didn't turn out like I expected. That's not good or bad, just different. But I met with one of my girls earlier this week to just talk about life and the fall and where God is taking her. She is thinking about leading a freshman Bible study herself next year, which is really exciting, and... dun dun duuuuuuunn  I asked her to pray about the possibility of me discipling her!  She wasn't familiar with the concept but I showed her Scripture and explained to her the importance of someone pouring into her, especially if she was pouring into others, and she told me that she had been thinking about how she needed someone doing something like that for her. I am beyond excited about this possibility; I have been praying for an opportunity like this all semester. And I have another girl I want to talk to about it as well.

This first girl also told me that part of her motivation for leading a Bible study was so that she could help other freshman girls like I helped and encouraged her. Wow. God is so good. It's so amazing to see how He has used me even when I didn't know it or didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything. All the praise goes to Him on that one. 

*I can be a mess both figuratively (who isn't sometimes?) and literally. I am going to be an embarrassment to take out to dinner. Most of my closest friends know this and are still friends with me, but I tend to get my food all over the table or all over my clothes while eating; we had a meal of vegetable soup and corn bread the other week, and not only did I get sticky molasses (for the cornbread) all over the table and my hands, but I tried to clean up my mess and ended up scooping all of it onto my lap and the carpet. Oh, and the nicer the meal, the more likely messes will happen. And it's not always just with food. In fact, at the winter formal banquet my junior year of high school I lit my cloth napkin on fire from the candles on the table, and it definitely left a burn mark. Oops.