Old Fashioned
Back in February, Old Fashioned came out in theaters the same exact weekend that Fifty Shades of Grey entered on the scene. When it seemed that people every where couldn’t get to the theaters fast enough to see Fifty Shades, my husband and I went in search of a good, wholesome movie to see instead. We got just that in Old Fashioned!
To be honest, I read Fifty Shades when everyone started talking about the books long before there was ever any mention of a movie being made. Curiosity killed the cat so to speak, and I wanted to see what people were in an uproar about. Some were raving about how much they loved it and how it spiced up their love lives, while others were so set against it and all the books stood for. Once my curiosity was satisfied with the books, I had no desire to see the movie when it came out. I’m not a prude by any means, but I did not need to take it any further beyond the books. While it may be exciting to role play and do other “scenes” in the bedroom at times, there is a lot to be said about what others on the Dominant/submissive scene refer to as “vanilla.” That may sound boring to some. For me, an old fashioned way of courting and falling in love should be the foundation of your relationship. The romance and passion that comes along with it will be enough to knock your socks off to where one won’t need an erotic book or movie to help enhance things in the bedroom.
There really is no comparing the two movies because I will always lean toward love and romance first. What was noticeably different is how the characters were drawn to each other. In Fifty Shades, he sees her, wants her, and due to all of his wealth and money, he gets her. However, in Old Fashioned, the woman is more modern and worldly it seems at first glance, while the man is more standoffish. He will not even be in the same room with her alone. He prefers, instead, to stand outside her door to speak with her, or if he has to go inside her apartment to make repairs, he has her stand outside the door while he’s inside the apartment. He does not want there to be an opportunity for temptation or for things to look bad either. Yes, it is an old fashioned approach, but it is something that we need to consider now in this day and age, too. Think about it. How common is it for a male and a female coworker to be together looking over plans, proposals, bids, or discussing something else on the job? One may not see anything wrong with stepping inside the office and closing the door with a member of the opposite sex or even going out for a “working lunch” with a coworker of the opposite sex either, BUT, they should! Quite frankly, males and females should not be in the same room or car alone. Period. If they are married, their spouses won’t like it one bit, but not only that, it introduces an opportunity for temptation to enter or inappropriate things to start happening. Does it always? NO. But, why take the chance? There is a lot to be said about not giving the wrong impression or the “appearance of evil” either.
One significant difference in the two movies is that Grey and his subject had an agreement, yet he still did things that seemed to violate her trust in him. She quickly recovered and went back for more, but this has been seen by a lot of people as abuse. Some argue that if they had an agreement and they were both consenting adults that this wasn’t abuse, just something that happened when they were living out one of their “scenes.” The main character in Old Fashioned had a life changing moment where he realized that he did not want to continue on the path that he was on, and ended up turning his life around. He began reading a bible that he was given and allowed it to speak to his heart. As he did, he realized he wanted things to be different in his life and his relationships. He went back to the old fashioned way of life, which, to me, is quite refreshing.
Earlier this morning my husband had to take our vehicle to the repair shop. As he waited inside, he overheard a woman talking about how she was so “over” hearing about Fifty Shades. My husband took that opportunity to share with her that when everyone was talking about this movie, we went to see Old Fashioned. He told her a little of what it was about, and the lady said she thought she may have read the book a few years ago. My husband expounded on it saying that now there is the book, the movie, AND a devotional type book as well. He encouraged her to check it out, and she said she might actually do that. We encourage our readers to do the same. You won’t be sorry! And actually, we have all three, and we plan to pass these along to our 18 year old daughter and her boyfriend. They just started dating, and while he has been respectful and has shown, thus far, that he is a gentleman, we don’t think it will hurt to introduce this concept to ensure that they take this path instead of the worldly way.
If any of our readers are on the dating scene themselves or has teenagers/young adults that are dating as well, please enter our giveaway and share the Old Fashioned concept with them, too! I’d love to see more couples reverting back to this way of courting and having a meaningful, Christ-centered relationship than what this world has resorted to today.
“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
Trip of A Lifetime
Last year we were anxiously awaiting the date to arrive when friends from all over the United States would meet up IN PERSON for the very first time. Having met online 17 years ago, we never dreamed that we would actually get the chance to meet in person, yet finally we did. Sadly, it was due to one vital member of our little online community being struck with breast cancer. We wanted to rally around her and offer our support, love, and prayers … in person.
One of our Lifetime friends from New Zealand tried desperately to make it before our dear friend, Debbie, passed away in November of 2014. In the mist of making travel arrangements to go around the world to be at Debbie’s side, she faded away. Our hearts were shattered the day we lost our precious friend.
Feeling this great loss, we tried to pick up the pieces and go on, yet everything was a reminder of Debbie. Then, one day, our Kiwi friend, as Debbie so affectionately referred to him, announced that he was coming to see us after all. He had a great desire to go to Debbie’s final resting place to speak his heart, and after much planning and preparing, the time has come for us to meet Vaughan at last! Ah, yes, our little Kiwi has landed after traveling literally all week to get here. He is resting up in a hotel and will be bombarded with giggly women come Friday afternoon when Sylvia and I will hunt him down to give him a hug of a Lifetime!!
Vaughan as kept us informed of all of the details of his flights. He would “check in” at every hotel and update his status so we’d know exactly where he was and when we would need to run for the nearest hill. Just kidding. We are all anxiously awaiting our meeting Friday afternoon, and you KNOW I’ll be back to share all about it. I can’t wait to hear his accent in person, too!
This post is entitled Trip of A Lifetime, as that is what Vaughan has been calling it. We are BLESSED to have the Kiwi among us, in our online community as well as now, life and in person! We are thankful that he sacrificed so much to make this dream a reality, and soon … very, very soon, we will be meeting in person! God is so good to have allowed us to meet! Who would have ever thought that he, all the way over in New Zealand, would be coming here to meet us?! Ah yes, a Trip of A Lifetime – for Friends of A Lifetime!
We are blessed and so grateful.
Our friends truly have become our family. We have claimed them a long time ago. We have shared so many things through these past 17 years. The great and wonderful things that have happened in our lives, as well as the heartache and pain. None of us had to go through any of our troubles or trials alone for we had each other through it all.
My heart is overjoyed, and I wait in great anticipation!
Hold your friends close to your heart and let them know every day how much they mean to you. Life is too short. Make your dreams come true, just as Vaughan has for himself as well as for Sylvia and I, too!
Blessings to you and all of your online friendships!
Words of Wisdom
With my daughter’s high school graduation, and our trip to Toronto kicking off our busy Summer, I seem to be short on words of wisdom lately! Even still, I am thankful that this site is available when I am ready to share my rambling thoughts and hopefully have a few readers join me.
This site is so much more than just a “blog.” It helps me leave behind a legacy for my children.
I have handwritten journals I started when they were babies. One in particular – for my oldest daughter – was started when I found out I was pregnant! I was so excited and started writing words of love to her before she ever came into this world. These are actually in a fire proof safe for them when they are older and will appreciate what they will one day hold in their hands.
This site also allows for my words to remain out here in cyber space for them to reflect back on. These days they seem not to care too much about Mommy’s blog. Maybe at some point later, they will.
A few years back, poems that I used to write were taken and put into a book format by my friend, Greg. What a sweet keepsake my girls will have to hopefully also treasure and hold dear to their heart.
In the grand scheme of things, these are just little things they will possess long after I’m gone that will speak to their hearts when I’m not here on this earth any longer to do so. The thought of what I just wrote brings tears that sting my eyes, and I blink back the tears, fighting them the entire way.
Oh, how I wish we could all live forever.
It breaks my heart completely to think that one day my children will be forced to go on without me by their side. I have raised them and instilled morals and values into them the best way I know how. I have shared God and my faith with them, and they have asked Jesus into their hearts. We have the reassurance that one day if we are forced to be apart for a little while, we will be reunited in Heaven. Even still, I pray God allows me to have so many more years with my children laughing, loving, holding, and making memories with them.
I have been blessed to live as long as I have as some do not get this opportunity and aren’t as fortunate. Yet, I’m selfish and want more time. I pray God allows it. My grandmother lived well into her 80s. She was in good health until the last two years of her life when she had surgery and things went downhill with her health. I pray that I will be healthy and active well into my 80s also!
Have you put aside little keepsakes for your family? If you haven’t, you could start today with your own version of a sweet memory that you will leave them with, something tangible to hold in their hands.
With those words, I am reminded of what my grandmother did prior to her death. She knew death was near at one point, so she left a card behind. This card was discovered a few days after her funeral when her daughter began going through her things. Can you imagine the impact of this simple little sympathy card? To find a sympathy card that your MOTHER wrote to you … oh, there are no words to express the flood of emotions that came over my father when his sister shared the card with him. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and sat there motionless for a long time with tears escaping under his closed eyelids. My grandmother expressed her deepest sympathy to her children for their broken hearts after losing her, and in closing, she expressed as much as she possibly could in words the love that she carried for her family all of her 80+ years. Tears are now finding their way out of my eyes and onto my cheeks despite tilting my head back and blinking to avoid them spilling out.
If you take anything away from this post today, just remember that the love of family is so very important. Make those memories. Spend time with the ones that mean the world to you. There may come a day when you will not have them with you any longer. It will hurt your heart, and you will long for them … just one more phone conversation, one more visit … one more hug, one more chance to say, “I love you.”
The people in your lives matter, and you matter to them. Take no one for granted. Treasure and cherish, love and hold dear to your heart while you still can. And then when your time on Earth is through, they will have beautiful moments to reflect back on as they reminisce about time spent with you.
Leave an incredible and inspirational legacy of love for your family.
