The Christmas Story the Musical - Review

This winter Theatre Cedar Rapids (TCR) is putting on the production of “Christmas Story the Musical”. I was able to go see it today with my parents. I have not seen the movie, “The Christmas Story”, so this review is just on the play itself. I believe that the play was entertaining. There were lots of kids in the cast that had to sing and for the most part I thought they did really well. Obviously I don’t sing so I can’t be 100% sure if they were on key. There was a narrator the whole time that spoke once in awhile to express what was going on and also state the thoughts of the main character, Ralphie. When I saw that there was going to be a narrator I questioned what role the narrator would play but over time I began to like how they incorporated it. There were lots of comical parts where I heard and participated in laughter. My dad even cried during the play so my guess is that others did too. Faith played a key role in this play in the fact that Ralphie had to have lots of faith that he could convince his parents to buy him a Red Ryder B-B gun. In the end his wish came true when his dad, who had a B-B gun as a child, has faith that his son won’t shoot his eye out and presents him with a gift of the special B-B gun that Ralphie has been dreaming of. Faith comes in many ways in the Christmas Story; it comes in the way the family loves each other even when everything else goes wrong such as their car having a flat tire, their furnace breaking, and their Christmas turkey stolen by the neighbor’s dogs. The actors and actresses also had to have faith that this production would go well. If I were to rate this play I would give it a 7/10. It was definitely not the best production I have seen at TCR but it was good. It was definitely a feel good musical. I can’t wait to see another show at TCR.

Versions of Bibles

There are many types of bibles in the world. What one should you read?  Is there a difference between them? Many questions come with the fact that there are so many versions of the bible.

What one should you read? First you have to figure out your reading style. Many versions of the bible are very old sounding and have longer sentences and structure is very different. When I was in third grade our church’s youth received their own bible and we got the New Revised Standard Version. I like this version because it isn’t very old sounding so I can understand what I am reading. There are also many children’s versions that aren’t necessary the whole bible, but they have the stories that most kids should know. The stories are typically the big parts of the bible.

Is there a difference between bibles? There are many different things about the versions of bibles including wording, but after you find the meaning of different verses then each version pretty much says the same thing. Here are some examples:

Deuteronomy 6:5:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  – God’s word translation

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. – English Standard Version

And the Lord your God is to be loved with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. – The Bible in Basic English

John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. –American Standard Version

For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may no come to destruction but have eternal life. – The Bible in Basic English

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. – New Kings James Version

Both this examples show that the meaning of the verse are the same just said in different ways. So it doesn’t matter at all which version of bible you read, it is a preference to the reader based on how their writing style is.

Ways to Pray

Praying is a form of taking to God in a way that makes you feel like He will be listening. Some people always are in the same position every single time but then there are other people that will pray whenever and wherever. Here are a few ways that I have learned to pray or have seen people pray.

1.The traditional position of kneeling and folding hands: I think this is fine but a little too much. Like when I was a kid a lot of my bible/ religious books always show this way at night were they kneel by the bed and fold their hands and bow their head. I never really did this or at least I don’t remember doing it, but I understood that this way is a symbol of praying. The only time I actually do this is with communion at church. Kneel on the pew and pray while waiting for the bread and wine (grape juice).

2.Five-finger praying: You start with your thumb, which is closest to you and pray for the people that are closest to you. Then it’s the pointer finger and is for praying for the people who point the way like teachers or healers. Your middle finger is the tallest so it is for praying for people in a leadership rule like leaders of the church and God’s guidance. Next is the ring finger this reminds us to pray for those who are weak or in trouble. Last but not least is your pinkie were you are reminded to pray for yourself. I learned this from my grandma when I was little.  I have thought the prayer method a lot and how it can remind you that there are lots of different people that need to be prayed for and not just yourself.

3.Meal prayers: These are probably the most common because there are three meals in the day and even if you don’t pray at all of them it is still something that if you get in the routine that you will at least think your prayers. All families have different prayers for mealtime if they pray or eat together. I know that my family has two and when we are with my dad’s parent’s home we say a different one because they are Catholic and have a different way of praying.

4.Song: My favorite way of pray is through song because they usually are very happy and even though I’m an awful singer it makes me feel good inside. These prayers can be either slow or up beat. I love during service when we sing because it brings the congregation together. I also love sing at Camp EWALU because we are singing to God and for God. This is truly something amazing.

There are so many other ways that one can pray to God and these are just four out of thousands of ways. Hope you have your own special way to talk to God. He loves to listen to our prayers and as humans we should love to pray to Him.

Hard questions from a kid to answer

             Kids ask a lot of questions and when they are about faith you have to think about how you are answering it so that it would make sense in the mind of a kid. There has to be a fine balance between faith and being a kid. Many parts overlap but there will always be things that they might question and it will be hard to explain to them in a faith - kid kind of way. Here are some questions and some thought on how to answer them.

- How were dinosaurs around before Adam and Eve?

First off that’s even a hard question for adults but many kids will ask it because many kids love dinosaurs.   When you read them the story of the creation they may question this question. My answer to them is to come back with another questions. Ask them what they think happened and have them put their thoughts into words. If they want your opinion you can go and tell them your opinion.   You can say something on the lines of dinosaurs were here the same time as human’s just on different part of the earth. Either way it’s a hard question to answer for a kid or an adult.

-       How do we know that God really exists?

This one isn’t that hard to answer. It is just a feeling we have. Talk to them about the meaning of faith and how it is something that we have to believe in without seeing. Maybe talk to them about a time in their life where they have seen God. Many parents pray with their child so if they pray for something and it is answered then you can explain that that is the work of God.

-       What is the trinity?

This is another one that is hard to answer for both kids and adults. How I explain the trinity is that it is three in one. Almost like a three in one body shampoo. There is the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash all in one. This is something that is easy to explain because it is one thing but has three purposes. The trinity is one but has three purposes. God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit.

Raking Leaves

I’m a member of the St. Andrews Lutheran youth group (SAY). In the fall we rake leaves for members of our church that can’t rake their leaves, have trouble raking their leaves or just need some help. This year we went to three houses on three consecutive Sunday afternoons. I helped with two of them because I had too much homework one week. We try to get as many of us together so the job goes faster and it is usually more fun. It is hard to get a lot of the youth there because our church doesn’t have many and lots of us have busy schedules plus lots of homework. Raking leaves give back to our church family and connects the church just a little bit more.

            Whenever our church does service projects like leaf raking I feel like I’m giving back to our church for everything they do for SAY. The church gives so much to the youth to be able to go on trips like the national youth gathering and going to St. Louis. The money members give also helps us with other fun actives we like to do. With leaf raking we give them something back. Even with this small thing it feel really good because they have trouble with it and we are helping them in ways that we can’t describe. SAY always likes to do activities to help at our church and in the community so that the help from the members doesn’t go to waste.

            Doing social events like leaf raking helps with connecting people together. It helps with connecting the youth to other generations. Many of the youth don’t go to the same school and even the people that go to my school I don’t talk too much. When we do social events, we get to know each other more and get caught up on our lives. We connect ourselves with our parents’ generation because they usually help us out and provide some of our transportation. We also connect ourselves with the older generation when we help with their yard and sometimes we talk to them and get to know them more.

The individuals receiving our charitable event - rake leafing are happy also.  They have provided food for us like hot dogs in the past. Some of them will come out and talk to us while we are working or after and tell us that they truly appreciate what we do. It’s funny how when one person does something nice it is a chain reaction that should never end.

           

            Something as simple as raking leaves is a big part of how my youth group gives back to the community and connects with generations.