Girl Meets World

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone in my generation who doesn’t have at least some sort of connection with the 90’s sitcom Boy Meets World. Many people my age (myself included) consider it to be the greatest television show of all time. But even if they don’t feel that strongly about the show, most people have at least seen it and enjoyed the simplicity, optimism, and wit that the show was known for back in the day. Even though Boy Meets World has been off the air for nearly fifteen years, it still lives on in reruns and DVD sales, and it still has a pretty strong influence over its fans. Boy Meets World is still relevant today.

Don’t believe me? Just ask Disney. Last year, it was announced that Disney Channel planned to create a spin-off/sequel series to Boy Meets World entitled Girl Meets World. And despite criticism, doubt, and the oh-so-predictable cries of, “You’re ruining my childhood!” every time anyone creates anything remotely related to something someone my age enjoyed in the past, Girls Meets World is now a reality. After seeing the pilot, Disney Channel executives ordered a full first season. It premiered on June 27, 2014, before settling into its regular timeslot of Fridays at 8:30. (On an unrelated note, I will be busy on Friday nights at 8:30 for the foreseeable future.)

Girl Meets World is set approximately fifteen years after the end of its predecessor. Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel return as Cory and Topanga Matthews, the main characters of Boy Meets World, who now live in New York City where Topanga works as a lawyer and Cory (ironically) teaches middle school. But the series doesn’t revolve as much around them as it does around their 12-year-old daughter Riley, played fabulously by Rowan Blanchard. Along with her best friend Maya Hart (Sabrina Carpenter), Riley tries to navigate the seventh grade. Along the way, she learns about family, friendship, and growing up.

There are a lot of things I love about this show, and there’s no way I could go into all of them here. But I would like to cover a few of them. The first one, and probably the most important, is the involvement of the original cast and crew. I was excited when I heard that Disney Channel was making Girl Meets World, but when I found out that Cory and Topanga had both signed on to return, I was ecstatic. Seeing my favorite characters from my childhood come back to life is really fun. And the fact that the whole thing is run by Michael Jacobs, the man responsible for Boy Meets World, just makes the series that much more trustworthy. Girl Meets World has the same heart and tone that Boy Meets World had, thanks to the original cast and crew agreeing to come back.

That’s not to say that the new characters—the kids—aren’t compelling, too. Riley is a great protagonist and reminds me a lot of Cory in the early seasons of Boy Meets World. She’s idealistic, naive, and a little awkward. But that’s what we’ve all come to expect from Boy Meets World, and Rowan Blanchard does a great job. But by far the best new actor they’ve brought onto the show is Sabrina Carpenter, who plays Riley’s best friend Maya. If Riley is the new Cory, Maya is the new Shawn. Maya comes from a broken family and has a tendency to get herself (and Riley) into trouble. The Riley-Maya relationship is unique enough to not be boring, but it still has a lot of elements the Cory-Shawn relationship had, and I love that.

Speaking of Shawn, Girl Meets World also plans to feature guest appearances by other Boys Meets World characters, including Shawn, Cory’s parents, Mr. Feeny, and Minkus, who turns out to be the father of one of Riley’s friends. Using the new show as a platform to give long-time fans a look at where their favorite characters ended up is a great idea, and I think it will be really fun to see where the writers go with it.

Like I said, there’s so much I could say about this show. It’s only six episodes in, and I’m already hooked on it. Girl Meets World manages to be relevant for a current audience while still staying true to the heart of Boy Meets World and giving long-time fans the references and throwbacks that make them happy. If you haven’t yet, give Girl Meets World a try, and let your inner kid bask in the nostalgia for just a little while.

Girl Meets World airs on Fridays at 8:30/7:30 Central on Disney Channel. The show was picked up for a second season earlier this week.

Nationals 2014

Last week, I wrote about my vacation to Pensacola, FL, with my college group from church. It was awesome, relaxing, and just what I needed to get ready for my next big trip: the annual convention of the National Association of Free Will Baptists. This year, it was in a Fort Worth, TX, and it was a blast. The week was hectic, efficient, and productive—basically the opposite of my Florida trip. But I loved every second it.

The conference always starts on Sunday, but because I work with the kids, I had to be there on Saturday to help set up the room. The problem? We weren’t supposed to get back from Florida until Saturday night. So at 5:00 on Saturday morning, a shuttle picked me up from the beach house and took me to the Pensacola airport to catch a plane.

Until that day, I hadn’t flown in a plane since I was in the seventh grade, and I had never flown alone before. So I was pretty nervous. But the employees were really nice, and before I knew it, I was headed to Atlanta. For those of you who have never been, the Atlanta airport is huge. It’s pretty much like several malls linked together that just happen to have planes flying in and out, too. So my layover there was actually enjoyable. By 2:00, I had made it to Fort Worth and was ready to work.

From the moment I got to the convention center, my week was non-stop. We got the room all set up Saturday night, did a little snack shopping, and went to bed. On Sunday morning, we had our first service. I got the privilege of teaching Sunday School and watching Mason preach during children’s service. It was an exciting morning, and we had a great turnout. Sunday night, we started our Glory Land series with Little Billie, and it all went flawlessly.

For the most part, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday went about the same. We watched competition in the morning, worked crafts and children’s choir in the afternoon, and had service at night. Tuesday night, we got to see Shane and Shane in concert after service, which was really cool. They were very worshipful, and it turned out to be a great concert.

Wednesday night, instead of having children’s service, everyone at the conference came together for one huge, final service. It was very powerful worshipping and hearing God’s word preached with Free Will Baptists from all over who had come to the conference. After service, the children’s choir performed (wonderfully, of course), and then we had the awards ceremony. All the competitors from Cavanaugh did really well. It was great seeing their hard work pay off.

Thursday morning, I rode back with a kind couple from church who had offered me a ride. I had a great time at Nationals, but I was really glad to be home after traveling for two weeks. Now I’m enjoying my last couple of weeks at home, recuperating from Nationals, and getting ready for my big move to Waco. Thank you to everyone who had a part in making Nationals so special this year. It was great getting to see and work with so many friends this past week. And thank you guys for reading this little life update about my trip! I hope you all are doing well, and I’ll see you next week!

Guardians of the Galaxy

It’s finally here: Guardians of the Galaxy. I’ve been waiting anxiously for this film to come out ever since I saw the first trailer and realized just how quirky, hilarious, and absolutely awesome it was going to be. And it didn’t disappoint. I got to see Guardians yesterday, and it was everything I had hoped for it to be and then some.

To be honest, I (like many others) originally thought a Guardians of the Galaxy film was a bad idea. They’re not a very well-known superhero team. Very few people have ever even heard of them. And I didn’t see how Marvel was going to manage to fit the Guardians into their greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, which already has the greatest superhero team of all time, the Avengers. So I wasn’t initially impressed by the idea. But when that first trailer dropped, I realized this wasn’t going to be your typical Marvel movie, and I began to get very excited.

The truth is that Guardians of the Galaxy is a very “off” movie, especially coming from a company owned by Disney. Guardians is gritty. It isn’t a straightforward good-guys-versus-bad-guys action film. It’s a space opera about a band of misfit criminals who are forced to band together and fight for the sake of the entire galaxy. And the whole thing is set to a soundtrack of popular music from the 70s and 80s. It’s extremely quirky, and that’s what makes it so compelling.

The main character of Guardians is Peter Quill also known as Star-Lord (played brilliantly by Chris Pratt), a young space bandit who makes a living traveling the galaxy and ripping people off. A good deal of the movie revolves around his journey to get a hold of a precious orb that he is attempting to sell for a profit. Along the way, he teams up with Gamora (Zoe Saldana), an assassin who also happens to be the estranged adopted daughter of Thanos, a major Marvel villain; Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a genetically-mutated racoon with a love for firearms; Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), a humanoid tree who serves as Rocket’s bodyguard; and Drax (Dave Bautista), a man with a grudge and a hilarious inability to detect sarcasm. Together, these five discover a plot by Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) to harness the power of the Infinity Stone hidden within the orb and wipe out billions of people with it. In order to stop Ronan, they must work together as a team and take their places as the Guardians of the Galaxy.

As I said before, this isn’t your typical Marvel movie. Guardians is rougher than any other MCU film to date. The Guardians aren’t the Avengers. They have rough histories. They make morally questionable decisions. They curse a lot. These aren’t heroes. These are misfits who are forced together and have to work as a team to save the galaxy. And this makes for a much different feel than a movie like The Avengers.

Probably my my fsvorite thing about Guardians is how aware it is of itself. This movie has some downright weird parts. For example, the opening sequence shows Quill searching a deserted planet for the orb. While he’s searching, he’s listening to music on his Walkman and dancing around. Not really what you’d expect of a world-renowned space bandit. Much of the film’s humor comes from its utter ridiculousness and the fact that the characters themselves recognize the insanity and point it out.

Not that Guardians is solely a comedy. There are some heartfelt moments, too. Each of the characters goes through some sort of growth during the film, and they all have true, raw emotions hidden behind their rough exteriors. For example, there’s a scene where Rocket touches briefly on how he came to be the way he is and laments his very existence. It’s powerful, and it gives you something to think about.

And with Guardians, as with every other Marvel film, the creators had to include some elements that set the series up for the future. I feel like Guardians did a good job of moving the Marvel Cinematic Universe along while also setting itself up for a great sequel. As far as the MCU goes, Guardians really serves as the introduction to Thanos, who appeared briefly in a mid-credits scene in The Avengers and will become a key villain for the series in Phase Three, and the Infinity Stones he is trying to collect. The movie also introduces some interesting questions about Peter Quill’s father, which will probably be answered in the already-announced Guardians of the Galaxy 2, coming July 2017.

Overall, I really liked this movie. If you’ve enjoyed the Marvel movies thus far, you should definitely check it out. Don’t ignore Guardians just because you don’t recognize the name. The movie is very fun, and it’s different enough from the other films to be interesting while still being accessible and moving the overall series forward. Be aware that there is more language in Guardians than in usual Marvel movies, but nothing so bad that I couldn’t recommend the film. Check out Guardians of the Galaxy, and let me know what you think of it. Thanks for reading, friends, and have a great weekend!

Fusion in Florida

Last year, it was announced in Sunday School that Merge, my church’s young adult ministry, was going to be taking a trip to Pensacola, Florida. I immediately said, “That’s not for me.” The beach isn’t my thing. I’ve never been good at vacationing (I prefer to call it “relaxation-challenged”). The Florida trip conflicted with another trip I was wanting to go on. So I decided I wasn’t going to go. But a few months later, a friend convinced me that I should go, that I (in his words) “deserved this trip.” So I decided to go. And I’m so glad that I did.

We left Pensacola on Saturday, and I still can’t get over how great that vacation was. It was more fun, relaxing, and enjoyable than I ever imagined that it could be. Let me tell you a little bit about my experience with Merge’s Fusion in Florida trip.

We left at 2:00 am last Saturday morning for what we thought would be a 1s-hour drive to Pensacola. It was a long, tiring trip that actually ended up lasting 15 hours, but as soon as I saw the house, I knew the drive had been worth it. The beach house was gorgeous, and it was the perfect size for our group. We filled every bed and every room, but no one had to sleep on a couch or the floor. We were all very comfortable and very well taken care of in the house.

Most days were free days. We had a nice, warm breakfast courtesy every morning, and then we had the day to ourselves. I visited the beach a couple of times, but as I predicted, it wasn’t really my scene. I spent most of my days either watching TV at the house, swimming in the pool, or riding one of the house’s bikes around the neighborhood. Every night, we had a home-cooked dinner and spent time together watching a movie or playing board games. It was very nice and laid-back.

I think my favorite thing about the trip was the fact that I could do whatever I wanted. If I felt like jumping in the pool, I could do that. If I wanted to watch TV, I could do that, too. If I was in the mood for doing some laundry (which I found myself doing every day), that was fine. It was the truest form of relaxation. No deadlines. No agenda. Nothing being forced on me. Just lounging around doing whatever I like. I haven’t had that experience in a very long time, and it was very, very refreshing.

It was also a good time for discovery. I found out that I actually enjoy bike-riding, something I used to find exhausting and pointless. I think I may have actually found a new exercise hobby while on vacation, which is pretty cool. I guess I just needed some time to clear my mind and try some new things, and I definitely got that in Florida. (I also found that I enjoy doing laundry, but that’s all I’ll say about that.)

Of course, I also had fun spending time with my friends from church. I feel like I got some good, quality time with everyone on the trip, which meant a lot to me since I’ll be moving away from home pretty soon. Going shopping together, sharing meals together, and having service together were all really great experiences that made me feel like I was growing closer with my Merge family. And after all, that was the whole point of Fusion in Florida, right?

I had a great experience in Florida. I think it’s a trip I’ll never forget, and that’s why I decided to dedicate a whole blog post to it. Thank you guys for letting my share my experience with you, and I hope you enjoyed keeping up with all my shenanigans in Pensacola. I hope you have all had refreshing, meaningful experiences like the one I had last week, and if you haven’t, I hope you do soon. Thanks for reading, friends, and I’ll see you next week, where I’ll probably be updating you on my trip to the National Association of Free Will Baptists convention on Fort Worth, TX!

The Hunger Games Books

I am, like many, many others, a huge fan of The Hunger Games films. I love the actors, the cinematography, the intensity. But what I love most about the movies is the concept. I think it’s an intriguing idea that can really catch people’s attention. And of course, that concept originated in The Hunger Games book series, so I figured that if I enjoyed the movies, I would also like the books.

Well, I finally got around to reading them, and wow. I was blown away. I know people always say the book is better than the movie (even when the movie is really good), but to say that about The Hunger Games would be an understatement. I think the films do the books justice, but you can’t really say you’ve experienced The Hunger Games until you’ve read the books.

It’s just a completely different experience reading the books from watching the movies. Not only is the medium different, but the entire feel of the story is different. Instead of seeing the events of the story from a third-person point of view as in the films, the books are all told in the first person and narrated by Katniss, the main character. We get to see her whole experience—from growing up in the impoverished District 12 under the harsh rule of the Capitol, to her father’s death, to her experience participating in the 74th annual Hunger Games and on—from her perspective.

I think that’s my favorite thing about the books. Jennifer Lawrence did an excellent job portraying Katniss in the movies, but even the best acting can’t compare to being able to read a character’s thoughts, to understand everything that’s going on behind the scenes. In the books, we get a better idea of how Katniss really feels about the world she grows up in, her intentions as she tries to save her family while protecting herself, and all the emotions and confusion she feels along the way. I think this results in not only a more accurate portrayal of the story, but a deeper connection between the reader and Katniss.

Of course, the books also have plot points that had to be cut out of the movie, too. There were several characters—for example, Madge, the red-headed Avox, and Darius—who really added to the books but weren’t necessary enough to be included in the movies. The books and movies don’t contradict each other on anything important, but reading the books along with watching the movies really does enrich the experience and help the reader understand the full world that Katniss lives in.

I would definitely recommend The Hunger Games books to people who have seen and enjoyed the movies and to people who just want to pick up a good fiction book. The books are written at a level that teens and preteens can understand, but they’re certainly not boring for adults, either. If you’ve seen the movies, give the books a try. You may find that they help you enjoy the story even more. If you’ve never experienced anything Hunger Games-related before, you’re missing out. Check out The Hunger Games books, and then let me know what you think of them. Thanks for reading. Until next week, friends!

The Hunger Games is a young adult book trilogy comprised of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. They are written by Suzanne Collins. Film adaptations of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire have been released, and the first in a two-part adaption of Mockingjay will be released in theaters this November.