We don’t watch many movies, but it’s not for any philosophical or religious reason.

Bottom line, movies are just too expensive. Between the cost of babysitting and the movies themselves, we’re talking about a mound of cash, and last time I checked we don’t have too many mounds of cash at our home.

Given our movie habits, watching the Oscars doesn’t really make a lot of sense. That said, if any of you, our good friends, get nominated for an Oscar, we promise we’ll watch and root for you to take home the golden naked man.

This year one of the few movies we watched and loved was Silver Linings Playbook. It was an awesome cast and a funny movie. Jennifer Lawrence was great in the movie and totally deserved some kind of award for her performance. It’s probably one of the funniest movies about mental illness you will ever see.  Overall, what I appreciated about the movie was how it presented and told the story of two damaged, broken people in way that wasn’t at all condescending or stupid. It gave the two lead characters a happy ending, because yes, even messed up people get happy endings.

As a messed up person, I could appreciate this story. It’s not always easy going there.

In the two years that I’ve written this blog, one of the things, I’ve wanted is for this blog to be a place where broken and messed up people can find a home.

If you’re broken and screwed up, this world can be a difficult and hard place. We profess a desire for authenticity and yet we often judge people for falling short of some preconceived ideal.

One of the things I’ve discussed on this blog is faith and what it means to follow Jesus. I know this can be a little off-putting for some, especially for those who’ve had a bad experience with Christians. I am truly sorry if this is your story.

Too often, people think of faith as something that you have to get totally right. If you can’t get faith totally right, you shouldn’t even bother trying.  My hope is that here on these pages, you’ll find a safe place to think about faith. In the end, the gospel is the good news because it is for all of us broken and messed up people.

I want this blog to be a place where we can live out faith and life imperfectly. We can try hard, do our best, learn from our mistakes, laugh at our own shortcomings and give thanks that tomorrow is a new day. Yes, God is good that way.

Lately, I’ve posted on topics related to the environment, conservation and sustainability. This is all coming from a guy who doesn’t really see himself as an activist or an environmentalist. I probably make more than my share of bad choices. I’m certainly not the best educated person on the environment. In the end, I’m just a regular guy, a parent who wants to see his children grow up in a world where they can breathe clean air, drink clean water and take the occasional walk in the woods or splash in a mountain stream.

Too often, people like me get scared off by conversations on the environment or conservation. Sometimes environmentalism, much like faith, can seem like an all or nothing proposition. People like me don’t want to be judged for having two cars, or for not using energy saving light bulbs. This is not to say that we don’t care, it’s just that with all of the pressure of being an under-resourced parent added onto the pressure of getting out of debt, it’s not easy. Still, I offer you this. . .I’m trying to do better. I think it’s important for us to have these kinds of conversations. No, we might not be there yet, but we are working on it

I’ve talked about faith and environmentalism, but I could have just as well mentioned other things. I could talk about being a parent, being a husband or any number of other topics. I’m terrible at so many things in this world. So often, I dramatically fall short of my ideals. In those moments when I fall short, it can be awfully tempting to give up or not even try. One of the things, I loved about Silver Linings Playbook is that it’s about people who are seriously screwed up, who are trying really hard to make their life better. Yes, they are looking for the silver lining. It’s a picture of life and grace which I fully embrace.

In the spirit of this discussion,  I wanted to share Jennifer Lawrence’s post-Oscar interview. She’s unpretentious, self-deprecating and funny.