Lines, Vines, and Trying Times Review

Their story's perhaps not uncommon- ordinary kids following their dreams in a little known corner of the country...waiting...hoping someday to stumble onto fame.

Who hasn't heard that tale before? In many ways, it's a part of who we are. It's the seedling of the American dream, waiting to sprout.

But it is rare for the new plant to survive the seasoned winds of world. Often, it withers away, never to be seen again. And yet, we continue to chase these dreams, competing with and helping each other in turn, and applauding those who succeed.

For some, these identical stories are too identical. For others, the stories are their own...and they find themselves right where they feel they're supposed to be.

The latter is the story of the Jonas Brothers. A little more than three short years ago, they were merely three brothers, and, Nick and Joe both appeared in Broadway shows as kids, they mostly just lived ordinary lives. Since the trio got signed as a group act, however, the calm waters began to stir a bit.

With the release of their first album behind them, and a small group of fans rallying to them, they nullified their original contract and jumped ship to Hollywood Records. When their self-titled album blared across the players of the world, their fanbase skyrocketed, and the album sold platinum.

Just a few months after the premiere of their debut movie, Camp Rock, the band released their third record, A Little Bit Longer. The first single, Burnin' Up, melted the charts and eventually went on to get the trio nominated for a Grammy. It remains their most popular song to this day.

And now, a year later, the fourth made its way into the world. Throughout the years, the boys have expressed that they are always growing as musicians and improving their style. Such statements are backed by this album. While retaining that unique blend of raw, soft, and passionate vocals that define just about any Jonas song, the boys seem to be reaching out in all directions, from the rocky beat of World War 3 to a song with a hint of country, What Did I Do to Your Heart. Much Better- a song that Joe claims they used to give back to the fans- welds modern pop skilfully to that of the eighties. On two of the songs, they have special guests- Miley Cyrus (Before the Storm) and the rapper Common (Don't Charge Me for the Crime).

Although the album might lack a serious show-stopper such as Burnin' Up or Lovebug, I would still suggest you purchase it because it captures a beauty none of the others seem to quite grasp. It's as if the boys are telling us to forget the fantasies- that this is how life is, but just hang in there...we'll be all right.

Now, for my ratings of the songs:

World War 3- 5/5. AWESOME song! Who doesn't feel like someone's attacking them unfairly sometimes?

Paranoid- 5/5. By now, ya'll should know what I think of this one. My personal fave JB song!

Fly With Me- 5/5. If Paranoid can be considered the best song on the album, then Fly With Me should come very close. Originally written for Night at the Museum 2, this song beautifully expresses the simple feeling of wanting to be with someone forever.

Poison Ivy- 4/5. Although Mom and I regard to differing degrees this song as dumb, it treats the traditional Jonas fans to a blast from the past- a fun beat to irresistibly catchy lyrics (literally, we go around singing "Everyone's allergic to poison ivy")!

Hey Baby- 4/5. This song makes you want to DANCE!!! A great one to have on hand for a party!

Before the Storm (featuring Miley Cyrus)- 5/5. When I first heard that Miley sang with Nick on this album, I'll admit I was like "Oh dear...." but surprisingly, I ended up really liking this song! It's well-written, has a great tune to match, and vocals actually complement it (and each other) quite well.

What Did I Do to Your Heart- 3/5. I used to love country, I know, but this has to be my least favorite song on this record. Sorry guys, country just ain't your style.

Much Better- 5/5. Omigosh! Could this song get MUCH BETTER?!?! Not lacking in notes that just beg you to listen, it also doubles as the perfect comeback for Taylor Swift's Forever and Always, in which she uses lyrics from JB's When You Look Me in the Eyes to mock Joe, who's her ex-boyfriend.

Black Keys- 5/5. Nick- one of the most beautiful pieces you've written. I absolutely love the message, and the fact that you thought of it while trying to write a song using solely the black keys of a piano lends it a very unique twist.

Don't Charge Me for the Crime (featuring Common)- 4/5. This song really doesn't have too deep of a meaning. It's tough-guy sound rasps of an innocent despair, giving a great example of a person thrust at a crossroads and who needs to make a choice, however.

Turn Right-5/5. This song is so sweet. Using the analogy of life as a racetrack, it tells us that it's okay to take the chance of turning right, instead of taking the regular left, and that it's all right to make mistakes.

Don't Speak- 4/5. Not entirely sure what all the lyrics mean, but the basic sketch is a love that you know won't last, and so you don't even want the person to speak to you so that you can keep your mind off them.

Keep it Real- 4/5. From the TV series JONAS comes this little ditty about being a star and not letting it change you.

Day 2, June 8th, 2009

The above saying was a little phrase we all had to repeat in punctual unison when asked "Are we having fun yet?", which, according to Andy, might convince us that it was the best time we have ever had.


Me with Sung Ah, our Korean teacher


This morning, we woke up at about 6:35 a.m. and got ready for the day. By about 7:20 we were all ready to head down and went over in our little group f four. At about eight, Andy Ott came in and blew a loud whistle to get our attention, and then told us we must head to the classrooom. We learned a little bit about our group as we went around telling our names, our hometowns, countries we'd visited for more than two weeks, etc.

We opened with prayer and then the president of Wycliffe came and tlaked to us about the importance of translation and Vision 2025, which is a goal of the organization to have the last translation process started by 2025. There are still 2,400 languages worldwide that do not have the Scriptures, and most of them do not even have an alphabet yet.

We also had a worship service, which was neat becasue it was smaller and more heartfelt that I'm used to it being. Later, we had a monolingual demonstration performed by Christina and Jenny, two Wycliffe workers. Christina spoke only Spanish and Jenny English Pidgin for the purpose of education. Through it we learned that it is best not to use a common language as a crutch of communication. It is better to leanr by immersing yourself in it than easing yourself into the pool of confusion.

After that, we had phonetics...which is waayyy too hard for me! It's so hard I listened to the lesson, was lost there, and still get lost in the homework!

Lunch break followed, when we headed over to the Karibuni Cafe and ordered foo. While at the table, I met a young Thai man by the name of Peter and talked with him about Thailand and Buddhism versus Christianity. Following our meal, we actually got to meet our language helper and ask her a few things. Me and a couple others got assigned to a girl from Korea. We learned "Hangook miloh _____________ morah gungheiyo?" (how do you say?) "Anyong" (hello), etc.

After that came grammar, which was hard but slightly interesting, since we were learning the different structures of words and how we can deductively construct their meaning with self-discovered information.

Heading back to the building with the cafe, we then proceeded to receive a tour of the Word Springs museum and leanred about Wycliffe's history, it's core foundation (prayer*), how to get involved in prayer, and saw a copy of Martin Luther's German Bible. We also experienced how misinterpretations could have serious consequences that could lead to life or death...literally. I.e., one word in a language means life and another word which just added an i meant death.

We were blessed with a Chinese dinner tonight, and one of the students is a missionary kid in China and spoke fluent Chinese. He prayed for us in that tongue, and, upon being askedwhat the dining customs were, he proceeded to explain that elders went first (or rather, were served first- we were serving ourselves that night). Boy, I have never seen anyone so proud of his or her age as those elderly ones as they lined up for their food!

Oh, and i forgot and adventure we had going to dinner. On the way there it was pouring rain, but neither Katie, Jessica, Annie, nor I wanted to get dressed in rain garb for just five minutes of walking. Once we got out into the gale, we decided that we'd dash beneath the overhang of the roof for as long as we could and then wourld run quickly into the uilding which was across the parking lot. By the time we arrived, we were absolutely SOAKED and had to mop ourselves down with paper towels in the bathroom!

Well, that's it!

In Christ,

Brittany

*As a matter of fact, if ya'll could pray for Wycliffe, that would be great.Vision 2025 is a lofty goal- one that cannot be reached without the divine intervention of our God. Pray that the Gospel would be well received and missionaries' safety as well. Ask God that the devil would be bound, as he is out to destroy this work people are doing for the Lord. You see, an attempt such as this takes more than those out on the front lines- it takes the soldiers on the sidelines cheering them on. In fact, some have even come to Christ when shown how many people are praying for this effort. Thank you!

Day 1, June 7th, 2009

Dad loving Happy Feet in the airport!



Florida from the air


My room in Orlando at Wycliffe Headquarters

Note: Since I figured you all would be curious by now, and since I promised you a blog post on this subject anyway, I have decided to tell you, bit by bit, about my time in Guatemala! It was a truly amazing experience- one that God used to grow me closer to Him. Not knowing where else to start, I decided to post my almost daily journal entries (many thanks to Aunt Michele for the beautiful notebook!) along with pictures that go with what I am writing. I hope to write in a new one everyday, so check often! Anyhow, without further adieu, I present to you a series of entries I am going to title Guatemala through the Eyes of a Missionary!


Yesterday, I asked for a very specific thing. While seated around the table at Macaroni Grill, I asked if I could put the kids to bed. Right now, I am writing from the airplane on my way to Orlando, where I am scheduled to do some preparatory training before heading down to Guatemala to share God's truth with the people there.


The reason I asked to put the kids to bed was that I won't see them again for another three weeks. I already miss everyone terribly, but have resolved not to dwell on that as it gives Satan a foothold.

I will say that Brielle and I cried a good deal last night, though.

Today, I didn't even want to get up because it meant I was leaving everyone. Yet, as I stare over the clouds and down at the land below, I cannot but marvel at the greatness of our God! And I think that if He cares enough to care for this world, that surely He cares enough to keep me and my family safe as well as my team. He has given us this mission and provided us with a means to follow through. Surely, then, He will give us the victory, will He not?


Now that I have described to you some of my feelings, I shall proceed to describe how you, my dear journal, ended up in my hands. A couple of weeks ago, God laid it upon the heart of my Aunt Michele to go online and purchase you. I had no idea what kind (of journal) she planned on getting, so when you showed up in your beautiful leather, I about flipped. It has been a semi-dream of mine to own a Barnes & Noble journal for a while, so it was a God-sent gift!


It's also amazing how God gives support in such odd ways. Through both the money that came in and the notebook, I can rest assured that this is where He wants me...and what could be a better way to spend my summer than doing what He wants me to do?


I might be all alone on this airplane, without another soul I know. I say might because I am almost alone, but not quite. God is with me- the One Who loves more than anyone in the world is watching over me. And on that fact, I stand.


Later....


Arvid (our leader) dropped me off with Christina (Wycliffe member), and together with a couple of my teammates I headed over to Wycliffe's headquarters. My roommate, Katie Bowman, and I got settled in and talked before heading down to orientation. Watched The Gods Must be Crazy in order to draw awareness to different worldviews. Arvid and Nancy (his wife) told their story. By the time we were through, me and my teammates were all very tired, so we wlaked back to our rooms. Called Mom, and then opened a little note she had given me with Psalm 91 written on it.


We start our lessons at 8:00 tomorrow!


In Christ,

Brittany N. Goodrich