Ally's Favorite Characters

Hello hello hello! It's Ally, and *gasp* I'm doing my own post! Now most of you have heard from Josh, and now you get to hear from me, joy, huh? As you can tell from the title, I will be talking about my FAVORITE ODYSSEY CHARACTERS! Let's go!

First off, I just want to say I love most of the Odyssey characters, because they can all relate with different people, and it shows how God works in their lives in other ways. And I love a lot of them...but I would have to say my all time favorite characters so far are: Connie Kendall, Whit, Tom Riley, and Bernard Walton. What are the reasons why these are supposedly my favorites? I'll tell you why, and how they relate to me as well, and how they influence or inspire me. Here we go!

CONNIE KENDALL

Everyone has to love Connie. She's funny, spunky, has a true heart for God, and makes us laugh. We hear from her almost every episode; she's played the lovable and talented Katie Leigh. I mean, hey Connie's been a teen for like twenty years! Imagine that! That's gotta be kinda cool. 

Now, personal application. Well, both Connie and I are both really curious (like in Album 44 where Whit was acting strange and something was going on?), and sometimes a little unbearable. We both have a lot of friends at different ages (like Whit, Tom, Mandy, Bernard, Eugene, Penny), which might seem kinda crazy to some of you. But honestly, it's not! Connie influences me to keep up my relationship with God, and even when things happen that make us wonder and wish we could go back to change it, there's a reason for it, even if it's bad, and it hurts. She stands up against others who mock and tease Christians and her fellow Odyssians. I liked how we got to see how she was before she met Christ to show us how our old self is gone, and how we must show how our faith has changed us to share the gospel! 

WHIT

Yes, everyone loves Whit, well, all of them, but I really like the Paul Herlinger Whit. To me he sounds the most grandfatherly, and again his belief and trust in God is something I wish I had. Plus Whit is so brilliant, with all of his inventions, and ideas to help kids out. He strives for the truth, and has the best place ever, Whit's End!

Whit is almost like a close grandfather to me. My paternal grandfather died when I was four, and my maternal grandfather (Gung-Gung) lives near LA, while I live near San Francisco. So I've never really had someone elderly just give me advice from a grandfather side. Whenever I hear Paul Herlinger's Whit, it just makes me feel comfortable, like I can just ask him anything and he could be able to give me any advice possible, even though I can't, sadly. 

Just like Connie, Whit inspires me because of his faith in the Lord, his willingness to defend his beliefs, and his ability to always go to God for everything. The way he treats everyone with compassion, being so friendly to everyone (like to Shawn Walker in "The New Kid in Town"), and helping others with an open heart is so loving!

TOM RILEY 

I was so sad when I heard that Walker Edmiston passed away, not being able to hear thoughtful Tom, who's kinda giddy with Bernard (another elderly person I'd love to hang with). He's such a good teacher to the kids, and relates so well with Whit. His country, laid-back, sweet personality made Odyssey what it is. 

Tom sometimes is kind of slow at understanding things (in Album 44: "A Most Intriguing Question" when Tom doesn't quite get Connie's plan of action to talk to Whit), and I too can have a hard time understanding. We both believe that prayer is a very important part of the Christian faith and for anything. Mr. Riley inspires me to keep firm in God and to keep reading my devotions daily to grow in my spiritual life. He showed me how to be able to forgive the people who hurt you so much (Richard Maxwell during the Novacom Saga). 

BERNARD WALTON

I honestly miss Bernard so much. He has been one of my favorite characters for such a long time! I enjoy the way he tells stories, and his ability to be so sarcastic, which makes me crack a smile. In "I Slap Floor", the way Bernard made up that whole story was hilarious. I listened to that episode for days after I found out what the whole episode was really about, just to hear Bernard tell that crazy conundrum of a story. 

Bernard and I have so much sarcasm it's not even funny. Okay, maybe it is. Honestly, that's one of the characteristics that make me love this janitor so much. He enjoys company with others and jokes around so much, especially with Eugene. We have a friend who's super intelligent, where the sarcasm and joking around comes in a lot. AND WE BOTH LOVE STORIES, MAN, HE'S SO GREAT AT TELLING THEM (BTV and telling bible parables/stories to the Odyssians). 

Bernard inspires me to stick by your friends (Eugene Returns when he, Tom, and Connie sneak into Whit's End to find out why he's been acting so strangely). He's always checking on others (Eugene's Return, visits to Whit's End numerous times), and he always uses the same squeegee for his windows until he changes it (Eugene's Return). 

These aren't all of my favorites total (too much to count!), but they are some characters that I keep a place for definitely in my heart. Heck, I love these guys so much because of what the actors put into them and how the writers wrote them to become. Their passion for God, adventure, and excitement is anyone's dream. Wouldn't it be awesome to just have a Wodfamchocsod with Whit, go to the food mall with Connie, join Tom in fishing and devotions, and lose at chess continously with Bernard? 

EDIT (4/14/13): One score minus five years ago, Ally Ko came into the world! Take a moment and say happy happy birthday to her! - Josh