Day 7 - Help children.

December 1 thru December 25 I am posting about movies which reflect each day's focus for #LightTheWorld. 

Day 7

"Suffer the little children to come unto me." (Mark 10:14)

When I was in my early teens, I had a friend who loved to babysit and voiced how she could hardly wait to marry and have children of her own. I was keen on the marrying part, but I had no desire to have children.

That feeling was magnified when I was in college and browsed through a roommate's nursing textbook and saw photos of an actual childbirth. Not illustrations, mind you, but raw photos of childbirth in all its mess. I certainly was not naive, I knew labor and delivery was a painful ordeal, but for some reason seeing those photos shocked me. I became sooooo angry! I was angry at God for the pain of childbirth. I was angry at men who impregnate women. I was angry at women for accepting the process.

I stormed about the apartment, spewing fury, and stomped up the stairs as my roommate tried to console me with, "When you are in love, you will feel differently."

"If a man truly loves me, he will never ask me to go through that!" I yelled, and slammed my bedroom door.

A few years later, as my then fiancé and I discussed children, I was only slightly more open to the idea, and we agreed to wait seven years and then see how we felt about it. Well, within the first few months of marriage, the desire for children sprang to life and we began to try for a baby right away.

It took three years before I conceived and gave birth. Months upon months upon months of hoping and disappointment and tears. And I'm grateful for that time of disappointment because with each passing month, I understood more and more how much I really really really wanted a child! When our son was born, I held him in my arms and wept for joy. I never knew I could love a child so much.

Three years later we had a daughter. My love just kept on growing.

Fast forward to when several friends became grandparents and started crowing about their grandchildren, my husband said, "I don't get it. What's the big deal."

But, when grandchildren entered our world, he got it. For sure, grandchildren are a big deal!

Oh, how I am eternally grateful my heart opened to children in those first few months of marriage.

So... for today's theme, I selected films with children softening the heart of a curmudgeon.

Elf (2003)

(Okay, he's a grownup son, but he is childlike!)


Up (2009)

Despicable Me (2010)

Christmas Oranges (2012)

This one is not a movie, but the Netflix series Anne with an E (2017) reveals a beautiful character arc as the heart of Marilla Cuthbert (Geraldine James) opens to Anne (Amybeth McNulty). It's the Anne of Green Gables story, of course, but this particular re-telling drew me in. Very well-acted with wonderful cinematography.

Netflix trailer: Anne with an E

Today I will give service to my grandchildren.

Have any children (sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, neighbor kids...) wormed their way into your heart?


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Day 6 - Judge not.

December 1 thru December 25 I am posting about movies which reflect each day's focus for #LightTheWorld.

Day 6

"Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Matthew 7:1)

There's a phrase, "If you must judge someone, judge on the side of mercy." We should give people the benefit of the doubt. The classic film, 12 Angry Men (1957) carries that message.

I reviewed the movie in an earlier post (click here) and stated, "Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) does not claim the defendant is innocent, but insists there is reasonable doubt to his guilt. One person giving someone the benefit of the doubt can go a long way."

(This is another film listed in 33 Movies To Restore Your Faith in Humanity by Roger Ebert.)

Fandango MovieClips: 12 Angry Men "It's the same knife!"

  

Today I will apologize to a person I misjudged.

Can you share about a time you misjudged someone? 

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Day 5 - Honor parents.

December 1 thru December 25 I am posting about movies which reflect each day's focus for #LightTheWorld.

Day 5

"Honour thy father and mother." (Matthew 15:4)

Remember the shock of learning the identity of Luke Skywalker's father? Could we honor such a father? And yet Luke holds to the belief that there must be a spark of good in Darth Vader. And it turns out he was right. (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, 1983)

In The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005), Evelyn Ryan (Julianne Moore) is the wife of an alcoholic and the mother of ten children. Often destitute, her prize winnings from writing jingles keeps them afloat, but it's her love and optimism that binds the family together. In the following scene, Tuff sees her mother through new eyes.

(I give an expanded review here.)

Fandango MovieClips: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio,

"Enjoy this moment to the fullest."

I miss my parents. My mother and father passed away 19 and 17 years ago, respectively. Today I will honor my parents by sharing some favorite memories of them on familysearch.org.


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Day 4 - Love thy neighbor.

December 1 thru December 25 I am posting about movies which reflect each day's focus for #LightTheWorld.

Day 4

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matthew 22:39)

There are plenty of movie options fitting today's focus since a "neighbor" can be anyone who crosses our path (or even lives half way around the world), so to narrow it down, I've selected some films with main characters who live next door to each other or in the same neighborhood.

I've moved a lot in my lifetime. And I mean a lot. As a frequent new-kid-on-the-block, I appreciated friendly neighbors who included me in their activities, so I have a warm spot in my heart for Rodriguez (Mike Vitar) in The Sandlot (1993). He befriends Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) and invites him to play baseball. Scotty has a lot to learn about the sport (Babe Ruth is not a female!) and s'mores ("You're killing me Smalls!"), but the friendship among the sandlot team is legendary.

YouTube Movies Trailer: The Sandlot

In The Mighty (1998), Kevin (Kieran Culkin) moves next door to Maxwell (Elden Henson). Both are considered freaks by their classmates... Kevin, for his disabled body, and Maxwell, who towers over his classmates, is teased for flunking 7th grade--twice. Although they share a fence, they don't find common ground until the two combine their strengths--Kevin's intelligence with Maxwell's size. Says Kevin, "Think of it as a business partnership: you need brains, and I need legs--and the Wizard of Oz doesn't live in South Cincinnati."

MovieClips Trailer: The Mighty

On a lighter side, Marty, Alex, Melman, and Gloria live in the same neighborhood--the New York Central Park Zoo. Their friendship is put to the test when they end up in Madagascar among some quirky new neighbors! (Madagascar, 2005)

Trailer: Madagascar

Speaking of new neighbors, we live in a condo complex and two units near us changed owners this year. Today I will give service to our new neighbors and extend an invitation to a Christmas party.

Do you have friendly neighbors? Does your neighborhood have any traditions?

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