Bella

My wife and I watched a beautiful movie this weekend called Bella.  I actually had the privilege of seeing Bella just over a year ago while I was at Q in Atlanta.  We had a private screening of the movie before it had even been completely edited.  I was deeply moved when I saw it at Q and have been excited about seeing it again.

Somehow I missed it when it showed in the theaters.  I’m not sure why, especially since I had the insiders edge and was told far in advance when it would hit the theaters.  I even watched for it, but somehow it slipped past me.  I was disappointed, I didn’t have the opportunity to support this movie until now.

This weekend we were out running around and my wife noticed Bella in one of the new DVD rental machines at Walmart, so we hoped we would be able to rent it at Blockbuster and went and found it there.  We went home and watched it and I was totally moved again by this beautiful expression of love.

I’m highly recommending you watch this movie.  It is one of the best I’ve seen recently and one I’ll be purchasing for my collection of favorite movies.

I love this movie because it’s full of hope, love, grace, and second chances.  I love the support, acceptance, and love shown by family.  I love the fact they talk about abortion and adoption and show this difficult decision in a very different way, through love and patience and understanding.  I love that I can identify and relate to the characters in the movie.  Life is often hard and full of difficult circumstances and we are often faced with making tough decisions, but life can go on, there can be hope, and what ever choices or problems we’re faced with, it doesn’t have to be the end.  This movie helps you see that it can actually be the beginning.

Make the decision today to rent this movie.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed and I hope you enjoy it as much as my wife and I enjoyed it.

Retread Sadness

One of the initiatives of Retread is the Jubilee Kids Club, which has partnered with a homeless shelter in McKinney, Texas called The Samaritan Inn.  Our club is pretty basic and very simple.  We just show up on Saturday’s and play with the kids at the inn from 10 – noon.  We take juice and cookies and all the balls and fun toys we can carry.  Our motto…”We love to play!”

We’ve been doing this club since February and it’s really been fun.  This past Saturday was our biggest group so far and we just had a blast.  Judging by all the smiles we saw from the kids, I’d say they had a pretty good time too.

One of the tough things with volunteering can be growing attached to the people you are serving.  We are simply serving through play and attention to the kids, and giving the parents a little time to spend alone, to take a deep breath, and unwind for a few minutes.  Some weeks it’s hard to say goodbye and you just want to give them all big hugs, but there are boundaries and rules in place and that’s not always possible.

It doesn’t keep us from falling in love with the people we meet there and it causes us to think about them throughout the week.  I often find my mind wandering and when I reel it back in I realize I was thinking about the kids at the Inn, and wondering how they are doing.  It’s a perfect opportunity for me to offer up a prayer and ask God to watch over them.

This past Tuesday we received some sad news.  One of the boys we met the very first week of our club, died in a swimming pool accident.  We couldnt’ believe it!  A seven year old so full of energy and life is gone.  We won’t ever get to see him at our club again and that’s sad.  His twin sister, older sister and mom may never return to the shelter, so we may not get to see them again.  No closure, no goodbye’s, but plenty of finality.

This week has been heavy as a result of this news.  I’ve struggled with my writing and my desire to check in on the social networks and blogs I frequent.  My mind has been on Christopher and his family.  I’ve been asking questions and wondering why certain things like this have to happen.  I can only hope and trust that God is holding Christopher today!

God I pray for your grace and peace.  I pray that you will be with this grieving family, who already had it so tough they were living in a homeless shelter.  Where do they go from here?  How do they continue on from this point?  Please be with them.  Show them your love.  Be close to them and give them peace today.