When I first stumbled upon this classic story, I fell in love with it right away.
The beauty, purity, and issues presented captivated my heart.
"Wives and Daughters", written by Elizabeth Gaskell in the 1800's, is both a wonderful book and an enchanting movie{ by BBC in 1999}.It tells the story of a young lady {Molly Gibson} who lives with her dear father in a small town in England. Her mother died while she was young, and therefore her relationship with her father was highly prized and cherished. Her father was a loving man and was devoted to his daughter....
Mr. Gibson decides to marry later on in Molly's life, and the woman he chooses is one who is, simply put, a tool to help add to Molly's virtue of patience. With a new mother comes a new step-sister named Cynthia, Molly has a completely different life before her. Molly and Cynthia become very good friends, though Cynthia's past tangles up in Molly's life and Cynthia captures the heart of a young man that Molly cherishes... as the story unfolds, you will continually see Molly's truthful, pure, selfless, and humble character beautifully portrayed, even though others begin to judge her otherwise. She remains steadfast under severe trails, and her virtuous character always prevails.
Thoughts that filled my mind as I watched this movie were the blessings of purity {as she displays with her relationship with the Hamley's.}and the joy that follows when a daughter cherishes her relationship with her father.
Molly's selfless character is a pleasant joy to revisit time and time again, and her Godly virtues are to be applicable in every young ladies' life...
A book worth reading a hundred times... a movie that you will immediately fall in love with... "Wives and Daughters" is a wonderful story and will captivate your heart!
We (the authors) have decided that for the next few weeks will be posting different reviews on movies, books, blogs, websites, etc, or we will be posting on why we love being homeschooled - which would also be a review =}
As I thought about what I wanted to give a review on, the first thing that came to mind was a movie that impacted my life. I kept trying to think of other things to write about, but this one kept coming back so it must be the one God wants me to write!
I have never written a review before so hopefully you'll enjoy this. (I'm apologize ahead of time if you find it boring.) So......here we go.
The following is a dialog between the main character and his father.
Caleb - "The issue is, how do you know when a babies life first begins?"
Mr. Hogan - "That's not a biology question you know?"
Caleb - "No, actually I didn't know that."
Mr. Hogan - "No, biology has nothing to do with it. In fact it is so simple a ten year old can understand it. He doesn't know the first thing about biology. Pick a time when you know the baby is alive. Just pick any time when you know the baby is alive."
Caleb - "The day he is born."
Mr. Hogan - "Allright, what about the day before that? Is the baby alive the day before that?"
Caleb - "Of course."
Mr. Hogan - "And how about the day before that?"
Caleb - "Sure."
Mr. Hogan - "Okay then, there you have it."
Caleb - "What do you mean?"
Mr. Hogan - "Life doesn't begin incrementally. It's..it's not like the baby is any more alive today then he was the day before. It's ah... it's radical. It's an event. And it only happens once in a humans existence."
Caleb - "At conception!"
Mr. Hogan - "No other explanation makes sense. And it is so simple anyone can understand it."
Caleb - "But why don't they get it?"
Mr. Hogan - "It's not that people don't get it. They don't want to hear it...."
Have you guessed what the movie is yet? drum roll .................................................
"Come What May", a film production put out by Advent Film Group, and filmed on the campus of Patrick Henry College. I love this movie!
It is about a young man entering his first semester at Patrick Henry College and the decisions he has to make throughout his time there.
The young man's name is Caleb Hogan and he is assigned to a girl named Rachel as his debate partner to compete at Nationals. The case they are working on together is the Parental Notification Case. Rachel wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and show the court how wrong the decision they made concerning the rights of the child was. She wants to fight for principles that are quickly being lost
Caleb agrees with Rachel that Roe v. Wade should be overturned, but he wants to focus on what he believes is a "winning argument" that would "leave Roe and make one tiny exception." His desire to win runs deeper than Rachel is aware of and therein lies his problem. He doesn't want to lose because his mom is paying his tuition and will pay for the next year as well, as long as he wins nationals. If he doesn't win, then he won't be able to attend PHC the next year.
Caleb has to make a decision to do the right thing despite the chance he might lose, or take the path of least resistance and possibly win.
Here is a trailer of the movie. Enjoy!
This movie is wonderful. If I was to give it a rating I would give it an A+ because:
1. It's a clean movie. No language, inappropriate clothing or anything that brings your attention to ungodly things.
2. The storyline is fantastic. As the story unfolds, you end up following 3 plots. a.) Caleb's decision to do the right thing or not, b.) Mrs. Hogan's decision to fight a real case in court that supports Roe v. Wade, and c.) Rachel and Caleb's relationship.
3. You are learning while being entertained. I learned a lot about the court and Roe v. Wade while enjoying a good movie.
4. Good triumphed over evil (which is a rarity in todays culture) and there was no compromising in the process.
As I said at the top of this post, 'This movie has impacted my life.' How so, you may ask. Well..... as you watched Caleb make his decison to "do the right thing, come what may" it convicted me. That phrase applies to so many areas of our life. Our faith, relationships, the stances we take on social issues, and so much more. I want to make a difference in our country and this movie renews that desire every time I watch it! The key is doing the right thing no mater what happens, no matter the opposition, come what may.
I hope it brings as many blessings to you and your family as it has to mine.
Every night, before I lay my head on my pillow, I say the Lord's Prayer. I'm usually tired from a night spent cleaning offices with my family; it's probably 11:30 PM or 1:00 AM, and even if I was wide awake a few minutes ago, my eyes will start to droop as soon as I get underneath those warm covers and start "My Father who is in Heaven...." Many, many nights, I realize with a pang that this is the first time that I've talked to the Lord all day long. That morning I woke up late, read a little, jumped on the treadmill, and kickstarted a day of running and doing and talking and running and working, without taking even a few moments to speak with the one who is responsible for every breath I take. And do I feel like plunging into a lengthy bout of intersession at this time of night? No, I want to turn off the lamp and wrap myself in homemade quilts, rolling around until I'm comfortable and drifting off to sleep.
Oh, the guilt. It's all-too-familiar. Sometimes I feel it after sitting down to pray for a relatively long period of time; when I'm finished I usually think, "Isn't there someone else I can pray for? Shouldn't I do this for a few more minutes?" That is why I paid attention to this passage when I ran across it this morning. It's from Emily Freeman's book Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life(which I am absolutely loving, by the way), and it shone a light on the way prayer might look under the old Law, and how it looks under Jesus' grace.
...there is a difference between the discipline of sitting down with God and the pleasure of knowing his voice. It is one thing to make yourself do something. It is entirely another to find pleasure in relationship. 'The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God' (Heb. 7:18-19 NIV).
Let's stop for a moment and concentrate on what we just read, "the pleasure of knowing his voice," and "pleasure in relationship." When was the last time I felt real pleasure in my relationship with God? When was the last time you did? Every now and then I feel satisfied after praying, but that is probably a) because I'm proud of myself for actually dedicating time to prayer, and/or b) it's still accompanied by that sense of guilt and an I-should-do-this-more-often feeling that niggles at the back of my head like a greasy worm. But this kind of thinking is "weak and useless," a theology of burdens which no one can bear. How much prayer is "enough", anyway? If I spent 24 hours on my knees, maybe someone could find fault with me for not fasting as well! The Bible does not give us a detailed road-map for prayer, complete with on-ramps and rest stops.
Emily goes on to say this:
To wear the mask of the spiritual disciplines is to turn back to the old way. I could pray for five minutes or for two days and I would still be as righteous as I would be had I not prayed at all. But the amazing reality is that now I know I am righteous in Christ, there is new motivation to spend time in intimate communion. You and I can now go to him in freedom and joy, not to gain favor but because we already have it.
"Intimate communion" in "freedom and joy," what a blissful thought! This is the kind of prayer like that I would like to have. What about you? Do you ever feel guilty because you "miss" your prayer time? Are you trying to earn your own righteousness by adhering to a law of your own making that stipulates how much quality time you should spend with God, or are you cultivating a vibrant relationship with him by speaking little things to him throughout the day, punctuated with longer sessions of intercession and digging deep into his Word? Structure and schedules are great things, and following Moriah's tip to set aside 10 minutes a day is a wonderful idea, but I'm learning that guilt is not bringing me any closer to my Father. I need to set aside what is "weak and useless" and pursue a relationship with the one who longs for my words and my listening ear.
I apologize that this post is a bit late! I really wanted to do a longer post, but I just came home from the hospital this afternoon recovering from MRSA, so this is going to have to be a brief post, and not particularly articulate.
Praying for the small, insignificant things in life is something about which most praying people have probably experienced inhibitions. In the same way we might feel bad for asking a number of small favors of a friend, sometimes we don't want to bother God going into a job interview or suffering a cold when there are people out there starving and dying.
While it's true we need to keep things in perspective, we must also remember a few things. For one, God is the master of multitasking. Time He spends nurturing and guiding us isn't going to take Him away from other people, and He won't tire of caring for us.
But most importantly, in praying for every detail in our lives, we are demonstrating our dependency on God. We need His help in everything we do, so that we are best able to serve Him and others. Praying for the details isn't complaining, or asking too much. It's fully surrendering ourselves to a higher purpose.
"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God." ~Brother Lawrence
crista moriah photography
It is so important to develop a close relationship with our Savior. He must become so broken hearted when we {sometimes, not even meaning to} distance ourselves from Him with our silence. The other day, Jesus opened my eyes to what His heart must feel like when that happens and we do not have a regular prayer life with Him. I wrote a letter about it, sort of like a heart to heart from God to us...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Child,
It's been quite awhile since I've heard from you.
My heart has grown very lonely from the lack of our conversations.
Please cry out to me. Your lips have been silent too long. I need to hear from you!
Where have you been? The stretch between us has grown so far. Our hearts need to be reunited! We must share every little thing with each other once again. You casting your burdens on Me, knowing that I will take them without hesitation. You sharing your hopes and dreams; Myself smiling, looking ahead at the future and deciding what is the wisest thing for you.
I miss you. I want to be close to you. I love you. Cry out to me...soon!
Love,
Your Father in Heaven
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The key to having a good prayer life is being disciplined about it.
It seems as though when I try to have time with Him, things come up. Satan will not waste any opportunites to distract us from prayer, reading the Word, or anything that will benefit us spiritually.
Francois Fenelon once said, "Time spent in prayer is never wasted." How true are these words! Commit to praying for 10 minutes a day to begin with, then add a little more each day. Simple, right?
Sometimes, it's easy to view prayer as "just another thing to do" or a chore, but instead it should be an intimate part of our relationship with Jesus. We should view our prayer time as precious moments to spend pouring out all of our hopes, dreams, and fears to His compassionate ears. He cares. He loves us dearly and longs for a close relationship with us! As Jesus says to us in the Love Letter to us, "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you..." {James 4:8}
Once we start pouring our hearts out to Him, it creates a feeling of joyous freedom in our souls--
It causes us to draw near to God--it strengthens us!
I believe it is important to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ as well.
So many times I have been encouraged by a friend saying that they are praying for me.
It always seems to lift your spirits knowing someone cares about you.
"The greatest gift we can give to others is our prayers."
~Unknown
If there is anything you would like to share with me, please do not hesitate to drop a comment at the bottom of this post--I would love to be able to pray for you. :)
The question often comes up in classes on prayer. "How many of you struggle with prayer? Raise your hands, now."
It probably sounds hopelessly arrogant, but I've never really struggled with prayer--not with the crafting nor frequency of it. Many times, I'll drift off to sleep with a prayer that's been going on all day long. Prayer has, for as long as I can remember, been an internal monologue deep within, from me to God, full of hopes, dreams, ambitions, requests, and worship. In fact, the hard thing for me is to just shut up and let him talk back to me.
To be completely honest right off the bat, I don't know why this is. I don't know how I've managed to do this, nor do I know how you could, too. In fact, I'm pretty sure that a prayer life can't be taught. It has to be something that comes from within. I suppose that, in large part, my opinion on this subject isn't worth much. But I'll give it a shot anyway.
I suppose the first thing to do is simply to develop a habit of running to your Father with everything. God knows every facet of your situation better than you could, of course, and I believe He's always ready to help us--but I also believe that He wants us to ask. So, in your everyday life, foster a habit of asking God for help in every situation, no matter how trivial it seems to you. When you wake up, begin the day by speaking to Him first of all, before you ever open your mouth to say a word to another human being. Thank Him for what He's done and what He will do.
Just cultivate a habit of speaking to him at every spare minute, whenever something occurs to you. Something I've found helpful is, when a certain person, no matter how long it's been since you've seen them, pops into your head, to simply say a quick prayer for them.
In the end, my one piece of advice is to simply create a life of prayer. Never stop praying. Make it part of your life, like breathing or eating. Make it effortless, and then it will become a wonderful part of your friendship with Christ.
That one word which sums up my time with my Heavenly Father.
I can sit and talk with Him, praise Him, bless Him, cry out to Him, and fellowship with Him.
He is my Father, Redeemer, and Friend. To sit and talk to Him is such bliss!
Yet, I have come across a new thought regarding prayer. Growing up I have loved praying, and it is a dear and cherished time to sit with my Heavenly Father. But sometimes, I simply do not know what to say.
Yes, it is that time when I am confused or discouraged or just simply undone that words escape me. Or when I am filled with boundless joy and thanksgiving that no words are sufficient!
Christ gave us a perfect example of how to pray in Matthew 96:9-13, but at times, the words won't come... My heart is distraught, and I am speechless.
Then I came upon this wonderful exert from "Stepping Heavenward", quoting the works of Fenelon, concerning prayer. It says...
"It is not necessary to say much to God. Often times one does not speak much to a friend whom one is delighted to see.; one looks at him with pleasure; one speaks certain short words to him that are mere expressions of feeling. It is not so much a variety of thoughts that one seeks in intercourse with a friend as a certain repose and correspondence of heart. It is thus we are with God, who does not disdain to be our tenderest, most cordial, most familiar, most intimate friend. A word, a sigh, a sentiment says all to God...
...In fine, it is necessary to content oneself with giving to Him what He gives it to give, a fervent heart when it is fervent, a heart firm and faithful in its aridity..."
Simply put, when you are at a loss of words, it may be then that you are best able to pour out your heart, to do as the Psalmist says... to
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
{Psalm 46:10}
Simple stillness, mediating on His love and goodness. Sometimes that is the best thing to do in prayer.
