Jim and I had the rare opportunity to have a night to ourselves so we went out to eat and watched a movie. The movie we saw was The Blind Side. Here's the synopsis, just in case you've been vacationing some place where there is no TV or just haven't been paying attention:
Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, is taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher's presence in the Touhys' lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome. As a football player and student, Oher works hard and, with the help of his coaches and adopted family, becomes an All-American offensive left tackle.
Jim teases me for wanting to see movies just because they've been nominated for some type of prestigious award, and I must admit I do sometimes, but this one really caught my attention. Don't get me wrong, Sandra Bullock was officially nominated for the Golden Globes Best Actress award, and I must say, this is her best piece of work. GO SEE IT! It's only PG-13 and worth every penny.
So, here's where my introspective-self comes in. I have a history of doing this. After I walk out of a movie I've really enjoyed, I take on the mood of the movie. For instance, after seeing Charlie's Angels, I was ready to take a martial arts class and karate-chop anybody who might even consider attacking Jim and I in the parking lot. A Beautiful Mind, with Russell Crowe, had me pondering the intricacies of life, what it really means and whether or not I could sometimes fall into craziness myself for over-analyzing everything. And Mamma Mia had me wanting to go buy the soundtrack so I could belt out those Abba songs I was familiar with.
Since I'm starting to understand myself a little better, I started working on my thoughts first thing this morning to combat any crazy desires I might have after seeing the movie. Realizing that I very well could have the desire to: stop on the way home, pick up a homeless person, bring him/her home and turn their lives around worthy of a movie plot, I started the anti-thoughts immediately and kept them coming all day. I planned my route home to avert any homeless people we might pass and started mentally preparing for the "are you nuts" comments I might hear from anybody I told. etc.
And then we saw the movie.
What an awesome inspiration it turned out to be. The way home opened up a great dialogue we don't get very often. Jim's concern was the reality that there are children out there that grow up like that. We have not a smidgen of a clue what it feels like to live that way, which makes it easier to turn our backs on all of it. My reoccurring prayer towards the end of the movie was this: Lord, make me blind to follow your will.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Jim asked. It sounded odd, I know. What I meant was for God to "blind" me in the areas that are preventing me from following his will, trusting him and robbing me of a mustard seed's worth of faith. God, blind me to fear. Blind me to insecurities. Blind me to people's backgrounds and less than desirable histories. Blind me to selfishness. Open my eyes to see what you see.
We have been so guilty of seeing the world the way God didn't intend because of fear, being insecure, making judgments and just plain being selfish. Frankly, our lives have been handed to us on a silver platter and what do I concentrate on: it needs polishing.
Do I really think we'll run into a homeless child, take him/her in and turn them into professional athletes? Not really. Do I pray that our hearts are softened to God's will, so when that uncomfortable opportunity arises to follow him, we do, without hesitation. Absolutely.
I have a couple of friends who have opened up their hearts and minds to accepting an orphan from Haiti. The goal is to reunite the children with their own families once they're found, but some could possibly lead to permanent adoptions. These children don't eat the same food we do, don't speak English, possibly have diseases our country hasn't seen an outbreak of in years and have been traumatized. Bottom line is, they're children that need to be loved and cared for. I pray for that type of faith, softened heart and excitement to help others.
