I watched "Facing the Giants" on Wed night.  It was really good!  If you haven't seen it, go get it!  I bawled like a baby at the end.  Yes, my hubby is travelling and it's been an emotional week.  And no, I wasn't crying over the football!  This little movie packs a lot of truth.  When it started, I was slightly distracted thinking, "Hmmm...you can tell they aren't professional actors"....some of the lines were a bit stilted.  But as the movie continued, the flow of truth was just incredible.  Somewhere in the middle, I wondered if it would be a 'health/wealth/prosperity' deal where everything works out perfectly for those who have enough faith.  But no, I don't believe that it was.  I mean, yes...it is one of those movies where you cheer at the end as it all wraps up well.  But it was clear throughout what their point was.  "We will praise Him when we win, and we will praise Him when we lose" and "we will give Him our BEST"  "Nothing is impossible with God"  and the one that really got me was the "If God never gives us children, will you still love Him?".

And my tears started flowing when out in the parking lot of the clinic after the wife had just found out yet again that she wasn't pregnant, and she looks up in anguish and says brokenly, "I will still love You".  And they pretty much didn't quit until the movie was over.  And then I watched the special features and started all over again.  What an inspiring movie.  We'll have to buy that one.  And to think that a church just made that....mostly volunteers, no professional actors.  Wow. That is also inspiring.  The guy who made it said he'd always wanted to make movies, and had monkeyed with video cameras since he was a kid....and that visual media is fast becoming the most powerful influence in our culture.  I couldn't help but think of my David and his love for creating videos and cds. 

The point of the movie was underscored when in the special features, one of the main actors shared how just 6 mos after filming wrapped up, his wife became very ill.  He sat there with tears streaming down his face as he described her last months....and "we praise Him when we lose" became that much more real.  I think the movie was a great picture of a man coming to grips with the goodness and sovereignty and power of God.....and then the influence that he was able to be to the world around him.  And there were some really great side points as well....like the older man who prayed faithfully for revival at the school and for God to work.  Like the conversations btw. the father and son about fear.  The son who realized he had to be more respectful to his dad.  Anyway, this is a great little film, and I recommend it highly, especially as a tool for teens!

So, also on Wed night, little Christian was battling Self in the Valley of Humiliation.  (it's Apollyon in the original version...does apollyon mean self?)  Anyway, we were talking about it after....talking about how we battle our selfishness, our 'wants', etc.  And, David sits up in bed and says, "Hey, I think that's where I am in MY journey!"  How true.    Then Anna wants to know where in the story she is.  I said, "Well....probably somewhere near the beginning".  She predictably thought she was in the Palace Beautiful "with the princesses".  But the funny thing is the next morning I was sitting in my room and she woke up....she stopped at my door all bleary-eyed and the first thing she said was, "Mom remember how we were talking about where we were in our journeys?  Well, I'm at the part where he met Worldly and should have obeyed".  I was taken by surprise.  I mean, did she think about it all night or dream about it?  The funny thing is that IS probably where I'd say Anna is.  Christian meets "Worldly" and gets side-tracked on his way to the Wicket Gate before he even gets to the cross.  Anna knows the gospel, and is beginning to grasp what it all means, but we aren't sure that she has really taken it to heart yet.  She is just beginning to understand what the daily implications are, and I can see how she would put obeying as her biggest struggle.  I thought it was perceptive of her to think it over and place herself there.   We are really loving this book and all it's little applications.  Of course, I know that we all can find ourselves all through Christian's journey!  We revisit some of the same places and enemies many times.  But, what a great illustration of them all.