Sunday, January 29, 2012

Courageous...The Dance Remembered

****MOVIE SPOILER***** If you haven't seen this movie yet, this YouTube clip has a beautiful scene from the movie in it. Don't watch it if you don't want to see it yet or you don't like movies spoiled for you. Instead...go rent it for a buck at Redbox and call it a date night!





"When you are ready to dance....this is what you do.
First you put your right hand around my waist like this.
Then you put your other hand out like this.
Then you sway back and forth to the music."

Addiboo


Those of you who know me, know that my children are the most important thing in life to me. I have 6 incredibly beautiful children and all of them are equally special to me in their own way. I hold no favorites and I try to give each of them their own opportunities to grow and be themselves, whatever that may be. However, after watching this movie, my heart was sickened with the thought of ever loosing one of them, especially my daughter Addison.

If you haven't watched the movie Courageous, I am going to tease you a bit with a portion of the storyline. The main character's daughter dies suddenly in a car crash on the ride home from school one day with one of her friends. The daughter is 9 and just a bundle of joy. The scene first plays out that the dad and the daughter pull up to park outside a building to wait on his friend. The daughter's favorite song comes on the radio and she begs her daddy to turn the song up and come dance with her. He refuses, fearing that he might look like a fool or be embarrassed. She proceeds to dance alone, as she teaches him how to dance while he sits and watches from his truck. The daughter dances in the sunlight with this beautiful smile that just penetrates any parents soul.

Fast-forward to the end of the movie. The clip I have included in this blog is from the end of the movie. The dad has lost his daughter, and realizes that the moments he had with her, he took for granted. No matter how big or small in life, we must never look past spending time with our children in the small moments. The dad comes back to the same area as before and dances his portion, alone, in the sunlight remembering her words....her face....her beauty.

This little girl from the movie reminds me of my Addison. My daughter is only 5, but has the same heart and spirit as the character from the movie. Addison dances for the Lord with such joy and passion. She has child-like faith that could move mountains. Her smile lights up an entire room. After I saw this scene in the movie, my mothers love met my photographers heart. My daughter was playing in our back yard this evening and the sun began to set. I ran in and grabbed my camera and told her to just dance and be herself. I couldn't imagine ever loosing her. My heart would literally break into pieces.

I learned from this movie that we shouldn't settle for just being "good" or "ok" parents, but rather that we could be more! God has called us to be more! Our children deserve more of us...more of our quality time...more of our leadership...more of our love. And when my daughter asks me to dance with her...I will not sit back and watch...I will dance with all of my heart and soak of every moment with her.

Jeremiah 24:15 "As for me and my house....we will serve the Lord"

Addi1

Addi6

Addi4

Addi3

Addi2