There's this movie called Unsung Hero that all my kids love. I know why I love the movie, because it's my kind of movie, but I don't know why my kids love it. It's the story behind a family and how they got to being who they are today. The story behind Rebecca St. James, and For King & Country (who are Rebecca's little brothers). The story of their family.
I love movies and books that give me an inside view on things. A different kind of perspective. A glimpse into a world that I may never have known anything else about otherwise. I like movies about people like Helen Keller who was both deaf and blind, how?!?! How does someone like that ever function and survive and how in the world would you ever raise a child like that? And... And she became someone amazing?!?!?! She didn't just completely fall through the cracks? How?!?!?? Her story is amazing! I like stuff like that. I like movies about people with cancer and diseases and deformities. I like not only learning more about what the person they themselves go through, but also what things the family experiences as they face such difficulties in their lives. I want to learn more! I'm curious about all of it, but I also want to understand more. Know what else is crazy? Faith. People who have faith through it all. I think that's part of why I like the old testament stories of Abram/Abraham and David and such so much. Abraham might be in the hall of faith, BUT he did NOT start out there. He didn't!!!! He has a story that eventually brought him to being the person they remember him for. I'd like a story like that, I think, lol. I don't think who I am today is someone to be remembered in the hall of faith, I'm still trying to get away from wanting to make things happen myself instead of trusting God to be God. It's hard. Hard not to want to do whatever I can to MAKE what I want to happen happen. I can't do that. If God let's things happen that I want to happen when I'm trying SO HARD to make those things happen? Hello pride! Or maybe even regret. I have regrets from trying to make things happen last time around with kids staying or going, and I refuse to be that person again. No regrets! And if I get pregnant when I'm doing whatever I can to MAKE that happen? Even though I know that there is in no way that I could ever MAKE that happen, I still can see pride creeping in trying to tell me I did something that helped God make it happen. This stuff? It's going to be a "God thing" if they ever happen, not a me thing or a Jared thing or whatever, it'll be a God thing. I gotta get my hands off, and TRUST that He's got this. Anyway, about that movie, where was I going with this?...
In that movie, Unsung Hero, their family goes through a lot of hardships. They leave behind their home in Australia to come to America for a job, they get here and that job falls through, then they're broke and barely making it, but God keeps showing up around every corner to keep them going. Doors close, and doors open, and their family keeps pushing through. Why do my kids like this movie? Is it because it's something REAL? There's so much out there for entertainment and sometimes you just crave something more than the numb junk of the world, and this is real. This is a true story. Is it because of that? Is it because it's an origin story of a band that they like listening to on the radio? Is it because it features many songs that they already know and love? Maybe they like this movie because it's about a large family, and they too are one of many kids. Or maybe, maybe it's because it's a story of hope. The part my kids love the most is the song that the whole story leads up to: You Make Everything Beautiful by Rebecca St. James. Hope. It's hope. It's hope that what we are going through right now? God's going to make it beautiful in the end! Here's the lyrics:
Grant me serenity to accept thingsThe things I cannot changeGrant me the courage, Lord, to change what I canWisdom to know the differenceIn my weakness You can shineIn Your strength I can fly andAnd You make everything, everything beautifulYou make everything, everything newYou make everything, everything beautifulIn its time, in Your timeIt's beautifulGrant me serenity, Lord, and patienceFor things will take timeGrant me freedom to walk a new pathAnd let me feel Your loveIn my weakness You can shineIn Your strength I can fly andAnd You make everything, everything beautifulYou make everything, everything newYou make everything, everything beautifulIn its time, in Your timeIt's beautifulLifting open hands to You my SaviorBeautify my soulKnowing You redeem my pain and failurePurify my soulBeautify my soulAnd You make everything, everything beautifulYou make everything, everything newYou make everything, everything beautifulIn its time, in Your timeIt's beautiful
When I step back and look at things, I think in the end God is going to make the story of our family beautiful. I don't know when, I'm not sure how, but I have hope that one day this story doesn't end in heartbreak and disappointment. He will make everything beautiful in its time, in His time, He will make it beautiful.
