TAKE ME TO THE MOVIES

Grace Unplugged

In the past month I believe I’ve watched more movies than I’ve ever watched in one month of my life prior to now.

First we had Christmas break. Tradition at our house consists of watching oodles of classic Christmas specials. Then my kids got the flu and we were housebound. Next, we had a flurry of snow and cold days off of school for the kids. Lastly, my husband taught a class out of the country and the kids and I were flying solo for three weeks. Needless to say, we got our money’s worth out of Netflix.

I love watching movies. The whole act of it. The dim lights. An excuse to pop corn. A pile of cozy blankets and snuggly bodies on our sectional couches. The soundtracks. But I also love that almost all movies (I’ll say almost, because Dodgeball does not fall into this category) have some sort of message—something I can learn from it.

I may be the only person who just saw Elf. How many times have you seen it?

So here’s a sampling of movies I watched for the first time (even if they’re old), and what I learned from them during our Family FilmFest:

Elf—being childlike is an underrated, excellent personality trait (no, I'd never seen it!!!)
Santa Paws—there is always hope and joy if you believe
National Treasure – you can make a fast-paced, action-packed, suspense thriller like DaVinci Code without all of the gore. Kudos!
National Treasure 2—the sequel is never as good as the first movie
Grace Unplugged—no matter how far or fast you run, you can never escape God’s love
Mulan—it’s always the right choice to stand up for what you believe in
Celery Night Fever--We never really outgrow Veggie Tales. Bob and Larry remain a wonderful medium for chatting with my kids about how much God loves them. 
Spy Kids—Pee Wee Herman still lives. Yikes!
Veggies in Space--when you have enough to spare, you have enough to share
Freaky Friday—my kids think it would be way easier to be me for a day than to be my husband. Oh, and it’s important to try to imagine walking around in my kids’ skin every now and then to appreciate them.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2--Marshmallows make adorable pets. Also, it's important to stay focused on our purpose, our calling, our true friendships and not get dazzled or swayed by what the world has to offer.

I liked National Treasure One better, but, well, they did go to Paris in the second one.

How about you? Seen any great movies in the past month? What did you learn from them?