Courageous father Nathan meets Derrick, a boy interested in his daughter Jade
What Do You Think? Wednesday
I don’t know who concerns me more, wishy washy or people pleasing people. Or maybe my concern lies more with exaggerators and hasty and hesitant folks. Or maybe I can’t make up my mind which concerns me more because none of these groups seems to be able to make up their minds to stick with an honorable decision and to be okay with that. In most instances, they lack virtue, a quality that is sorely missing in society at large and seems particularly challenging for youths.
When I was young I took modern dance and gymnastics and gave them up for Saturday morning cartoons and a body a little more chunky than the average body type. I refused to take piano lessons though my grandfather practically begged me and said he would pay for the lessons. I quit the high school newspaper staff after a conflict with the teacher. Don’t get me wrong: I was in the National Honor Society, senior class secretary and president of a teen leadership group. I stuck to some things, but I wish I had the courage, fortitude, resolution, all biblical definitions of virtue, to finish some of those things that I quit. Now that I’m older, instead of trying to be in everything, I seek to have virtue concerning what really matters, particularly my faith and family. This is the message of Courageous, the new box office hit movie that presents what I believe to be holistic Christians seeking to fully live out their faith. Though the central focus is on five men striving to be the best fathers, and, by extension for some, husbands they can be, this movie challenges all to step up and be more than “good enough,” as main character Adam Mitchell referred to his role as father. With humor injected throughout the heartfelt (even some heartbreaking) scenes, this drama causes visceral reactions.
“It made us cry; it made us laugh; it made us cling to our neighbor’s hand; it made us want more, more of the movie and also more as a man to become a better father, not just good enough,” says Musings reader and one of my mentees, Kamil Pitts, referring to her and her husband, Gary. “We wanted to be more not just for our own kids but for our fatherless and motherless youth around us. What would happen if we all just took action as mothers and fathers, doing what we are called to do—not just the basics but our very best? I’m ready for a resolution.”
If you haven’t seen Courageous yet, I encourage you to do so. Also, all you women ready like Kamil for a resolution to be a strong biblical woman, I challenge you to join me in reading “The Resolution for Women,” by Priscilla Shirer. You can even go to her blog to participate in the online book club, too. When you see the movie and read the book, please let me know what you think.
Courageous, the fourth film from Sherwood Pictures, the moviemaking ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, opened last weekend in theaters across the country and Canada. Go to the Courageous website for more information.