October 26, 2015

It’s mom’s turn to write.  So, here is goes.

We left Talladega this morning with intentions of heading to Florida.  Those intentions changed when we realized that the weather was still not pretty that direction due to the hurricane in the Gulf.  Since I’ve lived in MN all my life I can honestly say I’ve never watched the weather for hurricane warnings, but since being on the east coast we’ve done plenty of that.

My mom called as we were headed down the road for the day.  In conversation she told us about a movie that she had just gone to yesterday with a friend.  The movie: Woodlawn  The location of the true story: Birmingham, AL  At that time, we were 29 miles from Birmingham and it was raining out.  We decided that it would be a good day to head to a movie theatre and why not see Woodlawn right in a Birmingham theatre and then drive to Legion Field where the big game in the movie took place.

We’ve watched our kids walk hand in hand through the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in DC.  We’ve learned a lot about the Civil War and have seen battle sites such as Gettysburg.  We’ve listened to President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.  We’ve sat in the bus that Rosa Parks made her stand in.  And today we went to the movie Woodlawn that again talked about civil rights – in the 70’s.  It’s sad, it’s liberating, its painful, it’s freeing and it’s crazy for my mind to think about the changes that have happened in this country in my life time alone.  The first winning game shown in the movie Woodland was on my exact birthdate!  This storyline happened while I’ve been alive.

Here is the thing that crosses my mind as I think about all these different things we’ve seen.  This world is full of adversity but it is amazing to see how when one person makes a stand to do the right thing and has a team that comes along side them change is made.  Even when things seem so bleak and unfair, miracle happen and miracles are seen!

In the movie Woodlawn before one of the games is started one of the main characters, Hank is asked to pray.    When asked what he is doing, he said he is giving “credit where credit was due” and continued to pray The Lords Prayer.  I can’t tell any more because it will give away that part of this storyline, but it was a really neat.  I pray that we all realize our significance in life and stand up to do the right thing.  To me, that often seems like it involves being a voice for those who do not seem to have a voice.  And then, give credit where credit is due.

“When you play for yourself, you can be great. When you play for something higher than yourself, that’s when something extraordinary can happen. God has a purpose for all of us and it is not insignificant…God wants you to be a superstar.” – Hank

There you have it.  A movie review and my scattered thoughts after walking through this side of the country for the last few weeks.  Go see the movie!

After the movie we drove to see some friends that live in TN.  We gave them a couple hour notice we were heading that direction and they made time for us to come and see their beautiful home and enjoy an evening of catching up.  Thanks, Kenyons!  It was awesome to see you!  I Wish I would have taken a picture, but I forgot to pull out my phone and snap a few pictures.