October Baby Part I

I love a good crying movie. The kind of movie that grips the place where all the pent up tears are and rattles them out of you. The kind that you probably should watch in solitude due to the periodic, involuntary guttural sounds that escape your slobbery face. Here are some examples: Marley and Me, Hachi: A Dog's Tale, Courageous. All of them very therapeutic, if you ask me.

Well, I found another one. It all started in church last Sunday, during one of those kinds of sermons that you can listen to probably one million times and still learn stuff from. This sermon came with a movie clip. A movie called October Baby. During the clip, it took all of my will power not to let the floodgates open, but I had to face a room full of people behind a very clear plastic drum shield immediately afterwards and it would have been embarrassing to have a slobbery face.

I won't spoil the movie for you if you haven't seen. But the clip showed a dad hugging his daughter. Simple, but powerful just the same. My eyes were not the only wet ones in the room when it was over. The clip was sort of a visual representation of the main idea of the sermon. Because of our sin, we were separated from God. But because of what Christ did for us on the cross, He has made a way for us to have a real, personal relationship with God. One of the main verses we looked at was Galatians 4:6, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.'" For those of us who have made Christ the boss of our lives, not only are we no longer separated from God because of our sin, but we have access to close, intimate relationship with Him. We can call Him Abba. Daddy.   

I don't know about you, but the idea of calling God 'Daddy' makes me squirm a little on the inside.  I have had a relationship with God for most of my life, but my relationship with Him is not like the one I saw in the movie.  She was so secure.  So sure of herself in light of her father's love.  I am just not that girl.  Not yet, anyways.  For me, it's been an upward climb to know Him as Father.  That's why watching the clip was so hard.  It showed me how I want to be, not how I am.  

But I figured the fact that I had such a strong reaction to the clip meant that maybe whatever it was stirring up in me needed to be stirred. So I took the plunge.  Rented myself a Redbox.  I thought it would affect me, but I was not prepared for how much it did...