I watched the movie Dolphin Tale last night with my kids and I loved it. I must admit that I had every intention of never watching that movie, but we were searching through the Telus TV rental stuff and the kids saw it, Jaxon got excited, then Grace did and Soph didn't say a word through the preview, so it was a win for them. Harry Connick Jr. was in it, and I like that guy, Ashley Judd was in it and that was JUST fine by me as well. Morgan Freeman and Kris Kristopherson were both there too so, "Maybe it won't be too bad." I thought to myself.
Here come a couple of massive run-on sentences:
Basically the kid has no dad, Ashley Judd is a single mom, the kid has no love for life or the people around him, finds a beached dolphin, cuts him free, dolphin has a bond with the kid, dolphin is rescued, kid skips his summer school class to work with dolphin, mom finds out, is mad, hears the kid out, meets him where he is at, backs her kid because she realizes he has found his meaning in life and it is super postitive being influenced by a great single dad (Harry Connick) whose wife has died in the pre-story his new friend who loves dolphins too, and many other caring adults who "get" this kid. Kid ends up getting a hurt dolphin a prosthetic tail by convincing a Dr. (Freeman) to create said tail out of the goodness of his heart and the cause, and dolphin and boy are best friends. There's a wise grandpa (Kristopherson) in there who says lots of wisdomish type things as well.
Now that does not sound like a movie that I should have been crying in 5-6 times but that is what happened. Here's the 3 things that I loved about the movie that just smacked me in the face multiple times. 1 and 2 are a bit of a package deal so I guess you could say that there are two things that smacked me in the face if you wanted to get particular about it, but I digress....
Number 1and 2 - The kid found his spark AND the mom recognized it and backed her kid
I never called the thing that makes someone tick their "spark" until I watched this video that on of my colleagues sent me. The presenter is a little cheesy sometimes, lowering his voice for effect when I think he shouldn't and stuff like that, but the message is gold. Watch it if you have 20 minutes sometime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqzUHcW58Us The kid in this movie found his spark. This of course is not just for parents and kids, but for anyone in community with someone else. It would be cool if we could all be on the lookout and foster each other's "things" that make us excited about life. I am just speaking as a parent because this is something obviously important in my world, but I think this stuff applies to all people...
As a parent I hope and pray to God that I can realize the spark in my kids when they try and tell me, or when they are exhibiting such joy and interest in something that I should be able to notice. The things that really make them tick. Things that really get them going. One of my biggest fears as a parent is that I won't see it. That I won't realize it until it's too late and only when they are 35 after months of counseling will my kids be able to tell me that they always felt inadequate because I never fostered their true passion. Like, Jaxon comes up to me at 35 and says, "Dad, I know that I am 6'9" 250 with 7% body fat and that basketball seemed like a great fit, but all I ever really wanted to do was.......DANCE." Then he starts voguing or something and I start wondering how I missed that he wanted to dance, or that I just never fostered his love of dance because I didn't really understand it. I don't want to miss my kid's spark because I don't quite understand it. I think about this especially now that I don't have Krista to help me to recognize "the spark(s)". I feel even more responsible to be the one that recognizes it because I better step up myself.
When I really think about it I know that is stupid in some respects because as they say, "it takes a village to raise a child". I guess I just have some pride that I want to be the one that recognizes the spark before anyone else. That I know my kid better than anyone else. That's pretty prideful in one way and probably is one good way to guarantee that I may not recognize it. I need to trust in the many people who love my kids. My family, Simone (our ridiculously awesome nanny) teachers, coaches etc. I have to monitor my pride and weigh out what the trustworthy people that God has placed in our lives have to say. I actually may not be the best person to recognize those things in my kids, just because I am not the one with them throughout the day. That is scary but true. More prayer needed on that one.
The second part of this is that the mom backed up the kid. Now I don't necessarily advocate pulling your kid out of summer school, (like in the movie) which, they were only in because they were lazy during the school year, just because they found something else they found interesting. (Run-on sentence) In this case however, she could tell that this was really, really different for her son. She actually heard him out, went with him to the aquarium, met people he was with, and even though the kid didn't go about it the right way the mom did the right thing by her kid. She made sure the kid knew that he was wrong the way he handled it, but also gave merit to the spark of the kid. She didn't let the kid walk on her, in my opinion, she fostered the spark. (The kid still had to write a paper and do a whack of work to get credit for summer school) She did not do what I hope I never do, but have seen parents do. Which was to just give in to their kid's whims, thinking that this is the best way to love their child. To give them what they want. Sometimes kids need to realize that what they want is not best for them, whether they want it "really bad" or not.
I guess that's how I see God sometimes. I see him as a Father who knows what I need no matter how badly I want something. I also think he recognizes my spark, and that he backs me up. Now if you had a horrible father, it might not be very easy to understand what a good father can look like. That is tough, and is another topic for another blog. Some of you may think this is a load of CRAP! How can God allow bad things to happen in people's lives, or to people who seemingly do not deserve those things. Well that is a BIG frickin' question that may not have an answer that someone who is hellbent on disproving Christianity will accept. The thing is, no matter what set of morals you live by, that question cannot be answered perfectly, where we will enjoy the whole of the answer that is given. I think maybe we get too hung up on the "enjoy" part of life. If there is not an answer that we are "happy" with, we may just find another answer that can fulfill our whims no matter how weak or unfounded it is. Anyway, that's another blog.... What I will say sometimes to God is that I think he is a frickin' crazy jerk of a God for not stopping what happened to Krista. Then I quickly am reminded that if I believe in a God that created this place, and that loves me, that it is likely that he is smarter than me. Well alright, not likely. It is an assured fact that if a God created this place that he is smarter than me and if I believe that he loves me (Which I truly do.) then he can handle my misunderstandings and hear my pleas, and grant me forgiveness. Those of you who do not believe in a God will think that is silly nonsensical thinking, but I can talk to you personally if you want to know why I would still believe in a God when there is so much pain in the world. I will say there is evil at work in this world too. Not a pointy tailed red dude with a pitchfork of a devil, but an entity of evil much more devious and deceptive and smarter than that classic cartoonish image renders. Again, that's another blog....
I just realized that this is getting long and it is getting late, so I will conclude with this. I hope all of us parents can recognize our kids' spark(s). I think we need to trust the people we trust when it comes to really knowing our kids. We need to back up our kids when we figure out what their spark is, and if it legitimatley changes over time, that we can change with them and continue to support them. Not flights of fancy here, legit spark change.
Next week I write my random thoughts about the 3rd thing the movie made me realize. The importance of belonging. I mean I knew it was important before, but seeing that kid finally feel like he belonged made me cry. Him being accepted by that dolphin, and the love they seemed to have for each other made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Guess what, I think I found the topic for my next blog. Yep. There it is. Dolphin Tale stretched over two weeks. I will never live this one down....
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