Andrew and I dropped Rachel off at Fiddle Camp and were giddy to begin our date. We had five uninterrupted hours of quality Mommy-Son time! Our destination, the movie theater to see Disney’s new movie Maleficent. Andrew proposed that if I bought the movie tickets, he would pay for popcorn. Deal!
I won’t give away any movie secrets, but I will say that Maleficent puts a new spin on the old classic story of Sleeping Beauty.
My favorite part of our date was not the movie, but rather the conversation in the car ride afterwards. My soon-to-be-sixth-grader said “Mommy, there is a bunch of symbolism in Maleficent, like good verses evil, pride and corruption, jealousy and hate, evil disguised as good.” For the rest of the car ride we talked about the symbolism and the curse. There is a scene in the movie where Maleficent states “This curse will last until the end of time and no power on earth can change it.” We talked about the curse we are all under “thanks to Adam and Eve for messing it up for the rest of us” Andrew said. Just as in the movie, I reminded Andrew there is no power on earth that can change it. Fortunately, the God we serve is not of this world. From heaven, Jesus was sent to break the curse of sin that was placed on the earth. Our firm belief in Jesus Christ is our saving grace from the curse.
Question: Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Answer: Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any other powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-Romans 8:35, 38-39
Our conversation shifted and Andrew asked is it possible to lose our salvation. He wondered if you could still be saved from the curse even if you asked Jesus in to your heart, but then don’t always do right. “Absolutely!” I replied. That is the wonderful thing about God’s grace and forgiveness. We are always going to mess up and not do right, but as long as you truly believe Jesus died of the cross for our sins and you have asked Jesus into your heart, he is mighty to save!
I had a marvelous five-hour date with my 11-year old son. Later on in the evening, he tapped on the window and silently signed 1-4-3 our secret code for I love you. With tears in my eyes I signed 1-4-3-2. I harbor a lot of parental guilt. I tend to yell too much and play too little. I don’t always get things right. (This is why the lyrics to the song “How He Loves” written by John Mark McMillan and recorded by the David Crowder Band, mean so much to me. “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves me!”)
After I crawled into bed I wrote in my prayer journal: Lord, I don’t always get things right, but today I did! Lord, I love you too!
~April
“May you and I be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:12