December 14, 2009

A timeless classic for the Christmas season

The movie "Mary Poppins" was on ABC family channel tonight. My husband knows this is one of my all time favorite movies, so he told me the time and channel before it started. I got busy playing on the computer and doing laundry and forgot all about it until about the last 5 minutes of the movie. So I turned on the last 5 minutes.

I think this movie is such a timeless classic because of the message it portrays. Not of a nanny who whips two bratty children into shape, but that the presence of an earthly father figure is important to the family dynamic. God designed the family unit to be just that a unit~ a mother, a father and the children. I understand that things happen in life to rip that unit apart, but just watch the end of the movie. The family is going to the park together to fly a kite. And the dad gets it! He realizes that it is important to the children to spend time being with them. Not to take them to the park so they can do it on their own, but to be an active participant involved in their lives. And Mary Poppins and her umbrella (the talking parrot head) even have that conversation. The bird says something about the children going off with their father and not saying goodbye and Mary says, "Just as it should be."

Can I just tell you how blessed my girls and I are that we have an active, participating daddy in our lives? He is so good with our girls. He'll take them to the library to pick out books and videos. Then come home and read to them or sit down and snuggle as they watch a video they brought home. He'll take them to the park or start a tickle fest with them. Sometimes all he has to do is be his usual goofball self and they'll just crack up at him. And I don't know about you, but there is nothing that puts a smile in my heart more than listening to a child's sincere, belly busting laugh, the kind that come up all the way from the toes.

So, it is the Christmas season. We celebrate Jesus Christ coming to earth to be fully man, yet fully God. What an awesome gift God gave us in his only son Jesus Christ. I bet Joseph had moments like those above in teaching Jesus how to be a carpenter. What an awesome gift God gave me when he blessed me with the perfect husband for me and 2 beautiful daughters for my husband and I to parent. He chose us to be their parents. May you see the wonders and gifts all around you this Christmas season.