I LOVE movies!
I watch movies a lot and I am always up for watching more. I don’t really have a favorite genre – I’ve seen good (and bad) movies in all categories. One type of movie I do enjoy are movies that are based on true events. I know that often these are filled with fictionalized portions of the story. Sometimes the “true event” is a minor point of the plot and the main story, while completely fictional, is crafted around that small “true event”. I’ve even seen a “true event story” that was completely made up (Fargo). That being said, it is fun to get engaged in a story whose facts can be traced historically.
I also love sports. Athletes have a mystique around them that makes people think of them as a breed apart. It is good to check out their life stories and see how “normal” they really are. Sometimes, this means that we see all parts of them, good and bad, flawed and heroic. It is a good reminder that none of us are perfect and we are all in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. And we all can take some responsibility to carry out the missions that God has given us. This brings me to a new feature that I will be starting in April. I am always encouraged when I hear of athletes who are using their platform of fame to talk about what God is doing in their life. To hear them understand that God has placed them in this spotlight and given them a chance to point to Him as the most important thing in their life is an encouragement to me to remain bold in my faith too.
So I am going to start sharing these stories here too, in an effort to pass the encouragement and joy I get from their stories on to you. Watch for these stories to come at least once a week (my goal is twice a week – we’ll see how it goes). Most of them will be about athletes – since I am such a sports fan, but I may throw other stories I come across in too, occasionally.
To begin, check out this story of Bethany Hamilton. She is a professional surfer who, as a teenager, lost an arm to a shark attack in her native Hawaii. A movie about her story is opening in theaters on April 6. This is the way she tells her story.
