Yesterday afternoon, I was given the opportunity to serve a special needs child for a short period of time. Jillian accompanied me after school and looking back, I see how God was preparing her heart for the movie later that evening. Being face to face with a child much different than herself and her friends, moved Jillian out of her comfort zone; and to be honest, myself included. In the forty-five minutes spent with this precious child, Jillian observed physical limitations she hadn't been exposed to before. They were not familiar and made her somewhat uncomfortable. She alternated between interacting with him and retreating to the familiarity of her drawing and artwork. I, too, struggled with how to relate and love on this child in ways he could feel. Music and physical touch penetrates all barriers. Musical toys allowed this child to unwind after school with dancing. I could not stop smiling at how he had so much more rhythm than I did and he danced away our time together.
Jillian and I headed home to pick up Willie and Braeden for dinner and the movie in Germantown. Between a stressful day at school and the stretched comfort zone after school, Jillian had a meltdown. Her "marble jar was empty" and she just wanted to stay home. Her disinterest in the movie hurt this Mama as I saw her temper tantrum through the lens of selfishness. After an ugly fifteen minutes, our family was finally on the road. Jillian cried herself to sleep and slept most of the ride.
At dinner, when Willie tried to broach the subject of the movie, Jillian put up her walls. She told
Willie she was scared and wouldn't explain why. She watched the movie trailer on my phone and was quiet yet grumpy through dinner. When Willie pressed again, she just shrugged her shoulders. In that instant, the Holy Spirit gave me these words: "she's not scared about any particular part of the movie, she's scared of not knowing what to expect." Jillian's eyes lit up and she nodded in agreement that Mama had given words to her emotions. Willie, living in a "blue" world, looked completely confused, so I jokingly said, "it's a "pink" thing". :) More often than not, we find ourselves more scared of the unknowns in life, than the knowns. Jillian just needed some extra love to be brave.
Arriving at the theater, we stood in line to have our tickets printed out. Looking around, I noticed there were no signs for "The Drop Box" movie. No cardboard advertisements. No framed posters announcing that it was playing. I glanced up at the box office billboard and noticed "The Drop Box" wasn't even listed as an option for movie goers. No title, no show times, no nothing. I began to think we had chosen the wrong theater or that the movie didn't exist. As I checked in on Facebook, "The Drop Box" movie was not in the list of movie options that I scrolled through to post we would be watching. Only after physically typing in the title, was I able to access its existence. In a matter of minutes, our tickets printed out and we were directed to Theater #13. Still, no signs of this movie anywhere in the theater.
"The Drop Box" was an INCREDIBLE movie. Subtitles, precious faces of precious children, love in the eyes and heart of Pastor Lee and his wife, sacrifice of time and health for the weakest, a passion to lay down life for those unable to be cared for by others, and the God behind all of the above. This was God's ministry, birthed in the heart of one man--who's wife had given birth to their own special needs son. Pastor Lee was obedient to God's call on his life and considers it a blessing to serve those who need a chance at surviving and need to be loved. The cost is great, but the Lord has paid it; for His glory. God placed Pastor Lee's passion in his heart and gave courage to his actions.
As I glanced over at Jillian throughout the movie, she had a smile spread across her face. Her heart was penetrated with love through the eyes and smiles of the beautiful children God redeemed in "The Drop Box". The fear of the unknown was replaced with joy---visible in these children who are loved unconditionally. The experience earlier in the afternoon with the special needs child, took on a whole new meaning. There is no physical limitation that love does not conquer. The same is true of Christ; there is nothing His precious blood and Love does not cover. Nothing. He redeems imperfect life with Perfect Love.
So as we left Theater #13, and headed for the exit, I still saw no signs for this movie that revealed one man's passion for the helpless lives dependent upon his love. I saw plenty of signs and marketing for other movies that our culture is promoting right now. I left so very heartbroken that the 354 babies Pastor Lee saved in his "Drop Box" at the time of filming, paled in comparison to the promotion of "50 Shades of Grey". Pastor Lee's 354 Shades of Love preserves life. Christian's 50 Shades of Grey destroys love. And tragically, only the latter goes down in history as a box office hit in our culture.
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