No Vacancy

Three movies - watched all of them without falling asleep. Well, to be honest, I had to finish one movie the next day. All three very entertaining. One hit much harder than all the others.

Cars
My first attempt on Saturday night. I fell asleep about an hour in, but managed to finish it the next day. What can I say? Some of the best graphics I have seen in an animated movie, and with three kids, I have seen my fair share of animation. Cars was extremely enjoyable, had a great story, and an ending to bolster a great value - sometimes winning means losing. The whole family enjoyed this one.

Ice Age 2
WOW! This movie is HILARIOUS! There are SO many one-liners, it was often times hard to keep up. One disclaimer - there are a few spots in this movie that 3 year olds probably shouldn't hear. Most of the questionable content went right over my 3 year old's head, but fair warning to parents of young children. Otherwise, this movie is highly recommended for some great laughs, and the story line is decent as well (if you're in to the whole global warming thing).

Click
A great movie. One that hit me right in the gut. I was expecting a funny comedy from Adam Sandler, and he doesn't disappoint. But what I wasn't really expecting was the impacting ending of this movie. If you haven't seen this movie yet, skip to the end of this post. I'm not a big emotional type of guy. Very few movies make me cry, but this one hit me hard for some reason. By the end I was bawlin' away. It definitely hit too close to home for me. I could write an entire post on how we "fast forward" through life, but let me hit one concept here.

I had an opportunity to visit with my grandparents over Thanksgiving. They live in Kansas, so I don't get the opportunity to see them very often. It was very apparent during my visit that they are both nearing the end of their lives. Most of us go through life thinking our grandparents (and even our parents) are indestructible - they'll always be there for us. When I saw the feebleness of my grandparents showing in a tangible way, I was reminded about the frailty of life. I OFTEN TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED.

We sat for about an hour reminiscing about the past and telling lots of stories. God really spoke to me on my drive home that night. Here's what He asked me: Are you making memories or vacancies? It doesn't really matter what people SAY about you when you're gone - it's the memories of HOW you lived they will remember. Are you impacting lives or simply content to fill your own life with memories? Am I filling my kids with memories or leaving them with vacancies?

That's why Click hit me so hard. It was another reminder from God to invest in people and build memories. The BEST memories. The brain is a funny thing. It can recall specific memories based on a certain color, smell, or even a particular place. I would bet you are recalling things from your past right now. YOU have memories. But God says that we can't stop there. It's not enough to build our own memories - we have to share those with others as well. So the question is what memories will you create? Or maybe you've been creating more vacancies instead?

Take time this week to watch Click. You won't be disappointed, and I hope you'll really be challenged. I'll close this post with a few words from the classic hit "The Way We Were." I think they're worth considering:

Memories
Like the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were