The War

Did you ever see the movie "The War" with Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood? It is one of my all time favorites because it reminds me so much of the old dirt roads in Mississippi where I grew up! The kids, Stu (Elijah Wood) and Lidia live with their mother and father (Kevin Costner) in rural Mississippi. Lidia's best friends are two black girls named Amber and Elvadine. You will LOVE Elvadine! Anyway, they love to sing and dance to old Diana Ross songs which is pretty hilarious! Of course Lidia (the white girl) has no rhythm! The local Lipnicki children, Leo, Arliss, Ulla and Billy, are the local bullies so there is constant friction between the two groups. It is a fantastic movie with a fantastic message so you should probably go pick it up at WalMart for about $6 and watch it! My favorite scene in the whole movie is when Elvadine voices her opinion, to a very prim and proper school teacher, about a book called, "Why My Life Is Like A Bowl Full of Cherries." The teacher wants the class to read it and then write their memoirs! You really don't want to miss this scene! I have written the actual quote, just as Elvadeen says it, but you MUST watch it for yourself. Though her statements are heartwrenching, her performance is stunning!

"I was thinkin' to myself...Elvadeen, what you gots to write about in your whole good for nothin' life? Ain't got no daddy. Only money ever belongst to you was 20 dollas you got yosef in a birfday card from your uncle lass year. But it really wasnt for yo birfday. It was for layin' over his lap, and lettin' him spank you with yo underpants down....(pause)...Now here you come along, shovin' me in the back of the room, when I's can't even see good, which means I's probly not gonna graduate this summer neither! Just cause you read how some white man's life be like a bowl fulla cherries, I gotta come up with a fit here saying!! Well, fine! I'm gonna write how happy I'm gonna be to get 20 more dollas for my birfday- never mind what he got planned for me this year...and I'm gonna write how the new man my momma's seein' might stop drinkin, and treat me nice, and maybe he's gonna take us off da welfare, and in the end, we gonna be good as puddin! Life sho is a bowl fulla cherries. But to tell you da truth, Miss Strapford? I think YOU, that BOOK, and this WHOLE CLASS be a bowl...fulla...####!"

Oooo, you tell 'em Elvadine! It truly is a good movie and, in my opinion, vividly captures the day to day struggles families had, not to mention, it wasn't so long ago either. People were POOR, and I don't mean, (oh my poor, needy children......they don't each have their own I-Phone!) I mean they were DIRT POOR! Take a look around the next time you go shopping. There is an entire generation of kids that get anything and everything they want! Mama and daddy work overtime to make sure they have it too! I heard an advertisement for yet ANOTHER reality show that is coming on.....something about getting ready for the new baby. Some EXTREMELY SMART INDIVIDUAL said they were spending $28,000 for "STUFF" for this infant coming into the world! WOW! Mary didn't have a baby shower. As a matter of fact, in preparation for her childbirth, she rode a donkey, bareback, over a hundred miles carrying the "world's most precious cargo" in her womb. And then, Jesus was born in a stable! DID YOU HEAR ME?!!! THE KING OF KINGS WAS BORN IN A STABLE! THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD WAS BORN IN A STABLE!!! Does that disturb you? Well don't let it because it was all part of God's perfect plan and it was a most amazing night! (I know 'cause I read all about it!) :) Let the fact that our Nation is headed down a path of destruction disturb you. Our values have gotten all mixed up and we are wandering in a spiritual desert, experiencing the worst kind of drought. These things are cause for concern friends! Oh how we need to be on our knees praying! I love you all............