Reaching. Pretty Sure That's What I'm Supposed to be Doing.

I've recently seen three movies that affected me, in different yet similar ways. (Caution - possible movie spoilers ahead...)

1. TAKEN. A drama / suspense about a CIA-type man whose daughter is abducted in France and sold into the sex-slavery business, and his journey to rescue her. While CIA-type thrillers have always been high on my list, this one moved me on another level. I've been aware of this type of "underground" that goes on around the world, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since watching this movie. Maybe it's because I have a daughter who's about to embark on her first European trip without Daddy. Maybe it's because she's about to be "on her own" without an awful lot of street-smarts. Maybe it's something much greater than both of those.

2. SEVEN POUNDS. With the exception of Men In Black, I love me some Will Smith. I will still watch Fresh Prince on Nick-at-Nite when Clint's not at home. This movie did not disappoint me. While it was a little dark and slightly confusing at first, I couldn't leave it. It was about a man who made a tragic choice that killed seven people, who then spent the rest of his days trying to make it up to seven more. While I don't agree with his philosophy of trying to "buy his own forgiveness," his desire to completely change the lives of complete strangers tugged at my heart. He was willing to do this, no matter the cost to himself. He looked for opportunities to do this. He didn't wait for them to knock on his door. This movie hasn't left my mind since I watched it.

3. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. A must-see. Creative, entertaining, yet enlightening and heart-breaking all at the same time. A story-teller-type tale of a boy who grew up in the slums of India. Completely captured my heart. Maybe because I'm going to Peru in about 5 weeks, and I've seen pictures of homes and children there which looked like the homes and children depicted in this movie, and maybe it's knowing that I'm going to experience that lifestyle first-hand, even if only for a couple of days. Maybe it's because the resourcefulness of the adorable-yet conniving little boy achingly reminded me of one of my own.

Over coffee last week with two of my favorite friends, I was introduced to a benefit that's going to take place this weekend. It's called Reach2Rescue. From what I can put together, it's sponsored (at least in part) by a young man in town who I know of, but do not know personally. To make a long story short, there are several bands putting on a concert with proceeds going towards rescuing boys and girls who are sex slaves in Nepal. A statistic on the website stated that in Nepal, "Girls between the ages of 8 and 16 are in the highest demand." I have a daughter who fits smack in the middle of that. So do her cousins. So do the girls on her soccer team. So do the girls I teach. So do the girls who live in our "neighborhood". That churns my stomach and takes my breath away. So I'm going. I've never heard any of the bands who will be playing. I may not like their music. But I'm going. And I'm taking at least one daughter with me. And I can't wait.

This week, another friend's FB status said that she had spent the day volunteering at the Food Bank - "boxed enough food to feed 800 families!" She has 6 children (all home on spring break this week) and a husband who is going to be without a job in just a few weeks. But this is how she chose to spend her time. Reaching.

Lately I've felt more than a little disconnected. Some days I often don't feel like I reach my students. Many days, I feel like I'm not reaching my daughters. Sometimes, my husband even feels out of reach. But I don't think that these various recent events in my life are disconnected. I think they sat themselves on my doorstep and invited themselves to stay. So what am I going to do about it? This week, I'm going to reach. I'm going to be at the concert on Friday night, helping to reach children in Nepal. As soon as I type this, I'm going to contact the Food Bank and see how I can be of help to reach people right here where I live. And in five weeks, I'm going to be reaching out to the Quechua people of Peru. Reaching. Being the hands of Jesus. Pretty sure that's what I'm supposed to be doing right now. LML.