After a lovely Valentine's dinner out (and after we got home, put the kids to bed, returned a phone call and cleaned up) hubby and I watched the movie, "Fireproof." It was powerful. Although I felt the characters were difficult to warm up to at the beginning (probably because neither of them was being very nice!) and it had its cheesy moments, any negatives were far outweighed by the message and example of unconditional love. There were moments in this movie when the emotion was so raw and so real it startled me. Then there were comic moments that lightened the mood and released the tension I was feeling as I watched their marriage disintegrate.
I think everyone can see a piece of their own marriage and their own heart somewhere in this film. It shows how slippery is the slope that leads from annoyance and negativity to resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness. It shows even those of us whose marriages are good, that we must continue to persevere and work at love. Love is a choice, after all, and we can never love too much.
I also like Marilyn's idea about adapting "The Love Dare" to our relationship with our children.
Here is an excellent article about the movie from Catholic Exchange.
Also, an impressive quote from the above article:
...for 17 years Cameron has been happily married to Chelsea Noble, the actress who played his Growing Pains girlfriend, and they have six children...
Cameron said, “I love my wife. I promised to love and cherish her to the exclusion of anyone else. A lot of actors will justify a lot of stuff in the name of art. I don’t feel that way, so I won’t kiss any other woman other than my wife. I’ve had that conviction for years. And in this movie, there’s that touching and romantic scene where Caleb and Catherine come to some resolve in their marriage and Chelsea came in and played the role of Catherine in silhouette. How can you do a movie about marriage and your life without holding true to that?”
