safe at home

christy and i took the boys to see ratatouille today. it is pixar's latest film, and it may well be the best of all. the toy story movies will always be at the top of my list, and i loved the incredibles. but ratatouille scored major points for me, because of its riskiness in subject matter and marketing difficulties (how would you feel if you saw rats in your kitchen-- even after watching remi and emil for two hours?)

if you've missed the trailers, the storyline is: remi the rat has a profound appreciation for food, even after his father says, "shut up and eat your garbage." by accident he ends up in paris, in the kitchen of a famous restaraunt. a new kid is working there who cannot boil water. they hook up, and great things happen.

i liked the film because its story is pretty sophisticated. there are typical themes involved, like following your dreams (joel osteen would be pleased) and making the best out of difficult solutions. for a g-rated movie, this one deals with mature issues like balancing relationships and family life-- things i discussed with my preacher friends the last two weeks in k.c. maybe the thousands of moms and dads in north texas who take their kids to see ratatouille this weekend will discuss that together on the way home.

james' favorite parts were when the rats were fried by lightning and when remi has a tomato squirted in his face. my favorite part was when a negative person has a transformative experience by taking one bite into a remi creation. good food has a wonderful quality about it that produces all sorts of great feelings. when this man takes a bite, he is immediately flashed back in time, when, coming inside from playing, his mother laid the same dish in front of him. remi's cooking reminded him of home, and he was a changed person for it.

in an era of constant change, the feeling of home can be fleeting. james is already asking when we will be moving from prosper!!! at the same time i am praying to be here for many years, so my boys will have some sense of what home feels like. i want them to realize something of what bay city means to me-- home. the goal for us in the ministry ought to be the same thing-- creating a sense of home when folk worship. home is not about who the preacher is, architecture, or even the music format-- although all of those things factor in. home is, as we used to say at oak lawn church, "where the heart is."

who knew such life lessons could come from a rodent?