Peakah's Provocations...

I finally watched the movie "Courageous" for the first time this evening.  Honestly, I was pretty skeptical.  First of all, I'm not much of a movie guy.  A movie's writing better be good or I'm out.  Also, I found out that this was the same outfit that produced "Fireproof"; it wound up getting turned off about 30 minutes into the movie because the acting and writing was pretty nauseating.  (Sorry Mr. Cameron, I loved ya in Growing Pains tho)  To be fair, you need to be in the right mood for that type of dogmatism, for it takes a particular frame of mind to deal with.

Tonight, the stars were aligned and I was saying to myself as I cuddled up on the couch between my two favorite girls on this planet and my boys littered over the remaining living room furniture- Bring the Dogmatism On Baby!  I was not disappointed.  There is a soft spot in my heart for unapologetic movies that unashamedly proclaim our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  This was one of those, and tonight, I was looking forward to it.



This is the fourth movie produced by Sherwood Pictures, a Baptist ministry out of Albany, GA.  Considering their most recent release, they are improving by leaps and bounds.  This movie had all 7 of us simultaneously tearing up and laughing all together.  I had my 9 year old daughter hugging on my left side as my beautiful wife clutched my right hand.  That alone made the movie AWESOME.

There are many places you can read about the storyline of the movie but there was one particular aspect that really hit me where it was designed to, where it was meant to leave a mark-

"The Resolution" really hit home with me.

"The Resolution" was written by the main character "Adam" (who is also the producer- Alex Kendrick) when he has one of the worst tragedies that can befall a man.  I'll try not to spoil anything if you are reading this but have yet to see the film, but in the face of our biggest fears, when our deepest nightmares come true, we get a unvarnished glimpse directly into our own souls- particularly our shortcomings.  The glimmering veneer we place over aspects of our lives so that the reflection comes back the way we want to see them is completely stripped away and what we are left with is a psychologically nude snapshot of ourselves.  We realize exactly what we could have done better- what we may have missed out on.

There are many ways to handle a shock to one's system when these tragedies occur.  We can retreat into the dark recesses of drugs and alcohol, we can retreat into the hermit's life of isolation and depression, among many other horrible outcomes we tend to choose for ourselves.  Adam's choice in the movie was to draw up The Resolution.

In a moment of clarity, he tells his close friends about the resolution he is drawing up and they decide they're going to join him in his fight to better himself by bettering themselves along side him.  There's always strength in numbers.  To the point where they decide that this resolution is important enough to create a ceremony commemorating the signing of this resolution, this vow to not wait until the next tragedy strikes to decide to improve themselves.  They're going to begin today, and they're going to include those that they love the most.

The moment that scene ended, I knew I was going to do this as well.  I want to reproduce that scene in my own home.


I will create this document myself, hold a family meeting where we as a family will discuss the contents of this document, have a formal signing ceremony, and proudly place this on a wall in our home for all to see.  This I am going to do because it is the right thing to do and I am a proud Father of 5 incredible children and the husband of an amazing Angel from Heaven that deserves nothing less.

I want this to serve as a reminder for those times when I am at a loss or at wits end, of what is most important.  I also want to share it with those who I love and with those who may need a reminder that as a Father (and especially a Mother) we are tasked with one of the greatest responsibilities that can be granted us in this lifetime- the care, nurturing, loving, and the teaching of our children.

If you are a Father of children and you desire to Stand Up and say "I WILL", send me a message, an email, or a phone call to let me know.  There is power in numbers.  This is a message that needs to be spread, shared, and a fellowship will develop.  Where there is accountability, there is action.

Here is the final scene of the movie (and if you haven't seen it yet, watch the movie first!) and I couldn't have said it better myself:


If you have a facebook profile, like The Resolution For Fathers page.  I created it as I was writing this blog post.  It would be nice to create a community where this message can be disseminated through the country and through the world.  Who knows what this may lead to!?

Oh, and if you haven't seen "Courageous" yet, watch it as soon as you can, especially if you're a Father.

One of my best bloggin buddies is a Philadelphia detective and all around shoot from the hip with his opinion kind of guy. I love this about him and the fact that he's a Guinness pounding, ice-hockey playing, Irish toughguy makes him all the more loveable in my eyes. The world (especially Philly) can use a lot more men like him.

Like most bloggers, (including myself- when I'm not killing myself to secure a living for my own family of 7) Shawn has dreamed of becoming published. Through a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (and I mean that literally) he has achieved the dream of getting published even if it meant self-publishing. Self-publishing means self-promoting.

After reading the first two chapters on Amazon, I'm hooked. Much like the show "The First 48" on A&E, (which I'm addicted to) a good book has the First Two Chapters that will greatly increase the likelihood of one's reading of the entire book. In fact, the book reads as its own episode of "The First 48" in the beginning.  The first two chapters can be read here. I anxiously wait for the book to arrive to take the remainder of the ride through a Philadelphia murder investigation.

Thank You Shawn for putting in the time and effort to produce this, you've given aspiring writers like me hope that it can be done!

I am a DIEHARD Syracuse Basketball fan. I grew up "down the street" from Hall of Fame basketball coach Jim Boeheim in Lyons, NY. I ride the tumultuous wave that is Syracuse Basketball each and every March as they play Tournament ball since the days Pearl Washington was electrifying the Dome.

So this season we have Antonio "Scoop" Jardine and Kris Joseph leading the team as Seniors as they make this season's push. Scoop decided to show some senior leadership in the second round vs Kansas St as he nailed the 3 and served up some delicious dishes for Christmas under the basket all second half long. It was a thing of beauty.

It is only because I haven't been conned into video taping my reaction to Syracuse losing Scoop after this season that you don't see my tear streaked face in the following video, but believe me, this could have just as easily been my 37 year old face on YouTube (minus the 50,000 hits):



Why do I bring this up?

Because when the reaction to a silly video like this is to have Scoop get in touch with the kid's mom to give this kid a birthday present, I remember why I love being a Syracuse fan all over again. (Despite all the negative press that has been circulating lately)

Syracuse.com reports:

After defeating Kansas State in the NCAA Tournament, the Syracuse basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16. That means fans of Antonio "Scoop" Jardine will get to see the Philadelphia native play at least one more game in an Orange jersey.

One of Scoop's biggest fans is Shane Oliver of Mattydale, who turned 4 years old on Saturday. The little guy became slightly famous on the Internet this month as more than 50,000 people have watched the video of him crying on YouTube when he found out that this is the last season at SU for Jardine, a fifth-year graduate student.

The Syracuse point guard saw the video himself and reached out to the boy's mother, Audrey Barone, on Twitter and arranged to meet him. Scoop met with Shane on Sunday after the team returned from Pittsburgh and gave the boy a birthday gift.

"I just met that Lil boy that was crying about me graduating and leaving Syracuse. #happybdayshane," Jardine tweeted afterwards.

So despite the fact that I will be on an airplane from Dallas to Vegas as they tip off in Boston vs Wisconsin in round of Sweet 16- I will be screaming jumping up and down and pulling clumps of hair out of my head assuming the plane's wifi connection allows me to stream what I can; I will be rooting for Scoooooop to continue to lead this team all the way to the promised land of their last (and first) Championship- New Orleans.

I will also be dodging the tazer leads of any Federal air marshals who determine that I am too zealous of a fan. So assuming I land alive and get to the nearest DVR that I have programmed to record the game, I will be screaming SCOOOOOOOP a little harder now.


Go Orange.