Martian Child

We went to see a movie called "Martian Child." It's the story of a widowed science fiction writer (David, played by John Cusack) who adopts a boy who believes that he is from Mars. I highly recommend this movie and I hope you will go see it. You see the struggle that all parents experience, especially with a "unique needs" child.

Two things really stood out to me during this movie. First, in a moment of intense frustration, David questions whether or not he's cut out to be a parent. In another scene, he gets angry because of his frustration. Those feelings of inadequacy and frustration are common to all parents. All of us have felt inadequate in our parenting. We feel like the whole process is nothing but trial and error. David remains consistent and loving towards this child, which in the end makes all the difference.

The second thing that really caught my attention was a comment from David's publisher. The publisher is upset when David doesn't deliver the manuscript for the sequel to his sci-fi book. David is trying to explain why he didn't finish it. The publisher said to him in anger, "Why can't you be who we want you to be?" Suddenly you see on David's face a fresh, new understanding about his son. This scene caused my brain to go into hyperdrive. That is how we live, isn't it? We live to be what others want us to be, we follow the crowd, and sometimes we deny our uniqueness to fit in. Why do we strive so hard to fit in? The most unique and successful people step out of the "box," step away from the crowd and step into new frontiers. In Romans it says that we should not conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Duh, we're not supposed to fit in! We are each unique beings on this planet and each of us has the potential to step out of our so-called "boxes."

I hope you will see this movie. It will touch your heart.