I know that tomorrow is such an exciting day for most of us.  We have so much to celebrate.   But for others, tomorrow is a very hard day.  If tomorrow will be hard for you, I hope these simple words of encouragement minister to you as you walk through tomorrow…

To the Hurting Mommy/Mommy to Be

        Maybe walking through Mother’s Day is one more reminder of your grief.  Maybe it’s one more reminder of hopeful plans that never panned out.  Maybe it’s one more reminder of an empty womb and empty arms.  Please know that if you feel alone tomorrow, you are not alone.  You are loved and you are prayed for.  My heart grieves with yours.  I can’t make your hurt or loss any better.  There is nothing I can say that will change what you are walking through.  In some ways I understand and in some ways I do not. But I do understand loss and waiting for God’s timing.  These are not easy things.  But God loves you and he is big enough to hold your tears.  He is big enough to carry your heart through this day.

 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1

To the Mommy who is waiting…

My prayer for you is that tomorrow is filled with God’s grace for you.  I pray that as you encounter others that they bear the image of Christ to you.  I pray that you have hope in Christ.  He knows suffering and He is the great comforter of the heart.  God knows the plans He has for you and his timing is perfect even in the painful season of waiting.  My prayer for you is that you allow God to heal your heart in your season of waiting. My prayer for you is that you trust God in his timing and his plans for your life.  My prayer for you is that your hope is founded in Christ.  If you need to cry tomorrow, it’s okay.  But I pray that God refreshes you and gives you hope as you wait on him and his timing.  I pray that He brings you great joy and peace. 

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

To the Mommy who is grieving…

My prayer for you is that you feel God’s mercy being poured out on you throughout the day.  I pray that as you wake in the morning, God gives you peace.  I pray that God gives you happy memories.  As you think of those happy memories, I pray that you are reminded of a God who loves you unconditionally.  Please know that we live in a world of sorrow and of sin.  Death was never part of God’s original design for creation.  I’m so sorry that you are walking through grief.  My heart aches for you.  I pray that you are able to spend time tomorrow remembering your baby or child.  I pray that others will remember you and your grief.  I pray that God uses others to minister to you and love you.  I’m so sorry that this day that is so happy for most, is very sad for you.  But I pray that God carries you through tomorrow and at the end of the day, you are able to look back at our gracious God loving you, healing you, and leading you through the day. If you need to cry tomorrow, it’s okay.  You are a mommy who has loved and lost. 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

To the Mommy who chose adoption for the child she birthed…

My prayer for you is that God gives you hope and peace.  I pray that you know the love of God.  I pray that you know how much he loves you and that he wants to adopt you into his family.  The choice that you made for your child is one of the most beautiful sacrificial pictures of love.  I pray that God can use this in your life to share God’s hope and peace with others.  I pray that as time passes, God heals your heart and gives you much joy.  My prayer is that you are reminded of the precious gift of life that you gave the child that you birthed.  You birthed a child and then put your child’s needs above your own.  You did a very hard thing because of your love for your child.  Your love for your child should never be questioned, but affirmed

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

If tomorrow will be hard for you, please know that God loves you.  Please know that other mothers have walked before you or are walking a similar path with you and understand your pain and suffering.  My prayer for you tomorrow is that you look to the God who created you and who loves you for hope, peace, and healing.  You are a beautiful, unique, exquisite woman created by God!  He loves you more than you can comprehend!  He is big enough to hold your tears.  He is big enough to hear your questions.  He is big enough to heal your heart.  He loves you! 

Lord, anything but my dogs.

Today is a hard day for my family. We have, for almost five years, enjoyed two great dogs. Sadie WalkerTexasRanger and Howitzer JackBowitzer whom we affectionately call, “Howie.” Sadie is a boxer and Howie is a Heinz 57 mutt. They are great, a little overweight, well trained, great with kids, the consummate guard dogs, big babies, and grocery destroyers. When Katie and I followed the Lord in our call to missions, we never knew all it would cost. We are giving away many of our goods, selling our house, and today, giving our dogs away.

Now some of you might go online and look at the requirements for bringing dogs overseas. Before you do, let me assure you, it is possible that Sadie and Howie come with us. However, we are not thrilled about them spending time in quarantine or living in an apartment. Even worse, would be putting them through this twice in one calendar year.

For us, our dogs served as children place holders. For several years, we were trying any avenue to have a child. While we were there waiting, Sadie and Howie were there. When we had multiple failed adoptions, Sadie was there trying to lick Katie’s tears away. Howie, well he is a special dog and is perfectly happy to just lay around and be pet or to just lay around. Now with Hannah they are no longer place holders but are child protection and friend. One of Hannah’s greatest joys after she is finished eating her food is to drop her food on the ground for her two patiently waiting friends. I saw it (and without attempting correction) yesterday and I have no idea how much food Hannah eats. I also know why Howie is overweight!

Things have not always been great with Sadie and Howie. A couple of years ago, they decided to make a break for it and take a vacation in the nature preserve. Howie came home after five days and Sadie eight (she is a bit more stubborn).

All in all, today is a sad day because we love those two dogs. They are going to a great home with new owners who love dogs and will have time for them. Today is tough because it is another loss we are experiencing as we follow Christ.

Paul writes to a church and recounts who he used to be and what he had and says, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:8–11).”

Today, we are experiencing another loss but we will gain more. It is incredibly sad to see these two dogs go. But we praise God for the time we had with them and for how He made them. God made animals, dogs especially, (the verdict is still out on cats), with an innate ability for love and relationship. This ability is how God created them and for that He is praise worthy. A dog is a man’s best friend. I prayed the other day and it ended with, “Lord anything but my dogs.” But I don’t want to settle for a “best friend” when I can have a Savior and Heavenly Father. When I see the love these dogs have, it is infinitely better in Jesus. These days make us focus on loving our Creator not his creation because what we love in creation is really what we love about him. It just hurts to see it sometimes.

 

Today is an important day, it is St. Patrick’s Day. Irish pubs will be full with drunkenness (not good). Savannah, GA will dye their river green (a little weird). Many people will wear green and get pinched if not wearing green (a bit odd). The lucky few will eat a meal with corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes (a favorite of mine). I like to joke that today is the day everyone pretends to be me.

St. Patrick was raised in a Christian home but in his teenage years was captured by Celtic pirates. He was enslaved, abused, and taunted by his captors. He was forced to tend sheep. He was lonely, often hungry. Finally, after six years, he escaped back to his family back in Britain.

He did not remain in Britain for long. He secured a license to return to Ireland as an evangelist. He went back to the very people who persecuted him. God changed his heart to love his captors. God used him to share the Gospel. Most people will talk about Patrick removing the snakes from Ireland, in a sense, this is true. Because of the cold climate, snakes are not found in Ireland. However, they were staunchly pagan in the fifth century, until Patrick came. Patrick came declaring the Gospel, that message which removes the Serpent, the snake from the Garden.

The Gospel is the message that Jesus came to crush the head of the serpent. Now the serpent bruised his heal but Christ crushed his head. When Patrick came to tell Ireland about Jesus, he was removing the power of the snake.

This message is not unique to me and my family. Several months ago, when my grandmother passed away, I read her testimony. My grandmother came to faith in Christ when an American missionary came to Ireland to preach the Gospel. I don’t know his name but I am so thankful for him. My grandmother had a huge impact on my coming to faith in Christ. My life is changed because someone, like Patrick, went to a land not his own and shared the good news of Jesus.

Katie and I are planning on going to a land not our own to share the good news of Jesus. Would you be willing to partner with us? Would you help send us and pray that God would use the Gospel to change a life, family, and nation? 

If you have any questions about partnering with us please email or call. You can visit here to financially partner with us. If you would like to be added to our email list email us at kerrfamily@reachingandteaching.org

When did your family change direction? We would love to hear who your "Patrick" is for your family!

Plodding Along

William Carey is called the Father of Modern Day Missions. He was one of the founders of the Baptist Mission Society. They were a group of pastors and theology students who committed to work together. They committed to collect funds together to send missionaries. John Thomas and William Carey were elected to go to India.

While there, William Carey suffered extreme hardships. There were fires that destroyed his translation, his wife lost her mind, he buried children, and he was kicked out of English controlled area forcing him into the Dutch controlled Serampore. To make things more plain concerning his hardships, it was over seven years before he baptized his first convert!

Can you imagine, working for seven years without anything to show? Let’s be clear, getting conversions is not the goal of missions – the glory of God is the goal. God is glorified if people are converted or not. But let’s also be clear – God is glorified when men who are dead are made alive, when spiritually blind men are given sight.

Carey received much fame for his work in Serampore. Even today his story inspires others to follow his famous saying, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” Don’t be fooled, Carey did amazing things. He was an absolute trailblazer. When he was reflecting on his life, he knew someone would one day write a biography about him. He told his nephew, “Eustace, if after my removal any one should think it worth his while to write my Life, I will give you a criterion by which you may judge of its correctness. If he give me credit for being a plodder he will describe me justly. Anything beyond this will be too much. I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.” What was the mark of Carey’s life? He persevered. Regardless of what difficulty came his way, he plodded through.

How could Carey plod through such difficulty? How could Carey keep his faith through trial after trial? Did he have amazing gifts? Maybe, but most linguists say he was not that gifted as a linguist. Was he a super duper Christian? Maybe, but the Holy Spirit living in him is the same in me and you. What was it?

In order for us to know the power behind Carey, we need to go look at the beginning of his mission work. Right after the forming of the Baptist Missionary Society, Carey went to each man involved and got them to commit to the work. Andrew Fuller remembers the moment this way,

“Our undertaking to India really appeared to me, on its commencement, to be somewhat like a few men, who were deliberating about the importance of penetrating into a deep mine, which had never before been explored. We had no one to guide us; and, while we were thus deliberating, Carey, as it were, said, ‘Well, I will go down if you will hold the rope.’ But, before he went down, he, as it seemed to me, took an oath from each of us at the mouth of the pit to this effect, that while we lived we should never let go the rope. You understand me. There was great responsibility attached to us who began the business.”

The strength to plodding hard ground is not in the exceptional qualities of the individual but on those petitioning God on behalf of the individual. Missions is never dependent on us. Missions is God’s work.

So seek Him. Hold the rope. If you are one of our “rope holders” thank you. If you want to become a rope holder, email us at kerrfamily@reachingandteaching.org

Greetings!

I hope everyone is doing well. We had a very busy January and we have been very busy so far this February.

We began the New Year by traveling to Panama City Beach, FL where I preached at a youth camp. The camp was a great time to preach to teenagers from the book of Philippians. After the camp, we spent several days with Katie’s family. We were blessed to celebrate Hannah’s first birthday with her family.

The next week I went to Louisville, KY for class and Katie remained in Mobile, AL with her family. I was challenged and encouraged by my classes on the history and theology of missions. The big take away from class is the term missio Dei, the mission of God. Missions is not man’s idea. In fact, before we ever thought of missions, God was already on mission (missio Dei) to redeem mankind for Himself. Being involved in missions is joining in the grand plan of God! What an encouragement!

As soon as class let out, I was on the road to Mobile, AL. I slept several hours before driving Katie and Hannah to Grand Isle, LA. I preached twice Sunday morning, once at First Baptist Grand Isle and then forty five minutes north at a Crosspoint Church. We really enjoyed our time on the Bayou. The people there may be difficult to understand as they mix English and Cajun but what is clear is the love they have for one another. Their love was evident to us as we were able to eat meals with them (genuine Cajun gumbo, it was absolutely delicious) and the support for those we were privileged to see several baptized at Crosspoint Church.

As a quick aside, let me say thank you for the encouragement we received in Louisiana. It is always encouraging to see people joining with God in the missio Dei. The great folks of FBC Grande Isle have a missional mindset and have helped to support the new church Crosspoint Church. God is working through the people of Crosspoint as they begin to share their faith with others on the Bayou!

After worshiping with both churches on Sunday, we got much needed sleep before heading back to Alabama. On the way, I was able to speak to several pastors at the Bayou Baptist Association. We shared about Reaching and Teaching and Ecuador. We are thankful for the opportunity to speak to them and look forward to working with several of the churches in the association. The pastors really have a heart to reach the Bayou for Jesus.

So our January ended with traveling over 3,000 miles, 6 sermons, 2 doctoral seminars, Hannah’s first birthday, and some really good gumbo! Speaking of Hannah, while we were gone, she began nodding her head “yes” and “no,” as well as signing “please” and “thank you.” She is a joy to watch grow up. I have hesitated sending this update letter out because she is just so close to walking! As I type this, she is using a walker and coming to me. And now… she is doing laps around the house!

February has been a great month meeting with several churches and people. We are well on our way to being fully funded. We are at this moment, a little over 60% funded for our monthly support! We are so thankful for everyone’s support.

If you would like to partner with us financially, all gifts are tax deductible. You can visit www.reachingandteaching.org/give and follow the prompts, just make sure you put “James and Erica Kerr” in the drop down menu (Erica is Katie’s legal name).

Here is a picture of Hannah is watching the monkey exhibit at the zoo. I would try to share a picture of her and the walker but she is going too fast!

I am a lifelong Patriots fan but we do have a sense of humor, Hannah is pictured with her very own air pump to make sure the footballs are just right :)

God gave us beauty for ashes, joy for our sorrow!

January 5^th. It was a Sunday morning.  In the matter of just a phone call, our lives changed drastically.  We excitedly got ready and rushed to the hospital.  The birthmother we had been working with had given birth to a baby girl.  She was here.  Our daughter had come!  We drove as fast as we could to get to her.  We finally got to see her, and hold her.  The hope swelled in our hearts.  Our Elizabeth Hope, which means our God has made a covenant of hope, had come! 

January 5th will always be a special day for us.  A day that reminds us of so much hope, our Lord’s healing and provision, much suffering, and even greater joy.  We had the privilege of being Elizabeth’s parents for six long wonderful, beautiful, painful, hurtful, days.  The Lord had ordained for us to love her with all of our hopeful broken hearts for the six days he granted her to us and we will be forever grateful!

At the end of those six days, our time as her parents had ended.  Our birth mom decided to place Elizabeth with another family.  We were heartbroken…utterly gut-wrenching heartbroken.  It was the worst trial we have experienced in our marriage.  I didn't understand.  My heart was so broken it felt as if it was ripped out, tied to a heavy anchor and dropped in the bottom of the ocean.  I asked James, “What good can come from this?” Isn't our God a God who loves his children and loves the orphan? We were trying to do the right thing.  Why were we suffering?  Why did we have to lose our daughter?  Our hopes and dreams for our daughter had vanished.  We didn't know where she was going.  We just knew she was no longer ours. 

But our life isn't ours either.  We belong to God.  He is our heavenly Father.  He understood our grief and pain.  Our God knows that pain and grief of losing a child.  He knows the pain of separation, in a much deeper way that what we were experiencing.  Our God could grieve with us.  We have a great High Priest who understands our suffering.   We knew God loved us.  We knew God had a plan, but we didn't understand.  We didn't want to suffer.  But praise be to God that he allowed our loss of Elizabeth, because through our deep pain and loss, we grew to know our loving Heavenly Father even deeper.  We understood more of his love, of his grace, and of his mercy. 

I can only imagine what God was thinking that night as we drove home without Elizabeth.  We couldn't see the future.  We didn't know what would happen.  But our gracious and loving father had a plan.   In our suffering, he brought great joy and provision.  And as January 5th approaches, I can be grateful for the outpouring of love, provision, grace, and mercy that our loving God so freely gave to us as we grieved during our loss of Elizabeth. 

That dreadful Saturday night as we returned our Elizabeth, God already had a plan to work in a huge and mighty way.   He portrayed himself through all parties involved in our failed adoption.  We experienced so much grace and compassion from the agencies and our attorney. God sent a friend to come and sit with me as I rocked our sweet Elizabeth for the last time. My sister and mother sat with me and helped me care for her as we knew we had to give her back.  They wept and cried and grieved with us.  They served us.  They loved us.   My friend, mom, and sister cried with me and prayed with me as I bathed her and got her ready for her journey to her new family. My family was there. My friend was there. But most importantly, God was there.   

That night, after we returned our Elizabeth, some of our friends showed up to love us and grieve with us. Each couple had experienced great loss and grief in their lives.  They knew what we needed to hear.  They knew when to sit and be quiet with us.  As I looked around that night at my beautiful friends who carried scars, God gave me hope.  God healed them.  He could heal me too.   They gave us such a gift as they grieved with is in our darkest hour.  These friends showed us a picture of the deep love of God.  They grieved with us! We are bonded with that beautiful, glorious bond for life. 

But God wasn't done.  Only God could work and move in such a mighty way.  Our sweet Hannah had come into this world! She needed us and we needed her!  Her birth-mother wanted her to go to a Christian family.  The director from the agency was praying that God would bring our child to us.  Within minutes she received the call about our sweet Hannah.  She said that God spoke to her heart. She knew that Hannah was our child.

The next day as we cried and prayed and worshiped at church, we got the call…the most important, glorious, most wonderful call we have ever received! Our sweet Hannah was waiting for us.  She would be our daughter if we would be her parents. We were scared.  All the “what ifs” were running through our heads.  We prayed that if she was to be our daughter that God would work and move to allow us to be her parents.  Little did we know, he was already at work. Our God is sovereign!  The next few hours God generously provided and made a way for us to go and bring our daughter home.  Our weeping lasted for the night but our God had already been at work to bring joy in the morning. 

It was a Sunday night. We were on our way to bring our daughter home. We were scared about the possibility of facing loss again.  We prayed that this time we would meet our forever child.  We prayed and knew that we would pursue and fight for our daughter with all of strength, will, and hearts.

As we were driving, James wanted to discuss names.  I was so scared and afraid. I was still grieving our failed adoption.  My heart broke that I wasn't there to love and comfort Elizabeth.  My heart broke that I wasn't there to love and bond with Hannah in the hospital right at that moment.  My heart was so troubled.  My heart was so heavy. But then my husband and our sweet Pastor (who went with us so we wouldn't be alone…I know he and his wife are amazing!) reminded me that God loves Elizabeth and Hannah and He was there with them.  God loved and loves them both more than I can imagine.  He was and is big enough to care for them.  God’s grace was and is enough for them.  God’s grace was enough for my torn but hopeful, and broken but joyful heart. 

In spite of all of this, God did place a name on my heart. That afternoon in the busyness of preparing to leave the name resonated within my heart.  I knew that this would be our daughter’s name.   I was scared to even say it out loud…Was this real? Was this really happening? Were we really going to meet our sweet daughter and bring her home? 

Then James shared the name that God had placed on his heart…Hannah Joy, the same name that God had given me all afternoon!   We would be meeting our sweet and precious gift from God very soon!  Her name means God’s favor or grace and to rejoice.  We certainly were humbled and in awe of our God working and moving in our life and Hannah’s life to be her parents.  She is our beautiful, wonderful, precious gift!  We love her with a deep, fierce, forever, grateful love!

The next day we met our beautiful gift from God!  The moment we met her, God placed so much joy and gratitude in our hearts!  We were incredibly blessed to share our first moments with her with my dad, and our pastor.  We were able to share our joy with them, which was an amazing gift! From the beginning, she has brought so much happiness.  God began to heal our scars and our hurts through his love and mercy.  We are incredibly blessed to call her our daughter.  When we look at her, we are reminded of God’s deep love for us.  He is our great healer.  He is our hope and our salvation!

Part of me wishes that I could say I am completely healed from all the pain that we experienced from Elizabeth, but part of me is relieved that God is still working on me and healing my heart.  I have realized this year that my God is a loving and gracious Father who can be trusted.  The Lord continues to show me that Hannah belongs to Him.  He is her creator and sustainer of life.  I must trust that God loves her more than myself and more than I can fathom or imagine.  I’m grateful for the scars that God has healed with his loving mercy.   Those scars remind me that He loves me and He is in control.  He is good and I can trust him, even when my circumstances want to scream something different to me.  He alone has to be my true source of hope and joy.  It is then that I can breathe, trust God, delight in Him, and enjoy my husband and my daughter, two of the most precious gifts that God could have ever given me!

We are so blessed by the outpouring of love God showed us through this time.  Our church family, our family, and our friends were so caring, so loving, so supportive.  They prayed with us, cried with us, rejoiced with us, brought gifts to us, and provided meals for almost a month!  They showed us the love of God within the body of Christ! 

So as January 5th approaches, we choose to praise God.  We praise God for the life of Elizabeth. We pray that as she grows, she will know of Jesus and his great love for her.  We pray that she follows him with her life.  We praise God for the family that he chose for her.  We praise God for the six days that we had with her.  We praise God for his grace and mercy in our grieving.  We praise God for Himself!  In our grief, He is our comfort and strength.  In our joy, we delight and rejoice in him!  We praise God for our brothers and sisters in Christ who prayed for us, loved us, grieved with us, and rejoiced with us!

We praise God because through our loss of Elizabeth, God worked mightily in a glorious way to give us our sweet and precious gift, our Hannah Joy! We praise God for the life of Hannah!  We pray that she will know Jesus and love him with her whole heart!  We pray that she knows God as her Abba Father, her provider, her protector, her comforter, but more than anything we pray that she knows God as her Savior. We pray that she knows how much she is loved and treasured by her creator and by us.  We pray that Hannah knows that our hearts are full of so much joy and gratitude! Out of all the parents in the world, God chose us to be her mommy and daddy!

We praise God that in several days we will have the honor of celebrating Hannah’s first birthday.  We praise God for her sweet and spunky personality.  We praise God for those sweet little fingers that wrap around ours.  We praise God for her sweet giggles that flood our home with so much joy.  We praise God that we are able to experience the world through Hannah…the first time we held her and she looked up at us, the first time we introduced her to our family and friends, her first bath, her first table food, her first toys, her first giggles, her first smiles, the first time she rested in our arms, the first time she patted our backs to show her love for us, her first trip to the beach, park, and zoo, her first Thanksgiving meal, her first Christmas and opening gifts, her first time playing in the sand, the first time she sang and clapped with all her heart in worship time….For all of these firsts, we are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude!   We are so thankful that we are her mommy and daddy we have the privilege of sharing life with her.  We are so excited about sharing all of her firsts of life with her! We feel incredibly blessed to call her our daughter.  Our God has made a covenant of hope! He has given us His grace and rejoice!

"Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you."

Psalm 33: 20-22

You can checkout James' sermon about our journey to Hannah and the faithfulness of our God here

The Red Tent

I was asked by a church member to watch The Red Tent. I did not take notes while I watched it, so these thoughts are not exhaustive or comprehensive. Instead, I hope they serve as a good overview of the movie and will guide you as you engage with other biblical movies.

First off, I am traumatized by the number of births and birthing shots in the movie. I physically cringed in one part. Katie and I have adopted and I am sure, if I am ever around for a real birth I will pass out, at least that is my prayer!

The naming of the movie was a definite marketing scheme. I did not read the book and I suspect, the book had more workings of the tent than the movie. With multiple wives and segregation I saw nothing that did not agree with what I have read about such a thing during the given time period. I must note though, that such details are not included in the Bible so it based off of secondary sources.

My main point of disagreement with the story is the inaccuracy to the biblical text. There were two glaring areas. The first is in Dinah falling in love with the Shechem and the slaughter of the town. In the biblical account (Gen 34) she did not fall in love but was “seized” and “humiliated” by Shechem. He did fall in love with Dinah but this was after he raped her. The movie did not show this and the glaring omission left it hollow. The movie did not include Simeon and Levi plundering the city and taking wives which is significant.

The second area which was significantly off from the biblical text is the meeting between Jacob and Esau (Gen 33). Esau came with 400 men in the biblical account not 100 like what the movie said. Also, there was distance between the two groups Jacob made when Esau came. Jacob’s approach to Esau was much different than the movie. While these changes in the story are minor, they are changes nonetheless and serve no purpose.

When watching biblical movies, I am perfectly fine with creative license if it is not in the Bible. To change the story when a detail is clearly listed is pointless to me. However, this is the reason, I liked the grouping together of Dinah and Joseph in Egypt. After Genesis 34, there is no mention of Dinah so I do not believe the truthfulness of her and Joseph meeting in Egypt. But, to think about it and see it in a movie was a rather creative idea.

I liked the movie with the exception of the traumatic birthing scenes. I wish they would have stuck closer to the biblical text. If they would have done so, they could have retained the main storyline. Even though the movie has me scarred for life, I found it entertaining and moderately enjoyable. In fact, Katie and I paused the movie several times to read the biblical accounts and talk about the movie as it went along.

We also talked about the take away from the movie and biblical storyline. The movie had a main takeaway to follow your heart and marry for love. This however, is not the point of the passage in the Bible. The story in the Bible is quite tragic. The story is part of the larger unfolding of God’s plan to redeem mankind through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The actions of Jacob’s sons is horrid. However, God works through such sultry people to bring about his plans and glory. He humbled them by sending them to Egypt and had them face Joseph. Through these wicked brothers line comes Jesus. The plans of God cannot be stopped by the wickedness of man because God is greater than the wickedness.

The story also shows us how much better Jesus is by way of contrast. Simeon and Levi killed all the men in an entire city because their sister was raped. I do not want to downplay the rape but murdering, plundering, and then taking the remaining women as wives is not a just recompense. Personally, I was challenged to let God enact justice because I am prone to overdo it! However, Jesus who was sinless, hung on a cross and pleaded for the forgiveness of the men who were killing him. So while the movie The Red Tent was not completely biblical, let it encourage us to love Jesus more.