We try to have a family movie night in our home but if I’m honest, we’d be better off NOT watching most of them. So if I feel that way, why do we bother to watch them at all? Well, because once in a while we come across a movie that is really special, a movie that like a good book, leaves us changed and better for having spent the time watching. Gifted Hands, the Ben Carson Story was just such a movie. Though I’d never heard of it, the title kept popping out at me on several visits to the Redbox, so one night, I rented it. After all, if it wasn’t any good, we’d simply turn it off and we were only out a dollar plus tax. It wouldn’t be the first time we’d turned off a movie. Well, my kids and husband sighed when I returned home with my find, disappointed that it wasn’t Wolverine or the new Transformers flick. But the complaints quickly ended as we popped the movie into the DVD player and the story unfolded.
Gifted Hands is a movie that I think every mother should watch and though it has nothing to do with homeschooling, I do believe that if you are a homeschool parent, you’ll be especially encouraged and inspired. I was, my husband was and most of all, so were my children.
Based on his autobiographical book, Gifted Hands tells the story of a child growing up in poverty to a single mother, who was laughed at everyday at school because as he says, “I was the dumbest kid in the class.” Through his mother’s unfailing love and encouragement, hard work, and a firm faith in God, this young man was able to overcome what would have trapped many and not only rose to the top of his class, but went on to become the youngest Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, completing miraculous surgeries.
Having boys that have really struggled, this movie taught them to dream…and dream big. They can be anything God wants them to be and they saw this demonstrated through the movie.
Gifted Hands, the Ben Carson Story is incredibly moving and inspirational. In fact, we didn’t want this movie to end but the truth is the discussion we had as a result of this movie was equally as moving. So if it’s time for a movie night in your house, why not choose Gifted Hands? I think it will be two hours well spent.
© 2009 Tonya Prater/Live the Adventure