I was raised in a home where my dad watched every football game, basketball game, and baseball game known to man. I used to do football picks with my dad and brother and I would win! I understand the games basically, I’ve played them a little…I managed to letter in basketball…only because I attended a small Christian high school and I was one of the tallest girls on the team. Anyway, since marrying my husband, I have found a new life. Instead of watching sports on the weekends, we enjoy old movies. We don’t usually care about modern made movies, but we heard so much about "Facing the Giants" last year, I decided I’d go ahead and buy that someday…when I could find it on sale.

Finally purchasing it on sale, we watched it last night. Quite frankly, I was disappointed at first. It was about a losing football team at a Christian high school that was more interested in winning at all costs. I grew up with this type of mentality. I am usually gripped by worldly sports movies more…I guess because I expect them to be worldly. I did not want to watch a Christian high school being worldly. But I was soon to discover that that was the point! Coach finally got it…God’s game plan that works for football as well as in life. This, I now understand, was what everyone was talking about when the movie first came out.

I wish I had a notepad and pencil while watching the movie, because of the incredible comments my kids made. When coach faced a mountain of discouragement, he turned to the Bible. That startled all of us (of course, we are used to the worldly movies) and 14yod commented, "Good, he didn’t turn to alcohol." Hmmmmm, in how many other movies does the despairing victim turn to alcohol?

Then when coach gave the team the new game plan, we were all excited and 12yos commented something profound, which rang something along the lines of…that is the only way anyone can deal with any problem. It works for all people, for all times, for all purposes.

We shared the same favorite characters…"Joking Duo" and the guy dd dubbed…"Lollipop Man". ;)

Then when we heard the title of the movie in the dialouge at the end of the movie, the kids and I all got excited…that’s how we learned to write with Institute for Excellence in Writing. Truly, this story was well written…in my opinion, something that is seriously lacking in Hollywood today. That is one reason why we watch old-fashioned movies as the norm. I seem to recall this being discussed in Christian circles when the movie first came out.

Then we watched all the special features. This is something I look for when I buy DVDs. I love all that additional information and so do the kids. DH might go along for the ride on this, but he usually finds them fun and interesting too. I had forgotten that this movie was the dream of a church in Georgia to use as a ministry outreach. Coach’s new game plan from God, was the same philosophy of this church in producing this movie…facing the giants of modern liberal media. And like the shepherd boy David who faced his giant, God proved Himself powerful!

This is a great movie to watch at any time. But perhaps in the time of year most known for goal setting, watching this story reminds us of God’s game plan for our lives. No goal is attainable without God’s game plan. And when we face our own giants, we need to remember we serve a big God.