My Favorite Part of "Moms Night Out" (the movie)

I finally got the chance to see Moms Night Out!  After it being filmed in my city, even having a few friends cast as extras, it took me forever to get out to see it!  I want to give you my review, but also tell you my favorite part!


This movie had no bad language or nudity.  It was encouraging to moms everywhere that what we do is SO important.  (And it is!!) 

There have been questions about whether the movie presented men/dads as idiots, like most television shows of today....but I would say no, it does not do that.  I think it is maybe a video caricature of the fear that some fathers may have about their own role!  And in the end, the dads did great things! 

The only thing I'd say I didn't like was that they referred to keeping their children as "babysitting".  I'm not a stay-at-home-babysitter or homeschooling babysitter, so I don't think a dad on dad-duty is a babysitter.  He is doing what a father does.  (Oh, and I'll be writing about the dad and his video game habit soon.  It's an epidemic lately.)


Overall, this was a sweet--and funny--movie, and I'd love to go see it again!


Okay--so now for a spoiler alert--because I'm going to tell you my favorite part.  If you haven't seen Moms Night Out yet, you may want to stop reading here so I don't tell you too much.  I don't think this will ruin the movie for you at all...just will tell you about a story within the story. 


In this tale of a Moms Night Out gone way wrong (or as expected?), there were a few scenes where the moms were watching live stream of an eagle's nest.  They were enthralled with this live video, and couldn't pull their eyes away!  They were afraid they'd miss something important that the eagle did with her little baby eagles. Mostly, though, they just watched the mama eagle sit there.

They observed that she was so calm and so content just being there.  She tended, she rested, she watched over. 

That's it?  Yep--that's it.  And she was content doing only that. 


I have been in awe about these scenes from the eagle's nest since seeing the movie--thinking about how I might occasionally find myself looking for more.  Sometimes it is in the form of distractions and sometimes it is in the form of seeking something really good.  But many times that something good takes me away from the greatness that is my purpose. 


If that mama eagle were to leave her nest, she would leave her nest and her eaglet at risk.  The nest that mama worked so hard to build could be torn apart without daily tending to it.  The winds and the elements will destroy it if she isn't right there to repair as needs arise. 

Her baby eaglet is at risk of being harmed by another bird or animal that can climb to the nest.  What could possibly be worse to ANY mother than her little one being harmed?  Mama Eagle doesn't know that there are laws against someone harming one of her babies--and she is there to be sure no harm comes!


If she leaves her nest and her eaglet, who will teach her eaglet how to grow up and be an eagle?  What if another bird comes along and takes up the nest, even caring for the eaglet.  Will that bird be able to teach this baby how to be what it was created to be?  Not at all!  Sure, it might be able to teach it to fly--but will it teach it to go as high as eagles without being able to go that high itself?  No way! 

So then, this eaglet will grow up to be the bird that influenced it.  It was MADE to be an eagle--but it may grow up to be more like a crow or a vulture instead! 


Do you see the resemblance, mamas?? 

Do you see that we have a responsibility to our nests to be there to make repairs as needed so it doesn't crumble around us?  In being a keeper at home, this is to be busy at home so that the messes of home do not overtake us, and also to keep things in order so that chaos does not seep into the rest of our lives.  Sometimes, and I'll even say most times, this means we must BE AT HOME MORE.  

Without fail, if I'm away from my home too much on any day or during any week, what I need to do at home does not get done.  The definition of neglect is "fail to care for properly".  If I'm away from home too much, I know I am neglecting my home.


Do you see also that we have a responsibility to our children to be the ones to raise them and teach them, so that they become who they were created to be?  And never neglecting that role, or leaving it up to someone else to do?  They will, like the baby eaglet, become like the one who influences them.   There are plenty of scriptures to tell us that this is our job, mamas!  Our children are commanded to obey us and to "not forsake your mother's teaching" (Proverbs 1:8).  If we remove ourselves from that role, they will be forced to learn from someone else, and that is not God's plan.


Mamas, do you see that we, too, can be content in doing only these things? 

We can--and I have--grasped for more at times, when I have been discontent in my heart.  I've found that I'm not just grasping for something good at these times, but I'm neglecting something great in the process!  


Quoting one line from Moms Night Out, "Your job is..........important." 

It truly is.  Let's do the opposite of neglecting our nests. 

Let's watch over and tend to our nest and our eaglets.  Let's rest in our role at home. 

And let's be content here.  


Check out my post tomorrow on distractions and how they can really hinder!