Sometimes my girls have very different ideas of what constitutes a scary movie. This means that one child can be quite unhappy when it is her sister’s turn to choose the show. Last hair day, Dairy Queen wanted to watch Beauty and the Beast while I put her twists in. Berry Girl was scared and upset over this choice of movie. I suggested, unsuccessfully, that if this movie bothered her, she could go play or draw while DQ watched her movie. Since that didn’t work, I finally suggested that she snuggle next to me with a blanket while I did DQ’s hair. As the movie progressed and we hit some of the admittedly scary parts, I started telling her that “it is going to turn out good”. We all ended up having a very enjoyable time together. DQ had a full head of twists, and BG was proud of herself for getting through the movie. Since then, BG has started passing this comforting motto onto her sister when DQ is scared during a show.

   Then on Easter Monday, I found a copy of the 1979 BBC animated version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I was really excited because I remember watching this as a very young child, it having been lovingly taped to VHS by my Grandpa. I thought this would be a fun, non-scary way to share with the girls one of my favorite stories. Since it had been so long since I had seen it, I previewed it myself first and thought it would be a great movie for the kids during this Easter season, with it’s message of forgiveness, resurrection, and new life. Since I was excited about it and told BG I would watch it with her, BG was excited too, and reassured DQ over her concerns about the White Witch with “it’s going to turn out good.” But as we got to the scene about the killing of Aslan, BG was not so sure anymore and said, “this is not going to turn out good.” I promised her repeatedly that it would and it doing so, realized Easter is the ultimate reason for saying “it’s going to turn out good” and not just about kids cartoons, either. BG face lit up with joy when Aslan leaped to life again. Our Lord is Risen, and that is truly cause for hope indeed.