8.30 p.m…
It’s A Wonderful Life is one of our favorite black and white movies and we view it at least one a year. Here is the storyline as described in a review by Tim Dirks:
“It is actually a dark, bittersweet post-war tale of a savings-and-loan manager who struggles against a greedy banker and his own self-doubting nature in a small town. Earnest do-gooder George Bailey (James Stewart) recognizes his life as wonderful and truly rich, even in its humdrum and bleak nature, only after suffering many hardships, mishaps and fateful trials (including compromised dreams of youth to leave the town and seek fame and fortune, other sacrifices, dismay, losses and the threat of financial ruin, and suicide). He is given encouragement by a whimsical, endearing, trainee-angel named Clarence.
The story turns Dickensian (similar to A Christmas Carol, although told from Bob Cratchit’s point-of-view rather than from Scrooge’s) when the hysterical, despairing, and melancholy family man is shown what the small town (Bedford Falls, now renamed Pottersville after the town’s evil tycoon) would be like without him. It’s a frightening, nightmarish, noirish view of the world (at Christmas-time) that brings him back from self-destruction. He returns to the idyllic, small-town world that he left, with renewed faith and confidence in life itself. Hence, the film’s title: It’s a Wonderful Life.”
More detail on the plot can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It’s_a_Wonderful_Life#Plot
So, you’re asking, what in the world does this have to do with an update about Irene Dias? Well, as with George Bailey in the movie, you’ve probably noticed that our life has been kind of tough lately. Especially for Irene. However, we have always believed that there are two kinds of people in the world: “those that have problems and those that will.” The real question is where do we turn when we have significant challenges in our life? Paul the Apostle answers that question in Philippians 4:11b-13:
“…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in
