5 Ways to Use ‘Like Arrows’ to Impact Families
Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank, once said to her, “Parents can only give good advice or put [their children] on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”
Indeed, after all the years of a parent’s hard work of spending money, sacrificing time, worrying, hoping, and praying, there comes a point when our children go off on their own. And that’s when we have to ask ourselves, “Did we point them in the right direction?”
The Psalmist said, “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth” (Psalm 127:4). Eventually, each child will move from your care and launch into the world. And wherever each one is pointed is where the child will land.
It was that Scripture that inspired FamilyLife to create its first movie, Like Arrows, coming to theaters nationwide May 1 and 3. FamilyLife’s Dennis and Barbara Rainey and Bob Lepine serve as executive producers, along with Stephen and Alex Kendrick (War Room and Courageous); and the film is directed by Kevin Peeples. Together, they helped bring the story of Charlie and Alice and their family to life.
The plot follows the young couple through the ups and downs of parenting, and ends with their wedding anniversary of 50 years to show the challenges they face both from a worldly and a Christian perspective, and also the benefits of raising a family according to the principles of God’s Word. Go to LikeArrowsMovie.com to see the trailer and learn more about the movie.
Tools like the movie Like Arrows can guide parents on how to find the answers to the problems they encounter with their children. Parents, even Christian parents, aren’t born knowing how to parent in a godly way. Someone has to teach them, and Like Arrows can be that starting point.
This movie will be an encouragement and inspiration for your family, but more than that, it can be used by you to reach families around you. We need your help to spread the message of godly parenting. Here are five ways you can use Like Arrows to reach the people within your sphere of influence.
1. Take someone with you. If you’re like me, you already have several people in mind who could use this kind of parenting information. Why not invite one or two of those people to go see the movie with you May 1 and 3? Pay for their tickets. Better yet, make a night of it and pay for their dinner, too. Or offer to babysit while they go see the movie with their spouse. The message of the movie will only help if the people who need to see it get to see it.
2. Take your small group. If there is one thing I’ve learned in life it’s that you never know what the people around you are going through. The couples in your small group may look like they have it all together, but behind closed doors, they may be a mess.
If the whole small group goes, no one feels like they’ve been singled out, and everyone has a great time. As much as you can, take away any barriers to going. You might all chip in to hire a babysitter for the night. Go out for ice cream after the showing. It might spark some conversations that could lead to permanent change in someone’s home.
3. Announce the movie to the whole church to launch a Bible study on parenting. Like Arrows is actually just the beginning. It serves as the perfect kickoff to hosting parenting-focused small groups in your church and aligns with a new 8-week study being released: FamilyLife’s Art of Parenting®.
4. Share the news. Like Arrows isn’t just relevant to church people. Invite your co-workers, your fishing buddies, craft and scrapbook friends, your kids’ teachers, Facebook friends—anyone who can use some good parenting advice. For the skeptic, it offers the good news of the gospel. For the faithful follower of Christ, it offers practical tips. And for everyone, it offers hope.
5. Pray. Without the power of the Holy Spirit to open the eyes and ears of the audience, the message will never penetrate their hearts. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). That’s why we need every believer to join us in prayer. Maybe even get a group of prayer warriors together the nights of May 1 and 3 to fervently ask God to work in the hearts of audiences around the country.
The generations are growing darker because parents don’t know where to go for their own problems, so they certainly don’t know how to help their children with theirs. Be a part of the message of hope and get involved with Like Arrows in one or more of these ways. In His Word, God has already given us the principles on how to prepare our children to be the arrows we send out in the world. Now we need your help to share it. Go to LikeArrowsMovie.com for more ticket information and to find a showing at a theater near you.
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