Loving The Bad Man

 I want to give a special thanks to Prison Fellowship for hosting this movie screening in Lansdowne, Va, and for asking me to be a part of it. Wed, I sat on a discussion panel after the screening alongside Kevin McCullough, Stephen Baldwin, Mark Early, Prison Fellowship vice chairman and Tom Connigliaro, who is the film's executive producer. It was truly an honor to be a part of such a project. This movie hits close to home to many in the area of forgiveness. We are all faced with the choice to forgive daily in our walk with God, concerning those who aggravate us, irritate us, and treat us unfairly. But what about when it comes to forgiveness against someone who has violated you and robbed you of your innocence, your confidence, your security and who you are as a person? This movie is challenging to say the least. It is a subject that gets buried in our society because of it's delicate subject matter. But the reality is 1 out of every 3 women are sexually assaulted in AMERICA and this needs to be addressed. This movie shows the choice of a victim to move forward in Christ and forgive her attacker. Many hats off to all of the Loving The Bad Man creators and film crew for being bold enough to produce a film with such a Christian message of hope in this mainstream world we live in.You can read a recent article here.

 Here, I am sitting among the panel for open discussion after the screening of the movie.

 I had the opportunity to share a bit of my story and how it relates to this movie.

 Executive producer, Tom Connigliaro. He did a great job with this movie!

 Actor, Stephen Baldwin. He played a prison inmate who challenges the attacker in the movie to put his own life on the line for the very person whom he attacked.

 I was so excited to see my beautiful friend, Melodie, on this trip. She lives in Va and was so nice to pick me up and have me in her home for the night. She was my side kick for the evening. She and I met in Ethiopia two and a half years ago while adopting our sons. Her son and my son were best friends in the orphanage they were in. We have kept in touch and she is now a wonderful friend. Our little guys will always have that connection.

Ok, lastly, for all of you IL followers, I had to take a pic of Chicago as I flew out of there on my lay over back to Nashville. You guys just look flat out cold and buried in snow!! Brrrrrr 

Tomorrow.....Don't forget, is VDay! Valentines and Vote Day!!
I will have all of the kiddos art posted on this blog. You may vote once for one piece of artwork. If you are a parent of say three kids who have entered, then you are allowed to vote once for each of your children. Other than that I must have only one vote per blogger. You will leave a comment in the comment box and list your vote with the kid's name and #. I encourage kids to vote as well. If your child would like to vote, then add their vote in a separate comment box as well. Always one vote per comment box. I will tally the votes and post the winner probably on the 15th or 16th. I am trusting everyone will be honest in their voting :-) I am super excited for all the kiddos who have entered!! Best of luck to you tomorrow :)