The Notebook

 I saw the notebook for the first time last night. WOW. what a beautiful and powerful movie. yes it still had elements of hollywood in it because after all, it is a movie made in hollywood so they have to have some unrealistic elements. But over all, I thought it was excellent film. I LOVED the relationship that Allie and Noah had. Their love and devotion to the other was beautiful and just made me smile the whole time. The way events unfolded was perfect and the movie had me doing everything from laughing to cry. I was then up till 2am processing everything that I had just seen.

Allie and Noah loved one another no matter what and they loved each other even during the time that Allie was engaged and what broke their relationship up in the first place was miscommunication and assumptions. oh and her stupid mother hiding the letters that Noah wrote to Allie for a year. But over all communication played a huge role in this relationship and plays a huge role in our relationships. We have to be able to communicate and express our thoughts and feelings for things to work. I think that because I study communication, I see things that others don't see. I have learned over my three years in college how important and vital communication is in life. If you don't communicate, you can ruin relationships, loose friends or assume things that aren't meant to be assumed. I have had this happen to me time and time again. Communication isn't always easy especially with those that we love and care about but its vital. In addition, Allie and Noah had a lot of conflict in their relationship and at first I was annoyed that they were fighting so much but you need conflict in order for relationships to grow. Marriage is not all about the honeymoon, sex and raising kids. In my opinion, marriage is about loving the other person no matter the situation and trial. Marriage is also about making things work when there is no hope. If God is at the center of a marriage, it tends to work out better than for those who aren't Christians but this is just what I have observed since I haven't ever had a boyfriend and I am obviously not married. So all in all, marriage and relationships are worth it and they are beautiful things that God has created for us to enjoy. In addition, it probably goes without saying that communication is important in all of our relationships, friendships and family relationships because if you don't have some sort of communication then you will have a very broken relationship. And for some, it is easier to not communicate and end things then work on things and work on this hard but important area of our lives. Communication affects all parts of our lives be it relationships or our day to day interactions with others.

There was something that moved me so deeply as I watched this film. I was struck by how much I feel like Noah and Allie's relationship resembles that of Christians and God. Allie and Noah loved each other with a love that was inseparable. Even after seven years and Allie almost being married, she came back because deep down she still loved him. Noah stayed with Allie in her nursing home when she was loosing her memory and literally could not remember who he was and then she would remember for a second and then she would forget. There were a lot of heartbreaking scenes to watch but they were also beautiful to see how much they truly loved one another. In much the same way, no matter how many times we walk away from God and turn our backs on him, He is still and will always love him. And his love for us is nothing compared to human love. He loved us SO much that he was willing to die on a cross for our sins. I am always in awe of the fact that God died for ME and so many others. I am a broken, sinful person and yet God died for me and for my sins. His love for me is something that I cannot comprehend and he still takes me back even with all the times that I have messed up and walked away. And each time, I come back he is waiting for me with open arms and welcomes me back with a smile and wraps me in his loving arms.

Love is something that is so beautiful and yet so complicated. Human love is beautiful and marriage is great. But there is a love that surpasses all others and that is God's love. God's love will never change or fail like that of human love. The love that Allie and Noah had was beautiful and enduring love but only God has everlasting, unchanging love for his children. His love cannot ever compare to human love.

"For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)