Saturday, March 22, 2008

Emily In Real Life

OK, so I recently saw this movie called Dan in Real Life. It is the story of a single dad who is trying to raise three girls (two of which happen to be teenagers) and climb the corporate ladder as a writer all the while dealing with the death of his wife. Life turns into a tangled mess as he goes home for a family reunion only to fall in love with his brother's girlfriend! Needless to say, things aren't too pretty in Dan's world. But the overall moral of the story was to live what you preach, or in Dan's case what you write! You see, Dan was a newspaper columnist and he had the privilege of giving advice to many readers. He discovered, however, that he wasn't following his own advice regarding attributes such as honesty, integrity, and family priorities. He saw his downfalls, recovered from them, admitted his weaknesses, and moved on. Dan experienced a "beauty from pain" situation (check out my posts under the category "beauty from pain") and made the best of it.

As I walked away from the movie, I thought about my own life. I too have a story, Emily in Real Life. I am a daughter striving to teach my parents how to raise a teenager (just kidding!); I am a student working towards attaining a law degree; I am an athlete running towards good health; and I am a writer asking God to use her pen. Much like Dan, I reflect on my life and compare it to the advice I publish on my blog. Am I living what I write? Some days yes, others not. And on those days I am not living up to my own advice, I face the reality check of logging on to my own blog and re-reading what I have written. I am trying to keep myself accountable. This is me in real life. I am just a human like you walking down this dusty trail called life.

Let's keep pressing on and strive to be real!

You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? Romans 2:21

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a really good point, Emily - about checking your own life against what you post on your blog. It is so easy to want to instruct others, and yet not so easy to instruct ourselves, isn't it? :) Good reminder!

Anonymous said...

You are an incredible young women! I enjoy reading you blog and am in awe and admiration for your insight, spirituality, strong sense of self with a zest for life and God! The world needs good Godly lawyers! It is nice to have team Cummins in our church family!

You write so eloquently, would you consider writing a book for tweens on living a christian/Godly life in the midst of all the peer pressure, mean girls, body image changes etc.? You are very insightful; thank you for sharing your heart.

scampers2 (Connie)

emilybcummins said...

I am actually in the process of finishing a 52-week small group curriculum for tween girls (5th and 6th grade) covering these issues! Thank you for your encouragement--the book is on its way!

~Emily

Anonymous said...

will your curriculum for tweens be offered again?