Why I Think "Moms Night Out" Is Eternally Important

Ok, so by the title I bet you can guess I LOVED this movie. It really is laugh-out-loud funny, totally relatable and seriously, eternally important.

Part 1: Movie Review

I was totally in sync with the story for the get-go. It was relatable. The characters were basically the ladies I hang with. (They did give a shout out to Ohio housewives!) The plot was far out there, but I could totally see it happening on one of our own moms’ night out. (We did find a heroine kit in a bathroom at a weekend women’s conference once.) The emotions were flying off the screen and so honest.

Ok, so there was a preacher’s wife, blogger and a stay-a-home mom. Me, me and me.

But it didn’t just connect with me. It connected with all the ladies I saw it with on one level or another. I think they hit a home-run with their depiction of Christian woman in America. These chicks were dealing with image stress, little kid stress, teenager stress, keeping house stress, husband doesn’t get me stress, husband can’t handle the kids stress and self-doubt stress. All the stress, particularly in the main characters life, was stealing her joy, killing her spirit and destroying her ability to thrive.

There’s a scene where the main character, Ally, is having a heart to heart with Bones, played by Trace Adkins. She says:

I had a plan.
I am a failure.
I am not enough.

Bones looks at her and says, “For who?”

Part 2: Spiritual Application

Ever felt that way? Like you got the plans all wrong, you messed everything up and you just can’t possibly be the right woman for the job. I have. And I know a lot of other women who have too. But you know what I’ve never done? I’ve never asked, for who?

In my life my husband doesn’t think that, my kids don’t, my church doesn’t, my mom doesn’t. So who does? Where do those thoughts come from? Truthfully, they come from me because I bought the lies of the enemy who is stealing, killing and destroying. Hmmm… doesn’t that sound familiar?

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.” John 10:10

So who is measuring you? Who is critiquing you? Who is setting the standard you seem to keep falling short of. I’ll take a guess. It is probably you.

Instead of buying the lies, try this. Ask God to open your eyes so you can see yourself the way he sees you. He knows the truth about you.

When you say, I had a plan. God says:

Your life is not your own. You are not able to plan your own course.

When you say, I am a failure. God says:

I hold success in store for the upright, I am a shield to those whose walk is blameless.

When You say, I am not enough. God says:

I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.

“Mom’s Night Out” is a funny movie, but it packs an eternal punch. Mom, don’t give up. Even if you are in the trenches raising kids, challenging kids at that, don’t give up. If you don’t feel like you are living your purpose or leaving your mark, you are. And if you feel insignificant because you are “just a mom,” you chase that lie right out the door with a wooden spoon and claim your truth. Mom, you are important!