Man Up & Go

Recently I wrote a story for 417 Magazine (you can read it in the link) about a movie called "Man Up & Go." I was so moved by the story I came home to tell Britt about it. He watched the trailer  (again, see link) and was in tears. We ended up buying "red carpet" tickets to the premier which was held at Landers theater. 

To get ready for the evening, I decided to get my make-up done at the mall. I took Nicole with me and she also got a mini-makeup job.

Earlier that week, I had been at the mall looking for something to wear. We walked through a lingerie section and Allyson went crazy over this little number.  She begged to try it on! (Notice she's hiding behind it.) 

Uh, no worries. I said NO.

Our friends, Doug & Sarah watched the girls for us. They were having their daughter, Darcy's 5th birthday party that evening. Darcy wanted a pirate them and Sarah, like always, went all out. I could not believe how cute everything was!

This sign was greeted us outside.

Even Britt got into the pirate thing.

Here are some pictures from our evening.

Randy and Shannon Bacon and their daughter, Olivia.

The cast of the film. 

The guy in the plaid shirt is Sammy. He was raised on the same trash dump, Korah, I talked about in the article. He talks in the film about how a person came to the dump when he was a teen (through a church, I believe) and hugged him. He said it changed his life. He knew he was filthy and stinky and for this man to touch him meant everything. Anyway, he's now grown up and has become part of a "band of brothers," a group of other men who grew up in Korah and are working to change it. It is an unbelievable story!

The guy in the blue shirt, in the back, is a former police officer here in Springfield. He recently quit to attend medical school and return to Africa to do medical missions.

Sammy had a chance to speak to the crowd. I was so moved it didn't occur to me until halfway through to record it!

Can't really tell... but this is the "red carpet."

There was a pre-and-post party at Randy Bacon's studio. I was excited to see my friend, Joy Robertson, from KOLR 10 where I had a short stint as a part-time reporter. Joy was an anchor there for many years and we got to reconnect. I also reconnected with a former medical missionary I knew years ago when I worked for Assemblies of God Headquarters. It was a fun evening.