Lessons from "How to Train Your Dragon"

While on vacation back in 2010 a rainy day made us decide to go see the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”. We all really enjoyed it. Josh was literally on the edge of his seat. I always have to analyze movies and look for a lesson.

I was initially drawn into the movie because of Hiccup’s empathy for the dragon. He says later in the movie that he didn’t kill the dragon because he could see that it was just as scared as he was. The dragon, Toothless, returns the favor. This goes against all the Vikings believed to be true about dragons - “Dragons always go for the kill.” This causes Hiccup to continue a friendship with Toothless. The more Hiccup gets to know Toothless, the more he understands all the other dragons as well. Which is a reminder that we shouldn’t give up on or turn away from those we don’t understand.

The other part of the movie that really spoke to me was the relationship between Hiccup and his father. Hiccup’s father expected Hiccup to be a duplicate of himself. He wanted his son to be a fierce, dragon killer Viking. Hiccup wanted desperately to please his father, but it wasn’t in him to kill the dragons. Hiccup's father never really took the time to listen to his son or understand the heart of his son.

As a parent, I feel it is so important to always know the heart of your children. Although we should expect honor and obedience from our children, we should not force our own goals, expectations and desires on them. Just because we enjoy a sport, activity or “always wanted to do (fill in the blank)”, we cannot expect our children to also want those same things. We need to seek out what our children’s individual gifts and talents are. Then we need to offer them praise and encouragement in the pursuit of them. We should also help them see how they can use their gifts/talents for the Lord. Dennis reminded me that this was also the message presented in “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”.

So, I am challenged again to continue building a strong relationship with my children; to offer specific praise and encouragement; and to let them know that I am proud of the people they are becoming. I also hope along the way I can help them develop empathy for others and teach them to always be willing to help others regardless of their differences.

This was a great start to our vacation that year and more fun was to come.

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