Unfortunate Events Happen

In this children's book movie adaptation, the Baudelaire children become orphans and spend the next portion of their lives dealing with a series of unfortunate events, as the title suggests. They are placed with various foster families by what might be considered by us to be a sort of DHS program. The children come from an extremely wealthy family, and after first being placed with their unfit closest relative, the evil Count Olaf (played by Jim Carrey), they jump from one foster parent to another while being pursued by Olaf who is attempting to obtain their fortune.

The underlying mood of this movie is that terrible things happen to everyone, suggesting that sometimes bad people get away with doing bad things, and that good people sometimes have bad things happen to them. Many people find it hard to believe in a God that allows bad things to happen to people. Consider the idea that perhaps circumstances in our lives may or may not necessarily come from God, but how we act in them may be more important. Read the story of Job in the Bible and consider the terrible things that happened to him. He questioned God but came out with an understanding of God's power that he didn't have before.

They are first taken to their "closest relative", who turns out to only be the relative that lives the shortest distance away, and happens to be Count Olaf, who only wants the children for their money. How far removed is this from your local children's services department?

Throughout the story, the children jump from house to house, coming into contact with relatives and family friends, but relying on each other for strength, with the memory of their parents to encourage them. Some of these friends and family they learn to trust, while others they know to be untrustworthy. It takes personal experience to learn who we can trust and who we can't. Sometimes it is our family, our friends, our church, or our neighbors in either of these positions. Many people are distrustful of church because of a bad experience. For those, consider that all churches are probably not the same, and that all people are different. If we have been wronged by one group of people, there may be others out there that have been through some of the same things we have been through, including people who are different from us. From personal experiences, a church community can sometimes be closer than family or friends. Don't be afraid to try something new, or to meet new people. You may have had some unfortunate experiences, but there might be someone you meet who has been through similar events.