Love's Abiding Joy Premieres Saturday

In 2003, the made-for-television movie Love Comes Softly premiered on the Hallmark Channel. Based on best-selling author Janette Oke's first book, the film was directed by Michael Landon Jr. and undeniably has a "Little House on the Prairie-esque" feel (I guess it can be said in the area of television production: like father, like son). Due to the movie's success, it was soon followed by small screen versions of Oke's next two books in the series: Love's Enduring Promise (2004) and Love's Long Journey (2005).

This Saturday, Love's Abiding Joy, the fourth movie in the Love Comes Softly series and the first to be released on the silver screen, makes its television premiere on the Hallmark Channel. In October, FoxFaith Movies distributed it to a limited number of theaters across the U.S. and it's scheduled to be released on DVD in early January. While I didn't make it to the theater to see this film, having a husband who's an editor has it's benefits. Ted received an advance copy of the DVD release, which he promptly brought home for me to watch.

When I turned on the DVD, my expectations were low. Although Love Comes Softly moved both me and Ted to tears with it's tender tale of grief, faith, and love, Love's Enduring Promise was, to put it bluntly, barely tolerable. The script was not well crafted and the casting of January Jones as Missie left a lot to be desired. When Love's Long Journey aired in 2005, I was relieved to see Erin Cottrell (who also played Caroline Ingalls in the 2005 ABC mini-series Little House in the Prairie) replace Jones in the role. Not only was the casting better in Love's Long Journey, but the script was an improvement.

Unfortunately, when I started Love's Abiding Joy on Monday night, I only made it through 30 minutes. But not for the reasons you may assume. In the past, I've turned off movies for inappropriate content and even boredom. But before this film, I'd never turned off a film because it affected me so deeply I was unable to keep watching. That's exactly what happened with this movie.

Here's where I should warn you that this review does contain some plot spoilers.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, Love's Abiding Joy is the continued story of Willie and Missie LaHaye as the strive to keep their cattle ranch financially secure and to raise their family in the frontier of the Wild West. About thirty minutes into the film they suffer an unimaginable blow -- the death of their infant daughter, Kathy. One morning she suddenly stops breathing. While I haven't experienced the loss of a child, the memory of seeing my youngest daughter Ava stop breathing for several seconds is still fresh in my memory. Because of this, I simply couldn't handle Kathy's death in this film. Hence, my need to turn it off.

This afternoon I finished the film, although not without many tears. It's a beautiful story of a family who walks through grief -- struggling and questioning in the process -- yet manages to survive it with family and faith intact.

So, for those of you looking for a film worth watching, tune into or TiVo Love's Abiding Joy this Saturday night. Just be sure to have plenty of Kleenex on hand. If you're like me, you'll need it.