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What To Do When Someone Needs a Heart Change?
Lessons Learned from Ralph and Vanellope in ‘Wreck It Ralph’

By Bethany and Kailyn

Disney Devotional From Bethany:

The Disney movie “Wreck It Ralph” is about retro arcade games where the characters are capable of switching between video game worlds, but it is frowned upon. In Ralph’s game, he is known to wreck buildings, while Fix It Felix is always there to fix Ralph’s mess. Later in the movie Ralph hops over to a racing game called “Sugar Rush” where he meets an energetic young girl named Vanellope. She ends up changing Ralph’s heart. You may read this and ask, “How can this be related to Christianity?” Well, imagine we are Ralph. We mess up. We “wreck” things. But our “Fix-It Felix” is Jesus. He is always there to repair what we break and mess up. Felix never stopped fixing Ralph’s destruction because Felix was programmed to be there alongside Ralph. Through the times of hardships and just a genuine friendship, Felix was there. That’s how Jesus is with us! Always alongside us through our hurt, destruction, He is there to fix it!

When Ralph meets this little girl with a BIG personality, he despises her because when he hopped games, Vanellope stole Ralph’s medal. Ralph acts fond of Vanellope, but not genuinely. He was just looking for a way to get his medal back. But through the process of helping Vanellope, a true friendship came from it. Vanellope changed Ralph’s heart, slowly but surely, throughout the movie. That shows how we as Christians can have an impact on those around us. Vanellope changes Ralph’s heart from “wreck it” to “how can I help it?”

Vanellope making a drastic change in Ralph’s heart reminds me that we as Christians can do the same. Vanellope helped Ralph use his imperfections to be used for good and helpful purposes and not harmful to others. We can use what God gave us to help transform other’s hearts to be more like Jesus. We can be there to point them to our ultimate Fix-It-Felix, or we can be like Vanellope and help them look more like “The Good Guy” (Jesus). Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, a brother is born for a time of adversity.” Be the friend Vanellope was. Be the friend who is there through it all. Point your friends to our Fix-It-Felix. Just remember, we can’t change their hearts. We can only point them towards Jesus.

How-to Make a Princess Vanellope Candy Box Car with Kailyn:

When I first watched this movie when it came out, I absolutely loved all the colorful cars covered in candy. I always wanted one just like it. I learned how to make a candy box car and I loved taking it outside and racing with my friends. If you have ever seen those pinewood derby races where all the cars are lined up and, on the count of three, the racer gives their car a push and the races are on! Here are the steps to making a fabulous Princess Vanellope candy box car.

1. Grab an empty movie theater sized candy box or a pinewood block. About 6×4’
2. Get four wheels from your local craft store. Four lego wheels will work as well. (Make sure to get an axle for the lego wheels – those pieces that connect the wheel to the car).
3. Paint your box/ plank whatever fun color you want to. Add cool squiggles, flames or designs to personalize the car to make it your own. Stickers look cool too.
4. If you want your car to last a long time, coat the car in mod podge a few times.
5. Put your wheels and axle onto the car, but make sure the wheels can still move once it is glued on. I would recommend hot glue or gorilla glue.
6. You can paint over the axle once the glue is dry to cover it up a little.
7. (OPTIONAL) You can make a race track out of a sheet of plywood slanted at an angle to start off the race with some momentum. You can chalk/ spray paint/ tape off lanes for multiple cars to race at the same time.

Have fun racing your Princess Vanellope Candy box car! Make sure to make it your own and add your own personality to it. When you are done, comment your experience and tag a pic to the Marked Ministry instagram, @marked_ministry.