Reason #421
I watched Oz The Great & Powerful this afternoon. I'm a sucker for Wicked, and this is kind of a small link between that and The Wizard of Oz. Of couse, I still think Wicked is the best, but this was good, too. Today was kind of an emotional day for me. I hate when I have these days, too. Days where things just aren't going my way, or as I had planned, so I was more than glad to sit in a dark movie theatre for a few hours.
As has been stated a million times over, I can cry at the drop of the hat. I always try my best to keep the tears in, as they are often unnecessary, and I found myself a third of the way in to this movie fighting back tears. Now, I'm not going to give too much of the movie away, so don't worry. But there was this particular scene that really tugged at my heart and the Lord, in all of His goodness, reminded me again of how He sees me.
Oz shows up to the land of Oz. They've been waiting for him to come and rescue them from the evil witch who is striking terror into the hearts of the people. After he shows up, she goes on this destructive rampage and begins to completely destroy lives. Oz wanders into China Town, and as he is walking through the town inspecting the brokeness and disaster that has completey ruined the whole place, he hears someone crying. He wanders into this house and hidden behind a table is a little china doll. Porcelain, fagile, hurting and broken. She peers over the table at him with her big blue eyes and you can see the fear inside of her. He tells her he is there to help her, to save her, that he is the one she has been waiting for, and upon assuring her that he was not going to hurt her, he asks her to come out from the table. The china doll tells him she can't, so he goes over to move the table for her. Beneath the table lie her broken legs. She looks up at him and says, "I can't ever put them back together again." (I may be misquoting, but it was something like that.) And so Oz reaches into his bag and pulls out glue, something she has never seen before. He gently picks up one leg, brushes glue on the end and pushes it on to the remainder of her leg. He does the same with the second leg and then he helps her up. She stands up, a little wobbly, and he tells the doll to talk towards him. She stumbles around, finally finds her footing, and she heads out with Oz for a great adventure full of ups, downs, and many unexpected surprises.
She was saved. This little sweet china doll was the only one who made it out alive. She lost everything, and as she sat there in her brokenness, I can only imagine how she felt. And as I watched this doll interact with Oz, something inside of me stirred. I felt like her. Aside from the fact that we both have blonde hair, pastey white skin, and oversized blue eyes, I felt like I understood her. And I saw myself in her. Sitting in a place of complete hopelessness and despondency waiting to be rescued. Waiting for someone to come along and piece me back together again. Waiting for someone who was brave enough to walk through the destruction and find me. To come to my aid and give me hope. It's a scary place to be. And, to be honest, I find myself there more often than I'd like. But everytime, He comes looking for me. Everytime, He shows up to rescue me. To pull me out of my state of hopelessness. To put me back together again and give me another chance. And no matter how broken I am, no matter how broken I feel, He always fixes it. Cracks may show, and I may not always be able to hide them, but I'm so grateful to be whole again. To be useful, to be complete, and to know that He deems be valuable enough to find me and fix me.
And so, on these days when I do, in fact, feel as fragile as that little china doll, I'm grateful to serve a God who is so gentle with me. One who steadies my wobbly feet, who holds on to me until I can find my footing, and who never leaves me after He has healed me but rather scoops me up with Him to head out on an adventure.
#421 - Because He will seek us out, put us back together again, and steady our feet on the right path.
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing." -Psalm 143:10
As has been stated a million times over, I can cry at the drop of the hat. I always try my best to keep the tears in, as they are often unnecessary, and I found myself a third of the way in to this movie fighting back tears. Now, I'm not going to give too much of the movie away, so don't worry. But there was this particular scene that really tugged at my heart and the Lord, in all of His goodness, reminded me again of how He sees me.
Oz shows up to the land of Oz. They've been waiting for him to come and rescue them from the evil witch who is striking terror into the hearts of the people. After he shows up, she goes on this destructive rampage and begins to completely destroy lives. Oz wanders into China Town, and as he is walking through the town inspecting the brokeness and disaster that has completey ruined the whole place, he hears someone crying. He wanders into this house and hidden behind a table is a little china doll. Porcelain, fagile, hurting and broken. She peers over the table at him with her big blue eyes and you can see the fear inside of her. He tells her he is there to help her, to save her, that he is the one she has been waiting for, and upon assuring her that he was not going to hurt her, he asks her to come out from the table. The china doll tells him she can't, so he goes over to move the table for her. Beneath the table lie her broken legs. She looks up at him and says, "I can't ever put them back together again." (I may be misquoting, but it was something like that.) And so Oz reaches into his bag and pulls out glue, something she has never seen before. He gently picks up one leg, brushes glue on the end and pushes it on to the remainder of her leg. He does the same with the second leg and then he helps her up. She stands up, a little wobbly, and he tells the doll to talk towards him. She stumbles around, finally finds her footing, and she heads out with Oz for a great adventure full of ups, downs, and many unexpected surprises.
She was saved. This little sweet china doll was the only one who made it out alive. She lost everything, and as she sat there in her brokenness, I can only imagine how she felt. And as I watched this doll interact with Oz, something inside of me stirred. I felt like her. Aside from the fact that we both have blonde hair, pastey white skin, and oversized blue eyes, I felt like I understood her. And I saw myself in her. Sitting in a place of complete hopelessness and despondency waiting to be rescued. Waiting for someone to come along and piece me back together again. Waiting for someone who was brave enough to walk through the destruction and find me. To come to my aid and give me hope. It's a scary place to be. And, to be honest, I find myself there more often than I'd like. But everytime, He comes looking for me. Everytime, He shows up to rescue me. To pull me out of my state of hopelessness. To put me back together again and give me another chance. And no matter how broken I am, no matter how broken I feel, He always fixes it. Cracks may show, and I may not always be able to hide them, but I'm so grateful to be whole again. To be useful, to be complete, and to know that He deems be valuable enough to find me and fix me.
And so, on these days when I do, in fact, feel as fragile as that little china doll, I'm grateful to serve a God who is so gentle with me. One who steadies my wobbly feet, who holds on to me until I can find my footing, and who never leaves me after He has healed me but rather scoops me up with Him to head out on an adventure.
#421 - Because He will seek us out, put us back together again, and steady our feet on the right path.
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing." -Psalm 143:10