Reason #906
I cleaned the house on Thursday night so I could do nothing today. Saturday is usually my catch-up day, and I really wanted a day off. I wanted to sleep in and have a day to do whatever I felt like doing. You need those once in a while. Truthfully, I think you needs those every week, but I'll take them when I can get them.
I woke up around 11:00. I crawled out of bed and fixed myself a waffle. As I waited for the toaster to warm my breakfast, I flipped through the channels and found a chick-flick from my teen years. I caught the last half of the movie only to find that another chick-flick was coming on next. There's nothing I love more than a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, those don't seem to be the popular thing these days, and so I was more than happy to re-live an old one. The truth is, I am a hopeless romantic. I am a sucker for love, and I can't get enough of the sappy stuff.
Maid in Manhattan, which is 12 years old, began playing and even though I remembered the theme of the movie, I found myself just as interested to watch it as I did when I was 15. I found myself being just as giggly and smiley, too. And the more I watched it, the more I saw myself in the movie. I know you're probably thinking, "How? You don't live in New York and you're not a hotel maid." Well, let me explain.
The movie opens with a woman, Jennifer Lopez mind you, who is headed to her job as a hotel maid. She works at a high end hotel, and a man running for Senate just happens to be staying at this hotel. Long story short, he stumbles across her in the room of another guest, and she is trying on the woman's Prada suit. He thinks she is staying at the hotel, and she lets him believe that she is the wealthy woman he thinks she is. He spends the afternoon with her and her son, and he starts to fall for her. He decides he wants to invite her to lunch the next day, so he sends a note to her room. The woman actually staying in her room gets the note and shows up for lunch. He can't understand how this happened, and so he tells his manager to hunt down the woman he spent the day with yesterday. He really wants to take her to this banquet, and so that is his one request. Well, they start putting the pieces together and the staff realizes it is the maid. They get her all fancied up to attend this banquet as his date so she can tell him the truth. She shows up to the banquet looking like a movie star (which she really is, so no surprise there) and his jaw drops. Of course, no one communicates in these movies like normal people would, so she ends up leaving the banquet early as she tells him she can't see him anymore. He chases her outside, and here's where it gets good.
He says, "Are you running away to something you want, or are you running away from something you're afraid to want."
She replies (with tears in her eyes), "I have to tell you something. The first time you saw me I was...."
And he interrupts her and says, "Mesmerizing." Then he pulls her in for a romantic kiss, and I wanted to do cartwheels I was so happy for them.
Well the last 30 minutes gets all sorts of chaotic as he finds out that she is really a maid and the media gets a hold of the story. But as all good romantic comedies do, it ends well. She runs and hides from him in shame, believing he would never want her now that he knows who she really is. He can't stop thinking about her even though he is trying to win a campaign, and he ends up holding a conference at the new hotel where she works only to receive a heartfelt speech from her son who reunites them. He wraps her up and kisses her with every ounce of passion, and they live happily ever after as he proudly claims her as his own for all of New York to know.
That's what we want, isn't it? We want to be the one who captivates. We want to be the one who is sought out and relentlessly pursued. The girl he will hunt down no matter what it takes. The girl he can't get out of his head. We want to be found. We want him to look at us, look past all the stuff that we really are, and tell us (without being scripted) that we're mesmerizing. Not that we are pretty or look real nice or that we'll do. We want to be more than that. We want him to choose us even though we know we really aren't worthy. We want him to find us in our shame and rescue us. To change our identity. Maybe we really aren't proud of who we are, and maybe we believe it really will keep him away. But there is that part of us that really hopes we're wrong. That part of us that hopes he will see our true value, not just what we've been through, and will cherish us. We want to be seen as the prize. The girl he is so proud to have that he tells the whole world. The one who defies the odds, whose life is changed for the better, and who has an incredible, redemptive love story to whom no one can compare.
But we are her. We are that girl. Because that's what Jesus came to do, right? He found you. Sitting there in your shame, being embarrassed about your current state in life and feeling like you'll never measure up. Sure, you tried. You put on a show, but you both know the truth. You know He is aware of your whole story. You know that you're not worthy of His love and affection. And you know, full well, that they are better women out there who deserve it. Not you. You don't believe you should get another chance. You don't really think you should receive such favor. In fact, it kind of makes you feel a little strange. It doesn't make sense that He would pick you, of all people. But you are the one He wants. The one He has been calling to. He keeps asking you and pursuing you, and you wonder why. What is it about you that makes Him feel that way? You're mesmerizing. He wants to know you more. He wants you to know Him more. He wants your time and attention not because you're really good looking or because He sees you as a charity case, but He really loves you. He loved you the first time He saw you. Putting up a façade or not, He loved you. Because it wasn't about who you appeared to be, it was about you. He knew full well who you were, and He still called you. Why? Because He saw what you would become with Him. You would become healed. You would become redeemed. You'd become perfect and spotless and your future would be fruitful. You are so much more than you think you are, and He sees it.
#906 - Because He picked me.
"But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." - 1 Peter 2:9
I woke up around 11:00. I crawled out of bed and fixed myself a waffle. As I waited for the toaster to warm my breakfast, I flipped through the channels and found a chick-flick from my teen years. I caught the last half of the movie only to find that another chick-flick was coming on next. There's nothing I love more than a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, those don't seem to be the popular thing these days, and so I was more than happy to re-live an old one. The truth is, I am a hopeless romantic. I am a sucker for love, and I can't get enough of the sappy stuff.
Maid in Manhattan, which is 12 years old, began playing and even though I remembered the theme of the movie, I found myself just as interested to watch it as I did when I was 15. I found myself being just as giggly and smiley, too. And the more I watched it, the more I saw myself in the movie. I know you're probably thinking, "How? You don't live in New York and you're not a hotel maid." Well, let me explain.
The movie opens with a woman, Jennifer Lopez mind you, who is headed to her job as a hotel maid. She works at a high end hotel, and a man running for Senate just happens to be staying at this hotel. Long story short, he stumbles across her in the room of another guest, and she is trying on the woman's Prada suit. He thinks she is staying at the hotel, and she lets him believe that she is the wealthy woman he thinks she is. He spends the afternoon with her and her son, and he starts to fall for her. He decides he wants to invite her to lunch the next day, so he sends a note to her room. The woman actually staying in her room gets the note and shows up for lunch. He can't understand how this happened, and so he tells his manager to hunt down the woman he spent the day with yesterday. He really wants to take her to this banquet, and so that is his one request. Well, they start putting the pieces together and the staff realizes it is the maid. They get her all fancied up to attend this banquet as his date so she can tell him the truth. She shows up to the banquet looking like a movie star (which she really is, so no surprise there) and his jaw drops. Of course, no one communicates in these movies like normal people would, so she ends up leaving the banquet early as she tells him she can't see him anymore. He chases her outside, and here's where it gets good.
He says, "Are you running away to something you want, or are you running away from something you're afraid to want."
She replies (with tears in her eyes), "I have to tell you something. The first time you saw me I was...."
And he interrupts her and says, "Mesmerizing." Then he pulls her in for a romantic kiss, and I wanted to do cartwheels I was so happy for them.
Well the last 30 minutes gets all sorts of chaotic as he finds out that she is really a maid and the media gets a hold of the story. But as all good romantic comedies do, it ends well. She runs and hides from him in shame, believing he would never want her now that he knows who she really is. He can't stop thinking about her even though he is trying to win a campaign, and he ends up holding a conference at the new hotel where she works only to receive a heartfelt speech from her son who reunites them. He wraps her up and kisses her with every ounce of passion, and they live happily ever after as he proudly claims her as his own for all of New York to know.
That's what we want, isn't it? We want to be the one who captivates. We want to be the one who is sought out and relentlessly pursued. The girl he will hunt down no matter what it takes. The girl he can't get out of his head. We want to be found. We want him to look at us, look past all the stuff that we really are, and tell us (without being scripted) that we're mesmerizing. Not that we are pretty or look real nice or that we'll do. We want to be more than that. We want him to choose us even though we know we really aren't worthy. We want him to find us in our shame and rescue us. To change our identity. Maybe we really aren't proud of who we are, and maybe we believe it really will keep him away. But there is that part of us that really hopes we're wrong. That part of us that hopes he will see our true value, not just what we've been through, and will cherish us. We want to be seen as the prize. The girl he is so proud to have that he tells the whole world. The one who defies the odds, whose life is changed for the better, and who has an incredible, redemptive love story to whom no one can compare.
But we are her. We are that girl. Because that's what Jesus came to do, right? He found you. Sitting there in your shame, being embarrassed about your current state in life and feeling like you'll never measure up. Sure, you tried. You put on a show, but you both know the truth. You know He is aware of your whole story. You know that you're not worthy of His love and affection. And you know, full well, that they are better women out there who deserve it. Not you. You don't believe you should get another chance. You don't really think you should receive such favor. In fact, it kind of makes you feel a little strange. It doesn't make sense that He would pick you, of all people. But you are the one He wants. The one He has been calling to. He keeps asking you and pursuing you, and you wonder why. What is it about you that makes Him feel that way? You're mesmerizing. He wants to know you more. He wants you to know Him more. He wants your time and attention not because you're really good looking or because He sees you as a charity case, but He really loves you. He loved you the first time He saw you. Putting up a façade or not, He loved you. Because it wasn't about who you appeared to be, it was about you. He knew full well who you were, and He still called you. Why? Because He saw what you would become with Him. You would become healed. You would become redeemed. You'd become perfect and spotless and your future would be fruitful. You are so much more than you think you are, and He sees it.
#906 - Because He picked me.
"But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." - 1 Peter 2:9