A Snoodle Tale

Once again I have learned a valuable lesson about myself from...... VeggieTales. My son Micah would be so proud that his addiction has ministered to his mommy.

If you haven't watched the Veggie Tale called "A Snoodle Tale" I would highly recommend it. It starts out very silly with a great lesson about loving yourself in a parody on Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde (not as dark as the original story) then it kicks it into high silliness mode with the silly song about a couple of people and their SUV's..... Ethan's favorite silly song. But the last part of this episode is a touching story along the lines of Dr. Seuss that talk about a young snoodle that learns how to love himself while he lives in a society that is constantly reminding him how worthless and uninspiring his life is.

Everytime this young snoodle gets an "epiphany" about what he was created for he tries it out (flying, then he tries his hand at art, finally music) all of which he "fails" at miserably because he is a beginner. Instantly he is surrounded by older and "wiser" snoodles that tell him he failed and paint him a picture about his miserable failure that they stuff in his backpack and make him carry with him to remind him of his shortcomings so that he will be sure not to try that silly escapade again because it will most definitely turn out horribly.

I am an eternal optimist. I love living life out in the open. I love to be on stage. Out in the open, I don't mind people watching me...... when I succeed, when I do well. Lately however (the last 9 years or so) this whole "living life boldly in front of other people" hasn't worked so well. I say "Hey, look at me, watch me love Jesus and step out and He will heal me, you can live like this too"...... I get people's attention, they watch with excitement..... 11 months later the crowd is getting thin and most have lost hope, walking away quietly, dismissing me as a looney or stepping up to give me the advice that maybe I missed it and should just pack in the battle and quit living such a freaky existence. I feel like my backpack is full of painful reminders of how living life on the edge, loudly, boldly shouldn't be done because it makes other people uncomfortable.

So what is my job? My job is to empty out my backpack on a regular basis. The young snoodle in our story climbs a mountain thinking he is going to remove himself from society so that he doesn't have to be painfully reminded everytime he falls.... believe me, that thought has been tempting ;o)..... but instead to climbing up to the top and being alone he discovers that the creator himself lives at the top of the mountain. As they visit the creator helps the snoodle get rid of the pictures others have put in his pack to make it heavy and he replaces them with a picture that the creator himself has painted of who he has created the snoodle to be. Instead of weighing him down it sets him free to fly.....

So here I am, on my way to the top of the mountain. I find that I have to go there daily now because the longer this adventure takes, the more weighed down I feel, not because of Him, but because my expectation of how this adventure would pan out look totally different that what has really taken place. Today I feel like I just got to unpack my bag and I'm feeling amazingly lighter and free-er and more hopeful than ever before.

I'm grateful our creator hasn't created us and left us out there to just "spin" but He is wanting to be involved in our everyday life, loving him, letting Him love us. That is how I want to live.