misfits
Rudolph was a movie we waited for every Christmas season with great excitement when I was a child. I am not sure why, but The Island of Misfit Toys was always one of my favorite parts. I haven't watched Rudolph for years, but tonight the scene that introduces the island came to mind.
Why? Because this week I have felt like a misfit on several different occasions. Definitely on the outside looking in. Wishing I was in too. For about an hour I was convinced that if my name was different the situation I was looking at would be changed. (Not true, but that thought tormented me.) I found myself wanting things to be different, things that cannot be any way other way than what they are. Feeling at times there is something wrong with the way I am put together. None of this has been anyone's fault.
Last night I threw myself a fairly large pity party. Complete with crocodile tears, ruminating over perceived slights and a lot of what is best described as "middle school girl angst". While all of that was going on I was also having a reasonable conversation with myself, reminding me that "Tomorrow you won't feel this way. Tomorrow, in the light of day, things will look different." And I was right. Today has had very little mental drama.
Tonight I searched Island of Misfit Toys on YouTube. I was reminded of why I liked that part of the story line so well. In the end Santa saves the misfits and finds them homes. I would dare say at some point in our lives most of us have felt like a misfit longing for a home and love.
I started thinking about Jesus, His ministry and the twelve men He chose to live with and train for three years. Peter, James, John, Andrew, Thomas, Phillip, Matthew, James (not John's brother), Thaddeus, Simon, Bartholomew, Judas. You have to admit, at least several of them were "misfits". Fishermen. A tax collector. A thief. A skeptic. Actually, none of them "fit" the religious mold. I daresay none of us would have made them part of our dream team. But God chose them. He loved them. He used them.
I thought about my life. I was the misfittest of misfits. I had nothing to offer God. But He loves me. He wooed me. He made me His. He took this misfit, with all of my scars, the "not quite right" and the definitely wrong parts of my life and accepted me. He is changing me. He uses me. He allows me to join Him in ministry. And as if that were not enough, He is preparing a place for me to live when my body stops working.
Turns out, being a misfit isn't a bad thing. As a Jesus follower, I am not supposed to "fit in" with this world. I am supposed to be different.
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:1-2 NIV (New International Version)
"Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him." Romans 12:1-2 CEV (Contemporary English Version)
Why? Because this week I have felt like a misfit on several different occasions. Definitely on the outside looking in. Wishing I was in too. For about an hour I was convinced that if my name was different the situation I was looking at would be changed. (Not true, but that thought tormented me.) I found myself wanting things to be different, things that cannot be any way other way than what they are. Feeling at times there is something wrong with the way I am put together. None of this has been anyone's fault.
Last night I threw myself a fairly large pity party. Complete with crocodile tears, ruminating over perceived slights and a lot of what is best described as "middle school girl angst". While all of that was going on I was also having a reasonable conversation with myself, reminding me that "Tomorrow you won't feel this way. Tomorrow, in the light of day, things will look different." And I was right. Today has had very little mental drama.
Tonight I searched Island of Misfit Toys on YouTube. I was reminded of why I liked that part of the story line so well. In the end Santa saves the misfits and finds them homes. I would dare say at some point in our lives most of us have felt like a misfit longing for a home and love.
I started thinking about Jesus, His ministry and the twelve men He chose to live with and train for three years. Peter, James, John, Andrew, Thomas, Phillip, Matthew, James (not John's brother), Thaddeus, Simon, Bartholomew, Judas. You have to admit, at least several of them were "misfits". Fishermen. A tax collector. A thief. A skeptic. Actually, none of them "fit" the religious mold. I daresay none of us would have made them part of our dream team. But God chose them. He loved them. He used them.
I thought about my life. I was the misfittest of misfits. I had nothing to offer God. But He loves me. He wooed me. He made me His. He took this misfit, with all of my scars, the "not quite right" and the definitely wrong parts of my life and accepted me. He is changing me. He uses me. He allows me to join Him in ministry. And as if that were not enough, He is preparing a place for me to live when my body stops working.
Turns out, being a misfit isn't a bad thing. As a Jesus follower, I am not supposed to "fit in" with this world. I am supposed to be different.
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:1-2 NIV (New International Version)
"Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him." Romans 12:1-2 CEV (Contemporary English Version)
Want to be a misfit with me?
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