One of my favorite movies of all time is "You've Got Mail". I don't think that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan could make a movie that didn't tug at your heart strings a little. It's so sweet and romantic and it's predictable. The soundtrack features Nilsson's "Remember" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and your heart melts. You've got that lump in your throat, your eyes get misty and maybe a tear trickles down your cheek and you feel like a total sap, a 100% total sentimental fool. But that's okay. We don't see or hear enough of that type of sentimentality these days. Sometimes, I think we really need to be reminded of the dearer, sweeter things of life, like love, simple beauty, sacrifice and happy endings.
If you've been following me on this "journal journey", you know very well by now, that I wear my heart on my sleeve. I tear up at commercials that a lot of people would ignore, because I am that 1 out of 100 person that can't help but seeing an adorable baby and having an "awe" quietly escape from my mouth. The Hallmark commercials just absolutely do me in. And to quote Nilsson, I "Remember". I can't help it, that's just the way God hard wired me, so sometimes, I have sappy sleeves. I have a soft spot as big as Texas and I look for the greater good in every situation that comes my way. That's part of that "lemonade" mindset. My glass is never less than half full - all the time.
Tom Hanks character, the big bad monopoly book store owner, has fallen in love with vulnerable Meg Ryan, the owner of a quaint little family owned bookstore that he has run out of business. I've seen this film more times than I count, and it gets me every time, every single time. I don't sit there watching it and say, "it's him, silly, it's him". I sit there and watch it as if this were the first time I had ever seen it, like it is all fresh.
Then comes those commercials with Sarah McLachlan. It goes something like this "Every day in America thousands of animals suffer from cruelty and neglect. Thousands were rescued last year, but for thousands of others help came too late." They show numerous heart-wrenching pictures of dogs and cats that have been abused and they are all looking at me with those deep, sad eyes. In the background, you hear McLachlan's voice singing her song "Angels". That's it! I'm toast. If my throat didn't already feel like it had un-swallowable lumps in it already, it does now. My heart is heavy, my eyes are teared up and it's about all I can do to sit there and subject myself to this commercial, so I look away and wipe my eyes. They got me, and they got me good. Unfortunately, they played that commercial at least 4 more times during the movie. I finally started changing the station so I didn't have to see or hear it again.
Yes, the ASPCA gets a little bit of money from me once a year. My daughter is just as bad, and has personally rescued, restored and found homes for more strays than I can count.
Advertising companies know our weak spots. They know that songs like "Angel" will touch us. They know that those Hallmark commercials are going to reach that soft spot in a lot of viewers. Deep, sad eyes of abused animals are going to tug at our hearts. They're good, they are really good at what they do - and they know it!
So, why didn't I just get up and change the channel, you ask? Why did I subject myself to the "fuzzy moment's" of not just the movie, but the commercial? The answer is simple, we all need that stuff from time to time. We need it because we live in a world that can be and usually is just exactly opposite from those "fuzzy moments" a great deal of the time.
Several years ago, I was the Children's Minister at our church. I served for 7 years. During my service, we created a Puppet and Clown ministry and we toured every spring break. We also went to churches in Atlanta and performed. All of our comments and reviews were good, but what blew me away was the feedback that came from one church in particular in downtown Atlanta. They thought we were too evangelical. WHAT! Isn't that kind of the point of the whole thing? It's not just about silly skits, making kids laugh and magic tricks. There's a message in everything we did. I was dumbfounded. Did this person totally miss the whole point of the performance? If so, I was very sad for her.
This all brings me to the point of my mushy, sometimes evangelical rambling. It's not just been about old movies and sappy commercials. This is why, we can all be in the arms of an angel. We all have tough moments when we need to be carried, when our burden is too much to bear on our own. Those are the moments when our Angel lifts us high in His arms and lightens the load for us so that we can bear our burden with His help. We all need to know that it's okay to ask for help. It doesn't mean we're weak, it means we are human, and we are vulnerable in one way or another. The He in my life is Jesus. He is my rock, my salvation, my strength, my light, my truth. He is my "Angel". When He is not carrying me, He is walking right by my side. We talk a lot, multiple times throughout the day and I tell Him "thank-you" every chance I get.
Something I like to share is "I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength", Philippians 4:13. It's true. It is my mantra. If a situation arises that I think someone else needs to hear it, I quote it to them. At my house, we call it 4:13-ing it. I share the verse with them and let them know that they need to not only hear it, but they need to believe it - and, generally, I will then ask them to repeat it until they can say it with such strength and believability, that they have convinced me that they are ready to "walk on". Does that make me too evangelical? Maybe for some people.
God puts people in our path for a reason. There is purpose behind absolutely everything that happens to us, sometimes we just don't know what that purpose is.
So, as you make your way through this day and the next and so on, remember this - that the person standing in your path was put there for a reason. Maybe you will find out why, maybe not. Regardless, good or bad, be a "lemonade" person all of the time. Look for the good in every situation and every person. Maybe, just maybe they need to see that example so they can learn to do the same. But most important of all, I am, you are, we are all "in the arms of an Angel". "May you find some comfort there."
In His Glory~
Katydid
