Spiritual Sunday- Being There When We Are Needed

Yesterday, I got to see a movie that I had been anticipating for a while, but because time-zones aren’t the easiest thing for me to understand, I ended up watching several movies before the one I was looking for started. The first movie that showed was “Toy Story”, which for those of you who follow me know that it’s my favorite movie.

One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Woody is trapped under a milk crate with a tool box on top. Buzz is on the desk next to him with a firework rocket taped to his back. Both characters are at their lowest point and the conversation that ensues is quite profound in my eyes.

The Day before I left for Michigan. I'm hiding second from
the right.

Woody tries to show Buzz how much he matters by explaining how cool of a toy he is and all of the talents that Buzz has. He’s got wings, he glows in the dark, he talks, and his helmet does that “woosh thing”. Woody backs down a little bit and starts evaluating himself downplaying his own importance. In the end, what only mattered was that each of them was there when Andy needed them.

Sometimes we can feel like Woody at this instant. we wonder “What would anyone need of me? There’s a lot more people out there who are more qualified.” And maybe we just don’t have the kinds of talents or resources we feel we need to accomplish even basic tasks.

I had a large part of my mission where I was overshadowed by whoever my companion was at the time. I had one who was loved by everybody and I was known as “That guy’s companion” and I was with one of the superstars of my mission where the conversation was “wow. I bet you learn a lot from his method”. I was downplayed a lot and thought of as lacking in relevant skill. Sometimes, I would become very quiet and kept to myself as much as I could in these instances.

The thing is though, it doesn’t matter so much what are skills are in the service we render, but that we are there where God needs us and we try our hardest to fulfill our mandates. We never need to downplay our own importance, and we need to remember that of all things in the world that we could do, the glory always goes back to God and we can show that by giving of our talents to his children in need.

Thank you all for your support. I hope you have a great Sunday and a wonderful week ahead of you.