Just Click Your Heels

     At our last visit to the library, my daughter picked out an animated dvd of "The Wizard of Oz."  She has become a fan of the original movie and was even "Dorofy" when trick-or-treating this past year.  To my surprise, she didn't object when the animated version of the story, while rather condensed, followed closer to the book than the Judy Garland movie.  She seemed just as intrigued with the story line.  As usual, I rarely have time to watch dvds with the children, but boy do I hear them!  Over and over again!  I can recite lines from some of the kids' videos as accurately as they can!
     This particular video made me chuckle, though.  While I was busy in the kitchen I could hear the dialogue.  It was at the part just after the "wizard" flew away in his balloon on his lonesome, leaving poor Dorothy behind.  Cue Glinda!  She appears and you know the story.  All Dorothy has to do is click her heels together three times.  That's it!  I chuckled because my mind went racing back to a scene from a comedy show where the cast acts out this scene, however, in their version, Dorothy doesn't take the news so well.  She has a moment to let it sink in and then verbally tears into Glinda with shouts of, "WHAT??!!!  That's IT?!  That's all I had to do!  You mean to tell me I could have gone home the MINUTE I arrived?!"  And with that she has an all out brawl with the good witch of the North.  Handfuls of red hair, Glinda in a head lock.  Dorothy wasn't very lady like!
     In the original movie, all Judy Garland's Dorothy gets is a sweet smile and a pixie dust glazed over look.  But, in this scrappy animated flick, the explanation is much better.  Glinda responds, "Had you never taken your journey, your new friends would have never discovered their own gifts."
     That'll preach.  In our Bible study (Sunday School) classes at church, we have been discussing the gifts of the Spirit for a few weeks.  We have had open discussions about why we have them, why they are important, etc.  I think Glinda's answer also weighs heavy here.  God takes each of us when we profress Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior on our own unique journey - one that fulfills His plan for us, one that ultimately fulfills our part in His kingdom, one that brings complete glory to Him!  The path is not always the easiest, and as Christians, I dare say it shouldn't be.  To say we might experience "bumps" along the road as Christians is an understatement.  It is bound to happen!  We are either in a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or heading to a crisis!  Along the way, we will touch the lives of others.  What will our impact be?
     If it is one that honors the Lord, it will help others find their own way.  It may be to help someone find the hope in Jesus their heart was longing for.  It may be to bring struggling or new Christians along and help them discover their own unique gifts.  It may be to come alongside someone who is hurting and our compassion and understanding is most perfect for them because we have been through the same trials.
     We can whine and complain all day long about the troubles we find ourselves in.  Here, allow me to stop and sing, "Nobody knows.... the trouble I seen ...." or what about, "Gloom, despair, and agony on me (whoaarghhh)..deep, dark, depression, excessive misery (whoaarghhh)..if it weren't fer bad luck, I'd had no luck at all (whoaarghhh)..gloom, despair, and agony on me."  Feel better?  No?
     OR!  We can accept the incredible journey God has placed us on and acknowledge with a courageous heart that He has called us to be salt and light (Matthew 5).  Imagine the lives we can be allowed to impact if only we are faithful!  Clicking your heels together three times may be the equivalent of voluntarily sitting on the sidelines.  Is that really what you want your legacy to be?  Sure, had Dorothy been told from the start, she could have gone home (woke up) immediately.  But the Scarecrow would still be stuck on a nail in a post, the tin man would still be rusting, with that empty place where a heart should be, growing all the more cold, and the Lion would still be hiding in the forest, afraid of his own shadow, never knowing his true purpose.  Dorothy would have never chosen her journey, but unbeknownst to her, there were others that needed her.

     So what about you?  Ready to throw in the towel and click your heels together?  Or perhaps, you're up for a great adventure?!  I'm sure there are those who are waiting for you to come along.