My daughter McKayla had a day off of school last week and had the good fortune to be able to come to work with me. I clean houses so she gets to watch cartoons while I clean. I happened to be working in the living room when Handy Manny came on and normally I'll be wrapped up in my own thoughts regardless of whether or not the T.V. is on but this one caught my attention. In case you don't know anything about this cartoon, it's about a guy that is a handy man and his tools are special because they can talk. This particular day they were trying to repair an older mans steps when the hammer fell and landed on his head. The poor hammer was confused after that and thought for sure that he was not a hammer but was in fact a screwdriver. Well this caused a dilemma because for this particular job, only a hammer could get the job done. Handy Manny and the other tools tried convincing him that he was a hammer but he just wouldn't believe it. So finally Handy Manny tried to find another tool that would work. They went to the hardware store but alas, they were fresh out of hammers. So they went back and tried a rock and other things but nothing worked. This whole time I'm thinking "Hey Handy Manny, you're his master you pick him up and just use him to hammer that nail in." But he didn't. Finally the older gentleman came along and found out what the problem was and said that when he was in the army they had the same problem with a soldier. This soldier had gotten hurt and forgot who he was. They really needed him so they convinced him to pretend that he was a soldier, and it worked. So Handy Manny and all the other tools asked the hammer if he would pretend to be a hammer. They convinced him that he would make an excellent hammer and so he said he would try. Handy Manny picked him up and held him above the nail but wouldn't use him until the hammer was absolutely ready. I'm thinking, well this is ridiculous. You've got him in your hand, bring him down! Well, finally the hammer was ready and he hit the nails in perfectly. Everyone cheered and when the hammer had come down on those nails his memory was jarred back into place and he realized he was indeed a hammer. So anyway, what did I learn from this? I realized that God does the same thing with us. He made us for a specific purpose. He could use us like puppets and make us do that job for him. But that's not what he wants. He wants us to take the initiative and with his help, do the work he created us for. He's not going to force us into doing anything. It has to be because we want to do it. Another important factor is that we can't do it without him. We need him there guiding us and encouraging us. And that is what Handy Manny taught me for the day.
Reflecting on 25 years of Motherhood
1 month ago
