Lessons From a Dancing Penguin

So, this past weekend a friend and I went to go see the new movie Happy Feet...

Before I go on my spiel about the lessons I learned from this "kiddy flick", I must tell you that the CG was AMAZING!!! I couldn't believe my eyes and was thinking how spoiled kids are these days. Whatever happened to our beloved 2D Disney classics? This is the reason why I'm convinced kids nowadays have NO imagination.

But I digress...

The central theme of the movie (without giving too much away) was finding yourself, your passions and being who you are. Typical message, true. But I like how they phrased it:

"Every penguin has a heartsong"

The main character struggles with finding his heartsong - his identity you could say. As I watched the movie, that message resonated with me. Like Mumble, the main character, I've oft felt as if I didn't always fit in with what's considered the norm. Believe me I tried my darndest (like I'm sure most of you have) to fit in with the "in-crowd" - those cool kids whom EVERYONE wanted to know and hang out with. I was always juuuust outside of this circle, stuck somewhere between there and being a wallflower.

But as I'm growing into this woman God has made me to be, I'm SLOWLY (stressing S-L-O-W-L-Y!!!) learning to rejoice in my quirks. To praise Him for my introspectiveness and how I need to process everything. I'm still struggling with this heart that sits atop my sleeve for all the world to see - these emotions that tend to (especially these days) sit just under the surface, at the ready to erupt at a moments notice. And as I sit writing this, the Spirit whispers softly the beautiful words of Psalm 139:

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

We are "fearfully and wonderfully" - and might I add thoughtfully - made. Painstakingly formed by the gentle hands of a loving and powerful artisan. Each scar this world afflicts we wear like medals of honor. Each quirk in us reflects some part of the Creator or, more importantly, our need of Him.

He's placed in each of us HIS song. And as we daily search for Him, we find our heartsongs I think.

From one finding her heartsong...