Horton, the Hero

This week we are reading about heroes. This morning I read Horton Hatches the Egg and cry. 

Mayzie, the lazy bird, complains about sitting on her egg. 
     "I'm tired and I'm bored
     And I've kinks in my leg.....
     I'd take a vacation, fly off for a rest
     If I could find someone to stay on my nest!

     If I could find someone, I'd fly away---free..."

Mayzie could also be named Lydia.  I don't have kinks in my legs, but it does hurt to walk and I do imagine being free from all these responsibilities. 

Yesterday I read Psalm 106 and saw myself there, too. 
     "Then they despised the pleasant land,
     having no faith in His promise. 
     They murmured in their tents,
     and did not obey the voice of the Lord." 

What am I doing?  Despising these good gifts God has given me.  Wanting to run from the blessings surrounding me.  Clenching my jaw at {yet another} scream.  Speaking through clenched teeth in an effort to control my own words. 

Aaaagh, but Horton---the hero---"sat and he sat and he sat and he sat."  He was faithful and he didn't complain despite the seasickness, despite the scorn, despite the relocation.  And, at the end?  He goes home happy "one hundred percent!"

My email reads of a friend who has gone into labor three weeks early and I cry again, jealous, willing my contractions to be productive before the end of the year. 

I've blown it already - not even able to live up to the character of a Dr. Suess elephant.

     "Seek the Lord and His strength;
     seek His presence continually!"

What a comfort to know that God's strength is much greater than a splitting pelvis, much more enduring than {another} day of screaming, and much stronger than this hard heart.  I'm seeking that other-worldly strength. 

11.26.2012