You've been served!

First of all, NO! I am not being accused of anything, but I did recently get summoned to jury duty for the first time in my adult life. I wouldn't have minded going actually, since it sounds kind of interesting to me, especially if I get a really cool case, but I had to opt out because of Olivia. I've been served another way today, and not in a way I at all expected. Jordan has made friends with the local homeless people who hang out down the road from our apartment complex and today, as he was walking home, one of Jordan's new friends stopped him and gave him some flowers he had picked and told him to give them to his wife. Jordan dutifully brought them home to me. I looked at him when he entered and I could see he was holding flowers in his hands. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the flowers looked hand-picked, not store bought and I finally asked what the flowers were for.  He told me about his friends and I asked him questions, curious about the whole situation. At first, I thought in my head that the flowers didn't seem like much, but as I thought more about it, I realized that those flowers were worth quite a bit to the man who picked them. It was a hot day outside, and these homeless people sit outside all day. It would have taken a bit of effort for this man to pick these flowers in the heat. Whether the man picked these flowers for himself or to give away to someone, picking these flowers must have brightened his day a little bit, in a day where you don't have much to look forward to. I imagine most days are pretty repetitive for these people, and human interaction is one of the few things that changes for them each day.  

As I sat there folding laundry, after being given these flowers, I realized that these flowers meant a lot to me as well. These flowers represented selflessness: Someone had taken the time to do something nice for someone else in order to brighten that person's day, AND they did it when they themselves had very little, if anything, to give. To say that I was touched is an understatement. 

My mind immediately wandered to thoughts of Christ. I wondered if Christ HAD to be homeless in order to accomplish all the acts of service in his life. Christ was forced to rely on the charity of others, and yet, also gave all he could to others, whether that was a smile or touch on the shoulder to encourage someone, healing someone, sharing his meal with someone, crying with someone, or maybe, even picking flowers for someone. Christ taught, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" Matt 25:40. He further taught, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" Matt 25:34. Christ knew, that no worldly goods would get him or anyone else into Heaven. In the Book of Mormon, Jacob says, "And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good--to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted" Jacob 2:19. The riches that Jacob speaks of are not things that we can find buried in a treasure chest, or things that are bought with money. I believe the riches we receive is the joy serving another brings us, and also the knowledge that Christ has already prepared a place for us in Heaven, if we but prove we are worthy to reside with Him. We cannot just simply give large donations to charities and then turn around and ignore the person begging on the stoop outside our home. Our hearts must be turned to our fellow men. We must show love for those around us through acts of service whether big or small. I am grateful for the reminder and lesson I received today and I hope I can take it into my heart and make someone else smile the way those flowers made me smile today.      

Tale as Old as Time

I am aware that the title of this blog post may remind you of a certain Disney Princess...perhaps Belle, which is fully what I intended, although Belle was not the princess I was thinking about when I decided to write this post.  Recently Jordan and I took Olivia to see Cinderella at the movie theater.  Since she's only two and a half, movies that are not animated do not always fully command her attention, but I could tell she enjoyed seeing Cinderella.  I borrowed the book from the library and read it to her after we saw the movie to help her remember the story.

Today, while I was doing dishes, thinking to myself, I found myself musing about the Cinderella movie and wondering why Disney even felt they needed to do yet another Cinderella movie.  I mean, Cinderella has been done so many times already in so many different ways, and it's kind of old news.  Maleficent I could totally understand.  I loved hearing Maleficent's side of the story and that's probably why I love watching Once Upon A Time so much, because I love hearing new tales about the classic stories I grew up with.  When I saw Cinderella, I enjoyed the movie and I thought it was well done, but still I found myself wondering why there had to be another Cinderella movie.  Why couldn't we have a story about the Ugly Stepsisters or something like that?

It occurred to me today, as I scrubbed the dishes and mopped the floor and did the laundry that there must be something about Cinderella that intrigues us as a society, to continue watching the same story over and over.  They say the best messages are the ones that need to be repeated over and over and I believe this is true with Cinderella.

Where bullying and taking advantage of one another has become much more widespread due to social media, perhaps the world decided that we needed to remember how to be kind to one another. Though Cinderella suffered many hardships in her life, she took her mother's advice of being kind and courageous and lived her life day by day by those words.  So often people that are kind seem to be weak or a pushover, but throughout the story of Cinderella, we see that her kindness is paid back ten-fold in the end.  Being kind doesn't mean that you are weak and it also doesn't mean you let people walk all over you.

In fact, in the end, Cinderella realizes that she can still be kind, even while having the courage to stand up to her Stepmother.  Having courage doesn't mean you humiliate someone else so you can look good and it doesn't mean you do something stupid and reckless so you can impress your friends.  Having courage involves having a set of morals that lead you to stand up for the right thing and doing hard things even when you may be afraid or the task seems hopeless.

I nearly started crying as I was doing my chores as I thought about the values this movie is teaching young girls.  Thinking about my own daughter, I hope that she can remember to be kind to everyone.  A smidgen of kindness can go a long way.  I also hope my daughter can have the courage to stand up for what is right.  These are values I would hope to see in every young girl and values I hope these girls keep as they grow up into women.

While Cinderella is a tale as old as time, I believe the values it teaches still holds true today and I also believe it is a story more than worth repeating over and over again.  It seems the world could do with a little more kindness and a little more courage and I appreciate the fact that Disney recognized this and made a movie that can inspire people to be better.  While I applaud Disney for it's creative and original works, I also applaud the fact that they know when to leave something as it is, because they recognized that the old story was still just as good today as when it was first written.

So, if you are looking for a good movie to see, go and see Cinderella.  Beneath all of the magic, the true magic lies in the kindness and courage Cinderella possesses and perhaps you'll learn something new from an old story like I did.