Nicole Kerr

So, this revelation has been stirring in my heart/mind this past week.  I wait and listen for the Lord’s leading before I write in my tumblr.  As what usually happens, I try to “talk myself out” of writing it.  I’m not sure why I do that.  I guess I am just second-guessing myself and/or minimizing what is exactly going on in my heart.  So, here is goes.  (My sister, Julie, is to thank for this one because I probably wouldn’t have posted it if she didn’t ask about when my next blog was coming.)

My husband, Andrew (of 3 plus years and many more to come) and I watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Christmas Eve.   I think have “seen” that movie about 30 times, at least once a year. This year was the first time I really really really “saw” it. I understand now why it was so important that George Bailey was able to see what life was like had he not been born.  I had thought he didn’t want to live because he didn’t want to have the debt of $8,000 to pay back.  This was his way to avoid paying it back, or so I thought.  What I “saw” this year when I watched it was that he was given the opportunity to see the many lives that would not have been affected for the good had he not been born.  It covered his entire life span.  It started from when he was a kid and saved his brother from downing and then his brother went on to do great things in the war.  From his first job when he saved the pharmacist from poisoning another child by giving the wrong drug.  George then was able to see what life would have been like for that pharmacist had he not been there to help him make the correction.  The pharmacist owed his life to George.  Every single person in that town was impacted by George Bailey because he chose to speak up and make a difference.  George was a life-giver!  He gave people chances and it encouraged others to make a difference.  This was especially seen at the end when everyone he had touched came back to “give back” to him in his time of need.  This caused me to think about my life and the “everyday” people I encounter.  Am I speaking up and using my voice to encourage others.  Am I choosing to see the good in others.  Am I too focused on my life and what’s going on in my world that I can’t even “see” what’s going on in the world of the person I come across everyday.  I know sometimes I get it and I know I’m doing what the Lord has created me to do.  Other times, I feel like I’m rushed and the excuse of “being busy” is the first thought that comes to mind.  The Lord has given me the Spiritual Gift of Encouragement and I feel the Father’s love when I encourage others.  George Bailey was busy, he had dreams to travel the world and “do” something with his life.  He chose to make the small, everyday changes and in that he impacted everyone around him.  I can say that this life the Lord has given me truly is wonderful.  I have many blessings and reasons to be thankful.  The take away I got after watching the movie is to slow down, allow time to be “wasted” in encouraging others because in that it’s not wasted and I am living life the way the Lord intended for me.  This life of mine is truly a wonderful life.  I’m so glad we watched “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  It took me 30 plus times of watching it to really see it and apply it to my life.