In the movie The Incredibles, Dash says to his mom, "If everybody is special, then nobody is."
Tigger says to Winnie the Pooh, "The most wonderful, wonderful thing about Tiggers is 'I'm the only one.'"
King David of Israel says in Psalm 139, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb....all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
As somebody who grew up in California, Texas, Costa Rica, and Venezuela, I'm definitely a little susceptible to thinking I'm unique. But perhaps that's not why!
A counselor in Taiwan told me, "I can care for ministry workers. They're just people. We all have the same problems." This got me thinking--am I uniquely put together to do what I do, or do I just like the thought that I'm special? Doesn't everyone want to be special? Don't we all have our reasons why? And if everybody's special, then maybe Dash is right and nobody is.
This is definitely something I wrestle with--being special, but also being ordinary, just one more of the billions of people living today, in the stream of billions who have lived over the course of history.
Perhaps ultimately the relationships we have, with God and others, are what give us unique value. Certainly the fact that Evangeline is my granddaughter means something to me, though I notice much more all the other babies I see because they remind me of her. And if I had another grandchild, could I love them as uniquely? I certainly hope so!
I had a great visit to Taiwan, thoroughly enjoying the conversations God gave me there, with the unique and special people with whom he connected me. But were they more special than all the other people? Well, I guess they were to me, because I got to be alongside them for a time! At the same time, it meant leaving people here, including Laura, and also Evangeline, not to mention a generation in between, my dear companions here in the journey, and so forth.
For now, we feel Laura needs to remain mostly here, but I will be making two more trips this year, first to New Mexico and Indiana (it's only one trip if you don't actually come home in between!) and later to Sonora, Mexico, and Arizona. I know there are many other trips I could make, and that staying here could be just as meaningful, but somehow we have to choose where to invest, and I am delighted that we have this freedom both to invest here and also to invest in those who are in faraway places, especially those who make those choices in order to have an impact for the King of Kings.
And how do we know where and when to go? Well, it's never sure, because we can't read that book yet with all our days described before one of them came to be. But we certainly can consult, can't we?
In him who keeps us, with love for the far side, Steve and Laura
PS Happy Thanksgiving! We'll be together here in Colorado Springs for that, Lord willing!
Steve and Laura Spinella
US: 1930 Springcrest Rd, CO Springs 80920
mail: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920
Steve cell 719.355.4809, Laura cell 832.755.4261
<spinella@alumni.rice.edu> <lauraspinella@gmail.com>
<spinella@alumni.rice.edu> <lauraspinella@gmail.com>
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