Teachings from Dumbo

The other day, I saw that Dumbo was going to be on, so I scheduled the DVR to record it. I haven't seen this movie forever, but knew the kids would like it. I remembered the "magic feather" that helped Dumbo fly and that it was to remind us that we needed to believe in ourselves. However, as we were watching it, something that was said in the movie really struck me.

As the little mouse realizes that Dumbo can fly, he says,

"The very thing that's been holding you down, is the thing that will lift you up, up, UP!"

How true that is, that sometimes those things that get thrown at us and seem to hold us down, often become a blessing in disguise. My mom used to tell us that what doesn't kill us, will only make us stronger. I've seen this in my difficulties with trying to get pregnant, my post-partum depression (I'm doing good this time, thank goodness), kids fighting, being so busy that I don't know if I'm coming or going- they have lifted me up by teaching me that Jesus Christ knows me, individually, and of my trials and the desires of my heart, that my husband is my rock and I can depend on him, that my kids are amazing and fun and have their own personalities, that they just need a little extra guidance and attention sometimes, that I can manage my time better and put the important things first and foremost. I could go on and on. It seems lately that I've had lots of friends going through very difficult things. My heart breaks for them and I wish I could just snap my fingers and make it all better. Of course, things don't work that way, but I want them to know that I love them and want everything to work out. And of course, just as that little mouse says, sometimes those very things that seem to hold us down, may just be the thing that will lift us up, up, up in the end. Its something I'm going to try to remember whenever hard things come my way.