"THOU SHALL UNDERSTAND THAT YOU OWE THE WORLD YOUR GIFTS"


Gotta share this "God Thing":

 Today,some friends and I took the kids to see Spiderman (again). It is one of the best installments of Spidey I have ever seen. (and STAY put until all the credits are over....most intriguing part of the movie comes at the very VERY end! So, Don't leave until the lights come on!!) ..We totally missed it the first time we went.

I've been thinking....

You know how sometimes you'll be in a conversation with someone and they will say something that will strike you in such a way that you can hardly focus on anything else? I mean it's one of those things where you visit with others at the dinner party, but your mind and thoughts keep going back to what that one person said that resonated so deeply in your heart. You think about it on the ride home....you think about it while you take off your make-up and you just kind of analyze it from every angle until you fall asleep.

Does that happen to anybody else but me? ha!

I know it sounds weird, but sometimes I will literally ask them to repeat what they said so I can repeat it in my mind to where it will "stick" and I can write it down later...

 ....OR other times, I will on-the-spot make them hold their thought (while I rummage around my purse for my little pen and mini-notepad) so I can physically write down their words that struck me so. :))

**I know it's not normal...but I've never claimed to BE normal, so it doesn't matter to me what they think. Ha!

 ....but, honestly, I've never had a single person NOT repeat it. (yet!) :) They are always so sweet about it.

It's like, sometimes, I'll hear a line from a movie, or a sermon, or I'll read a line in a book and my mind won't let me press forward until I'm able to wrap my brain around the line that has me so enraptured.

 I'll HAVE to write it out somewhere! ...it may be to yall here on facebook....to my journal....to a friend.... Anwhere. It's crazy, i know. But, I literally feel stuck until I get it out somewhere....

Well, in this Spiderman movie, Peter Parker's Uncle Ben left a message for him right before he was tragically killed. (This is not a spoiler...we all know by now that Uncle Ben dies....he has died in every single movie.) I hate it....but it's true. No matter how many times I wish and hope that somehow Uncle Ben gets saved...he never does. Ever.

 So, yes, he dies again in this one too. sorry. ;-)

ANYWAY, the message he left Peter struck me in such a way that I could hardly contain the tears stinging my eyes underneath my 3D glasses.

The words hit my heart like nothing else has in a while.

It sounded EXACTLY like something my own dad would have said to me and my siblings.

My siblings and I were very lucky. Our parents believed in us, ....even when we didn't believe in ourselves.

My dad had a DEEP UNYIELDING FAITH that each of us would grow up to be something truly GREAT for the world.

I'm sure there were years he questioned his theory about this....(probably around the teen years.)...but he continued to believe in us nonetheless. BOTH of them did.

GREATNESS. He would tell us all the time that we were destined for greatness. Over and over and over. Ha!

He never made us feel that he equated "Greatness" with money, fame or any other kind of riches. (although that would be a nice welcome.)...but The "Greatness" he EXPECTED from us was better than all of that.

He expected us to be GREAT in this world through the way we used our hearts....the way we treated our fellow man. He and Mom felt that treating others with kindness, respect and love was better than any other achievement or accolade we could attain.

My dad didn't hope this to be true for us....He totally and completely EXPECTED Greatness from us, period.

Sometimes I wonder what he would think about some of the decisions I have made in my adult life.

*Would he be disappointed in some of them? Yes. Of course. I know he would...because I, myself, am disappointed in some of them.

 * Would he love and support me anyway? Without question.

 **Do I love and forgive myself. Absolutely.

Luckily for me, I do believe my good decisions far outweigh my not-so-good ones. Being human means you ARE gonna make mistakes...and sometimes BIG ones......but here is the beauty of mistakes (even the really big ones):

**You always, always, ALWAYS get to LEARN from them! And THEN the beauty of the lesson is that you always get the chance to do better the NEXT TIME....because there will always be "next times".

The greatest thing about growing up with someone like my dad is that NO MATTER how very good and wonderful he was in OUR eyes, he ALLOWED us to see his weaknesses....he allowed us to know that he made mistakes.....

 ....we were fully aware of his "human-ness".

My dad was far from perfect....but he was a very good and decent man. He made mistakes, bad decisions and had his fair share of failures...but the beauty in all of that was that we got to see a truly GREAT man come out of each one stronger, better and ALWAYS with humor attached.

Dad had a personal quest for greatness like no other person I have ever known. He wrote volumes upon volumes about life, love, goals, dreams and more on those long yellow legal pads. You would find them all over our house..by just about every chair and toilet in the house. Ha!

My gosh, he loved to write. (hmm...must be where got it.)

Dad was a man who saw the goodness in people....even when sometimes they didn't deserve it. He showed compassion and love to even those who others might consider unlovable or unworthy. Dad felt everybody was worthy in some capacity...even the worst of the worst...or especially the worst, for they needed it the most.

And boy did that man love his children! And without condition so help me God. Ha!

He could not get enough of us. There was absolutely NOTHING in this world that any of us could have ever done to lose that man's love.

The only time he was disappointed in us is when he felt we "gave up". He was a man of perseverance, so "giving up" was an insult to God. It was just simply never an option.

Anyway, I could go on and on and on....but I won't.. (this is too long already!)

So, these words I am quoting below could have absolutely been said to me by my earthly father, but more importantly by my Heavenly Father.

When you read the words below, read them as if God is speaking straight to your heart...washing away any regret, heartache, worry or fear you may feel at this point in your life. No matter what decisions you have made.....just know that life ain't over till it's over.

.....And UNTIL it's over, you have a job to do, people to love and a world to affect. So stop wallowing in your self-pity and get on with it. ....Just get on with your life!..... Do what you are supposed to do! Live and Love! Conquer the world with your heart....

 Look, your work on earth is NOT done until God calls you home!

Hear these heavenly words and relish in the goodness of the message:

 (As you hear Uncle Ben's words to Peter Parker, hear them as if God is talking to YOU.)

"I know what you're feeling. Ever since you were little, you've been living with so many unresolved things. Well, take it from a man who has lived a long life...Those 'things' are what sends us down the roads that make us WHO WE ARE.

 And if anyone is DESTINED FOR GREATNESS, it is YOU.

You OWE the world YOUR GIFTS. You just have to figure out HOW TO USE THEM and know that wherever they take you, I will always be here. You are my hero. And I love you."

Pretty powerful stuff, hugh?!

This is my favorite line "You owe the world your gifts."

I believe God sends us messages through quotes from a movie, lines written in books...words from a preacher and even a good friend on the other line of a phone. I believe he does this so that we "hear" HIM loud and clear by many different avenues. I mean, we feel it in our hearts, but some of us need it to be "pounded" in our heads...so he uses others for His purpose.

Lately, I hear him say to me "Child....why do you fear so much?! ...Get out there and do MY job. I have deposited seeds of GREATNESS inside of you for a purpose. And you are dragging your feet using everything and everybody else as an excuse. I hear him chide, "Teri Spinks Netterville, Get your big girl britches on and Use those seeds of Greatness for MY purpose.

It's not about YOU, child. It's NEVER been about YOU!

 It's ALWAYS been about ME." :)

Can't you just see him getting put out with people like me? I mean we know really what we should do but we are a bunch of big fat chickens (bawk bawk!)

Well, it's coming, Lord. It's coming.... And for the record, I think You are swell...

I mean, really....is He not just the coolest thing?....

 My gosh, he's so cool!

Have a great night everybody....and get to steppin! ;-)

Teri