Up, up, and away.

Last weekend Scott and I saw “Up” at our local $1.99 theater. (Love that place.) I had wanted to see it since they began running the previews last year, and we finally had a chance to go. Y’all, it was so, so good. I have never laughed so hard – and cried so hard – at an animated movie. I seriously laughed until I cried and cried until I laughed. It was so good.

The goodness of the movie isn’t the point of this post, though, so I’m going to get on with it.

I don’t know how much you know about the story of this movie, but basically – without ruining anything for you – it’s the story of a 78-year-old man who ties balloons to his house and flies away.

It’s definitely a concept reserved for an animated children’s movie or a feature film that highlights the quality of today’s special effects. As I – in my sometimes boring grown-upness – sat watching this, I found myself thinking, “Yeah, right. This could SO never happen.” Balloons picking a house up off its foundation and flying it away, with people inside and everything? Yeah, right. It’s a nice and neat idea, all right, and it would be fun and all, but really? Not happening.

As I watched, too, I got this nudge that said, “Why not? Why can’t this happen?” I wasn’t thinking just about balloons flying a house away, though. I was thinking about life. I am so guilty of putting God in a box. I am so guilty of looking at dreams I have and ideas I come up with and thinking, “That would be nice, but I don’t think it would ever happen.” I am guilty of limiting God with my attitude and the smallness of my human thinking. I assume that because something seems wild and crazy, God won’t do it with my life. I assume that because it has never been done before, it never will. Meanwhile, God is looking at the fullness of the life He has designed for me with sadness as I limit myself and His work in my life. I limit what can happen by simply thinking it cannot.

I want to change. I want to believe that God can do the impossible and unfathomable with my life. I want to allow myself to be swept up, up, and away by God’s power, grace, and love in my life. I want God’s presence, like a million little balloons, to lift me up from this place I’ve rested in for so long and carry me to places never before seen.

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3)

Seriously. You need to see this movie.