I stood on a bridge in Chiang Mai, Thailand, surrounded by four girls who in 4 short months had become my sisters, lighting a lantern to send into the sky, and I had a flashback. 4 years ago I saw Tangled for the first time. I was transfixed by the story theme and the lights. To me the lights meant more than just a pretty scene in a movie. That movie was more to me than just a silly cartoon. To me it represented my dreams, the dreams that I had always had and never thought I could achieve. To me it helped me believe in those dreams and know that if I put my mind to it and followed after God that I could. The lights showed me that God is my guide. Jesus is the light of the World and he puts his lights into the sky in hopes that someday I will find my way home. To me Tangled is a dream, not a movie.
Here I am, 5 years and 10 days after my life changed, and I am following after my dreams. Not only have I followed after my dreams of being the hands and feet of Jesus, I have also lit a lantern, like the one in Tangled, and sent it into the sky as a sign of new beginnings. I cried so hard when I did it, because the movie became a reality to me. To me the light represented everything that stopped me in the past from ever being there. For every worry I had. For everyone that said my dreams were impossible and couldn’t be accomplished. For every time I doubted God and his promises for me. I sent all of those into the sky with that lantern. I sent all of my doubts, and all that I’m left with is the certainty that this is where I’m supposed to be. Sure this year, well really the last 4 months, have been some of the hardest. I’ve had to deal with things that I haven’t dealt with before. I’ve been stretched, pushed, broken, picked up and put back together again only to go through the cycle all over. I have been loved with a new kind of love, I have been surprised with the generosity of others. This life is exactly what I want. I have my bad days, sure. I have my days this holiday season when I miss home. But there’s no place I would rather be. As I celebrate this Christmas season I will remember the one who is to be celebrated. Jesus was born on Christmas Day to set us free from our sins. Jesus was born on Christmas Day so that I could live in that Freedom! And so I choose to! I choose to live in freedom, to live the life HE has paved for me! I have seen the light, and I will follow it!
“All those days watching from the windows.
All those years outside looking in.
All that time never even knowing just how blind I’ve been.
Now I’m here blinking in the starlight, now I’m here suddenly I see.
Standing here, its all so clear
I’m where I’m meant to be.
And at last I see the light!
And its like the fog has lifted.
And at last I see the light. And its like the sky is new,
and its warm and real and bright
and the world has somehow shifted.
All at once everything looks different, now that I see you.” -Tangled, I See the Light
