The world feels hard, painful and confusing. We’ve been inside too long. We’ve worried too much. We’ve been conflicted about things. We’ve disagreed with people we love. The list goes on, but suddenly we find ourselves looking at the world with glass half empty instead of a glass half full eyes. I tend to be positive for the most part, it takes a lot for me to really let go of my glass half full mind-set. It used to drive my husband nutty but I slowly brought him to my side. Most of the time.
During this last year I’ve been disheartened a bit at the way people have been treating each other. So much judgement. So much name calling. So much yelling. We can find ways to disagree about pretty much everything, can’t we? Plus, social media allows us to amplify that so much more. Small things are much louder on social media.
As a social media manager, I see the worst in people a lot of the time. Everyone has a platform and sometimes it’s really easy to use that platform to scream our heads off when we feel upset. Admit it, we’ve all done that post we regret later.
Bitterness grows in a sneaky sort of way. It often feels justified at first. It starts small but then just branches into our hearts. I’ve seen people whose lives were so ruled by bitterness it was all they could talk about. It ruins their mental health. It takes a toll on their health. It changes who they are. Don’t let yourself latch on to complaining and grumbling and hate because it will plant a seed in your heart and continue to grow. Bitterness is not a fruit of the spirit. Remember those? Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness. Bitterness is not on the list!
I just finished watching the latest season of When Calls the Heart. Are you watching this show? It’s runs every year in the Feb-May timeframe generally. It was just renewed for season 9 so you have plenty of time to get caught up and ready for next season. There aren’t a lot of meaningful television shows right now that I can walk away from and feel convicted and like my time was actually well spent.
At first glance you might think…eh, just a prairie story. Haha. I admit I wasn’t so sure about this as well. I’ve never really enjoyed stories of people on the prairie. However, I fell in love with this show because of the incredible characters and also 5 specific things they model that I love that helps combat all that bitterness I see growing in the world. I think we can all use these reminders.
Forgive quickly. We all mess up. Say you are sorry when you do. Forgive. I love, love that they have dialogue promoting this. Don’t hold on to bitterness and hurt.
“The two most important moments in your life are when you are born and when you find out why.” I’ve been thinking about this quote frequently from the new Pastor in the town. We are all created for a purpose. We have gifts, passions, skills, and God uses all of these to shape what he has designed us to do. Let’s lean into our calling. Imagine a world where we are all living our callings.
We need more positive fatherhood. There is a relationship in the show between the Mountie (Nathan) and his niece (Allie). He has adopted her and is her father figure. Watching him embrace and grow into the fatherhood role is really special. I think we need to celebrate fatherhood and the amazing role dad plays. Love seeing this positive relationship played out on television! She is a teenager so I’m excited to see how he handles that next season.
We hold on to our judgements too tightly. This is a hard one so buckle up. The new saloon owner comes to town and they’ve written his story to be pretty mysterious when he first comes to town (season 6). While the mystery is revealed and he turns out to be honorable, there are a lot of people that cannot see past the initial judgement of his character. We are so quick to do this in our own lives too, aren’t we? How often do we make snap judgements about people and then hang on to those for dear life? Why do we camp in our frozen perceptions of people. We miss out on their real story when we write our own for them.
Love grows in the small moments together. Love grows in the way we treat each other. It grows in the way we encourage one another in our gifts. It grows in the way we share our lives with one another. It grows when we mess up and say we’re sorry and try again. It grows in special time planned together, whether a fancy outing or a picnic in the grass. It grows with a simple walk. It grows when we say, “I choose you” and we keep making that same choice every day. The most beautiful love story on television (in my opinion) is told with the relationship of Elizabeth and Lucas. They fall in love in the everyday moments together. What a beautiful picture of what love is. “Love isn’t just a feeling or an emotion, it’s a choice.”
Some great lessons for all of us, don’t you think?
If you are interested in watching When Calls the Heart or catching up on back episodes, here are a few ways:
- Canada – SuperChannel
- United States – Hallmark Channel
- To purchase, I recommend Edify Store, which has special bonus features with their DVDs. I’ve seen them at the Dollar Store and Walmart as well!
RELATED:
My First Weekend Without Kids + What It Was Like to Meet Hallmark Stars
