God sometimes speaks to me through children’s movies. On a recent afternoon in the middle of Kung Fu Panda, a favorite Bicknell boys flick, God showed me my sinful tendacy to be a “way getter” instead of a “way giver.” This happened primarily during the scene where the wise old turtle Master Ooway is blowing out candles. There are thousands of candles and the old turtle is barely moving each wick with his soft breath. Master Shifu, the little red panda who reminds me of myself because of his impatience, can’t stand the wait of all those candles, so he rips around in a flash extinguising the flames for Master Ooway.

It’s not really the candles bothering Master Shifu. Impatience is just a symptom of his problem. Shifu is all anxious over the Dragon Warrior. It has been Shifu’s job to train the Furious Five. The intent is that one of these Kung Fu fighters of the Furious Five will become the Dragon Warrior. Master Ooway tells Master Shifu that not only will the Dragon Warrior bring peace to the valley, the Dragon Warrior will bring peace to Shifu as well. For the valley and Shifu have the same enemy: Tai Lung. Tai Lung was once Master’s Shifu’s beloved student, but evil was found in Tai Lung and Master Ooway rejected him as the Dragon Warrior. Tai Lung is now bent on revenge and only the true Dragon Warrior can defeat Tai Lung.

But this blog isn’t about the Dragon Warrior, or maybe in a way it is…

In the Bible, God’s great adversary Satan is known as the dragon. Revelation 20:2 says, “He (God) seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan and bound him for a thousand years.”

So the real Dragon Warrior is Jesus. It is Jesus who will defeat the dragon and bring peace to the valley and to the anxious little red panda. What the little red panda Shifu needs to do is surrender and wait. Instead of being a “way getter” he needs to learn to be a “way giver” and let the real Dragon Warrior deal with the enemy.

Like the little red panda, all my life I’ve fought to have my way. My husband calls me the “getter done girl.” This week I went to the Roseville mall with my mom and my three-year-old son. We weren’t going to shop, our mission was to get some makeup at Macy’s and I was only along for the ride since I’m suppose to be taking it easy. My mom likes to do the driving. My son is determined to steer as well. On top of this, I am eight months pregnant. There isn’t a patient bone in my body right now. Only a trip to Walmart with young and old would have proved more challenging. On this outing, I kept reminding myself to be a “way giver.” Oh how I need to learn to rest and trust and wait on the Lord to change me and to change those I love. There is a spirit of control in me that so needs to be broken once and for all.

This is becoming more clear than ever as I struggle to parent Cami and Lacy, our nearly grown daughters. I used to always hear how hard it was to raise teenage girls. We didn’t experience this in our home. Our girls have been a dream until recently. The other night I found myself watching the clock waiting for Cami, a sophomore in college, to come home. By two in the morning, I was not a happy camper. To Cami’s credit, she’d texted her dad letting him and I know that she was safe, just out dancing with her Christian friends in Roseville… Christians don’t dance! They do Bible study together and go to bed early… See the anxiety growing in this little red panda? Actually I don’t have a problem with dancing. I have a problem with letting my nearly 20 year old daughter find her own way on her journey of faith. Why can’t Cami just listen to me and stay on my well-defined faith trail?

So there I am at two in the morning in God’s ear telling the Creator of Heaven and Earth what He needs to do with Cami as if I know it all. Not only am I trying to control Cami, I’m trying to control God and it is exhausting, especially since I’m ready-to-pop-pregnant at 43 years old experiencing a pregnancy that, as always, is out of my control.

And the Dragon Warrior Jesus is so sweet in the stillness of the night. “Rest and trust,” He tells me. “I will bring peace to the valley and peace to you,” He whispers to my heart. “Stop trying to get your way, and just give way to me. Be still and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10.