REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM Joy Patton From Ice Queen to Princess
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Tinkerbell
A poem by Joy Patton
I am a tinkerbell.
Come to me, I’ll make you well.
I have the solution, you will see.
Just follow steps one, two and three.
I will tinker with your heart
And give it back in parts.
I am a tinkerbell.
I am a worry wart
Anxious about things that aren’t.
I fret and worry all night long
Afraid that it will all go wrong.
I will worry for your little heart
And quietly take it all apart.
I am a worry wart.
I’d rather be a carry-well
With no goods to sell.
The only thing I know to do
Is carry you to One who’s True.
He will heal your soul,
Only He can make you whole.
I’d rather be the carry-well.
(If you don’t like it when Christians explain their art, you can stop reading. If you don’t mind it, feel free to continue.)
Are you a tinker bell? I have discovered that I like to tinker with people and situations. I spend a lot of time analyzing people and situations and trying to make them better. It’s part of how I escape the reality of my own brokenness. It’s part of what allows me to sit in a seat of self-righteous pride oblivious to my own problems. Either way the art of tinkering stems from unbelief. I don’t believe that God is big enough or powerful enough to act in the situation. Therefore I must step in and save the day. This is how the Ice Queen thinks. She tinkers so that she can fix, and ultimately control, the people around her. She operates under the belief that she knows what is best and has the solution to the problem. I am ashamed to admit that I have a trail of relationships that I have messed up with my tinkering attitude.
Are you a worry wart? I have found that when my tinkering can’t fix a situation, I resort to worrying instead. I spend much time worrying and planning for “what would happen if…” Worry keeps me trapped in fear and despair, unable to move or make a decision. I don’t believe there is a God who sees or knows or cares about me in my hopeless situation. Surely he has bigger problems to solve than mine. This is how the Orphan thinks. She worries because she feels powerless to do anything else. She doesn’t believe she has a Father who will take care of her and the people around her. I’m ashamed to admit that I worry far too often about far too much. Even now I am stuck, unable to move, lacking hope.
Are you a carry-well? I have found that whether I tinker or worry, prayer is the answer. By its very nature, prayer requires that I admit that there is Someone bigger and more powerful than me who can handle the situation. I’m forced to admit that I don’t have the answer to the problem, and as I pray, my heart begins to trust the One who does. When my Ice Queen and Orphan patterns start to get the best of me, I must remember that I am a Princess with access to the great King Father. Like the friends of the paralytic in Mark 2, the Princess carries the people and situations around her to the King Father, believing that he has the solution. So rather than tinker or worry, I must carry it all to Jesus. I must choose to believe that God sees, that He cares and that He loves. I must believe that he is powerful enough to overcome any obstacle. I will carry it all to him and lay it at his feet over and over again even when my head says to run the other way, my feet must go. I choose to believe.
So are you a tinkerbell, a worry wart or a carry-well? What will you carry into the throne room today?
Fellowship Moms 