There are a few shows that I love to watch. There is one particular show that at first I had a love/hate relationship with. Nobody in my house will even be in the room when it is on. I have literally sobbed during episodes at times but I just could not stop watching it. There is something about the real life injected into this show and how it weaves it all together from the present and the past that just has kept me watching it through the years.
After an incredible nap today on this Sunday during COVID-19 quarantine life (which is not normal for me), I was scrolling through my recorded shows to find something to watch and found that I somehow I missed seeing the season finale nearly a month ago of this show. Life was sure different a month ago.
This Is Us. A show about life. The good, the bad and the ugly. It is filled with love, joy, anger, pain, everything in between and then it starts all over again. How all of those things fit together and make you the person that you are. The family that you are. How a family of people raised in the same house with the same circumstances are impacted so differently and tell a different story from the same events of their family history. How the events of your life impact every ounce of being you become and how you can choose to let them define you or change you.
The show flips back and forth between the present day life of this family and the past from their individual perspectives. Though there have been a few things sprinkled throughout the series about the future of this family, the final episode of the season really starts to show you a glimpse of the lives of some of the actual people born from the decisions we have watched unfold throughout the series.
It was a blatant reminder that the future of the decisions and events that are made or happen in a split second can literally impact a lifetime. Not only a lifetime of a person but the entire line and creation of a family. (I would inject some examples here but would not want to spoil the viewing experience of anyone that has not watched the show. By the way, if you need a quarantine binge watch you can start here…but I would warn you to grab some tissues.)
I found myself literally smiling today during those glimpses of the future and seeing the faces of the people born or impacted by those moments in years past. Some of those moments intentional and some….not so much. We have all had some of both of those. Those who have been watching this series about this family unfold, have been watching the present and the past and then got to jump to the future and see some of the life and good that came from the it all. There was a man on the show that said something so profound it caused me to stop what I was doing and grab my computer to start typing. He was referring to a song that he sang during one of the saddest moments of his life and then again during one of the happiest moments of his life.
“That song made us happy, it made us sad, it made us happy again — the whole human experience wrapped up in that one song…the trick is not trying to keep the joys and the tragedies apart. You’ve got to let them…coexist…If you can…forge ahead with all that joy and heartache mixed up together inside of you, never knowing which one’s gonna get the upper hand…life has a way of shaking out to be more beautiful than tragic.” ~ Dr. K
Life right now is uncertain in the midst of the war of this disease our world is facing. Things happening right now will impact lives, families, business, churches, governments, communities, states, countries and our world forever. We are living in a time that will go down in the history books as something that at moments is like a Sci-Fi movie. Something like what we have read about in history of the past that we could not imagine what they went through. Well we are here. Right in the middle of a story that will be in history as a story of tragedy, a story of loss, a story of hope, a story of determination, a story of courage, a story of rebuilding, a story of family and a story of victory.
Every individual story will be different during this time. The same situation will play out in lives around the world for a person but will result in different outcomes. Partially because of opportunity. Partially because of the drive of a person. Partially because of simply how a person was raised. The reality is that we are all a product of a mix of historical good and bad that we will probably never truly understand the how or why behind or where it started originally. The one thing that I do know is that each person has the ability to decide the way in which they will live out their destiny. The way in which they will endure the tragedy in their life.
Today I am thankful for “The Moment” that changed my life. I am thankful for the “Hope” that I have always clung to in my marriage to take us to the place we are today. I am thankful that though I did not have a relationship with my earthly father, there is “Hope for the Fatherless” centered around my Heavenly Father, Jesus. I am thankful for people who take the time to make sure they can impact people through as many moments as possible like “Two Sisters. Changing Lives” and for people that have come into my life for a season to teach me about things like “Puzzles. Autism. Love.” I am thankful for every study I have done or taught over the years that have helped me do things like how to “Get Over Yourself” and get on with my purpose.
What will you make of these moments during this time and how will you let them shape the story of your life? Think for a moment about the impact that your decisions might have not only on you, but your children and your grandchildren. Those that are already born and on this earth and those that are not even in human existence yet. What legacy will you create?
The Call 