Last week, we talked about faith, and the message our children can learn from Poppy’s almost indestructible faith. This week, I’d like to talk about what happens when that indestructible faith gets broken down, or at least, what happened in Poppy’s case.
In our introduction to Poppy, her personality quickly shines. She has a real gift for lifting people up. Even Branch, who thinks she is ridiculous, we later discover has saved every party invitation she has ever given him, even though he never goes.
She is an encouraging spirit, who sees the best in others. We watch as she exhibits faith in unlikely characters such as Branch, the realist who reminds her of all the ways she could fail, and Bridget, a Bergen who is put in charge of getting the Trolls ready for a dinner in which they are the main course.
We see this behavior throughout the whole story. Poppy is even so encouraging to Bridget, that something big changes in Bridget’s heart, but we’ll get to that later. What is important to take notice of occurs at the end, when Poppy loses the faith and hope that has been driving her throughout this journey. She becomes exhausted, drained of all her bubbly energy that was keeping her spirits alive.
What happens here? Those that she has been building up all along, encouraging in faith and hope, turn to rally around her. They lift her up, led by her biggest skeptic, Branch himself. They remind her of who she is, and that there is always hope.
To me, this speaks to the importance of fellowship. We are not always going to exude love, faith, and all things good. We are not always going to be at our best. But it is important, that when we fall, when we’re hurting, when we don’t even feel like getting back up; we know that we are not in this alone. Poppy made even the loneliest of loners feel like he was a part of something, inviting him to every party, knowing he wouldn’t attend. And when she fell apart, he was there to remind her of all the reasons there are to be happy, and that she had taught him that.
In a spiritual sense, every now and then we all need a little reminding of who we are in Christ. When you do, it is nice to be surrounded by those who know your heart and your gifts best. Life does not always work out as it does in a well rounded, tied up in a neat little bow, film. This we know, but fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ is super important, through the great, and the not so great. If we build each other up and pray for one another, we give each other strength in the Lord. And you never know when you might find yourself needing that strength more than ever.
Last week, I found myself in a very awkward (to me) situation, with friends of mine from church offering to come clean my house. Now, the short back story to this, is that two weeks prior, I ended up in the hospital with crippling back pain because of cleaning the bathrooms. That’s right. My injuries are now the result of housework, instead of fun sports. But I digress.
We had Charlotte’s family birthday party coming up, and I just couldn’t clean everything the way I wanted. I hadn’t even asked for help (which I am learning there isn’t shame in), but these sweet friends offered sincerely, and I awkwardly accepted. They were such a wonderful blessing to me and my family, and a true testament to fellowship in all it’s forms. We turned up some music, I did what I could above waist level, and even the kids pitched in, confused though they were as to why our friends were cleaning for us.
It was a lesson in humility, fellowship, love, and service, and taught my whole family what it truly means to serve others with a loving heart.
Who are you building up? Who are you lifting up in prayer? Who are you connecting with and building relationships with? What are the words you are feeding others, as well as yourself? Be the troll. Build people up with encouragement, prayer, and joy. In turn, allow yourself to be built up by others when you need it. This sort of fellowship creates a powerful team to battle the ever growing opposition in this world.