A Lesson in Contentment from Tinkerbell

My husband had a work party one evening so I decided it would be in everyone’s best interest to have a pizza and movie night. My daughter couldn’t have agreed more. She helped me make the pizza by eating most of the ingredients before it was in the oven and excitedly sat on the couch while we scrolled through the endless list of Disney+ movie options.

She enthusiastically chose Tinkerbell, an origin story of the beloved Disney character.

In the movie, Tinkerbell is brought to Pixie Hollow where she is presented with an array of objects that represent the gifts of fairies. One by one, she approaches each gift, but they fade at her touch. Until she passes a hammer. It lights up and bursts into a small fireworks display when she grabs hold of it.

She has found her gift. She is a Tinker fairy.

The group of Tinker fairies excitedly introduce themselves to her and begin to show her around Pixie Hollow as they make their way to the home of the Tinker Fairies. After passing the impressive Water Fairies, Nature Fairies, and Light Fairies, the Tinker Fairies bring her to a stunningly colorful meadow. Tinkerbell is thrilled to see her new home, until her new friends adjust her sights to a ditch in front of the meadow. This is where her new home would be.

She then begins to understand that her job is to make things for other fairies - kettles, tools, knick knacks etc. She quickly begins to lose any excitement she held when she realizes that her role is not nearly as magical as the other fairies around her.

Without giving away the rest of the movie, Tinkerbell desperately tries to learn the gifts of other fairies in hopes of changing her station and living the extraordinary life she believes she’s destined to hold. These attempts lead to disaster after disaster until the whole of Pixie Hollow is threatened to be brought down. It isn’t until Tinkerbell embraces her gift and she beautifully fulfills her role and saves the day.

Ok, so I did basically giveaway the rest of the movie. My bad.

My daughter loved it and I enjoyed the time I got to spend with her cuddled up on the couch. But the next day, my mind kept wandering to the scene where Tinkerbell sees her home for the first time. I wasn’t sure why the scene had stuck until it finally dawned on me that I’ve been in her same position.

For Tinkerbell, it was the promise of her new and exciting life as a Tinker Fairy. For me, it was the positive pregnancy test we had with Selah and the promise of a growing family. For Tinkerbell, she saw the beautiful meadow ahead and was thrilled by the splashes of color and the beauty of the flowers. For me, it was the dreams of family camping trips, Disney singalongs, and snuggly bedtime stories.

And for Tinkerbell, all those hopes slightly shattered when she was faced with the ditch she was meant to live in and the mountains of mundane and seemingly unimportant work that stood before her.

For me, it was the same. Though I’m excited to say we don’t live in a ditch, just a crumb-filled, ever-messy, very loud home.

It is easy for me to stare at the mundaneness of this season and forget that it is a gift. It is easy for me to forget that this work is important. It is easy for me to look at others and see the beauty of the season they are in and forget about the beauty in mine.

But regardless of the mundaneness, the mess, or the endless work that goes unnoticed, motherhood is a gift. It comes with the important work of raising the children God has given you. This work and this gift are huge blessings! But the beauty of the blessing can get lost in the lack-luster, mundane day-to-day challenges we didn’t expect.

This discontentment can be fueled by the social media snapshots we see into other’s lives that leave out the mess behind the camera. It can be easily justified when sleep is elusive and crying is constant. It can call our attentions away from the gift we have been given and set them on the ‘if onlys’ and ‘what ifs’ of greener grass.

The roots of discontentment can so easily take hold of our hearts. But this is not the call God gives us as believers.

The apostle Paul had deeply engaged in the battle of discontentment but walked through it bearing incredible gospel fruit:

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10

Paul was faced with seasons and trials that were ripe for discontentment. He lived hungry and was in want. He was given a thorn in his flesh that tormented him. But in all of it, he immediately turned to Christ. He recognized what you and I need to cling to: Christ is the source of our contentment, not our circumstances.

Jesus Christ justified our souls so that we might have peace with God (Romans 5:1). God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us from here until eternity (John 14:16). And we are left with the incredible promises that all things will be made new, our tears will be wiped away, and our sorrows will be no more (Revelation 21:4-5).

This is the source of our contentment. It is through Christ that we receive our strength because through Christ our souls have been saved! He is our hope in the hopeless seasons. He is our strength when we are at our wit’s end. He is our joy when the life we’re living looks different than the life we planned.

Discontentment stirs when we lose sight of this and set those sights on our circumstances. We forget that motherhood is a gift because it doesn’t often feel like it is. We forget that our work is important because it often goes by unnoticed. We forget that we are worthy and valued and loved because we look for that validation in outward praise when we need to seek in from our perfect Savior.

Motherhood is a gift. It is messy, it is trying, it is hard, but it is a gift. Don’t let the ditch of this season draw your sights away from what God has called you to. Run to Christ. Preach the gospel to yourself over and over again. Let the hardships refine you to reflect your Savior. And don’t let discontentment steal the weight of what God has done in your life and the work he has called you to do.

Living in discontentment didn’t work out for Tinkerbell and I assure you, it won’t work out for us.