Mary Poppins

Have you seen Mary Poppins? When we sat down to watch it with Olivia the other day, I was surprised to discover that my husband had never seen it!  Oh, what memories! I LOVED Mary Poppins as a kid! My best friend had a huge screen tv (unheard of in those days!) and HBO, so we got to watch lots of movies. Because supervision was minimal there, we watched a lot of stuff we had no business watching. I learned lots of new bad words there. I also watched stuff that kept me up at night it was so scary. I also learned a lot of things about sex and relationships that is STILL being unlearned to this day. But Mary Poppins was such a breath of fresh air!!

Before all the wrong lessons had been learned and my language had been corrupted, there was Mary Poppins. Before I fell in love with the impossibly handsome Danny Zuko in Grease (who really just wanted to get into Sandy's pants), there was Bert, the gentle, down to earth friend of, you guessed it, Mary Poppins. Bert  was a nice guy. He was handsome, too, in a very likeable way. He knew how to have fun, but never at someone else's expense. He was an accomplished sidewalk artist, chimney sweep, one man band, you name it. He thought the world of Mary Poppins, and there are moments in the film where we can see that the feeling was mutual. I always loved the way they looked at each other in the chalk drawing scene as they danced and sang, thoroughly enjoying one another's company. There were no inappropriate attempts. No sultry eyes. No breaking the rules. No compromise.

Don't we all want a relationship like that? I had totally forgotten about Bert, since the world had come in and ruined my dream for a "nice guy." All those Danny Zukos' attempts to get in my pants stole my dream for Bert, the perfect gentleman. For a long time, I stopped believing he even existed, so I didn't even look. The world would have me believe that there is no one like that. That's a dangerous spot, because the realest and deepest desire was never for Bert, but for the only One who is everthing I could ever desire or need.

Jesus is my bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16) He is my shepherd. (John 10:11) He is my protector. (Luke 1:69) He is my best and kindest friend. (John 15:15) He is always faithful to me. (Hebrews 3:6) I can trust Him. He is the gentleman who enjoys my company and loves me so completely that He died to make sure we could be together forever. He is the lover of my very soul. I'm so grateful that even when I gave up on ever finding Him, He never gave up on me. (Romans 5:8) And now that He's taught me a little something about what real love looks like, He's finally given me an earthly "Bert" to love, honor, and protect me here. Even through all the lies the world had to offer, the real Truth still shines bright and clear.

Thank You, Lord, for being the very best of everything to me. Thank You that, even when I lost my dream of ever finding You, You were still there. Please never let me forget all the feelings this movie brought back to me. Thank You that there is a Prince Charming, and that His name is Jesus.

In His wonderful love,
Amy

copyright 2010, Amy Wallace