By G. P. Avants

 

Watching the trailers for Toy Story 4 I wasn’t sure about this next chapter. I wasn’t impressed. However, I have faith in Pixar and their craft at stories with real substance.

 

My faith was well-placed.

We get a flashback to the day when Bo Peep left Andy’s home. We all know that she and Woody had a sweet relationship going in for years. So, it wasn’t surprising when Woody wanted to drop into her box and run away. But Andy’s cry reminded Woody that he was still needed. That was the last time they ever thought they would see each other.

Fast forward to our favorite toys life in the present.

They have a new life, new friends, and new issues. Bonnie is going to kindergarten and her favorite playmates have changed. Woody is no longer picked for playtime. He has been left in the closet three times in a row. He knows life is changing, But even when his future is uncertain , Woody still is looking out for other toys and their well-being. Being that unwavering  sheriff and rescuer of forgotten toys has been a task Woody has taken seriously.

As the story changes he finds himself in that role of a lost and forgotten toy. However, in his own hour of need he sees the light, cast by a familiar lamp. Bo Peep reappears as a rescuer of lost toys. She has changed from her earlier life of puffy dresses and demour quietness to a battle ready soldier living in the wild. Woody can’t believe what she has become and where Bo’s life has taken her. Yet, she taught him that life isn’t predictable, fair, or might end with a neat and clean happy ending. In the end Woody got to take a leap of faith himself into an unknown future, but certain that his journey is really about to begin.

Isn’t if funny that a sheriff and a shepherdess become the champions of the lost and forgotten? Together they have found a greater purpose beyond Andy’s playroom. What started from simple origins has spread to the wider wilder world outside. These two learned all the wonderful lessons of friendship, love, loyalty, family, etc. but not every child or toy had that experience. But armed with that passion, calling as it were, these two can now impact the world like one else. They could have let the hardness of being cast off turn them angry and bitter or broken in the inside feeling unloved and locked away. Both are free to help free others. I can see BoPeep smile as she and Woody help find lost sheep and get them to a loving home.

I wonder how many people who claim to have faith play it safe? The playroom is a safe place for children to learn about elementary lessons about life. But we don’t spend our whole life there. We are meant to live out our faith in a wider wilder world, trusting God to be with us all the way. There are too many lost toys who need to experience what a real loving home is like. You might get to be a Woody or Bo or part of a team that leads others to their Eternal Father’s home. If there was ever a time to have these heroic people step into the light it’s now.

Are you ready to be a rescuer of lost lives?