Star Bellied Sneeches

On December 12, 2004, this world lost one of the most beautiful, inspiring women that ever lived. She was not an international, national or even state wide star, but locally and in the hearts of those who knew her, she was brilliant, shining and alive. She left behind a legacy of memories and a hole in my heart so big that I don’t think I will ever be whole again I have several plastic tubs full of her Sunday School lessons, written out by hand. I plan to take these lessons and type them up some day so that all of her children and grandchildren can have a copy of these. I find great comfort in reading these notebooks and every time I read one I wish she was here to discuss it with. So instead, I am going to share snippets of her lessons occasionally and then add my thoughts to them on paper, share them with you and in this way, the humor and wit and kindness and wisdom of my beautiful mama didn’t die with her.

Here is an excerpt from one of her lessons:
When I was a little girl, I loved to dress up and pretend I was a famous somebody. In fact, I spent most of my life wishing I could be like someone else. Feeling inferior, so much that I wanted to hide and not let people see me, much less know me. But God came into my life and He is in the business of changing lives and He showed me that He loved me just like I was.
When my Grandson Christopher was a little boy, he would come to my house and he would always go to the video store and rent this Dr. Seuss tape. “Star Belly Sneeches” is the name of the tape. It’s a great little story. Seems this group of sneeches on the beach all have stars on their bellies. The other group of sneeches do not. The star bellied sneeches think they are better, because of their stars and the plain bellied sneeches mope around the beach wishing they could have a star on their belly. Then along comes a sly man with a “Star On Machine”. The plain bellied sneeches go through this machine and come out with stars on their bellies. The status symbol is gone. They are all alike. Confusion is everywhere until the original star bellied sneeches realize how silly the game of “SNOB” was and “I WISH I” was and so they become equal in one anothers eyes. God gives gifts to his people! They do not come all polished and finished. His gifts are all different. They usually lie dormant until we develop them. It becomes a challenge, a fulfillment of life to find and use the talent God has given us. We should embrace and celebrate our differences.


A few week before my mom died, I asked her about the star bellied sneeches story she had used for her Sunday School lesson because I remember her telling me the lesson she was teaching using that book and I wanted to use it in a skit I was developing to present at my Church She got up from her bed that day and weakly made her way to the bookshelf and found the book for me. And we talked in length about the story and about life and the different talents each of us have and how no one ever seems satisfied with what they have.

Her lesson touched on a lot of different things, not just the envy that we have of others. She touched on the willingness to be ordinary because its easier to sit back and let life lead us instead of getting out and embracing life and fighting to use our talents in a world where competition is overwhelming. My mother may have wanted to be someone else when she was a little girl, but she ended up exactly where God wanted her to be. After years of wanting to sing but not having the perfect voice or even a choir worthy voice she opened a barn where her plan was to let anyone that wanted to sing, sing. She got tired of the Churches she attended turning away everyone but the best of singers and musicians. When she died, her picture made the front page of the local paper with the headline Gospel Barn founder dies. What a smile that would have brought to her face. She poured her heart and soul and her desire for everyone that wanted to to be able to sing to the Lord into the Sonshine Gospel Barn. Her voice opened every show. Her voice was far from what the world deems vocal perfection. Her voice though was pure and simple worship and love for God.

I have struggled in my own life to find my place, to find what God has for me. I wrote a song once called “What’s your Plan for me?” the words begging God to just tell me because truly I don’t know. Even today, at age 52 I don’t fully know God’s plan. What I do know is that I pray daily for the guidance to be where and who God wants me to be. The willingness is there. I want to discover the talent that God has placed uniquely in me and use it.

Maybe the talent that lies within us is not the one we would have chosen. But we don’t have that choice. God made each of us for a purpose. Jeremiah 29:13 says I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, plans to bring you hope and a future. Never did that scripture mean so much to me than when my beloved family was devastated by divorce. When my husband left me for another woman, I believed that my life was over. But out of every trial there is another life lesson learned. Without having experienced the pain and devastation of losing someone I loved and seeing that over time I was able to find peace and joy and love again, I would not have been able to bear the loss of my beloved mother. I learned that even in grief, there is hope.

And I know that I am a unique child of God. There is no one else like me. And no one else I’d rather be.