If you know the tune, sing along: “In my own little corner in my own little chair, I can be whatever I want to be.” This song from Cinderella provided the backdrop for many Saturday afternoons of laughter and cleaning as it blared from the campus radio station and into my dorm room at the small, Christian, liberal arts university I attended. To this day, many years later, I can still sing every word—and probably still with the exact intonation used in the recording!

I’ve thought about this song recently when considering my new season of life that is playing out in a more introvertive way than previous seasons. Don’t misunderstand me: I positively love my role as a freelance proofreader and copy editor and writer. And I have come to appreciate the ability to embrace the quietness of a work life spent building my client base through many hours of diligent learning, training, and hard work.

My “work area” is located in the corner of my designated office space, so perhaps that’s why I find myself singing Cinderella’s monologue so often! However, I’ve also come to see the importance of geting out of that corner—both physically and mentally. While Cinderella’s song referred to being able to use her creativity and her imagination to mentally leave her awful reality, I humbly and gratefully admit that my reality is blessed and filled with the grace that comes from a God Who provides far above all that I could ask or even think!

But there’s a take-away from Cinderella’s song that I’m seeing more each day. When I stay within the confines of my “own little world,” I can see myself (through my imaginary, see-into-the-future glasses) as an inspirational writer, a requested copy editor, a rising industry specialist for proofreading, and many other titles which I can and should strive to achieve. But there’s a world outside of my own in which there are inspirational writers with more blog followers than can be comprehended (I have several new friends whose readership exceeds one hundred thousand; a few are nearing one million or more!) and there are copy editors and proofreaders whose client lists include large corporations or world-influencing individuals who pay them more for one job then I make in a month. And that’s awesome! I love that they provide motivation and encouragement for me to keep working hard—as they did in order to achieve their goals!

So, why does my title say that Cinderella needs to leave her corner? I want to share three brief points that answer that question:

1) We must open our eyes to those around us. Even if we can’t go to Togo, West Africa or Bristol, England to share the good news of God’s love, we can provide funds, material goods, and prayer time for those God sends to other locations to accomplish His work. We can “leave” by looking outside the confines of “our own little world.”

These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. -Luke 10:2, NLT

2. We must not be fooled into thinking that our worlds only revolve around us. Serving at a shelter, helping the elderly with now-difficult household chores, or even sending a card or e-mail of encouragement from within the confines of our homes are ways that we can increase our borders and expand our reach. In reaching out, we demonstrate the love we have received from God and extend our influence and our focus into a world that revolves the same for everyone!

But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. I Thessalonians 4:9, NLT

3. We must remember that comparing ourselves by our own standards—i.e., by the litle bit that is visible to us from within our own four walls—is not wise. Do what you are supposed to do, where you are, and encourage others—whose reach may be smaller or greater than your own—as they strive to do the same!

…when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. II Corinthians 10:12, NASB

So even if you can’t leave your home, get out of that corner and see the world around you—a world that needs you to use your skills, talents, and abilities to help show the love of God and share the Good News of Jesus Christ!

It was school picture day. For me, the elementary music teacher in a small Christian School in the Detroit area, that meant my normal routine would be somewhat unpredictable because the day’s class schedule would be controlled largely by how quickly—or how slowly—the photographer worked.

More importantly, and in reality, that day’s schedule was controlled by the fact that on that very morning, as children in Detroit smiled into a camera that captured the innocence of a single moment, thousands of lives in New York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania were, without warning, being deprived of the opportunity to experience another moment.

Though I wish that the clatter of my fingers on the keyboard was the result of being able to somehow type out a well-worded explanation for why God allowed this dreadful event in the history of America to happen—a question that still lingers these twelve years later—I am unable to do that. Only God knows and understands His ways. I understand human ways and human reactions, and I know what I would do—or what I hope I would do—if faced with world-changing decisions.

But I’m not God. The fact that I don’t “get it” makes Him all the more amazing to me because I know that He does truly “get it.” He sees the big picture.

And so I trust Him in this moment with a trust He earned not by hatefully causing death but by lovingly suffering and enduring His own cruel death at the hands of others. For in that moment, He provided the forgiveness I so desperately need for the wrongs I have done and for the sin into which I was born.

So on this 9/11, I will live to honor Him, trust Him, and return that love to Him—for this is the only moment I am guaranteed.

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