"Balancing Your Life" Class Lesson #1

“Very Busy Barbie, Chatty Cathy and Thumbelina…Are You a Doll or a Disciple?”
Did you grow you playing with a lot of different dolls? I wasn’t much of a “doll girl” as I preferred rougher outdoor activities but there are a few dolls I can still vividly remember. As I look back on these various dolls a flood of memories come back-some very pleasant but some painful. The good memories include the anticipation of the giant Barbie Doll house on Christmas Eve at my Mama’s house. Painful memories include the realization in Jr. High that your body resembles Ken more than Barbie!
As a middle-aged woman of two sons I am decades removed from playing with dolls but I can’t help but notice the “doll-like” tendencies that I and many women can fall prey to. My personal favorite is “Very Busy Barbie” who I introduced to our Wednesday night Bible study class a few months ago. I was in a local flea market when I ran across a ‘Little Golden Book’ entitled “Very Busy Barbie”. It made for a great lesson on the spiritually lethal effects of busyness. When our Father repeatedly in His Word warns us to “be still” (Psalm 46:10) you can bet that the enemy of our soul will repeatedly in his world urge us to “be busy.” Busyness kills a life of faith and it sucks the majority of well-meaning Christian women right in. It’s like a slow steady undertow and one is sucked out into the world before she ever notices it. The only remedy is the Word of truth but she’s too busy to get in it or too busy to really stay in it. Oh yes, it may be a legalistic 5-15 minute devotional to appease her conscience but it’s far from intimacy with the Almighty. Busyness is a drug, a charm, it demands more and more. She has even begun to brag about it to all her friends. She mistakenly thinks it makes her a better mom but nothing could be further from the truth. Very Busy Barbie is raising very busy children in a very busy family in a very busy world. Jesus stands ready to rescue those willing to get off the treadmill of busyness. “Come unto me, all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 26:28-30)
The next doll I remember from childhood belonged to Kittie, my older and only sister. “Chatty Cathy” was the coolest doll a girl could get for Christmas that year. She had a flesh-colored plastic ring coming out of the back of her neck. When you pulled it a 12-inch string extended and when released slowly recoiled back into Cathy’s neck causing her to of course chat one of several preprogrammed sentences. Yes, she was a chatty Cathy and that is just all that she could do to entertain. Her clothes weren’t changeable. Her limbs didn’t change positions. She didn’t have anything else going for her except that mouth. She was fun enough initially but by New Years Eve I’d heard about as much of her predictable chatting that I could stand. My weapon of choice was the sharpest kitchen knife and yes she never spoke in the New Year. I’m not sure that my sister and I have ever recovered. Spiritually “Chatty Cathy” is sister to “Very Busy Barbie.” You see they have the same demonic Daddy. Cathy might not be physically very busy but the effects are the same because she is always busy in her mind-busy talking out loud or busy talking to herself. Cathy’s mind is not “still”. Since her mind is not still there is no way she can “fix her thoughts on Jesus”(Hebrews 3:1). She doesn’t have a clue what her heavenly Father’s voice sounds like. She goes through life hanging out with Barbies or other Cathys and although she wouldn’t admit it because she’s not programmed for honesty and transparency, she actually is constantly comparing herself to the Barbies and other Cathys. Sadly she compares her spouse and children as well but moves right along chatting appropriate preprogrammed messages. Chatty Cathy looks and talks like a sweet Christian doll but her heart is not full of the only thing that will ever completely satisfy her-that still Spirit in perfect union with The Father. Her Father just wants her mind and mouth to be still so he can tell her how much He loves her. He sent His Son to die for her and to leave His parting gift, the person of the Holy Spirit to live in and through her (John 14:16). He wants to use her mind and her mouth for His glory alone but she won’t be still long enough to be in filled with His Spirit and presence. What He wants of Cathy is the same that He wants of Barbie-a totally surrendered heart. The perfect heart is a heart that is surrendered to His will not a heart with perfect actions. When Cathy gives Him her heart completely He will change her chatty behavior. Only He can open her up and totally transform her into His image. That’s His job. She just trusts Him and stays still before Him.
The last doll I ever remember having was actually my doll. This was the first and the last baby doll I ever received. Her name was Baby Thumbelina. She was a plump infant in appearance and you could take her thumb and stick it into the small hole in her mouth. She had a wind up knob on her back and when turned and then released her little head would move. She did nothing else. She didn’t cry. She didn’t talk. She was limp except for the head movement when wound up. She looked better with her thumb stuck in her mouth so the hole wouldn’t show. You couldn’t change her clothes either. She stayed the same. I would take the “magic milk bottle” and replace it for her thumb. I know you remember the “magic milk bottle”-turned upside down it would appear that the baby was really drinking the milk. I loved those bottles; the orange juice was my personal favorite. Baby Thumbelina arrived on Christmas morning one year and I was completely bored with her by the 28th. As you could predict I headed for the kitchen to retrieve the sharpest knife to start the exploratory surgery on Thumbelina’s back. She never moved again. The spiritual analogy with this baby must be apparent and understood as one of the greatest dangers facing many believers. Baby Christians must grow up and change. Milk is for a season only and then they must feed themselves meat to survive (Hebrews 5:13-14). When the baby was not drinking milk she was sucking her thumb. This represents us literally sucking, being preoccupied and pacified with self. A true believer and follower of Christ Jesus must drink in the milk of His forgiveness, love, and eternal life but then must eat the meat of the crucified life-the “John 3:30 life” – “He must increase; but I must decrease.” The thumb must be replaced with the meat of the Word and fullness of the Holy Spirit to empower one to live the sold out life, not a life consumed with pacifying self. We must be about the business of making disciples inside and outside of our homes not the busyness of a self-serving life.
The remembrance and analogies represented by these three dolls are a wakeup call for me. How quickly I can turn into one of them. If I miss eating my meat for even a day I’m at risk to become Very Busy Barbie or Chatty Cathy. If I miss eating the meat for days in a row I revert back to a Baby Thumbelina-wanting someone else to feed me my bottle or just content to suck on my thumb. Father God loves us and has called us all to be His disciples not His dolls. Are we willing to give up our childish doll ways and follow Him with our whole hearts? Ask Him to do an exploratory surgery on your heart. I promise that you won’t miss those dolls for a second. You’re in for the time of your life.
Ann Allen Salter
May 4, 2008