Two Sisters, One Hero

My girls love the movie Frozen.

What's not to love about it?

There is a great plot with unforeseen twists.

The music is catchy. Seriously, it's next to impossible to get out of your head. (How many times during the Polar Vortex did you hear "Do you wanna build a snow man..."?)

It's a great movie!

Until you have two girls...who both want to be Elsa.

If you haven't seen the movie I won't spoil it for you, but Elsa has an awesome super power that enables her to create snow and ice (along with glittery dresses and life) from the palm of her hands. Throw in being a gorgeous blonde and the best music sequence in the film and you have two girls fighting over who gets to be Elsa. (Heck, sometimes I join in because I want to be her.)

Anna, the younger sister, is special in her own right; but she is no Elsa.

I have to pause for a moment to tell you that Santa Clause found out that our girls loved this movie.  On Christmas morning there were two packages with dresses in them. It makes sense that Santa would have brought the younger sister Anna's dress, right? Sorry, but the fat man with the cherry red nose got it wrong this time. (Although, the dresses are currently sold out and are making bank on eBay right now.)

Both girls want to be Elsa. 

The other day the girls' Pa and Nana were coming over to watch the movie for the first time with us. The girls love watching the movie, but the deal was sweetened with the promise of an audience.  We weren't just watching the movie--it became a theatrical event complete with hair dos, makeup, and costumes. 

And an argument ensued over who was to be Elsa.

I was in another room reading when I heard the fight.

Chloe, who is five years old, shouted out almost crying, "I'm Elsa!"

Ellie Grace replied with the winning blow, "But it's my dress!" Ellie Grace was right. It is her dress. And honestly, she's a great big sister and lets Chloe wear it more than she does. 

"Then I'm not going to dress up!" little sister replied defeatedly.

Chloe left the room crying, ready to bow out of the theatrical event. The show would go on, but she wouldn't be starring in it. She was either going to be Elsa or no one.

I yelled for Chloe to come in the room.

My question was simple:

"Chloe, who is the hero of Frozen? Anna or Elsa?"

She thought for a moment. Barely opening her mouth she said, "Anna."

"Do you want to be the hero or do you want to have magical powers?"

A smile swept across her face and turning she yelled, "I'm Anna!"

My five year old gets it. Everyone wants to be the hero. Who doesn't?

Although, sometimes it's difficult to identify the hero.

We all want to be Elsa. 

She appears to be the hero. She has what it takes. We want to be the good looking one. We want the great singing parts and super powers. Now granted, she has to live her life in isolation because of horrible parenting. But that doesn't matter when you are projecting snow and ice everywhere with your palms while singing.

We want the power. We want to be different in a good way. We want to feel special.

While we all want to be Elsa, it's Anna most of us identify with.

We feel like we aren't anything special. Like her sister, she feels alone; but it isn't because of her own doing. We lack the magic and the great solos in life. We feel like something is missing. Do you feel this way?

But it's Anna who is the hero. She had no real super power. Rather she had something else. 

Jesus is a lot like Anna.

Sure, he appeared to have magical powers. He healed the sick, blind, and lame. He cast out demons and raised the dead. He knew where to cast a net for a great catch. And he knew how to make the best booze with tap water. He taught like no one else.

Jesus seems more like an Elsa than an Anna. 

But it wasn't in his gifts and miracles that Jesus becomes the hero.

Jesus handed a lot of his ministry off to his followers. Why? Because they could do a lot of what he did. They were so effective at performing miracles that people outside the circle started doing it as well. This upset the disciples that men were going around doing good in Jesus' name. They wanted to put a stop to it.

The miracles didn't make Jesus the hero. Just like the super powers doesn't make Elsa the hero. It wasn't even that Jesus rose from the dead three days later that made him the hero (although that was cool).

Anna was the hero because her love drove her to sacrifice her life to save her sister's.

Jesus is the hero because his love drove him to the cross for our lives.

Love always calls one to self-sacrifice. Your love will do the same. The hero in the end isn't the one who is the most capable, talented, or beautiful. The hero is the one who sacrifices the most for the people they love.

So do you want to be Elsa or Anna?