Joy in Constants

It was nearly Thanksgiving in the year 2019 and no company was doing better than the Walt Disney Company. They had massive hits at the box office that year, with the remakes of Aladdin and The Lion King, Toy Story 4, Avengers: Endgame, and Captain Marvel. In mid-November, they launched Disney Plus, their alternative to Netflix, with most every Disney owned property ever made, and gained many subscribers, with their new Star Wars series The Mandolorian premiering on their service. They would end the year 2019 with the final Skywalker Saga movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Yet, in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, at a little movie theater in Fort Collins, CO, there was a girl, who I will call Natalie, that was excited about only one of Disney’s offerings that year: the movie Frozen II.

Every Monday and Tuesday, the two days I worked at the Cinemark Movie Bistro & XD in Fort Collins, I would “clock in” on the computer in the breakroom, and find Natalie, always alone, listening to the Frozen II soundtrack, mainly the song, “Some Things Never Change.”

There would be days I would maybe grow tired of her playing the song. Yet, as the weeks passed by, as she only listened to that one song before her shifts, and only came to the theater to watch Frozen II, I felt I was given a gift.

It was as if God was showing me someone who was a little like me. I have watched hundreds of movies in my lifetime, many with family and friends. They may not have wanted to watch each one, but they did. I would highly obsess over movies for most of my life, and my family would always make sure we made it to the theater on time, never even missing the previews.

Whether it was over Star Wars, Nashville, concerts, or a little place called Uganda, though at times they may have felt otherwise, my family and friends supported me in my obsessions, at least because they provided some joy and satisfaction, or a moment’s distraction, from the pain in my life.

So, working alongside Natalie two days weekly, I had a literal living reminder from God, that I was not alone in feeling different, disabled, or often left with hobbies and obsessions to just try to be happy and survive. Only a few months before the world would experience lockdowns and the pandemic, it was like God was preparing me to find joy in the simple things, and the constants that don’t change: like sunrises, sunsets, walks, the taste of a homemade cup of coffee, the love from a pet, and the support of friends and family, that God always finds a way to maintain.

Through the pandemic, through any season, through any storm to come, I encourage you to find joy in God, in the constants, and the simple things that don’t change, for they are all reminders of the wonderful and holy God that God is, and will forever be.

Until Next Time.

Jacob McGowen