There are no small parts,
only small actors.

(I thought I made that up. Turns out it was said/written by Milan Kundera. He may be stalking my subconscious.)

My sister-in-law Amanda is a great gal. She and my brother (Scott, but you can call him Scotty, if you like) and their beautiful family live in Durham, NC. Amanda and Scott are part of The Summit Church.

You've probably seen Amanda. She was in Bull Durham. Yep. Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, and my sister-in-law made a movie together. Amanda was the fan in the stands-the one wearing the white shirt, I believe. She tells us that it was cold that day, and she had to focus to stay in character, acting like it was summery and warm! She is quite an actress (or is it just actor?) She skipped school (I think her parents knew) and got some time on the big screen. Not a bad day...

I don't think that she realized how important she is to the success of the movie, and ultimately the careers of those famous actors. She made Costner. (Maybe she should have told him to stsick with baseball movies. I liked Field of Dreams, but For Love of the Game was no baseball movie. He's made some clunkers...I mean, I like the Robin Hood story, but don't get me started on Costner's take. "I have a brother? I have a brother." Give me a break with the accent/no accent.) But I digress.

If there were no fans in the stands (unpaid extras who showed up to make the shot look real), then the movie would lack believability. Amanda recieved no paycheck or credit for her appearance, but the movies wouldn't be the same without the contribution of Amanda and her unnamed friends.

That's true in life in general, and in the body of Christ. We need each other. There are no unimportant people, no unimportant parts of the Body. Each of us has a role to play. Like in your body, each part must perfoerm it's role for the body to work like God intended. You know how bad you feel when part of you doesn't work correctly. Have you ever tried to zip your pants or tie your shoes when you have a banged-up thumb? Not so good...

I wonder if I'm filling the role I was created to play.