Family film Storks (released on DVD in North America, December 20, 2016) is about a lonely boy who wants a baby brother. The boy’s wish is a sentimental feeling from one angle, but also a natural desire for family.

The problem is getting a baby brother.

In the animated film Storks the Big Boss at the stork delivery service has decommissioned baby deliveries. But a letter the boy sends, requesting a baby brother, gets to the once busy but now obsolete baby deliveries. Then, a sympathetic ear attempts to get the baby to the boy despite the delivery service being out of order.

It has got to be said that storks don’t deliver babies in reality if this sounds a bit strange. Storks delivering babies is of course a storytelling device and a myth with a point.

Another problem of getting a baby brother for the boy is that the boy’s Mom and Dad don’t have time for a second baby.

Their business takes up a lot of their time. And who knows if it will be a boy or a girl? There may be ways, but no sure proof way.

However, time has its effect on Mom and Dad and how babies are delivered by storks. In the meantime, the boy must have some patience before he may get his wish for a baby brother. He has to wait.

The meantime

In the meantime being patient is better than thinking one won’t get it. Patience brings a sense of hope for what may be.

Languishing in despair drowns hope. Languishing in resentment dwells on what one does not have. It focuses bitterly on the circumstances. Languishing can wind one up with despondency. If the best one can do is a bit of patience then one may expect something good may come despite the situation or circumstances.

A real life example

Ian Head, who I interviewed several years ago, was a young man who was hopeless rather than with a bit of patience for something good.

Ian had been an orphan who in the midst of soulless despair found something worth holding onto, something he wasn’t expecting. He found a lifeline at the bottom of a drunken stupor on the steps of a church.

He told me that nearing his last, a lady showed him kindness and a helping hand. This meeting paved the way for their marriage and healing of the wounds that came from his “orphan spirit”.

They have remained married and have children, grandchildren and Ian discovered long lost sisters and brothers later in life.

The boy in Storks is a different kettle of fish to Ian, but he wants a family like Ian did. The boy waits a long time, sometimes he is discouraged, but there are glimmers of hope.

Time can change the things one thought was hopeless, and if the circumstances don’t change, our heart attitude towards them can.