Thursday, August 26, 2010

Prickles and stings are not good things


Time seems to have a way of sneaking up on you and before you know it you've fallen into a rut you can't get out of. The weight of real, grown-up life presses in and you start to forget what's important.

Lately I've been feeling a whole lot like Katherine Brooke, the spinster woman in Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, all "prickles and stings". I actually caught sight of myself today as I passed the mirror and wondered why I looked so grumpy. Hmmm...I certainly wouldn't want to look at that sour face all day and yet that is exactly what my sweet children have to do.

I think instead I'd rather look like Anne (that's Anne with an "e" mind you!). Maybe not in physical appearance, although I do love her red hair. I think I would rather have her disposition; her positive, albeit extremely romanticized outlook on life. Her amazing way of facing the world with enough determination to thwart the worst possible situations. No matter where she goes, her heart always returns to Green Gables, to the people and places dearest to her. Throughout the story, she spends years looking for her ideal life, only to find it was there all along.



It's just that I went looking for my ideals outside of myself. I discovered it's not what the world holds for you, it's what you bring to it. The dreams dearest to my heart are right here.


I haven't been looking elsewhere for my ideal, but I have taken for granted that the dreams dearest to my heart are always right here. It's good to be reminded of that from time to time.

Time to trade in those grumpy old frowns for a smile. It's a beautiful thing to wear don't you think?

3 comments:

  1. Oh my girls do love Anne. She is an encouragement. I hope your first weeks of school have gone well. Lisa~

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  2. Ohh it is soooooo easy to wear the grumpy mama face! Praise God, He lifts up and out of that pit! I love Anne. I loved it when Mirella told her that to despair was to turn her back on God (I think that was it, if not it was my interpretation). I have been told most of my life to close my mouth! I really love Anne! Thanks for sharing, I needed the reminder!
    Blessings,
    Sheri

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  3. Great post! I so needed to read this today...a month and a half after you originally posted it. ;)

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