What’s Anne Got To Do With It?

We’ve been living in the early 1900s around my house this week. It’s been sooo lovely! An era of horse drawn carriages, wide open fields of flowers, and time for “bosom” friends. If you have never read Anne of Green Gables, you have missed out. The language of L.M. Montgomery to describe the childhood of a certain orphan is positively exquisite. I love to read these classic stories to my girls and then, hopefully, find a well done movie that has captured the story. As we read and watched this story of a different time, I was pondering what we can still learn in our era of iPhones and electric cars. Here’ s a few lessons I pulled out…

Loyalty

Anne is a very passionate girl and her loyalty is rather extreme. Drawn to the dramatic, she makes solemn oaths to be faithful to her bosom friend Diana as long as life endures. While the sweetness of the childhood whimsy seems quaint, the loyalty is admirable. In a time where we can friend and unfriend people with the click of a button, I’m wondering how much loyalty any of us have toward anything in our lives. Any bit of disappointment, we can be quick to dismiss people, companies, etc from our lives. But here’s the thing – Loyalty enables of depth of relationship that cannot be found otherwise.

I think of this in my marriage. We’ve been married over 11 years now! In all, we’ve had a very good marriage. Like any other relationship, though, we’ve disappointed each other and had some rocky times. In a world that is focused on Me, I and My happiness, we could have easily thrown in the towel and justified our actions. Instead, we’ve fought through the difficulties and find ourselves enjoying a much deeper love than we had 11 years ago. Loyalty is worth the trouble!

Enjoy God’s Creation

When your view is this:

Instead of this:

 

It is a little more challenging to find God’s creation. Anne has the benefit of living in the seaside country of Prince Edward Island, Canada. She absolutely revels in all of the beauty around her. She renames everything with some name she believes is the true name, the romantic name, of that part of the island. “The Lake of Shining Waters” instead of Barry’s pond; “The White Way of Delight” instead of the avenue; “The Snow Queen” instead of the cherry tree. When she is distraught, which is pretty frequently, the natural beauty comforts her.

In the middle of the city of LA, where I currently find myself, I have to focus my eyes on God’s beautiful creation amidst the sprawl of concrete and people. When I have this focus, I do see his beauty and it is a comfort.

I have a thing with sunsets. They have always given me peace and let me know the day is ok and the next has promise, as well. Lately, as I come out of my YMCA in the evenings, I’ve been seeing stunning sunsets. They seem more frequent lately than normal. This is God speaking to my soul. Giving me peace; bringing delight to my heart. It’s like his bouquet of roses for me.

Wherever you are, take the time to slow down and enjoy His incredible creation. It is worth your time.

Willingness To Serve

As the story draws to a (temporary) close, we see several sudden changes in Anne’s life and plans. I don’t want to ruin the story if you haven’t read it, so I’ll try to leave it vague. Suffice to say, Anne makes dramatic, self-sacrificing changes to her plans in order to serve her adopted family. When she makes this choice, she doesn’t moan or lament the loss of her earlier plans. She knows her family is more important than any plans she had been looking forward to in the future. She serves willingly with joy.

Honestly, there are days I “serve” my family with a lot of groaning and complaining. Somehow we can look at serving strangers as a more noble task. We willingly serve Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless with a smile on our face. Then, harshly criticize our beautiful children for talking too much at the dinner table or not holding still. Lord, forgive me for the times I have been unkind to my family! I desire so much to serve well.

It is hard to serve with a joyful heart day after day. It’s different to just turn on the joy for a few hours at a specific event. But when your precious sleep is interrupted for the fifth time, where does one summon the joy for a kind response? God. God alone gives me joy and grace sufficient for the tasks at hand. I draw close to him and draw my family with me, as well. My willingness to serve is worth the struggle.

I pray that a bit of Anne’s joy and whimsy would accompany you today. We can all use a little more romance and delight in our daily life.

 

“”Listen to the trees talking in their sleep,” she whispered, as he lifted her to the ground. “What nice dreams they must have!”” – Anne of Green Gables