Let's talk about the development of our character and who God formed us to be. This often happens during periods of schemes that don’t go as planned. It is a time of the sandpaper applied to the wood that is our lives. It is not a matter of if, these will come but, when.  How we respond, that’s on us. 

I was reading Anne of Green Gables and just relishing my time with this old friend of a book. Early on in the novel we learn a mix up has happened. Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert asked for a boy to be sent from the orphanage and not Anne, the chattering, wisp of a girl who has already charmed Matthew. After a night sleeping in the East Gable Anne wakes up and tries to find joy in her circumstances even though she faces the possibility of being sent away again.

 She says to Marilla “It’s all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it’s not so nice when you really come to have them is it?

I agree, Miss Anne, I agree. There are many times I have read a book where the character overcomes obstacles and it looks like all hope is lost yet, they soldier on. We feel ourselves drawn to these kinds of stories don’t we? It is a protected way to envision how we will handle these rough times. We love a good story where someone starts off in one way and through training, endurance and pain they grow. Maybe it is not just them ether that is affected? In Anne of Green Gables, Anne's choices radiate to those around her. Rachel Lynde, Matthew, Marilla and others in the small town are touched by this red head's life in ways she couldn't imagine that first night. 

How this might look in our lives can vary from person to person. One thing is certain.....These tough, barely able to breath through the pain moments are the times when the Lord is most active in us. You wake up in the morning, finding it difficult to get out of bed let alone, gasp a little praise to Him, yet you do. Put on the praise music, listen to that scripture, find a little beauty in the sunrise. 

Lean into the moments of joy and even if you can only get a tiny little breath of a halleluiah out, do it!

I read this quote in a book and have been mulling it over the last few days.

 Character doesn’t always result in the kind of success one wants. We don’t develop character because it brings success; we develop it because it is the right way, the God pleasing way to live. One lives by the Bible whether or not things turn out the convenient way.

From “The Resilient Life” by Gordon MacDonald

 It is true, we live by the Bible no matter how things turn out. My visions for success are not always the ones that God has. He has the bigger picture in his mind for all of his children. I am just along for the ride of His design for my life. My heart just needs to be focused on my next step, following this plan. 

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