My Kindred Spirit, Anne.

I wrote here that I wanted to read forty classics before I turned forty.  

I don't necessarily plan to do a book review on each of them, 

but I couldn't pass up telling you what I adore about Anne of Green Gables.

  Marilla Cuthbert and her brother, Matthew, wanted to adopted a boy to help them around the farm. 

Instead, the orphanage sent them a skinny, freckle-faced, red-haired girl.  

Her name was Anne, and she was sure to tell you that it was with an "e."  

So many people in the town thought that they were crazy for keeping her and not sending her back for a boy.
Those same people often said how lucky she was that they kept her.  

It ends up, Marilla and her brother, Matthew, were turned inside-out through their adoption.

They were changed forever, for the better, because of Anne's presence in their lives.

 

Our family has had the overwhelmingly great honor of adopting a child.

And, I can tell you, she is not the lucky one.
We are.

We will never be the same because God saw fit to bless our lives with her.

Our lives have also been turned inside out with our daughter, Lydia.

God does this in all of our lives in different ways.

Adoption is one of the ways that he has chosen to do it in us.

There's way too much about Anne of Green Gables to share here.

I'll just share with you the two things that I loved the very most about her.

*She made a decision to celebrate the success of others.*

In one story, a girl from her class, whose name was Josie Pye, won first place in a contest.

Josie had been ugly with Anne on and off throughout the whole book.

Anne came home from the contest and told Marilla all about it.

"Josie Pye took first place for knitted lace. I was real glad she did.  And I was glad that I felt glad, for it shows I'm improving, don't you think, Marilla, when I can rejoice in Josie's success?"

The decision to celebrate someones success is life changing.

It changes all of your relationships.

There have been times when I have had to choose to celebrate even when I didn't feel it.

I'm amazed at how often my feelings have changed after deciding to rejoice in someone else.

Those times give me the chance to come face to face with what lives deep down in my heart. 

That deep rooted insecurity or jealousy is removed bit by bit.

Slowly, I "improve" as Anne put it.

And, I feel glad that I'm glad about someone else.

*Anne also chose to find the good in the midst of her plans being changed.*

Toward the end of the book, Anne has the opportunity to leave the farm and attend school.

This is a phenomenal chance that she has been given, since it wasn't in the cards for every girl her age.

Something happens, and she decides to move back to the farm.

{sorry...I cant' tell you what happened without giving too much away}

Anyhoo, many people were surprised at her self-sacrificing decision.

They argued that she shouldn't because of all the ambition that lived inside her.

One of my favorite parts of the book is her response to that statement.

It defines the state of her heart.

"I'm just as ambitious as ever.  Only, I've changed the object of my ambitions."

Oh, to be someone that can accept the changed plans that life sometimes brings with Joy and Grace.
I've had plenty of my plans changed by life's circumstances.
I'm embarrassed to say how many times I've handled those changes like a two year old.
This girl has been known to throw a doozie of a fit!
So many times I have been guilty of having an agenda for my life.
...every detail worked out in my little head.
When my life hasn't gone the way I planned, I've felt robbed.  
...like I had the best way or the brightest ideas for my life.

There is freedom in being able to accept the curve balls that life can throw us.

This great classic has reminded me to trust, not in my plans, but in the One who holds my life
{and all my plans}
in the palm of His hands.

Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. 

I'm unwrapping the gift of the Great Classics and how they inspire us to make good choices!
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