Acceptance-with-Joy

I'm excited that the kids are finally able to sit and listen to "chapter books" with great anticipation rather than antsy movement. :) Last month I found the book "Hinds Feet on High Places" for kids. (the adult version is one of my all time favorite books) Today we read about "Through the Desert and Loneliness"... when the path your walking seems to take you so far off course from the promised destination.... can we move there with full confidence and trust in the one who leads us? When we are asked to move in a direction we don't want to... can we do it with "Acceptance-with-Joy?" Such a GREAT lesson for me today... and for my kids, too. It sparked a great conversation with my 5 year old about complaining vs. "Acceptance-with-Joy". Sometimes we call it "doing it with a happy heart." Boy... did I need that today, too. The laundry, the dishes, did I just clean the floor again?, and about the garage sale (which I put off again, yes I did), and our supporters, and how can i get it all done... starts to sound like complaining vs. "Acceptance-with-Joy." I'm gonna share a clip from the chapter today... maybe it will speak to you like it did me.

"On the last morning, Much-Afraid made a lovely discovery as she went for a walk. Behind one of the huts in the desert was an old pipe connected to a water tank. In the pipe was a tiny hole from which drops of water fell one by one. At the place where they landed was the first growing thing she had seen in the desert. It was a beautiful little golden flower. Much-Afraid knelt close to it and asked softly, "What is your name, lovely flower?" The tiny plant seemed to answer at once with a voice as golden as itself. "I am Acceptance-With-Joy."

Much-Afraid thought of the things she had seen in the pyramid: the threshing-floor, the potter's wheel, and the fiery furnace. The worlds of the little golden flower echoed in her mind and she said to herself, "I too want to be Acceptance-With-Joy. Whatever He lets me go through, I want to trust Him and allow Him to have His way with my life. And I want to do it with Joy in my heart."

Here's to hoping that in this day... whatever tasks He brings our way, that our names become "Acceptance-With-Joy."