As I finished my crunchy peanut butter and honey sandwich for lunch, I headed back in my room to finish a project. Today’s goal: my earrings. Picking out my earings in the morning (let alone putting them on) takes a while–due to all of the studs being crammed in the same small oval container, combined with the small backs which I usually drop. I decided if I organized my earrings, my early morning ready routine leaves me with a few more minutes to spare. I got a pack of cork tiles and a 5×7 frame, turned on part two of Anne of Green Gables and went to work.
Right about the time I start pushing in my pearl studs, the scene where Anne recites “The Highwayman” for the White Sands recital starts playing: Matthew Cuthbert buys Anne a pearl necklace; she recites; Gilbert gives Anne a standing ovation; and the scene ends with Diana and Anne walking by the lighthouse on the beach.
Now I can relate a bit more to Diana…wanting the latest fashion, the buzz, eyes the fashion of the ladies’ hair at the dances. But Anne sees past that. As they watch the sunset the conversation unfolds:
DIANA: Did you see all those diamonds? I wish I were rich and I could spend my whole summer at a hotel eating ice cream and chicken salad.
ANNE: You know something, Diana? We are rich. We have sixteen years to our credit, and we both have wonderful imaginations. We should be as happy as queens. Look at that! [Points to sunset.] You couldn’t enjoy its loveliness anymore if you had ropes of diamonds.
DIANA: I don’t know about that.
ANNE: I’m content with my string of pearls. Matthew gave them to me with as much love as ever went into any of those stuffy women’s jewels. I am happy Diana, and nothing is going to hold me back. (1)
I think Anne says it best. She is content. She is loved. She has a goal for her future. I think when I start to see life from Diana’s point of view, I get anxious…wanting more yet not realizing how much I have. Funny, Anne was a lot like Diana in the beginning of the movie–insecure yet prideful. She even wanted to be called Cordelia, always dreaming to be someone else. Her attitude changes over the course of events that unfold. And her attitude in this scene is spot on. Thinking each day from Anne’s point of view allows room for God’s point of view to rise above my own. Meaning, if I am content, happy, and realize that I am loved by the One who created me…even all my handicaps and pain and failures cannot hold me back from becoming who God created me to be. He says,
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13.
Seems like the best way to start out each morning. And just like Miss Shirley told Anne, “Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it,” (2) so too God’s compassion and mercy never ends. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness! [Lamentations 3:22-23].
References:
1. Sullivan, Kevin. 1985. Anne of Green Gables. Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novels. Retrieved August 3, 2012. http://greengables-1.tripod.com/script/1part7.html#.
2. Sullivan, Kevin. 1985. Retrieved August 3, 2012. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088727/quotes.
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