The wee hours of this morning two seemingly disconnected thoughts ran around my mind and heart. I lamented (threw a pity-party) my newest book, The Essence of Joy, is super-slow gaining sales traction. “Forgive me God, but do you know what you’re doing?” I queried the Almighty. Opening a brand new journal these words jumped off the page, and I asked once again for help in trusting His perfect plan.
The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalm 32:8 (NLT)
As He and I chatted, visions of my passionate nine-year-old granddaughter danced in my head. Yesterday was “Dress as Your Favorite Book Character Day.” This child is passionate about her passions: Jesus, Sprinkles, Sparkles, Pink, and Unicorns among them. She believed she knew from a visit to the Ark Encounter that unicorns may well have been real. (Whether or not that was true is up for debate, but she believes that’s what she read.) She is the unicorns’ most dedicated fan. She dressed as a unicorn! The hat she models in this photo was a hand-made uniquely-created-for-her gift from her Aunt Amy (Yarn Possible on Etsy) over two years ago. She still wears it at every opportunity. One teacher told her as we were leaving school, “I’m looking for an excuse to borrow that hat!”
Less than an hour later we were on a treasure hunt for the perfect items to create an imaginary creature for a school project. This child knew exactly what hers would look like, and what it would take to assemble this bird/dragon. She jumped in to tell us what it would eat, and where it would sleep, and any other pertinent details — all with a passion! While we were shopping, she spotted the perfect pink sign for her room: “This Girl Runs on Sparkles and Jesus!” Yes, it was perfect!
Oh to be so passionate about the most important things in our life! I began to look for Bible verses about passion. At a website stop along that journey, the first verse to pop up was Psalm 32:8. There it was again! He knows our passions, and He directs us within them. We can trust that. My granddaughter trusted she and I would find all the perfect pieces for her project — some from Gramma’s “craft store” aka my sewing room closet and some from the store. After all, she runs on Jesus and a few sparkles, too! Lesson noted.