I have always been inspired by stories. They draw me and give me such insight into the heart of the storyteller! Maybe that is why I found my calling in Life Coaching!
One morning, during my seeking the Lord, I came across a story so compelling that I have to share! At a time such as this–during COVID-19, we wonder if anything we do can make a difference. Friend, be inspired to know and believe that God can take any effort we make towards goodness, wholeness, kindness, and valuing another person and magnify it for His good and glory!!
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.–Psalm 139: 1-3
He has made everything beautiful in its time. –Ecclesiastes 3:11
A number of years ago, in a mental institution outside Boston, a young girl known as “Little Annie” was locked in a dungeon. The dungeon was the only place, said the doctors, for those who were hopelessly insane. In Little Annie’s case, they saw no hope for her, so she was consigned to a living death in that small cage that received little light and even less hope. In many ways, Little Annie was like an animal. On occasions, she would violently attack the person who came into her cage.
About that time, an elderly nurse was nearing retirement. She felt there was hope for all God’s children, so she started taking her lunch into the dungeon and eating outside Little Annie’s cage. She felt perhaps she should communicate some love and hope to the little girl. One day, the nurse brought some brownies to the dungeon and left them outside the cage. Little Annie gave no hint she knew they were there, but when the nurse returned the next day, the brownies were gone. From that time on, the nurse would bring brownies when she made her visit and they began a fragile but budding friendship.
Soon after, the doctors in the institution noticed a dramatic change was taking place. After a period of time they decided to move Little Annie upstairs. Finally, the day came when the “hopeless case” was told she could return home. But Little Annie did not wish to leave. She chose to stay, to help others instead.
History remembers Little Annie as the loving teacher who cared for, taught, and nurtured Helen Keller, for Little Annie’s real name was Anne Sullivan.
Hope is one of the greatest gifts we have from the Lord. Without it, we shrivel up and die inside. The real hero of the story to me is the unnamed nurse—who knew the hope and love of God, and chose to bring that LOVE into the presence of a very disturbed, abandoned and hopeless little girl. Little Annie responded to and absorbed that love—that presence of God wrapped in the flesh of a nurse. God multiplied that gift of love and hope the nurse selflessly gave, to open the world of deaf and blind children for generations to come!!!
Hope may be the very commodity that your world, loved ones, and people in your sphere of influence need right now. Are you seeking and finding that source of Hope in your life now? Are you expressing your love and gratitude to the Giver of Hope?
God is the great GIVER and great MULTIPLIER!!—What will we give Him today—freely give—with the hope that He will multiply it in the life of someone else. Can’t we all “make some brownies for a hungry soul?”
This story encapsulates IMPACTful Faith Coaching and consulting. It is this passion and belief in the value of human life and dignity that I want to INSPIRE in you and you and you, until the church embraces those on the fringes, find a place for them to grow and serve and love back!!
Some things to consider while you have time during this ‘slow down’ time.
- When you have felt lost and hopeless, where have you received nourishment? Has someone been the bringer of “brownies’ in your life? Reflect and then consider letting them know what that meant to you?
- Is there a “Little Annie” in your life now that would blossom and bloom with the gift of “brownies”?