Inspiration

“Happiness isn't something that depends on our surroundings...It's something we make inside ourselves.” 
― Corrie ten Boom

When I was a young girl, my father was transferred overseas to Germany for the army. My family took a visit to Amsterdam in the Netherlands during our time there. I was about 7 years old. My mother had us visit a tiny little street where she pointed out an old building. She told us an incredible story of a clocksmith and his family who bravely assisted and hid Jews during the German occupation in WWII. She told us of his daughter, Corrie ten Boom, who believed that the Jews were God's chosen people and therefore gave everything to protect them during the nightmare of the Holocaust. My mother recounted many of Corrie's stories to us while we there, stories of faith, hope, forgiveness.

One of my favorites that I have remembered countless times over the years is of gratitude. Eventually, the ten Boom family was betrayed to the Nazis and shipped off to a concentration camp. There they witnessed and experienced horrible atrocities. During this time of hardship beyond imagination, she and her sister found ways to rejoice in God's goodness and give thanks in all things, including the fleas and filth. I have always been so impressed by how she found reasons to be grateful when I myself would be so incredible lost within blankets of loathing and despair. You can read about this story in an excerpt from her book "The Hiding Place" here.

I have always thought, "If this woman could be so full of hope in such dire circumstances, cannot I too be filled with hope when something goes amiss in MY life?" She has been my inspiration countless times.

What in our life have we been complaining about that we can find a reason to be grateful for instead? What are our "fleas" that have been pestering us that are actually blessings? I assure you, you will find more sunshine in your life when you change those fleas into friends.