My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
“Another time I was working in the laundry, and the sister opposite, while washing handkerchiefs, repeatedly splashed me with dirty water. My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, to show the offender I should be glad if she would behave more quietly; but the next minute I thought how foolish it was to refuse the treasures God offered me so generously, and I refrained from betraying my annoyance. On the contrary, I made such efforts to welcome the shower of dirty water, that at the end of half an hour I had taken quite a fancy to this novel kind of aspersion, and I resolved to come as often as I could to the happy spot where such treasures were freely bestowed.”
Thérèse de Lisieux in Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux (Washington DC: ICS Publications, 1996) 250.
So you have to hear the back story on this quote.
It was yesterday morning. Both Jenni and were at home getting over a cold. Snow has piled up outside. I will work from home. Jenni’s soul care sessions were cancelled as they were with teachers at school who had a snow day.
I said, “Who should I read this morning?” She said, “Read the little flower, Thérèse de Lisieux.” So I read a few excerpts of this book and found this gem. I said, “Jenni, read this. It’s great.”
She replies, “That’s a perfect meditation. Snow days. Traffic. Being splashed with water. These are all generous gifts from God to slow us down to see other things. They are not part of our plan, so we see them a as bother.”
Should you find yourself buried in snow, stuck in traffic, or even splashed by water, remember, to see it as a “happy spot” like Thérèse (and my wife) would call it, where you just might find generous treasures God has for you!