Winsome and Pollyanna

I have come back to my blog after many months of not even looking here. Sadly I did not Tarry Here as I had thought I would when I first started this site and called it Tarry here. Maybe I should change its name to something more accurate. I write here at the beginning of 2018 knowing the things of 2017 are now passed and a new year is here, a blank page to fill with thoughts and ideas about Christfulness and Christian mindfulness and my journey with knowing God and following Jesus.

The WordPress site had the word Winsome as the word of today (the day I started writing again), encouraging bloggers to write with this theme. It surprised me because Winsome was a word God gave me many years ago. So as I start this year I will share that word with you and encourage you in your meditations about God.

Sometimes God wakes me up with a word, a song or a verse and if I am curious enough to follow God’s thoughts to new places in my thinking I often find God has prepared something amazing to find. One morning I woke with the word Winsome in my mind. I didn’t really know what it meant – so I googled. Winsome- adjective- Attractive and appealing in a fresh innocent way. I liked this meaning and wondered if there was more to this word than just a nice word. I even wondered if what I heard was actually “Win Some” as in win a number of people to Christ- becoming a verb to do something. This didn’t resonate with me. As I had not seen the word written down and only heard it I put the verb on the backburner until God revealed something more about it.

Some years ago I was nicknamed “Pollyanna” because I would have an unrealistic optimism in the face of difficult circumstances. The term Pollyanna was not spoken as a compliment but rather as an unflattering nickname – being excessively cheerful and optimistic rather than being realistic.  It took a few days before I realised that Winsome is also a girl’s name not just an adjective. As a name its meaning is the same –attractive and appealing in a fresh innocent way. How I would rather be nicknamed Winsome than Pollyanna.

Revelation 2:17b ..To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Pollyanna was a popular children’s story written in 1913 by Eleanor Porter. The main character is an orphan girl called Pollyanna who lived with her strict and unhappy aunt. She remembers a game her father had taught her before he died called the Glad game. In every circumstance she would look for something to be glad about. As she taught this game to the townsfolk they responded enthusiastically. Later when Pollyanna had struggles of her own the same people reminded her of the game she had taught them.

Jesus spoke that it is important to come into his kingdom as little children. Childlikeness is such an important aspect to seeing God’s ways. This way of seeing the world may appear naïve and innocent but it is precious to God.

1 Corinthians 1:2 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

So the name Winsome has resonated with me- a childlikeness and carefree spirit which endears itself to others but is precious to God. But Pollyanna was the name that others had bestowed on me.

The truths I found when I looked deeper into the story of Pollyanna are as follows.

When I approach my day with a childlikeness, I learn to see God at work in the little things, as well as the wonder of discovery. Children see God at work when adults often do not. Children worship with purity- not self-conscious or self-promoting but entirely as if God is the only one watching. It is in this secret place of living life not for the eyes of people but for God’s eyes alone that character is formed. How would I live if I had this moment by moment awareness that in everything I do God is my one and only audience?

Every difficult circumstance is an opportunity to see God at work. Children don’t worry about where every meal comes from and if the bills will get paid. They trust that their parents will take care of the details. In the same way having a childlike trust that my Heavenly Father will provide and make a way through the difficulties of life is a Pollyanna way of living. It requires opening my eyes and expecting to see God’s hand to be present in every moment even when it is not at first obvious.

When I notice what God is doing I can turn to him with thankfulness. It means I am not focusing on the places where my life is still under a trial, but on what God is doing in the midst. Every trial is an opportunity to learn something new which God intends me to master.  These moments of learning new lessons start off easy but over time the lessons get harder. Eventually I may go through a trial which brings me pain or hardship but the resulting skills and upgrades are worth enduring the pain through to completion. I can bring God my moments of difficulty and ask him to show me what he is doing in this season and then be grateful for his hand in my life.

1 Peter 1:6-7 Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed. Good News Bible

I later read somewhere that the name Pollyanna has another meaning when it is broken down. The meaning of Polly is multiple or multifaceted and the meaning of Anna is grace. I now see that Pollyanna is a name that means multifaceted or multiplied grace.

The “Pollyannas” of God will be winsome and compelling hope reformers who disarm evil through a divine innocence, presence, and power that only the Holy Spirit can impart to and through human beings. Bob Hartley Elijah List 25th July 2013 http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=12379