What I Learn From Cosette

My bestie flew in for the weekend. How fun! She is visiting me when I am on vacation!

Yeah, we do that.

Ha.

Anyway.

We went to a car show Sunday.

My friend admiring the color, no doubt.

And we read to each other this morning. Out loud. At breakfast. Why don’t adults read more out loud? Books are better that way.

A cousin of mine told me that in a trying time of her life her brother would read to her out loud every night as she was washing dishes. How sweet. What a camaraderie. We need more of that. How thoughtful, intuitive, and gentle.

Jen is re-reading The Great Gatsby.

I am reading Les Miserables for the first time. Both are fabulous. The writing is of a style from not now. Nobody writes like that anymore. If I have need to highlight lines in a NOVEL then you know it’s good. Lines like that are worth re-reading again.

This morning as I was reading some good sections to her, I came across this one that struck a chord in me.

The story goes that Cosette is a little girl who is carrying a bucket of water, much too heavy for a girl of her age, and Jean Valjean (the gentleman in this quote who will become her adopted father) sees her walking on the road:

Cosette, we have said, was not afraid.

The man spoke to her. His voice was serious, and was almost a whisper.
“My child, what you are carrying there is very heavy for you.”
Cosette raised her head and answered:
“Yes, monsieur.”
“Give it to me,” the man continued, “I will carry it for you.”
Cosette let go of the bucket. The man walked along with her.
“It is very heavy, indeed,” said he to himself between his teeth. Then he added:
“Little girl, how old are you?”
“Eight years, monsieur.”
“And have you come far in this way?”
“From the spring in the woods.”
“And are you going far?”

 Sometimes I think I am Cosette; carrying a burden that’s bigger than me. Trying to struggle through. Trying to be brave, unafraid. Planning on walking with the bucket for a long ways. Thinking I will be able to manage it.

What lies. What a false-sense of strength I impose upon myself; convince myself I possess, when the reality is that I am carrying a burden much too heavy for a girl of my “eight years.” Wolfies, we don’t have to do that!

My last post talked about the things God has asked us to do, but carrying our burdens was never one of them.

I Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Psalm 63:8 “Trust in him at all times, O People; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

These aren’t just words on a page. These are not just lines I underline because the writing is grand or read out loud to a friend over breakfast. These are promises. Things that hold weight, phrases to trust in, because the One who said them is trustworthy.

He knows, like Jean Valjean, that our burdens can be very heavy for us. “Give it to me. I will carry it for you,” he says.  
And he doesn’t blame us for feeling our burdens deeply. He knows this is all a part of the curse.
Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
But he is the great Shepherd! He knows we are helpless. My prayer is that we know it to, and that we know who to go to: the One who writes underlining-worthy promises.