I'm tutoring a little girl at school, and we read this story at the end of our tutoring session. She adores this story by Hannah Hurnard, and jumps up and down when she knows it's time to read it. Here is an excerpt from today:
Much-Afraid looked at the Shepherd. "Sometimes I have wondered about the wild flowers," she said. "It seems strange that they should grow in places like this where the goats and cattle walk all over them. They have so much beauty and sweetness to give, and hardly anyone sees them."
The look the Shepherd turned on her was very beautiful. "Nothing My Father and I have made is ever wasted," He said quietly, "and the wild flowers have a wonderful lesson to teach. Many people live a quiet, ordinary life. Hardly anyone even knows about them, but inside their hearts it is like a delightful garden where the King Himself walks and rejoices. Some of My servants have won great respect from other people and are famous, but always their greatest victories are like the wild flowers, those which no one knows about. Learn this lesson now, down here in the Valley, Much-Afraid, and when you get to the steep places of the mountains it will comfort you."
What a wonderful thing to teach in a children's book.
