You LIght Up My Life!

       I received the best gift some days ago; someone sent me a wonderful and sincere thank you note.  In the midst of a very hard week, it came unexpectedly in the mail.  It means a lot to me; not only did someone appreciate what I've done, but also they took the extra time and effort to reach out and express that to me.  It is so rare these days to receive something personal in the mail that is neither a bill nor junk.
       In our hurry and rush world, such things are becoming a lost art.  Even writing a check to pay for a purchase is seen as an imposition and waste of other people's valuable time these days.  Even talking is in danger of becoming old-fashioned.  I went out to dinner a couple of months ago and at one point, everyone else was texting away on their phones.  In such an environment, it is no wonder that manners are declining.
        Going by the frequency of complaints in advice columns, saying and writing thank-you is one of the social graces that is being neglected.  Most of the complaints treat the thank-you as a tit-for-tat exchange that almost requires retaliation.  The gift must be followed by a thank-you or there will be no more gifts.  Much of the language often talks about it in terms of what is "owed". To me, such exchanges have lost the qualities of grace and of caring that are freely shared.
        The thank-you that I received the other day was not like that at all.  It was not for a gift I had given or personal favor performed.  It was not a thank-you that I was "owed".
        We all need more "thank-you"s in our lives. It's not good enough to relegate it to formal responses to certain gifts.  And while I love celebrating Thanksgiving Day and all it stands for, giving thanks is too important to be reserved for just one day, once a year.  Gratitude balances out our lives and improves our quality of life.
       We need to recapture the art of being grateful for the people in our lives not just for what they can give or do for us but just for being in our lives and being themselves.  Throughout his letters in the New Testament, Paul declares gratitude for the people he writes to and the people he works with.  He rightly credits them as gifts from God.
       Paul writes from the perspective of a life that is not easy.  Away from home, often persecuted or in prison and sometimes lacking even for his winter coat, yet he finds strength, hope, and comfort in the community of the church; the saints, those that like him who also believe in Jesus Christ.  He is not grateful because his life is wonderful and easy but rather he finds his life wonderful because of the people of faith surrounding him.
       Who is a gift in your life?  Often they may not even be aware that they have touched our hearts but their smiles, friendship, encouragement, joy, or presence make our lives richer.  Take the time to show gratitude to those around you.  Perhaps even make a bit of a game out of it and seek a way to make it an unexpected or even anonymous gift of thanks.  You may never know, but your unexpected encouragement may shine the light of love that gives new hope and new life.  Read Philippians 1: 3-11

Splashing in God's Puddles!

       It's one of those days where you just never know what's going to happen.  Like the saying goes, "Life is what happens when I've made other plans"!  When I came indoors a few minutes ago, it was forty degrees above zero, sunny sky, and melting snow.  And yet on the radio, they are still forecasting blizzard warnings for the area between this afternoon and tomorrow.  But now I notice that the sun is now behind the clouds and the wind is picking up and the roads and weather have been bad to the west.  It's coming our way.
       How do you plan for such a day?  Last night we were making plans for the day, trying to work around weather that could include everything from rain to sleet to snow and blizzard conditions.  I knew that today was going to busy and I was trying to figure out how to get everything done in spite of the weather that is predicted.  Grownups plan and worry (and rightly so), taking into account all the variables that the weather throws at us and trying to get things done.
     From the moment the day started, things changed as the day went.  I eventually had to just shrug it off and take the day as it came.  Along the way, I stopped at the grocery store to get some apple juice for the first meeting of a knitting group.  One of the moms from church came in with her children and as you do in a small town, my checking out stopped so we could all say "hello" and chat for a bit.
        We shared talk about the weather and wondering if and when the supposed blizzard would come.  We were all being a bit tired and probably a bit grumpy; after all, it was Friday afternoon after a busy week as Lent got underway.  The mom let out a sigh and said, "You don't know how many puddles we've been through today".  Her little daughter smiled and showed off her colorful rain boots and made it clear that she was having fun even if we
weren't.
       It reminded me that one person's slogging in the mud really is another person's playful splashing in the puddles!  The storm may be coming but she was enjoying the sunshine and the puddles while they lasted.  After all, we've had snow on the ground since the very first of November without a break.  It's been a long winter between puddles.
       Planning is indeed good and necessary; it's how we accomplish long-range goals and also prepare ourselves for the changes and disasters that can come along our way.  But we also need to learn to put ourselves in Gods hands and take each day as it comes.  We can worry to the point that we miss out on the beauty and opportunities to share some joy that are in front of us.
       Lent can become a burden with even more things for us to do and more responsibilities.  But a good Lenten discipline can also be to remind ourselves to slow down and ask God to help us see the world and great each day as a gift from God.  The hard tasks and painful times will find us; we are not in danger of missing them.  However, we are in danger of missing the "God sightings" that are in front of us from the joy of a small child splashing in the first puddles of spring to shared moments of friendship.  Jesus said it best, "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own."  Read Matthew 6:25-34