Yesterday morning, I was tired, weary and hurting from a kidney infection and a visit from Mr. Fibromyalgia over the New Year weekend. I was outside with the puppies noticing that even they did not want to spend too much time out in the bitter cold. The ground was covered with newly fallen snow to cover the old snows of the last few days. The sky was dark and overcast with heavy, menacing looking clouds..."so dreary, I thought..just like my mood." I was not looking forward to going out in the cold, scraping my car of ice and snow, waiting for the car to warm up and then driving to work in the snow with all the “other” nuts on the road.
I was having a pity party all by myself.
With a hot cup of coffee and the puppies lying at my feet (warming themselves and my feet), I sat at my computer to check my e-mails. I received an early morning e-mail from a friend…72 words, 8 sentences…just short and sweet…but how it touched me. It was like a beautiful sunrise to my soul. I am always so amazed at how God inspires other people to write a note, make a call, or send an e-mail just at the right time.
I read it and re-read it several times, and then responded with a sincere thank you to her. She did not have to take the few minutes that it took to send me a note of love and encouragement…but she did. She could have totally ignored the whisper of the Holy Spirit to send her short but loving note to me.
We do that…we think we will write a note or make a call, bake some cookies to give and the next thing you know, one day, one week, one month has passed and that thought was nothing but like a warm breath in the cold air…dissipating… never to be seen again.
It is a challenge in our busy lives to stop, hear and listen to the whisper of the Holy Spirit concerning other people in our lives. Even more the challenge is to take the time to write the note, send the card, make the cookies...it does not take much….72 words, 8 sentences and the willingness to “just do it”.
I was encouraged, uplifted and convicted once again that the kind of love required of us who know and love Christ...is to foster a genuine, lasting, authentic, and sweet kinship that goes the extra mile for no other reason than to touch a heart and soul. For others and the world around us, it is the fruitful evidence of our own belief in Christ and the outpouring of His love working in us and through us, coupled with an awareness and understanding of how deep His love is for us.
After the note…my pity party ended. I was moved to thank God I had a dependable car to scrape and warm up…I had a job to go to and that I enjoy…and if I am honest, maybe I am one of the “nuts” on the road !!!!!
John 15:9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:14 You are my friends.
One John 3:16a we know love by this, the He laid down His life for us.
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