Hope Lives!

A few weeks ago, I wrote Mama Bird about the baby bird I was watching that day. At that time, it was only a ball of fluff with a few feathers just starting to come in. Since then, many have asked how Hope has been doing.

Hope is actually quite well, and growing quickly. (S)he flies, lives outdoors full time, interacts with other birds, and hunts for food now. But unlike the brothers and sisters of her nest, (s)he still comes when called.

I met Hope once again this morning, nose-to-beak, and I wanted to share a few snapshots with my readers too. :D

How quickly children grow up...

~ ESA

 

God's Messenger

For those who may not know, Hermes (pictured to the left) is the messenger of the gods. Why do I speak about a pagan god when I am Christian? Because it's a good lead into this blog post.

Each and every one of us is also a messenger of the divine.

Some may understand this to mean we have a responsibility to share the gospel or teachings of our particular religion. Others may understand this as a responsibility to spread Light and Love to the world around us.

While it can mean both, there is another role that I and others ended up playing without our awareness. That was as a courier.

Yesterday was a very busy day, starting with inventory reports I sent off at 6:30 am, followed by an off-site breakfast meeting at 7:30 am. Yet at that meeting, a colleague of mine handed me three tickets to the local baseball game. I was the last to arrive at the meeting and she asked everyone else at the table. Could I use the tickets for that night's game?

I accepted the tickets, aware that I couldn't use them myself, as I had a packed schedule through 7:30 pm, but I mentioned I could find someone who could use them.

I swung back to my apartment complex on the return trip to the office, tickets in hand. I gave them to the chief maintenance person, mentioning that they were "Tickets to the Rock Cats tonight." With a smile, he said he knew someone who could use them.

The rest of the story, I heard in hind-sight last night.

That maintenance person would have loved to go to that game, but he had mistakenly heard "The Rockettes" and thought they were for a New York City show, instead of "The Rock Cats" who are a local minor league baseball team. So he gave the tickets to a retired resident in the complex, who would enjoy a drive down to New York for the show.

That person, upon looking more closely at the tickets, realized it wasn't for the New York show but indeed a baseball game, for which he had no interest. So the tickets passed to yet another person, who loved baseball but could not afford even a minor league game.

Someone's day was brightened remarkably when he was handed three tickets to a baseball game, and had no clue in how it came to him save the last leg of the journey.

In fact, I don't even know how my colleague came into possession of those tickets, or how many other couriers were in this relay. But we all played a part as messengers of God, bringing Joy into someone's life.

~ESA

Twinkies and Root Beer (Story)

This is a cute little story someone pointed me toward and found here.

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Twinkies and Root Beer

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?

"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

~author unknown~

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-ESA

Floral Blizzard

On the walk home from work today, I saw a bit a blue sky and sunshine between the stormfronts. My husband and I decided to take a drive down to this park we know.

There, we walked around the grounds as the sun slowly sank into the cloud-draped western horizon. Our spring jackets were zipped to our chins and our fingertips grew cold in the chilling air. But we didn't seem to notice that.

The flowers had pushed up from the ground in the thousands and the trees were in bloom, especially the pink ones down by the main pond/lake. Whenever the wind blew it produced a snowstorm of pink petals that my husband and I strolled through. Eddies of wind currents swept the petals that were already on the ground, making them stir and sway like pink rivers along the winding roadways.

We strolled along each small streams and hopped from rock-to-rock across one of the icy waterways. And, as if that wasn't childish enough, on our way back to the car, we scooped up handfulls of pink petals and dumped them on each other and tossed them high into the air to stir up our own floral blizzards lit by the setting sun, dancing on the wind currents to the music of our laughter.

Spring time
Heart of a child
Simple Joys in life

- ESA

Sing A Song (Video)

Both Sesame Street and I celebrate 40 years this year. This is a song originally broadcast on that show, and I've sung it practically my whole life. Enjoy!

Song: Sing (Sing a Song) - The Carpenters

Images: My pictures from FurFright 2008 (with date stamp); otherwise from Photobucket

All rights are retained by their respective artists. I do not receive any money for this; it is simply a work of my heart.




- ESA