Lent - Day 3

Today I took a vacation day from work. I had awaken early and had a wondrous surprise:

Snowfall!

Considering it was warm enough to wear a sweater or sweatshirt with no jacket outside, this was indeed a pleasant surprise. We've had such a shortage of snowfall this year, that even those that hate shoveling miss it.

I harvested the last of my Farmville crops this morning to go into another hiatus from the addicting (and distracting) game. I then started to poke about the virtual farm, arranging and re-arranging things like a doll-house for grown ups. It wasn't until the fourth time the system crashed that I got a clue. There was something I was missing...

Outside lay a golden opportunity; one that was rare this winter. That was helping my neighbors shovel. How often have I allowed myself to be distracted and missed these golden opportunities?

One of the lessons I've learned earlier this morning points directly to this. I've been asked to stop multi-tasking while I am talking with people or working on something. I must admit, even my prayers would be done via multi-tasking, such as I would say grace while setting up to eat or say my morning prayers as I stumbled through the apartment half-asleep to the bathroom. Not very respectful. 

Not only is this how I miss many opportunities, I AM being disrespectful, to God, to Yeshua (Jesus) and to all others. I need to step away from the distractions and really start give 100% of my attention to what is around me, and who is around me, what they say and what they need. I may regret I can not stand before a full church and preach, nor even afford to go on mission trips. Yet there are countless opportunities to help so many people in my life - everyday.

Today begins with shoveling; I tugged on my snow boots and grabbed the shovel. Our steps and walkway, as well as those of our elderly neighbors, are now clear and liberally sprinkled with salt. My husband went out and cleared off the cars as well.

Who knows what else there may be when we set the computer and cell phone aside, shut off the radio and TV and just observe, just listen. 

It's a beautiful day.

I plan to make the most of it.

Carpe Diem. :D

~ ESA

Lent - Day 2

On Wednesday, I left some stuff to do at work. I promised I would get to work early Thursday and get them done before the boss got there. I left an hour early, but I didn't get there early.

Instead I was given an opportunity to help someone. On the walk to work, another woman walked up to me and asked directions to a place I haven't heard about before. She was on her way to work and had just gotten off the bus. She knew it was off this particular road. Unfortunately the road was a few short blocks down in one direction (which I knew well) and then stretched 16 miles (26 km) in the other direction.

After realizing we would not find the place talking about it and this woman may have to walk several miles to reach her destination. I offered to get my car and drive her. After all, I really didn't need to be at work for another hour.

We walked back to my apartment complex and got into my old Jeep. I joked about the rust spots and radio that doesn't play; she commented that I was fortunate to have a car at all. She takes the bus whenever she needs to get someplace. We drove all the way down the road and back, missing the turn at first pass. On the way, we pointed out the bus stop locations so we would know the closest one to her new workplace.

On the way back, though, she suddenly suggested I turn up another road. To our surprise, while we didn't find the road we needed, we found the public bus waiting between runs. In fact, it was the same bus driver that dropped her off. He scolded the woman for getting into the car with a stranger. She pointed out that until she got onto his bus that morning, he was a stranger too. So he conceded the point.

Upon hearing that we still could not find this place, he looked up directions on his cell phone and walked over to my Jeep to pass them onto me. I recognized the streets and turns and could figure out from there where this place was. Needless to say, she got to work on time, as well as I did.

There were three Good Samaritans that day. Not only did I help the woman, she helped me by giving me an opportunity to help another. Our mutual help also inspired the bus driver who could have simply said "No, I don't know," and closed the door in her face. Instead, he got out his phone to help us find this place.

One good deed does inspire others.

~ ESA

Simply Good

This blog post is primarily in response to some conversations I've had with people over the past week. For some reason, it's hard for some to accept the simple fact that there are good hearts in this world. That when a person is nice or does some kind act, it can simply be from the love in their heart for a fellow human being and not for any ulterior motive.

I grant that in this world there are people who are nice, using flattery and helping in many ways, to either get attention/recognition or influence another in some way. Some help others in this world because they believe it will lead to some great prize, including power. But I sincerely believe these are the minority.

Then there are many, many others who help people out of the love/kindness of their hearts. They roll up their sleeves and/or open their hearts just because it's another person in need, and their hearts go out to another human being who is suffering at the time.

The reason we more often see the minority is a combination of humility of the vast number of good hearts (and anonymity that goes with that), and that the media covers the darker side of human nature - the greed, the corruption, the lies. We are taught that this darker nature is what rules all hearts; that there will always be an underlying motive other than a good heart. But this is not true.

I believe the majority of people in this world would help another if they see the opportunity within their hands and believe they can help. A bit of faith in each other can go quite a long way.

Ulterior motive we don't need
To help another indeed.
Simply be Good.

- ESA

Waste Not

Yesterday at the Big E I experienced something I wanted to share, but did not want it lumped in with the rest of the snippets in my Big E blogpost.

We stopped to view a demonstration for one of the kitchen gadgets; my husband enjoys watching the sales pitches so we stayed a bit to listen. It was the same type of presentation I've seen before - it slices, it dices, it scrubs your kitchen sink!

But something in me caused me to mentally step back and see something with new eyes. I watched the sales rep take a whole potato and slice it up. He then did the same with a zucchini, then a carrot, some raw cabbage and at last the precarious tomato. Then I realized with ever-widening eyes - he was THROWING AWAY all that food. Swipe! Down the table-top hole to the garbage bin beneath.

I walked away with an acute awareness that there are people in this world, people in America, even people a few miles away - that are hungry and cannot afford enough food for themselves and their loved ones. Yet here this man is throwing away what would be a dinner for two every fifteen or so minutes!

I walked away with tears in my eyes and, after he coaxed it from me, told my husband what I came to realize I was actually seeing. Here was a horrible waste of food - just for the sale of a piece of plastic and metal! Yet I was at a loss of what to do or how to respond to this...

My husband has been following a "think globally, act locally" approach to things of late. And he tried to apply this to my dilemma too. It was a bitter pill to swallow when I had to acknowledge the times I also wasted food: when I prefer fast food over the leftovers in the fridge, when we cannot eat nor doggie-bag leftovers from a restaurant when we travel.

It's a crying shame when you realize how much is wasted in restaurants, but there are also health codes that must be maintained. One hope we shared together is that culinary schools have a cooperative effort with soup kitchens to feed the hungry with the class materials as the chefs learn their stock and trade...

There were other kitchen gadget vendors there too; some served salsa, vegetable smoothies or whatever products were produced during the demo (and who wouldn't be tempted by free food). But there were others who simply threw it away........

While this was sinking in, and I came to terms that I, myself, needed to change my behaviors and waste less too, I sought the comfort of a hug from my husband. Within his embrace, I heard a whisper in my hair. "I'm here. I'll always be here with you."

At that moment, I felt the same Peace I feel when I pray. It wasn't just my husband comforting me, nor just his words. For the first time in my life, I immediately recognized Christ reaching out to me through another. Often it would take days, months, even years for it to dawn on me. But this time, I knew right away, and I cannot describe the Peace and Joy inside that moment.

It only lasted about a minute, then my husband broke the spell by asking why he suddenly felt a "whoosh" of air blowing down on him; we were inside a building at the time. It could have been the remote controlled helicopter flying from the booth six feet away or it could have been something else. I don't care to speculate. The words and His presence were enough for me.

I will now make more conscientious efforts not to waste - food or opportunities to learn.

- ESA

River of Opportunity

I spent yesterday at an amusement park with extended family. One of the attractions has the rider sit in an inflatable tube and drift lazily down a meandering river-like waterway. Anyone who has ridden in one may know how tricky it can be to navigate one's tube lying on their back with a strong current and several other tubes between you and your objective. When my niece, riding a double with me, declared she had enough, I struggled to get to the exit, finally needing one of the lifeguards to pull us toward the exit area.

When several in our family group opted to go to another ride, I stood near the departure point to literally pull in the rest of the family as they floated by, so we could all go together. While I was pulling in the group in ones and twos, there was a woman who called out to me with her hand extended. She wanted to get off the ride too but could not reach the exit and was rapidly being swept "downstream" despite all her attempts, not unlike my own attempts about five minutes earlier.

When she thanked me for the help and asked if I was part of the staff, I answered simply, "No, I'm just out here looking to pull my mother in." It wasn't until I was back in the stream looking for my mother - the last of our group to exit - that it dawned on me...

If I wasn't already out there, I never would have seen this woman struggling or been there to help her.

How many opportunities to help a fellow human being - my brothers and sisters - have passed me by because I was not already helping out there, but merely sitting back waiting for the opportunity to come knocking on its own?

How much can pass
When the river of opportunity flows past
And I am not standing in the current?

-ESA