A Beautiful Day

January 10, 2020

A GIFT SOUR, SWEET, JUST RIGHT

I’m following a calendar that has daily suggestions or prompts for gratitude, some of which try as I might, are challenging. For example, I love grapefruit. Plain, no sugar. Linda thinks it’s disgusting, but I prefer peeling a grapefruit to an orange. Color me strange. Add in that except for an occasional dark chocolate, chocolate covered espresso beans, or licorice, I’m not much for sweets, and you can see why today’s suggestion is a bit of a stretch. The “just right” part however, is right up my alley.

This afternoon, I visited my friend Rick. Rick had a stroke some years ago that took out his right side and his speech. Other than that, he’s in good health and is pretty cheerful, considering. He has round the clock care, and I get to meet different caregivers every time I see him. Today I met Susan, a pretty fifty-eight year old who recently moved back into the area after forty years absence. “Family issues,” she explained. In the course of our conversation, I told her about the gratitude calendar, and when I told her how the gratitude discipline had changed my life, she expressed interest. So I texted her a copy of it. If she follows it, I have no doubt it will help her as it helped me. That prospect makes me happy.

Tonight is a “Meema and Beepa night.” All nine of our grandchildren and one of Izzi’s friends are here for the duration. Before bed, we gather for prayer. Linda leads first, ending with a scriptural prayer which she repeats leaving some words out, which the kids fill in. I usually follow with a short prayer and scriptural blessing, but Linda threw me a curve tonight by asking me to sit on the floor while the kids circled around. They laid hands on me, each one praying for me and the mission trip I’ll be taking. It’s hard to explain the impact of having your grandchildren praying for you. It was a moment I’ll treasure always. It was even more than “just right.”