I've told this story before.
I was on the phone with my mom when someone knocked at her front door. She didn't put the phone down and she didn't put me on mute. I could hear her talking to someone and then a moment later, she shut the door and got back on the phone with me.
"Who was it?" I asked her.
"Jesus," she said, without missing a beat.
"Jesus was at the door?" I said.
Jesus was the name she gave to the homeless man who regularly stopped by looking for work. Even if she didn't have anything for him to do, she always gave him a few dollars, even if it was money she needed herself.
My mom saw Jesus everywhere.
I've been thinking about her a lot lately. Two years ago, a week or so before Thanksgiving, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died seven weeks later. The holidays will never be the same.
And yet, I know this is a rough time of the year for a lot of us. I know I'm cranky. I know it's hard to find reasons to smile. But yesterday after talking to a friend about finding Jesus in the faces of the people you would least expect, I decided to make a better effort at seeing Jesus, in the faces of strangers and friends, in nature, in the world, in the way my large cat likes to cuddle obnoxiously when he doesn't feel well.
Today I saw Jesus in this tiny old woman at Walgreens. I was blocking the aisle and she was trying to squeeze through with her cart.
"Excuse me, sweetheart," she said.
She called me sweetheart and suddenly I was smiling and laughing to myself. It had been a long time since anyone called me sweetheart. In fact, the last person, the only person who has ever called me sweetheart was my mom.
It made my day.
Come back and visit this page often, as I try to post something, anything from that day that brought me closer to God.
And of course it wouldn't be 365 Days of Hope without some picture that I took today.
I was on the phone with my mom when someone knocked at her front door. She didn't put the phone down and she didn't put me on mute. I could hear her talking to someone and then a moment later, she shut the door and got back on the phone with me.
"Who was it?" I asked her.
"Jesus," she said, without missing a beat.
"Jesus was at the door?" I said.
Jesus was the name she gave to the homeless man who regularly stopped by looking for work. Even if she didn't have anything for him to do, she always gave him a few dollars, even if it was money she needed herself.
My mom saw Jesus everywhere.
I've been thinking about her a lot lately. Two years ago, a week or so before Thanksgiving, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died seven weeks later. The holidays will never be the same.
And yet, I know this is a rough time of the year for a lot of us. I know I'm cranky. I know it's hard to find reasons to smile. But yesterday after talking to a friend about finding Jesus in the faces of the people you would least expect, I decided to make a better effort at seeing Jesus, in the faces of strangers and friends, in nature, in the world, in the way my large cat likes to cuddle obnoxiously when he doesn't feel well.
Today I saw Jesus in this tiny old woman at Walgreens. I was blocking the aisle and she was trying to squeeze through with her cart.
"Excuse me, sweetheart," she said.
She called me sweetheart and suddenly I was smiling and laughing to myself. It had been a long time since anyone called me sweetheart. In fact, the last person, the only person who has ever called me sweetheart was my mom.
It made my day.
Come back and visit this page often, as I try to post something, anything from that day that brought me closer to God.
And of course it wouldn't be 365 Days of Hope without some picture that I took today.
Comments
Post a Comment