Why do we fail to tell people how much we love them? Maybe we make the ----no, no, no, I make the excuse that I am too busy. I need to do this and that, and anyway the people I love know I love them. Yes, that is the excuse I tell myself and actually almost believe. As I have matured, I really have called into question my intentions and motivations surrounding such issues. I do not want have lived this life and not shared the goodness of living it.
I recently sent my middle sister a card for her birthday and she responded in the most gracious, kind way. Her voice carried a sincerity I haven’t heard from anyone in years. It was so refreshing to hear it, but then she said something that shocked me. She said that was the first card I have ever sent her!!! I couldn’t' believe that, but a quick run down memory lane proved that statement to be true! How could I have not sent her a card before now? She is in her late thirties, what the heck have I been doing and thinking?
Well, the truth is, I have been thinking of myself and my own needs. I have placed judgment on her and the lifestyle she has chosen and I made it a point to not be part of it. I have failed to see the beauty in her being, the generosity of her spirit and the kindness of her soul.
When she told me that she placed it on her fridge so that she could see it every morning, I knew it was true and that one little act of kindness of my behalf opened her up to me in a way I haven't witnessed in years.
And so today, I noticed that she called me and I immediately called back thinking that something horrible had happened since in the past 18 years she has called maybe three times. She answered the phone and I said, “Hey, I noticed you called. What's up?" And she said, “Nothing, I called because you are my sister..."
And my heart melted...Thank you, Lord! I don't deserve the grace bestowed upon me, but I certainly appreciate it!
I don't like it...I loveeee ittt(:<3
ReplyDeleteI just today started following this blog…. I’m not going to hide in the machismo that is deeply engrained in this west Texan man, but I had tears in my eyes reading this.
ReplyDeleteI began to think of my father, he passed away suddenly a little over a year ago and I miss him terribly. I am deeply saddened when I think of all the squandered opportunities we had to just talk. To share our most precious gift we have; TIME. My father was an amazing man, whom I did not always agree with, but whom I knew had to swallow hard in accepting some of the ridiculous mistakes I have made in my life.
I never have doubted his love for me, and I can only pray now that he never doubted my love for him. I have his legacy now to carry and to share with whomever I can. I think about the material possessions he left behind. I think of what possessions he had that I could keep for comforting me and to keep his memory near to me. What I have is a letter he hand wrote me just a few months before he died. What an amazing act of kindness he did by leaving me a letter validating the unspoken between us, his hand written words proving a silent bond.
I am so blessed by him that he took the time to leave that for me. I keep it very close to me all the time.
Love you sister! What a beautiful thing to sahre...
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