Kind Blessings

     I started out to pray and walk yesterday morning, thinking about the words I had just written. My heart was heavy with concern for family and friends going through struggles, but I began with praising God for the breath of life and for the sunshine and for His ability to work in all things.

     God chose to bless me in unexpected ways on my walk. It was the usual 2 mile walk. Since I don’t drive anymore due to my eye disease, I take the same course around a small lake near our home. I ran into a friend from church; the first unexpected blessing. Next I saw a young man with two huge dogs coming my way and he showed me a small turtle he had picked up a couple of blocks away from the lake. He took the time to return the little guy to a safe environment.

     As I turned onto 86^th Street about halfway around, an SUV pulled up next to me and said, “It’s me, Denny! How the heck are you?” It was the janitor from our prior church, a friend I had not seen in almost a decade! His ministry continues to go way beyond his job description and he added so much to our congregation in a myriad of ways, including single handedly changing a young boy’s life.

     Tom rode his bike around our church parking lot as a very young boy and Denny befriended him over the years, until Tom finally joined our flock. He grew from a scared young boy in a very dysfunctional family into a hard-working, (now married) young man. Denny and I spoke of our families and the years that had gone by and he left me with these words, “God is so good, and he made us friends.”

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Colossians 3:12

      We, like Denny, can stop with a kind word, to offer help to a young, lost boy and to remind us of the servant’s heart. May God bless you today!!  He has made us friends.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the day brighteners around us. Open our eyes to appreciate them, the turtle saviors, the church ladies, the ministering janitors among us. You are so good.

Amen