Ninety Minute Gift

Gift
Originally uploaded by podso.

I felt like I was unwrapping a package. Construction workers were absent, spouse had headed out for a breakfast meeting, and I had just heard the putter-putter of resident son's now-functioning Sumarai heading out of our cul de sac. I bustled around with morning tasks enjoying the tidiness (after the new kitchen floor last week) and the quietness--yes, the serenity of a Monday morning all to myself ... for 90 minutes. I settled down with my Bible.

Peace pervaded my soul. It seemed an extra sense of peace for one who is usually in high gear thinking hard about the next thing. Times like this aren't all that frequent, sadly, but seem to be such a gift directly from God. He knows we need moments like this in our busy lives. I'm so glad I could be aware of the gift and celebrate the joy of it all.

Over 100 years ago, Henry Van Dyke wrote about a "she" whose identity I can only guess at. "She spoke of the duty of being ready to welcome happiness as well as endure the pain, and of the strength that endurance wins by being grateful for small daily joys, like the evening light, and the smell of roses, and the singing of birds. She spoke of the faith that rests on the Unseen Wisdom and Love like a child on its mother's breast, and the melting away of doubts in the warmth of an effort to do some good in the world."

Sort of a "stop to smell the roses" moment!