Good morning. I just dropped a note on Facebook about how I relish Sunday mornings. It gives me time, first before I get out of bed to thank God for the day, then I make that coffee and take time just to be. I try not to have a “busy” morning and just take time to think about the events of the week and be grateful for what is….the good and the bad (still working on gratitude for the bad, had a schooling in that last night) and to think about my priorities.
This morning I am, with that coffee, reflecting on an event I was blessed to attend last night. It was, what most would think no big deal, after all it was simply a birthday dinner for a friend. However, this was no ordinary dinner. It was a celebration of a person I have known for a very long time, a gathering of pure love, support and joy – joy in the midst of an unimaginable situation. My friend, (I think he would be your friend too, he is just that sort of person) Joe, has for the last year and a half been dealing with a moment in time that changed his life forever. The short version is, he has been diagnosed with brain cancer, the kind for which there is no cure and the prognosis is just devastating.
Where is that joy I mentioned you ask? It is Joe. It is his spirit, his light, HIS joy and his resolution that if this has happened to him, by God he is going to do everything he can to provide research and hope for others. Looking at his surgeries and treatments not just to help him but what else can he do to help doctors help others. It is both inspiring and humbling to spend time with him. It is hard to be sad around him. He makes me laugh and tries to put his lovely wife at ease and he has made a commitment to spend his time, this time, very very wisely.
Back to the birthday dinner – it was a room filled with people who love Joe of course. But it wasn’t sad, it was a lot of laughter with groups of folks who knew Joe over various periods of time…high school, college, business, transitions. The common theme is we all knew Joe for a long time….friends are friends forever for some. LOVE THAT. But with all that, those of us who met for the first time last night, soon felt like we all knew each other for a long time – that is Joe. We were all, for a moment, for last night anyway, part of one family….Joe’s family.
Joe provided a short “speech” during which he was honest about his current state but also expressed genuine gratitude for all who were there. And then, without hesitation said “let’s do it again next year,” to which there was a huge applause. If anyone can break free from this and make it happen it is Joe. How lucky I am to have been there last night.
So, what does this have to do with priorities? It was one of those moments that struck me. Do you ever have those…something that just hits you between the eyes (in a good way) and makes you “quit your bitc*n” moments? I drove home last night thinking, holy moly, that room was a room filled with love….it was tangible, it was palpable, it was real. It struck me so hard and caused me to reflect further on my life, priorities and people. There are those moments in life that we need to notice and allow to influence us. I believe these have the hand of God slapping us in the face (metaphorically of course) and saying WAKE UP.
I am so grateful for these moments. Now, I need to work on keeping them present and a priority.
I hope you have a moment or two this week that makes you stop and say “I am blessed” or “I am loved” and maybe even give someone else one of those moments. A moment they know they matter, they are thought of and you care. Kindness is free ( just a reminder 🙂 ).
Enjoy your Sunday and I wish you today, as in all days, a good day!