24 September 2009

SERENDIPITY

ser⋅en⋅dip⋅i⋅ty 
 /ˌsɛrənˈdɪpɪti/ Pronunciation [ser-uhn-dip-i-tee]
–noun
1. an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
2. good fortune; luck

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Does it ever occur to you how often God speaks to us, creates beauty for us and brings things to us to bless our day?

Take, for example, a couple of weeks ago. I had a doctor's appointment and had intended to keep the appointment in the morning and go on to work in the afternoon. My doctor had some concerns and ordered a barrage of tests and - long story short- I found myself there most of the day until there was no point in going into work at all that day. I called the girls to pick me up, and we decided to have lunch at a little Japanese noodle place in Little Italy.

Ok - it's always a good day when I can spend an afternoon with my daughters, so I felt the day was somewhat redeemed. When I'd placed my order and sat down to wait for my meal, I looked up and on the walls of this tiny, modest restaurant were the most beautiful Don Li-Leger paintings. I was recently introduced to Li-Leger by my daughter Cara and fell in love with his style. A few weeks ago, I had some of my atc artist friends make atc's for me in the style of Li-Leger, and in turn I received the most beautiful set of atc's I'd ever received.



















As I sat enjoying my lunch, I was awed by the beauty presented to me, and I thanked my Lord for allowing this "serendipitous" moment to uplift my spirits.

Every day, God gives us evidences of His love for us. I am always amazed that a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or a vivid crescent moon, a tiny snowdrop bud in early spring, the beautiful snow- covered branches after a heavy snowfall, the brilliance of brightly colored leaves against a bright blue sky in Autumn - all these things go virtually unnoticed by the majority of people hurry-scurrying throughout their meaningless day to day tasks. Once as I was exiting Tower City, there was a beautiful rainbow over the city of Cleveland. Being by myself, I didn't have anyone to share that with, so what did I do? I sought the attention of the nearest stranger and said, "Look at that beautiful rainbow!". Of course, the stranger just looked at me like I was a nut case and kept walking. But, that's ok! Unfortunately, that was his loss.

God whispers His love to us daily, in the laughter of a child, the twittering of a blue jay, a smile from a stranger and sometimes, bringing something witty or beautiful across our path to make our day brighter. Just like salvation, the gift is yours for the taking. What a shame when if gift goes unnoticed, unopened, unappreciated.
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