A nugget of blessing

I heard a story about a gentleman named Frank. Frank lived in Missouri and had a very good friend John, an attorney who lived in Florida. Frank and John grew up together, graduated from the same high school and even went to college in the same town. As typical for children who move into adulthood and begin separate lives, Frank and John managed to remain lifelong friends and continued the standard once a year Christmas card list correspondences and social media “connections.”

Typically, through the decades whenever Frank was in trouble or needed legal advice he would pick up the phone and call his friend John to seek answers to his dilemmas.  It was one of those more recent times that John picked up the phone, answered the questions, continued with the cordial “formalities” and just about the time Frank was ready to hang up John stopped him saying, “Hey Frank. You know it is always good to hear from you. I am happy to help you in whatever way I can as you are my friend and I care about you, your well-being and overall happiness. But it would really be nice if once in awhile you called on me just to say hi and check up on me and my life, to not ‘need’ anything.”

As I prepare for Hurricane Florence to make her presence known along the Carolina coast by force or heavy winds and rain in the next few days, I am reminded of Frank and John’s story. You see, my social media pages have been filled with prayers and sought-after blessings. Pleading for grace and mercy for safety. My phone has been continually beeping with outsiders checking on our status and plans. All of this has made me wonder how our Creator must feel? Even if you don’t believe in God or a “Higher Power,” I am sure you hold fast to something when times get rough. In fact, I’ve heard there are no atheists in foxholes.

But, during hardships and potential disasters, when we are the most frightened, we rightfully reach out in prayer and petition for strength through the storm and safety in its wrath. But like Frank, do we only appeal our prayers, and thoughts at those moments? The rest of our days, in our busy-ness, do we exude an attitude of gratitude? Do we reach out to the ones we care about for no reason other than to say hello and catch up? Do we appreciate all the little blessings we have every single day and shout out THOSE praises from the rooftops? Do we live each day accepting each minute as an unrepeated miracle? Usually not. Why do we tend to gravitate to the negative, the undesirable?

Today Girl, it’s time to focus on the sparkle! And as we prepare for whatever may come forth from the unpredictable Florence, I want to encourage you that when this storm has passed, and it WILL pass,  through whatever mess you have to clean, whatever inconveniences you endure, whatever undesirable situation you have encountered that you find a nugget of blessing and put THAT on your social media. That you consider yourself not “lucky” but blessed and that you keep the lines of communication going even when you don’t “need” anything.