It was raining hard this morning and the temperature at 8 a.m. was 40 degrees. Even though I was glad of the rain, my spirits weren't very high. I had an appointment for acupuncture and massage. High time because my back had hurt on and off during the night. But it was so wet - ugh!
I was eating my usual waffle with peanut butter when the phone rang. Karissa, the massage therapist, sounded so sick that I knew she would have to cancel that part of my appointment. John, the acupuncturist, was not his usual exuberant self either. I left the office with a still aching back and a full bladder.
Next was grocery shopping, diving from my car through the rain and into Sentry, my mind mostly on making a pit stop in the rest rooms at the back of the store before commencing the trip down the store aisles. As I was drying my hands, feeling relieved, two tykes, a boy and a girl, pushed through the door, just missing me. Their mother came after them, trying to get them to calm down, but not too successfully.
That's when it hit me (not the door - the idea). How long has it been since I took such joy in the everyday things of life - like a restroom with its multiple doors and the toilet flush handles that make water rush much faster than at home. Simple happiness. Wouldn't it be great to see the world again through those young eyes, when everything is an adventure.
I figured it was a message from the Holy Spirit who I was focusing on this week in my prayers. I started trying to look with wonder at all the good things that were there lining the shelves. I smiled at people and most smiled back. I sincerely thanked the man ahead of me in the checkout line when he put a divider down so I could take my grocery choices from the shopping cart. When the checker forgot to deduct the 5 cents for bringing my cloth bag, I told her not to worry. I bring a cloth bag because I think its a good idea, not because I want a discount. That brought a smile to her face even as she apologized. At one time she had been a flight attendant on international flights, and she was remembering carrying items home in a pouch formed by the bottom of her T-shirt because she couldn't "beg, borrow, or steal a bag" in most foreign countries. I had the same memories. "Been there, done that," We both laughed.
On the way home I noticed how green everything was and that my lilac bush is almost ready to burst into copious bloom. I smelled the rain-clean air and didn't even grumble because my newspaper was sticking out of the box and was wet. I wish I had remembered to splash in a puddle on the way to get it.
How grateful I am for all the gifts I saw today because of two little kids who were bursting with new life, just like everything around me. May showers bring June flowers and how necessary they are!
Life is an adventure - when we take notice!
