No Fear

As I sit here in my warm house on this very snowy day with every one of my family members safely home I am mulling over the numerous things that occur during the day that seem like single, unrelated incidences until they come together cohesively to remind me of the important things in life. (I apologize for that very lengthy sentence!) In short, God works on every minute of our lives, and there are no coincidences.

My white washed world-grateful I'm safely home

I began today feeling very tired and somewhat worried about navigating the weather as well as addressing some of the things I knew were ahead of me. The first thing I did was turn on my computer to find a short and very sweet message from a dear friend in my life. That right there took the edge of my weariness and got me looking forward to my day. The funny thing is that since last night, I have had the distinct impression to let this very person know how much I think of her and thank her for the joy she brings to my life just because she exists. What a talent to just be who you are and make people happy just by being yourself. I'm so grateful she acted on her feelings of love and charity because it sure changed the direction in which I was starting my day.

One of the reasons this made such an impact is because it made me want to pay those feelings forward in my day. It is easy to fear the reactions (or rejection) of others when we give of our hearts, but one thought that has stood out to me today is that there is no fear in true charity. This has been stated to me in many ways today-by word (someone else's blog), by action (the message I received) and by me being the recipient of kindnesses (multiple times). Whether a person accepts my kindness or not does not negate my need to give it, or the intent in which I give it. It always gives me joy when I am kind. Remembering this set the pattern for the rest of my day. I acted on the things I knew were heart-felt and in the spirit of giving. Though my day was not perfect I was grateful for the situations that were set in place for me to be able to realize I need to ignore my fears and keep giving.