are you present in the moment?

As I was perusing social media this morning, I had my requisite cup of coffee in hand, the sun is shining at 7:15 a.m. and the temps will become warm today! Spring is in the air!

No reason today to feel sadness or sorrow. A gal I had worked with at a very fun job --we were supervisors at a coffee shop (doesn't get any more fun than that!) just had a baby girl! So A-DOR-A-BLE! My sister in law, who is a boy scout troop leader, had a lock in last night with her son and other boys also. Although her son was revved up and still going at about 5 a.m., she was ready for bed. I looked at the pictures that she also posted and smiled. Such a happy child!

Two nights ago, at a most unworthy hour of the middle of the night, my dog decided that he needed to go outside. Half asleep, I opened the back door, let him out and he immediately took off, barking. There was a herd of about ten deer just crossing my yard! TEN! and he, little fifteen pound bugger that he is, thought that he could take all of them on! Such innocence!

The world, my friends, is full of innocence. Despite what the news would have you believe, it IS everywhere. You just need to be open to it. It is everywhere! A child with enough energy to light up a room with his smile (love you, Owen!) to a newborn baby, to a once peaceful scene replete with deer who've suddenly taken off, their hooves pattering across the road...beauty is where you find it. There is even beauty in the stark images of a homeless person being offered some generosity by a passing stranger. It is in the hands of  a nurse caring for the sick. In the eyes of a hospice worker as she hugs a dying patient. In the spirit of children singing for a group of elderly at a nursing home. The bag boy who makes sweet conversation at the grocery store. A helpful clerk at the hardware store. Oh yes, generosity and beauty abound.

Give thanks to God, for He is good, His mercy endures forever! Praise Him in the Highest. YOU can praise Him even more by doing works of mercy, acts of charity, random acts of kindness. Pay it forward, friend! Pay it until you run out...because I guarantee you...you will never run out. Love is a vessel that is always full. You can never have too much or not enough. God is Love. God will make sure that Love is spread around. All He needs are YOUR hands, YOUR eyes, YOUR efforts!

So....are you ready?
Then let's do this!