Monday of this week started with dark clouds and intense storms. In order to keep our students safe during thunderstorms, a 10 minute bus dismissal turned into a two hour wait/process. The lightning just wouldn't quit!! Our week ended with a glorious Friday morning sunrise. While I'm not a morning person in the least, school days provide an opportunity to watch the sun rise on my drive to work and this encourages my soul greatly. Now there are only 13 more sunrise opportunities until SUMMER, at which time I will sleep through this uplifting morning ritual until school resumes.
While reciting one of our daily (and weather related) poems in the classroom this week, we discussed how our attitudes can bring sunshine and joy into the lives of our friends-- chasing the dark clouds away. You know the people, like Olaf's snow cloud in the movie Frozen, who seem to walk around with storm clouds over them, greeting everyone with a negative or critical perspective. After interacting with them, you feel the gloom and doom of their presence. Then, you meet others who greet you with a smile, an encouraging word and who bring sunshine into your day, even those who face serious challenges in life, yet shower others with deference and grace. Some of us, without knowing it, walk around with faces that wear the weight of the world, even with unknowing looks of disgust. Often my daughters ask why I am angry or upset, due to the expression on my face, when in reality I feel rather content and joyful. Knowing this tendency and how it may be interpreted, I'm making an effort to greet others with a purposeful smile and I'm becoming more convicted that my negative words and attitude leave nothing but darkness in the lives of others.
As many of you know, I'm particularly taken with the sky, morning, noon and night. Just this week, I paused multiple times on my way home from school in awe of the vast beauty and wide open expanse above the horizon. While the central states have limited access to beaches and mountains, we enjoy daily masterpieces from the hands of God. The immense sky indicating threatening weather, even tornadoes, is equally impressive, yet brings stressful and uneasy emotion. A bright blue sky filled with sunshine and beautifully shaped clouds, like the one I enjoyed this week, overwhelms me with peace and contentment. May the spirit of Christ enable us, struggling sinners surrounded by the darkness of this world, to share the light, grace, mercy and kindness of our Lord with others, most especially and first to those in our own homes.
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."
