Encouragement
The Little Blue Bunny
Many of us are young enough now to have grown up in the "camcorder" generation. This is the generation of children growing up in the 1980’s and onward who benefited from the technological advances of that time that allowed the mass production of various technological products to make their way into the average person’s home. The popularity of such items flourished and grew amongst our parents as we were growing up and the pricing allowed for the average family to own may of these wonderful products. One of the most popular was the miniaturized video recorder or camcorder as we now know it. As a result, years of precious memories were recorded; our plays, recitals, sporting events, proms, graduations, and so forth.
My wife’s parents were no different. They recorded a great deal of her growing up and, from time to time, they insist on putting me through the torture of reenacting most of my wife’s teenage years when they come to visit. They bring these tapes with them and play them over and over again. It is… well it isn’t great.
She was in a choral group during high school. It is these performances in particular we see quite a bit. I’m not really sure why either. Hours upon hours recorded of awkward teenagers trying to reenact various Broadway themes they love. It is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s worst nightmare.
A few months ago, I got blessed with another session of Broadway hits of the 80’s from my wife’s high school years as her parents were visiting again. Our VHS had broken about a year ago and I chose not to replace it as DVD’s were all we were using anyhow. I thought for certain that may stave off any future attacks, but no… alas my father-in-law is technically savvy enough to plug the camcorder into the TV directly so we will never have to miss another moment.
As I sat catatonically looking at the screen I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. My wife’s choral group was outside a tour bus saying their goodbyes to relatives and friends. They were leaving for a trip to New York City to torture them for a while and catch some shows. What I noticed was my mother-in-law giving a gift to my wife before she left. It was a palm sized, powder blue, soft stuffed bunny rabbit toy. It was very cute.
However, my wife at the time was seventeen. To be given a child’s toy at seventeen is bad. Even I know this. And we know that now from watching the video as my wife’s reaction was typical of many seventeen year old girls… a strange bewildered look and a half-hearted “Thanks.” What I hadn’t noticed before was the very evident heart broken look on her mother’s face. A gift had been given in love and not necessary been appreciated for its full value. It was a simple gesture gone wrong. Looking over at her mother, you could tell that she still was somewhat upset at my wife’s reaction at the time.
However, that wasn’t what completely caught my attention either. It was the gift itself. It was the little blue bunny. I recognized that bunny.
You see… that little blue bunny given in love over a decade ago is now the cherished toy of a two year old boy. He cannot go to sleep without it, and he cannot get out of the crib in the morning unless it is in his arms. He pets it, kisses it, and hugs it… it is his most cherished possession.
That boy is our son, and somehow that bunny made it through the years into my son’s hands. It is his “boo bunnee” as he would say. Other kids have protective blankets or pillows, my son has a bunny.
I don’t know how we never noticed the bunny before in the videos. Like many things in life, we don’t always pay enough attention to the details. Too busy sometimes wrapped up in our own thoughts and problems and not paying enough attention to what is going on around us.
I wondered how many times we have done something for someone or given a gift to an individual or loved one only to not get the response or result we were after at the time we demanded. We feel as though are efforts are in vain and unappreciated. It bothered me for a couple of days.
Fortunately, God gave me my answer a few days later. He was quick to remind me that all things are done according to his timing. “To everything there is a season and a purpose under heaven…” God is in control of everything, including the gift of a little blue bunny.
It is not up to us to determine when God will perform a miracle. And, I believe any act of love given by God is a miracle. We must put our trust in God to perform his miracles of love in his own timing. We should never stop trying to spread the gift of God’s love to others, and we should always be doing kind acts towards one another.
You may not get the reaction you desire, in fact, you may be hated for it. The bible instructs us to be the light of the world. The light shines upon the darkness and the darkness hates it. We are instructed to do so anyways. Your gift of love to someone today, could be God’s miracle of grace tomorrow. You may never know… it may not be for you to know.
You see, as lights of the world we must understand that the light that shines in us is not from us, but from above. We really are nothing more than mirrors that reflect the light of Christ onto a world of darkness. We have two main responsibilities; keep your mirror clean and keep it facing towards God. For a mirror that doesn’t at least face towards the light, cannot reflect the light. From there, it is up to God where the reflections go and when.
Do not be disappointed when you do not get a reaction from someone that you wanted, or they do not respond to an act of kindness as you think they should. A seed planted today by you with God’s love and your prayers can be a strong tree later. It needs time to grow. Continue to plant your seeds, continue to pray, and let God take care of the rest.
God took a simple gift from a mother that was never meant to be anything more than a possible kind “thank you” from her daughter, and turned it into the priced possession of her Grand Child over a decade later. I will give this letter to my mother-in-law on Mother’s Day. I hope it is a reminder to her that God is still performing miracles in her life. As he is in all of our lives… we just need to stop and pay attention.
God Bless,
Jason Shanks
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Blue bunnies. Thank God for them! It makes us realize how he is with us each step of the way planning for our future even we are not!
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