Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: BLESSED (03/07/19)
- TITLE: The Blessings Boomerang
By Donna Powers
03/12/19 -
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Judy considered herself very blessed. Judy was happily married, had two smart and attractive children who were reasonably well-behaved. Her in-laws were loving and supportive, she had lots of good friends, and a smoothly-running car. She was having a bit of a problem with the attitude of one of the salesmen she worked with, but she knew overall her job was one of her many blessings.
So, on that beautiful spring day she decided to pass some of those blessings along. When she bought coffee that morning, she bought an extra cup. On her way out the door, she saw a flower vendor and bought a bunch of bright yellow forsythias. She prayed for God to direct her to someone who needed a blessing, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a harried-looking crossing guard.
So she passed on the blessings of extra coffee and the flowers to the crossing guard.
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Roberta Carlson usually enjoyed being a crossing guard, but this morning the wind was especially chilling, and the kids all seemed to be in an especially ornery mood.
Maybe it was the delay in spring weather; prolonging the icy flavor of winter into the tail-end of March. Maybe it was the nearness of spring break. Whatever the reason, they seemed less attentive today and several of them had poked across the street like their shoes were glued to the icy roadway.
So when a smiling lady came up to her with flowers and coffee, it really made her morning. “Thanks!” she called after the kind lady and smiled at the sunshiny color of the flowers.
Little by little, the kids stopped annoying her quite so much. Little by little, her usually upbeat mood returned. By the end of her crossing shift, she was feeling very blessed.
So she decided to pass on those blessings by making an extra loaf of banana bread for her shut-in neighbor.
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Penny Clark had been dreading her son’s visit.
Oh, Harvey meant well and she supposed being visited by her son was better than being stuck in her apartment alone all day, but it seemed all Harvey ever did was complain about his wife and kids and job and car and… well, everything. And on top of that, Penny’s sciatica had been bothering her again and she hadn’t had time to bake anything for Harvey to eat during his visit.
Which would give Harvey another reason to complain.
But, out of the blue, Roberta Carlson had stopped by with some wonderful-smelling banana bread. Oh, it smelled heavenly. It was just the thing to serve when Harvey stopped by.
She smiled as she sliced a second buttery slice of banana bread for Harvey, who seemed to appreciate it, just fine. What a blessing to have such a kind neighbor, and such an attentive son.
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Harvey Clark was really enjoying that banana bread.
It was surely easing his daily visit to his crotchety shut-in mother, who seemed frailer each day. Harvey knew better than to stop visiting her, but he also felt like he never knew what to say. So he just babbled about whatever came into his mind. And then he had to listen to his mother tell him not to complain so much.
Come to think of it, his sales manager had recently told him pretty much the same thing. “Listen, Harvey, you’re a great salesman, but whenever you’re in the office, I’ve noticed you tend to complain too much.”
Maybe he did.
So, maybe instead of counting his problems he might need to start counting his blessings. And tomorrow morning, he’d start by passing on some of those blessings to his sales manager.
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So, the next morning, Harvey picked up an extra cup of coffee on his way to work. He handed that extra coffee - along with a wrapped-up slice of his Mom’s banana bread - to his sales manager, with a grateful smile.
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And Judy Nestor smiled right back - and began counting her many blessings all over again.
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Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
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I enjoyed this piece and I really believe in "paying it forward" --- each time you do you are blessing "God" by blessing others...and in turn He blesses you.
Nicely done,
Blessings~