Thank You

An exhausted young mother dragged herself to the telephone when it rang and listened with relief to the kindly voice on the other end. “How are you, Sweetheart? What kind of day are you having?”

“Oh, Mother,” said the woman, “I’m having such a bad day. The baby won’t eat, the washing machine broke down, the house is a mess, we’re having two couples over for dinner tonight and I haven’t had a chance to go shopping yet. And to top it off, I just sprained my ankle.”

The mother was overwhelmed with sympathy. “Oh, Honey,” she said, “sit down, relax, and just close your eyes. I’ll be over in half an hour. I’ll do the shopping, clean the house and cook your dinner for you. I’ll feed the baby, and I’ll call a repairman to fix the washing machine. Now stop crying. I’ll do everything. In fact, I’ll even call Sean at the office and ask him to come home and help out.”

“Sean?” said the housewife. “Who’s Sean?”

“Why, Sean, your husband, of course!”

“You mean Jim, don’t you? You’ll call Jim at the store.”

“Isn’t this Julie?”

“No, it’s Tiffany.”

“Oh,” said the kindly person, “I must have dialed the wrong number. I’m sorry.”

There was a long silence. Then the desperate young homemaker asked, “Does this mean you’re not coming over?”

Wouldn’t it be nice to have that kind of help? I think we all have moments when we would love to have someone come in and fix all of our problems – even if it was someone else’s mother. But the truth is, life doesn’t usually work like that. Friends and family can’t fix everything for us. Even our faith doesn’t alleviate the hard work we all must face in life.

However, there are times in each of our lives when other people do reach out a hand to help. Our faith does give us courage and strength and binds us together with a community.  If our eyes are open, each of us will experience small acts of blessing and kindness every day. May we in turn be a blessing to others who are in need.

Let us pray: We thank you, O God, for our faith, for the strength, guidance, and courage we need to face the obstacles of everyday life. We thank you for our friends and family and even strangers who do make the journey of life easier and more enjoyable. Today, help us to express our gratitude to them even as we express it to you: Thank you, God. Amen.