Forget the grand schemes
Categories: uncategorized
Date: 22 April 2007 17:53:45
It's the little things that make all the difference. This week hasn't exactly been the easiest, what with Mr M away in The States for a fortnight and both little M and I suffering with nasty, chesty coughs. I was off work for two days, and only struggled in for the remaining three as I had a vaguely important ;) event coming up at the weekend. Namely the novicing of myself and another lady, both aspiring 'Seabirds.' We've both had our own problems with family and ill health recently, and certainly, there was one point during the week when I was feeling so grotty that I began to wonder whether it might be better to ask to pospone until such time as I was able to make my pledge without sounding like somebody audtioning for a Budweiser ad. Hardly the most auspicious leadup. Never mind, all went well on the day. We both went to an event at my church beforehand, then after nearly missing our train because of the arrival of the local secondary school's Morocco trip just as we were trying to buy our tickets, and our experience with The Bus That Would Not Stop to pick up its passengers, we made it to our destination with time to spare.
In the event, all went smoothly. X, my fellow would-be seabird - had kindly supplied me with the requisite envelope in which to place my rule of life prior to its presentation. (She's more organised than me, I fear.) And I double-checked before sealing it to make sure that I'd not inserted something like my shopping list in there by mistake! Well, copious draughts of expectorant medicine aren't the world's best aids to clear thinking at the best of times. On the other hand, the combination of that and a head full of slime so preoccupied me that I forgot to be nervous. So, as we said afterwards...we've done it! 'Til the next time...
But anyway, why the wild witterings and photos? Well, there I was before the service this morning, feeling a bit 'bleah' and washed out. TBH, my feelings about my own home church have been, to put it politely, 'ambivalent' lately. Then up comes Y - totally unexpectedly, with this beautiful little butterfly bookmark for me. To say I was gobsmacked would be too crude. Touched is far more apt. She'd not known anything about the Seabird business, but just that little, thoughtful action gave me just enough 'oomph' to get through the service that followed.
One of the First Order Franciscan sisters once said to me that it's the little things, the small, often unoticed acts that really matter. A smile, a quiet word of encouragement, perhaps. So very true. Remind me to remember that next time I'm tempted to overindulge in the proverbial navel-gazing.