I recently experienced one of my best days ever. I had a program in St. Cloud, Minnesota for an association of secretaries, and it couldn’t have gone better. They were a squirrelly group, and we had a blast.
When I stopped at Applebee’s for dinner on the way home, I was still on a bit of a high. A waitress promptly came by to take my drink order (a Cherry Pepsi). She went away and I scoured the menu. My mind made up, I waited for the waitress to return, to no avail. Although I was eager to get home to see my girls, I really wasn’t strapped for time and I had a magazine with me that I was eager to dive into, so I elected to be patient.
Eventually, the waitress did return, apologizing profusely. I assured her that there was no harm done, and she took my order. After a short while, she brought me my appetizer — hot wings. (I decided to splurge, since Kim normally isn’t really into spicy things.) When my basket was about half empty, the waitress walked up to the table with another bowl of wings.
“They made way too many of these for your order,” she said. “You can have them if you want; they reheat pretty well.”
I eagerly accepted, giddy at the thought of extending my hot wings experience over the course of two days.
Eventually dinner came as well, and it was good. As I polished off the last few bites of a steak, the waitress came bearing gifts again. This time she had an Apple Pie Dessert Shooter.
She explained, “This is a little something for being so late to take your order. It’s on me.”
Obviously, this dinner (and day) had just gone from great to AWESOME.
When the check came, I looked it over and noticed that I wasn’t charged for my Cherry Pepsi. For a second, I wondered if I had stumbled into one of those behind-the-scenes candid camera scenarios. You know, like a social experiment in which they give me all these extras that I didn’t pay for, and then undercharge me for what I did order to see how honest I am. Not wanting to end up as the schlub on some primetime television exposé (and because my Dad raised me right), I pointed out the error to the waitress.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said.
As I walked out the door, I had a free Pepsi, a clean conscience, and disbelief over what a great day it had been. (You can see how much food impacts my level of happiness.) Admittedly, some negative thinking invaded my mind, as I thought, “This day has been too good to be true. I wonder when the other shoe is going to drop.”
On the final leg home, I encountered a rain storm. The dark clouds and setting sun made for a spectacular view. And then, suddenly, a bright, vibrant rainbow appeared in front of me. Even before I had the chance to think about how cool it would be to see both ends of it, I turned my head and there it was: The entire rainbow stretched out in front of my car. It was one of the most glorious things I’d ever witnessed.
I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of peace and joy. The sight of the rainbow, and it’s reflection shining off the wet pavement in front of me, branded the day as truly remarkable.
And the still, small voice of God, sensing my unworthiness as I wondered what I did to deserve such a treasure, whispered, “You didn’t do anything special to deserve this, and nothing bad is about to happen. I love you. This is how I feel about you ALL THE TIME.”
Wow.
If you’re like me, sometimes it’s easy to feel like God is up in Heaven, keeping track of all the good and bad things we do. He throws us a bone when we do something right and screws with our life when we mess up. But that’s not how he operates.
In a world that is broken, with millions of wounded hearts and hurting souls, God is endlessly trying to communicate the message of just how much he loves us. (Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that he actually likes us, too.) If we could ever truly get our heads wrapped around that, our world would look very different indeed.
Signs of this message are everywhere, but we are often too busy to stop, too blind to see, too deaf to hear, and too dumb to understand that his entire creation is whispering three magic words: I love you. Fortunately for us, God sometimes finds it appropriate — and necessary — to shout to get our attention. The shouting works, but life goes so much better when we’re paying attention to the whispers along the way.
I challenge you today to slow your pace and open the ears of your heart to listen for God’s whisper. What is he trying to tell you?
On this day, he shouted at me in free hot wings and rainbows.
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Shouts at you? Heck, often the shouts are a mere whisper…turn here, watch out for this or that, call this person, take this opportunity. It’s amazing really to think that little old me can do what I can. It doesn’t happen with Help, that’s for sure.
Great reminder…and great story!
Jason,
This is such an amazingly awesome experience. Thank you for sharing it with all of us — your loyal fans, readers, and friends. God is good, ALL THE TIME! All the time, GOD IS GOOD!
Hope all is well with you, Kim, and Little Miss Lucy!
Peace, Prayers, & Friendship!
Kim
Really cool, Jason! Thanks for the reminder on God’s love.
What a wonderful reminder as we start a week, and are soon to start a new month. May we all open our ears and broaden our mindsets to notice the way God says “I love you” each day.
I appreciate your post, your insights and your courage to post it.
THis is just what I needed to see/hear/feel today!!! I sometimes go around and wonder,” Ok when is the ball going to drop” when things are going good(thanking God all the time, too). This kind of thinking, of course, hinders me and doesn’t let me enjoy the moments with all its glory and greatness. Thank you for sharing your gifts.
I love this and thank you so much for sharing it. The best part is your caption about:
“too busy…..too blind…… too deaf……. and too dumb……..”
GADS, how many times I wanted to say that to someone……but instead, I say;
“Just open your eyes and see the gifts that God gave you…….”
Great post! It’s very easy for us to get too wrapped up with things that we think are important. A lot of us focus on what we don’t have. If only we make it a point to spend a little bit of time each day to reflect on what truly is important and how blessed we are with what we have.
Thanks, you guys! Glad the post hit home :)
Owner of a local doughnut shop sent me an e-mail recently about a virtuoso violinist who played Mozart, Chopin and others in a subway stop in NYC somewhere, just because he could. Most people just walked on by, occasionally tossing a buck or two at his feet near his violin case. But, mainly, didn’t pay attention to what was there in front of them. I know (and you do, too, probably) people who are most at home with themselves when they can not only frown, but use their hands to push their facial muscles downwards into more of a growl; they’re not going to be happy unless they drive themselves into more of a miserable snit, just because it’s easier or what they’re used to.
This article is a great example of the great things that happen to us every day because God loves us. Even when we are having a not-so-good, or even a no-good-rotten-horrible day, there are still good things to smile about and thank God for. Sometimes, one day out of a million days, when the wind stands fair and the angle of the Sun is just right, it finally gets through to us how much we are truly blessed (not lucky) and how much God truly loves us.
Bravo, Jason, on this piece. Sometimes it’s rainbows, sometimes it’s wings. :)
Austen, Thanks for the kudos! Funny you should mention the violinist. I’m not sure if this is the one you were talking about, but I wrote a post a couple years ago about a similar story, making the point of how terrible we’ve become at slowing down to appreciate the little things.
Here’s a link: https://escapeadulthood.com/blog/2007-04-23/trading-the-cracker-jack-prizes-for-the-peanuts.html
This brought a tear to my eye. So many of my friends are going through horrible life situations right now, but I’m not. I keep wondering “when the other shoe is going to fall” instead of appreciating all the blessings in my life and just being grateful. (My son is 4.5 months old – so I really love hearing about your little kiddo, cause I sure can relate!)
Great post Jason!
I believe it is vital to a person’s happiness to “stop and smell the roses.” It is so sad that many people never do. They go about their lives being “busy” and never appreciating the beautiful things all around them. Thanks for sending such a great reminder to everyone…God is all around us and we must pause to absorb the beauty he has created.
Thanks Jason,
The truly inspiring part of your article is the reminder of just how little it truly takes to make us joyful. A splash of kindness, a sprinkle of love, and a jolt of awareness, and the beauty of the world comes back into focus. Thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful post and accurate picture of God’s love for us! I wish more people understood that God just plain loves us.
Such a simple concept, yet so difficult to accept sometimes, Bonita :)
I think this is one of the best articles I’ve ever read. Seriously. This should be one of those articles that people read daily… It’s so easy to forget that God loves us so much, and it’s so important to be reminded. Too often I feel guilty about something, even after repenting, and I think God must be up there furious at me. Why do I forget He actually likes me?
Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks, Steven…I’m glad it struck a chord! We all need these little reminders from time to time.
Jason,
I was one of those secretaries on that day. Wow. God is good and grace abounds. I was just driving to work today, thinking about an article I have to write for all those secretaries, and I know I’m going to write about you and about the fact that I, myself, rarely suffer from adultitis, which I am SO grateful for because it allows me to crack myself up almost every day. Like this morning as I continue to laugh at myself because I live in a new house (it’s three years old) and I had been cursing the darkness at the bottom of the stairs where I put my on shoes for a very long time. One day I stopped grumbling and decided that what I need is to have an electrician come in and put up a light fixture, right about ….there…oh….where the light fixture already is! Of course it then took me a couple weeks to change the light bulb, but I giggled in the darkness and now I giggle and delight in the light.
And I came to work, opened my email, and thought – ooh, a game, let me check out what Kim & Jason have here…and I don’t necessarily navigate your site all that well and lost sight of what I was doing here but noticed the archives and this particular article caught my eye – and Wow! Even more message than I came looking for and yes, yes, yes! Your testimony is true and thank you for sharing your faith. How wonderful to be in a place of living out your faith and being an instrument of God’s love for all of us who have been privileged to hear you. May you and Kim and Lucy continue to grow in grace and silliness!
Mary Beth,
Nice coincidence, thanks for writing! You guys were sure a fun group that still makes me smile when I think about it. I’m glad you enjoyed the article, it seemed to have touched a nerve with a number of people, which is cool.
That light bulb story is hilarious! Funny how life works. Well, it’s funny if you’re willing to look for the funniness :)
I just read most of your Top 13 Posts and this one is the best for me.
When you described yourselves as kindred spirits in your about page, I was immediately interested. (That’s my secret password.) And then you attribute all your blessings to God—you just proved you’re MY kind of kindred spirit. Loved this post.. Challenged accepted;)
Thanks! Always fun to run across new kindred spirits :)
WOW,I’m a new reader of your writing,and this is Lovely,and your a gift to all,and thank you for sharing,He loves us so much,and this I know,he’s madly in love with me,and that is a promise,just like the rainbow there on the way….The Promise.
Life is a Process but at the end there’s a Promise!
Love,joy and Peace with a heart filled with Hope!
in God.
Simple and Sweet
Keep Smiling and moving Forward!
Thank you!
Love Jai
Jason,
I just heard you speak for my school district and I could tell you were a man of faith – little things you said. Hearing your message is exactly what I needed right now! I have been blessed to be a stay at home mom for many years and just went back to working full-time. (With a kid in college….) Although I LOVE the kids and teaching, I am finding it very hard to balance home life and work. I remind myself daily that with God ALL things are possible and together we can do great things! Your message was his little reminder in my ear to delight in the simple things for they truly bring the greatest joy! God Bless you and the message you share.
Becky, yeah that balance is a tricky thing, especially when you’re still getting used to a new schedule. I have always believed that if I’m feeling overwhelmed a lot, I’m probably trying to do too much. Keep in mind it’s always ok to say no to something good if it means you can say yes to something better.
Thanks for the comment, it’s always humbling to hear how God has spoken through me :)
An amazing post! So many people do look for heaven up above. If only we would remember what was taught to us:
The Kingdom of Heaven is within.
Indeed. Thanks Peter!
Thank you for this article! I just happened to come across your website in a search for Disney and was caught up in most of your work. This really made me re-think a lot of things in my life right now.
“You didn’t do anything special to deserve this, and nothing bad is about to happen. I love you. This is how I feel about you ALL THE TIME.” This one profound truth, if we can really let ourselves believe it, is life-changing. I, too, have heard it directly. Thank you for reminding me of it today! {HUGS!}
Awesome!