Rise to the Occasion

It is so windy and cold here today.  The sun is hidden by walls of clouds, and there is an eerie darkness lurking over the trees just beyond our neighbor's house.  And, we have done a light school day for President's Day today ~ just Bible, reading, and math.  It is 3:45 and my house is straight and neat and somewhat clean, and I am sipping coffee while little ones play and nap.  A good Monday, I say!

I happened upon a blog last night through a tweet.  It was the blog of the parents of a little girl named Daisy who fought cancer 3 times, I believe, maybe 4.  My memory fails me.  Anyway, she went home to be with Jesus this weekend, and the tweet was asking for prayers for her parents.  I went to the blog link and read back several days.  I read through tears as the mother talked about caring for her daughter, who if I remember correctly was about 7.  The mother talked about enjoying Daisy because she was so enjoyable.  She talked about waking with her all hours of the night and loving it.  She mentioned a number of ways that she was serving her daughter during her last days here on earth ~ listening for her little whispers and meeting every need with joy.

In the next paragraph she challenged the readers of her blog to love with their whole hearts all those who God puts in their paths to love.  She challenged us to love and serve, to pour out our lives for others.  She summed it all up with this wonderful statement that I cannot and, hopefully, will not ever forget.  She said...

"We will never regret rising to the occasion."

How beautiful and true is that simple statement.  No matter how difficult the task, we will never regret rising to the occasion, giving our all for another.  I was so challenged to live my regular, everyday life with renewed passion, infused with His grace and unconditional love.  Somedays, simple things like smiling at my sweet children can take effort. But, I will never regret making the effort to love, even in gestures as small as these.