Savor the moment. Remember the gifts.

I turn on the faucet and depress the pump. Into my palm floats a foamy, aromatic peak. 

I place it below my nose and inhale.

Lemons. 

I see Donna's face. She laughs as I tell her I will think of her every day as I feel grateful for this exotic gift. The hand soap is titled "Sicilian lemons."

But I think of Meyer lemons and the tree in my back yard for 24 years on Apple Blossom Drive in San Jose.Those lemons were an opulent contribution to so many cherry pies, apple cobblers and lemon bars.  A free gift of nature, the lemons consistently gifted me in frozen slices that cooled my guest's water glasses. To this day I am known throughout my extended family for lemon bars. 

As we stand in line to make the purchase, Donna tells me that Harry is experiencing some disconcerting health symptoms and asks me to pray. I agree.

So as I rub my hands today, and savor an elegant mini massage of my own palms, I pray for Harry. And in a split second I have gone to San Jose and back twice.

I rinse.

What? Where is the year going?

So much for new year's resolutions. My blog has become so dusty from disuse I hardly could remember where to go.
I've been to two graduations, celebrated birth-month and Easter, taken trips to Tahoe and Santa Cruz. 
But I put off writing. Hmmmm.
Apologies to all you busy people out there who were looking for some interesting inspiration.
Today is a new day!
I leave behind any self recriminations and press on to a new post.
May your day be full of relaxation and what you love to do most.

Do you know that God loves you?

I sat down at the church luncheon for newcomers and introduced myself. I soon learned that everyone at this table had enrolled their kids in the Rite of Christian Initiation for children.

“What grade are you in?” I asked the boy next to me. When he answered, “4^th”, I said that this was a challenging year with lots to learn.

“Yes, he said soberly. “We are working on our multiplication tables and double digit math.”  I asked what he was learning in our church religion classes.

“The Our Father,” he said.

“Have they taught you yet that God loves you?” I asked.

My young friend thought about it carefully before answering authentically and with complete innocence, “No.”

I was deeply affected by this answer.

“Well, God loves you!” I said with great feeling. “God loves you like no other person on the earth.”

The boy was looking at me like he had never heard this before. And I could not tell if he believed me.  I suddenly realized that all eight people at the table were listening, too.

“Yeah!” I continued. “God was sitting in heaven one day and he had this wonderful idea. And it was you. A completely new idea— one he had never had before.”

I paused.  “Do you know how nobody has the same fingerprints?”

“Sure,” the boy answered.

“Well that is because we are all unique, and God loves you as if you were the only person in the world.”

As I reflect on our conversation now, I think how often I forget how precious and loved I am by the One who created me. And I bet other people forget it, too.

 I think it would be really great if we could remind each other of this fact now and then—and tell it to those people who never heard this idea before.