Santa’s Helper or God’s Joy Giver

I headed out on my morning run — a different and longer trail this time, but still in my kids’ community here in Frisco. When I run, I purposefully keep my eyes open to “God” inspirations. I rounded my turn, and before me I saw this lovely lady picking up things in the street and putting it into a plastic shopping bag. I thought maybe she was picking up pecans — though it’s late in the season to do so. I approached her and said, “What are you doing?” She said, “Oh, I do this every day. I pick up trash that people have thrown into the street. It’s a shame that people can be so care-less.” I replied, “Well, good for you. Instead of complaining, you are doing something to make the world a better place. Thank you for being such a model citizen. What do you use that big ring for?” She said, “It was in the street. Someone could have run over it and it could have damaged their car.” She had a very distinct accent. I thought it was German. She said, “No, I’m from Holland.” I asked her name and I told her I would be talking about her in today’s blog post. I told her she brought me joy to see how much she cares and what a beautiful example she is for all of us to see.

I left Suzanne, I thought, “What JOY that encounter was to me! That must have been from YOU, God!” And, no sooner had I thought that, right across the street, diagonally, was this home with a big JOY sign out front. I noticed all the little God moments I just had. First, that I ran into Suzanne, a kind, caring and giving gal who cares. Second, that she had what I thought was a German accent, which made me think of my sweet German husband. Third, that she was from Holland, and that thought led me to think about being in Amsterdam, Holland a couple of years ago and getting to go the Spring Tulip Festival. Fourth, that while we are thinking about Christmas and the JOY that God gave us when He gave us His one and only son, just maybe, instead of thinking about how to get JOY, we should be thinking about how we can give JOY to God….just like Suzanne did for me today. And, Fifth — when I turned the corner to my family’s home, straight in front of me was another JOY message on the home across the street. As I was taking this photo, I didn’t realize that the owner was standing in her front yard in her robe and hair curlers. BTW — I DIDN’T ask if I could take her photo (LOL) but I did get to give her the story of Suzanne and the reciprocating JOY that God gives us and the JOY that we give to Him.

Don’t you know it must be like “music in God’s ears” when we ACT like Him….giving, caring, loving and serving. Just think about it. The more we give JOY to God, the more He gives JOY back to us. No matter how hard we try, we can never outgive God.