Morning Thought 2 for Tuesday October 18th
2011
Good morning. When I was in Romania in August I felt
really humbled by how much my actions affected one person and brought her great
joy.
I have spoken of Flori a number
of times before – she is part of Mustard Seed Jersey’s programme for supporting
orphaned young women who cannot cope on their own. Flori
needs kidney dialysis 3 times a week and her health is very poor. She is
limited in what she can do, painfully thin and has little energy.
I was in the same area of Romania as Flori
for 5 days and she told me that those days had been such good days. I asked her
what she meant as I would have said they had been pretty unexciting. But Flori disagreed and told me; “You took me to Salonta the next little town and we had a snack in the cafe
and I bought more credit for my phone.” That made that first day very special
for Flori. The next day she had to have her kidney
dialysis again but the following day she was well enough to come out with me to
visit some needy families, where she acted as my interpreter. For Flori this made that day another special day. On the Sunday
I drove her to church as she cannot walk there anymore,
and in the evening to MacDonalds – that made that day
special for Flori.
I was moved to tears to think that the time I had given
just taking her out to the shops, to MacDonalds, to
church – all these small and minor
things had made those days very special
for Flori. It had cost me very little, just a bit of
time, but it had meant so much to Flori.
And I reckon each one of us can brighten someone’s day by
a kind word, a helpful action, a smile – the question is whether we take the time
or make the time. Mother Teresa again – this is another one of her sayings: “Do small things, with great love.”