blessings

Finally, the clouds rolled away, the snow melted and the sun came out. We have been blessed with three consecutive days of warm breezes and lemon-colored light and I think most of us here in Minnesota are willing to at least entertain the option that spring (which feels more like summer today) has finally arrived - and I for one am going to leave my flip-flops by the front door.

I've carried my seeds and my delicate seedlings out to the sun porch and I've started to dream about which seeds will be scattered where. Will it be pole beans this year or golden climbing peas or both? Both, I think.

My husband and I have been taking a class to join a church. We've been going for four weeks. The class has an assortment of people - couples, singles, old and young. One man has stood out for me from the first class. He self-described himself as someone with OCD and said we should feel free to just let him gently know when he's spent too much time talking - so that other people can be heard. Well, he was true to his word and more than once the pastor has had to gently turn the conversation away from him and back to the topic at hand, but this man has stayed positive and kept returning to the class week after week, offering his favorite quotes. It's not good of me to say, but I started to tune out this man after about his six attempt to sidetrack the conversation, and really didn't listen to him. I categorized him as someone I shouldn't waste my time listening to.

Until today.

Our fourth and last class, and if the truth were to be told my husband and I were lucky we even made it to the class, because it's been a pretty rough week for us. But we made it - fifteen minutes late. The same man started talking again, but he was talking about seeds. Something about how you should sow the seeds of joy in your life and not sorrow. And my ears perked up. And I listened.

And I said a prayer for forgiveness for judging that man and the hundreds of thousands of words I've tried not to hear him say over the course of our class - because he said the words this week that are carrying me through.

We never know who our teacher might be until they reveal themselves - and they are never who we think they should be.

I feel blessed today. I am not alone.