There are times that I look at my children and think how incredibly lucky I am to have them as a part of my life.\u00a0 At times, the life lessons learned from them is greater than anything I have learned from anyone else.\u00a0 The Easter of 2008 is one such time.<\/p>\n
Many people know of this incredible date, March 19, 2008, because of the cardinal that appeared when we, more specifically Sawyer, needed him more than anything.\u00a0 This story made it around the world because it was shared over and over by our friends. What most people don\u2019t know is another smaller event that occurred on the same day.<\/p>\n
A few days prior, Sawyer had been cleared to take a few steps with a walker.\u00a0 It had been one month since he had been able to be on his feet, and that small step of independence seemed liked a key to freedom.\u00a0 Unfortunately, one missed step happened and Sawyer slipped, fell, and broke the heads off of two of the screws holding his leg together.\u00a0 Another trip to the emergency room and that is where the smaller event took place.<\/p>\n
The E.R. nurse, we later discovered, was the sister of the man who was also involved in the bus crash.\u00a0 Our school bus fell on top of his pick-up.\u00a0 We knew he, too, had been hurt very badly.\u00a0 Sawyer took the time, despite excruciating pain to inquire as to how the gentleman was doing.\u00a0 The report was not good.\u00a0 He was feeling very low \u2013 wishing he could have done more to help.<\/p>\n
That was all it took.\u00a0 The seed was planted.\u00a0 For days, Sawyer begged to go to the store to get something without ever really telling us what it was he desired so intently.\u00a0 Because it was winter in Minnesota and not very easy to maneuver in a wheelchair, we stalled.\u00a0 Eventually, his insistence won out, and off to the store, he and his dad went.<\/p>\n
The thing he just had to have was puzzling to us.\u00a0 He bought a tiny Easter basket, added a few small token gifts, and later, personally added hand-written a note.\u00a0 Yes, he wanted to send a special message to the gentleman saying he didn\u2019t blame him for anything that happened and that he wanted the man to know he was thinking of him and praying for him.\u00a0 Tears of amazement mixed with pride streamed down our faces.<\/p>\n
If memory serves me correctly, he talked his Uncle Sheldon into delivering that basket with no expectation of anything in return.\u00a0 Rather simply, his desire was to do something nice when there was very little of anything else that he could do anywhere \u2013 at all.<\/p>\n
Even though the gift was not meant to be reciprocated; we did learn that Sawyer\u2019s new friend kept that basket right by his bed as long as he was at the care facility where he recuperated.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t allowed to be moved or removed.\u00a0 Learning that news helped Sawyer through many a dark night \u2013 knowing that he made a difference.<\/p>\n
I still learn a lot from my kids, but I think this small act of love will be one of my most treasured Easter memories.<\/p>\n
Take-away:<\/strong>\u00a0 How often do we stop in the midst of our own storms to do something kind for someone else?\u00a0 We are all capable of compassion, even when we are busy and overwhelmed.\u00a0 More often than not, it isn\u2019t the grandiose gestures, but the small things that really seem to get the most notice.\u00a0 Jesus was BIG on small acts.\u00a0 If we really think about it, other than believing in Him, there wasn\u2019t anything he expected in return.\u00a0 He loved and continues to love us with abandon.\u00a0 The hands that were nailed to the cross also hold our names written across them.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t we all be his hands and feet by doing\u00a0acts of love even\u00a0in small ways?\u00a0 I truly believe that we can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are times that I look at my children and think how incredibly lucky I am to have them as a part of my life.\u00a0 At times, the life lessons learned from them is greater than anything I have learned from anyone else.\u00a0 The Easter of 2008 is one such time. Many people know of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[83,172,173,380],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}