Hi friend!!!
Happy Monday Morning!
I have a question for you on this cold Monday morning in January 2016.
And yes, even here in sunny Florida. It's cold people! It was 25 degrees on my porch thermometer at 6:30 am. And if it was colder on your back porch this morning, well, yay for you. Let's just all agree it's brrrrrrr cold. {sorry, I guess being cold makes me grumpy}
Gonna go get me a hot cup of coffee now..........
Okay I'm back. Yum! Peppermint mocha coffee in hand. I already feel not so
So anyways on to my question:
Have you made any ripples yet this year?
Now before you think the cold has given me some weird kind of brain freeze and I better hurry and down this mug of hot coffee, let me explain.
As we go through our day, from the time we wake up until the time we close our eyes at night we make "life ripples".
A life ripple is the result of something you do that makes an impact (hopefully of the positive sort) in another person's life that day. It's only a small thing.
A splash?
Nope. Not what we're looking for here.
That would be like when your brother would do a cannon ball into the pool. He would always feel this need to splash while you're laying next to the pool minding your own business, reading a magazine and catching some rays as a teenager. Cold water, wet magazine and the surprise of it all. This kind of huge ripple or splash results in yelling (by me) and laughing (by said brother).
A wave?
That isn't it either. Even though I love the rhythm and sound of the ocean's waves that is a bit too much for what I'm talking about today. And waves can be destructive and cause erosion.
A tsunami?
Not a tsunami. Oh my no! NO!
Just a gentle ripple.
Think of throwing a stone in a lake and how it makes small, almost delicate ripples. And you throw a second stone in and you get more ripples and these now overlap with the first set. The lake is no longer calm. It's changed. There's a special beauty to the design and playfulness of the water now.
I alone cannot change the world,
but I can cast a stone across the waters
to create many ripples.
~ Mother Teresa
I think we create ripples every day and don't even realize it. The thing is that life ripples can be a positive and beautiful thing or a negative and destructive thing.
Small positive life ripples are things like ....
.... pray with a friend who has just shared the struggles in her marriage
.... a quick word of encouragement to the cashier who just got yelled at by the previous customer
.... write down a Bible verse to share with your co-worker
.... invite someone to go for lunch or a cup of coffee
.... volunteer at a soup kitchen
.... invite someone to church
.... a quick phone call to check on that person who hasn't been in church in a few weeks
.... send a note of encouragement to whoever, whenever God put's it on your heart
These small acts of kindness can start a ripple effect in that person's life for beauty.
However, the opposite of each of these would be .....
.... tell your friend you don't want to hear it again for the hundredth time
.... be the person yelling at the cashier
.... share an inappropriate joke with your co-worker
.... leave someone out when you're inviting others in the group for lunch or coffee
.... never, ever volunteer to help those less fortunate
.... don't invite anyone to church
.... don't call and do ignore the one you haven't seen in awhile
.... don't listen to the prompting's of the Holy Spirit to reach out to someone
These small acts of unkindness can start a ripple effect in that person's life for hurt.
My last few sips of my coffee are cold now and hubby just announced it's warmed up to a balmy 40 degrees on the porch. Guess I better get on with my day.
I'll leave you with this challenge:
Let's get started together. One life ripple at a time.
Our ripples will overlap and together we'll make a difference. It's only 25 days into the new year so we have plenty of days left.
2016 - the year of the life ripples!
Yay!! Who's with me?
{disclaimer: I made up the phrase "life ripples". Remember, you heard it here first.}
Love ya,
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