The Gift of Shine

Last updated on: April 12, 2023 at 7:51 pm by Kathy King

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The Gift of Shine 2023-04-12T19:51:59-04:00 Kathy King

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I took this beautiful shot on a particularly cold day during a walk… the sun shines always… let us shine as well.

“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining – they just shine.”

Dwight L. Moody

What does it mean to shine?

Does it mean to shout and sing, “Look at me! Look at me!”

Or, does to shine require to be who you are authentically?

In a world where pictures and videos abound.

Would you shine when those avenues were not around?

To shine, really and truly means to always seek humility and grace when no one else sees.

Give the gift without shouting it from the rafters.

Be the change when it truly matters.

Shine in secret, don’t yell or shout.

I guarantee you, others will see your shine without a doubt!

Today is Easter. It has been a completely different Easter than we have had in quite some time. Our family has gone through some very interesting situations in the last few months. They have required lots of prayer, faith and commitment to see things through. Also, in the varying life situations Easter completely fell off our radar. When the day approached, we found out some of our military kids had training, others were at a military base doing things, and our youngest was not going to be home. Our “empty nest” truly was empty. We decided to make the best of it and take a little impromptu trip to Tennessee with our oldest daughter and her husband. Our little party had a nice day of food, walks and fellowship. What an absolute blessing. As I was sitting with my “small” family party, I got to thinking about Easter and what it means. I should qualify our party being small. With six kids, five of which either are married or have significant others, a grandchild and other adopted folks who have come through our home through the years, we come in large and loud. So you see, four people is small for us, but I digress. As I looked at my loved ones, I thought about how they shine without shouting it from the rooftops that they do good deeds. They do it without any thought of themselves. They do it in the service of genuine humanity. That got me thinking about our other children who were serving our country. That is definitely a circumstance where they shine with no real noticeable return. How can we shine? We can do a simple deed of kindness and not tell a soul. There are so many who perform kind deeds and instantly post it on social media. I myself have been guilty of this action. As I started to search on the internet about kindness unknown, I did not get three words typed out and instead of kindness, the main question was: “Why are people so messed up?” Wow. I want to share a local story with you. Recently, I was in line at the grocery store, and the woman in front of me had a pretty full cart of groceries. The amount was pretty high. At that moment, a man came through and said, “I would like to pay for your groceries to bless you.” The flabbergasted woman did not know what to say. She cried. This man continued to do this at every register in the store for those with large orders. The cashier at the register told me that he comes in regularly to help those with large orders with no thought to ask for anything in return. What an amazing human. In my search I found one particularly wonderful story. A grandmother wanted to buy her granddaughter a dress at a consignment shop but she simply did not have the money at the moment to pay it in full. She asked if she could make payments on the dress. At that moment, a woman tapped her on the shoulder and asked her if she could buy the dress for her. The grandmother said she could not do that. The woman explained that she was homeless for three years and relied completely on the kindness of strangers to get her back on her feet. It would be her honor to buy the dress for the granddaughter. The only payment she wanted was a heartfelt hug. This Easter, whether you are a Christian or not, take a meaningful day and choose to shine. I am sure you have seen the news. There is not much shining going on at all. Grab a washcloth, do a little scrubbing and shine in the lives of others.

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