Yikes, I guess it really has been a while since I have been able to blog. I cringed when I logged on and saw the date of my last post. But I do have an excuse...
Our family has just returned from our very first visit together to Disneyworld!!! I hope to post more about our trip later, but feel so profoundly blessed for the chance we had to be together and to make precious memories!!! From dining with Cinderella and dancing with Prince Charming at the Magic Kingdom to watching an action-packed stunt show at Hollywood Studios, Tucker, Tate, and Sadie had a blast, and truly, Kevin and I did too. A dream really is a wish your heart makes...Here are just a few pics from our time together on our winter break!
Today, Mimi shares about a special memory she made with my precious niece, Catherine Anne. Mimi reminds us all of the power of our influence, and her post reminds me of the saying, "At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou.
Influence...its a powerful thing! Read, enjoy, and be encouraged! Shannon
Influences and Sea Shells
Whew! This 2013 has really been a busy time. It seems I have truly travelled from Christmas to President’s Day, without slowing, stopping, or yielding at any given intersection!!! I feel like I have not even taken the moving vehicle out of gear!!!
On one of the prettier days that we have had recently, I was thrilled to be entertained by my three year old granddaughter at the beach for a couple of hours. And I do mean entertained. The weather wasn’t warm enough for an ocean adventure, so games on the boardwalk leading to the waters’ edge would have to suffice.
The walkway worked nicely as our playground. We were animals, singers, cooks, and dancers as we played in the ocean breeze. Sometimes we were even dancing animals and singing cooks—or other interesting combinations!!!
Do you wonder sometimes what influences our kids to respond in their own unique ways? As our afternoon beach/boardwalk adventure was drawing to a close, I asked Catherine Anne if she wanted to walk back to the edge of the ocean and look for sea shells. And I smiled as I asked myself the most pressing question of the afternoon, could we go to the beach and yet not go home wet and sandy???
We ventured to the ocean’s edge and found a virtual treasure chest of ocean trinkets; we were amazed at the assorted sizes and colors of shells before us. I noticed how quiet and serious she became as she closely examined the shells. She rejected the broken ones, while meticulously sorting the others. Her tiny hands were not large enough to gather, hold, and sort, so I offered to keep the extras for her.
She found a small golden brown one and held it up for me to see. She said, “Look, Mya will like this one – it is so pretty!!!” She held it up for me to see, but returned it quickly to her pile of special ones that she was placing to the side.
As she paused to think, I realized that I had seen the power of an influence on this small child. I remembered that Catherine Anne’s Mya had spent countless “special” grandmother moments with her hosting tea parties. The prettiest dishes were used, and priceless time was well invested as they played, prepared, and dressed the part for their tea party adventures.
Catherine Anne only had a sea shell in her hand, but it could have easily been a family heirloom being selected. Her Mya was miles away from her, but Mya’s influences of admiring and selecting “pretty” trinkets was with Catherine Anne in that moment. See, she remembered and connected the something “pretty” in her hands, with the someone influential in her little heart.
As I said earlier, my day at the beach was an afternoon of actively being entertained. Amazingly, we finished our adventure only a little damp from the ocean spray and with very little sand in our shoes. I even managed to bring an assortment of shells back with me for the cousins here at home. But Catherine Anne held onto the golden brown one for her Mya…and I held onto this moment and its life lesson.
I smiled today as I unzipped the center compartment of my wallet to fish for loose change. I am much more aware of my own responsibility of being influential to the little lives around me…for there—amongst my loose change—is my own shiny shell presented to me by Catherine Anne. Blessings, Mimi (AKA Anne)
Psalm 112:9 "They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor."
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