Brighten Your Day

It was over 50 years ago but I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was a young boy on Spring break from school but couldn’t go out to play because of heavy thunderstorms. The TV was off too with the clip that attached it to the outside antenna dropped in a glass jar to ground it from possible lightening strikes. This left me sitting by the wood stove rereading my favorite book for the tenth time.

As lunchtime approached I began to smell the most heavenly scents drifting from the kitchen. Soon my Italian Nana walked into the dining room carrying a steaming bowl of Pasta Fasule and a large piece of freshly baked Italian bread smothered in butter. She put it on the table, motioned me to come, and said, “Mangia Mangia” which means “Eat Eat”. I smiled and ran over to the table. The food was so delicious, it warmed my stomach and my heart. As I was finishing up my meal my Mom walked up behind me, smiled sweetly, and gently touched my head. In that moment I felt so Loved. In that moment I felt so Happy.

Mark Twain once wrote: “Actions speak louder than words.” That was so true in my family. I don’t remember hearing the words: “I love you” a lot as a child. It just wasn’t said that much back then. It wasn’t that my Mom, Dad, and Nana didn’t love me. It was just said in other ways. It was said through every meal they made me, every hug they gave me, every smile they shared with me, every kind word they said to me, and every gentle touch I felt from them.

Always try to share your love through your words, but always try to share your love through your actions as well. Let God’s Love flow through every thing you do. Let your actions speak loudly for everyone to hear. Do everything you can to share love, spread joy, create kindness, and make this world a little more like Heaven.