Sending Joy (12/10/2023)

Yesterday, when my husband returned from an errand, he told me he’d seen a box on our front porch. As I walked to the front door to check it out, I couldn’t remember ordering anything. Sure enough, there was a box, an unusual box, on our front porch. It wasn’t the standard brown shipping box but a decorative holiday box. I brought it inside, perplexed. Then I saw the return address. It was from my niece, Jennie. I sat it on the counter, and with great anticipation, I opened it to find a mug that read “love ya, mean it.” And joy filled my heart.

Jennie does things like this. Her heart leads her to do the most extraordinary things for others. As I showed the mug to my husband, I reminded him of her gift of the Irish sun catcher that hangs in my dinette window, another surprise that I cherish. As I stood at my counter and looked at the mug and reread the loving note that accompanied it, so many memories of Jennie and her exceptional life came back.

I remembered almost losing her shortly after her marriage. She’d gone to Mayo to have a brain tumor removed. The surgery went well, but then she had a stroke. I got the call from my brother that night. I dropped everything and drove to Mayo and stayed with the family for a few days. She came through it. She worked hard to recover. And always, she maintains the most exceptional attitude of loving joy and gratitude for life and love.

This morning, it should be no surprise, I am drinking from my Jennie mug. She bought it and sent it to me because she knows it is a saying I use all the time with family. She saw it, she thought of me, and she purchased it and sent it along with a note I will always keep. And her act of sending joy made me want to be a messenger and agent of joy as well. And it made me ask myself how many times had I thought of doing something special for another and let it slide rather than acting on my impulse. I want to work on that.

As we continue our journeys of faith, hope and love, let us seek to cooperate with the loving urges that come to mind along the way. Let us act upon the memories of others and our love for them. Let us send along gifts of encouragement and love. For we all know that the way can be frightening and lonely. Let us be agents of our LORD’s love and joy.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.