Every year, we as a church celebrate the four weeks leading up to Christmas; we call it Advent. We light candles, we think nice thoughts, maybe say a prayer or two. But I've never felt as if I were living it, that is, really preparing my mind and my heart and my spirit for the coming of Christ. So, based on a friend's "365 Days of Kindness" Project, I am going to be live and act according to the 28 days of Advent. So, here it is. I hope you’ll feel free to join me if you are so inspired.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Day 20: The JOY of a phone call.


"Your voice was the song my heart was waiting to hear." – Mary Helen Ferris


Today’s act of JOY: making a phone call. It actually seemed like a pretty poor excuse for an act of JOY. After all, how hard is it to call someone? And really, how much JOY can a phone call actually give?

It was an act of desperation. I had gotten through the day without any real opportunity to give JOY. I mean, I smiled at the cashier at the department store, and apologized to the woman behind me in line because my return took so long. But JOY? It didn’t seem enough.

So, I played my wild card. The easiest thing to do that would give JOY: calling my parents on the telephone. I so seldom talk to anyone on the phone; it’s so much easier to text and email, much to my parents’ chagrin. The last text I got back from my dad, “If only you answered your phone as quickly as you respond to a text!”

I called and had to leave a message. I told them I was calling to say “hi”, but also because I had to fulfill my act of JOY (might as well be truthful here).

They responded that evening with JOY, just as I knew they would. And they didn’t even care if I did it as part of the great Advent experiment. Geez, it’s a little embarrassing, having someone so happy that you called. 

So, JOY fulfilled. And I really am going to make a New Year’s resolution. Of course…calling my parents once in a while. After all it gives so much JOY and it is so darned easy to do.

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