Which one?

I posted a similar thought to this one on another blog in another life (few years ago).

Yesterday, I was leaving a Starbucks when I sensed that someone was following behind me. I looked over my shoulder to notice a person who had 340983098 things in her two hands. I simply waited a few seconds and held the door for her. She smiled.

Who do you think enjoyed the experience more, the one who served or the one who was served?

No Lower Point...

I just experienced perhaps the lowest moment of my life.

I visited my friend Neil's house in Maryland this past weekend on the way down to a ski trip. I hadn't seen his son (2 years 4 months) in almost a year. I arrived right when his son woke up from his nap so I had timed my arrival well. I went upstairs and Neil mentioned how his son loved The Wiggles (http://www.thewiggles.com.au - you have to see it and be a parent to be able to hang with the dancing insanity).

I grunted.

My response was based on my daughter's infatuation with the singing/dancing insanity. When Neil's wife opened the door, the boy came out. They said "This is Daddy's friend Jeff." The boy looked up at me, smiled and said "WAKE UP JEFF!!!" The guy in the picture above often falls asleep in the Wiggles videos and is greeted by that phrase. The little boy thought I was the Asian Wiggles guy named Jeff who falls asleep on the shows all the time... He called me a W I G G L E

Grace

Grace.

Grace is a concept or reality that mostly only makes sense when you encounter it firsthand. I had a conversation with a friend recently that brought me face-to-face with an aspect of the elusive term grace. One of my friends from my days in Virginia received a massive TV as a gift from his fiancee right after they got married. Yes, that seems like a grace-like story but that is not the real story for this post. A few years later (recently) he was lamenting the fact that he didn't have HDTV to watch a Redskins playoff game. At that very moment, he needed to adjust the TV and when he was near the back he noticed that the TV was HDTV enabled. He realized then that he had owned HDTV for 4 years without realizing it!!!

Grace.

One useful definition of grace is a surprise gift. That describes my friend's experience. Grace often is discovered or revealed in places where it already is present but we do not notice it or experience it. His TV had HDTV for years but he never noticed it.

Next, he discovered that he needed to order HDTV specifically for his TV but he didn't want to spend the money. So much for the great story... BUT when he walked outside and told a neighbor about his discovery, his neighbor responded with "I have an extra receiver!"

More grace...

Where do we miss surprise gifts just like this in life every day, moment? Check the back of your TV, maybe there is something you are missing too...