Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Count

I was in my office the other day when one of our residents popped his head in. He said, "Do you know how many cars passed by in front of our building between 8:40 and 9:00 a.m.? I said, "Well, I would guess about 100!" He said I was wrong and told me that 398 cars had passed by and then showed me his counter.

I don't know why that stuck with me. As I get older I want to be productive, not just fill up the time with things that don't matter. This man is a loner, a bit negative and yet, he wraps himself around my heart every day!

Father, please open my eyes to your possibilities all around. There are more opportunities than I could ever imagine, I know. Father, I want to be useful to use in all things until the day I go to be with you.

My friend with the counter may have his reasons for doing his counting. Maybe it's to talk with others about the traffic on our road and get people in good conversations. Maybe it's just to pass the time of day. His typical response when I ask him how he's doing is to say, "Well, it's good I woke up on top of the ground instead of under it."

Father, please be with my friend and allow him to focus on other possibilities, too. May we show him the light of your spirit and kindness in all that we do.

Thank you,
Lila

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Troy Stirman will count cars in his old age. Because he counts everything now. I don't know why. He needs a T-shirt with "The Count" on it!

Dawn said...

My father often says that he is amazed by all that the people his age do. I try to tell him that he could do the same if he just chose to. In helping others, we often help ourselves.