Heart Prints

It's been a couple weeks now since my fabulously incredible weekend with my sister and girlfriend. It's taken me this long to finish this post :) My sis showed up Friday early afternoon which was nice because she thought she was going to get here later. My hubby left for a weekend in the mountains with his friend so he suggested I have a girls weekend. He stocked the house with goodies and I planned a weekend of food, fun and friendship.

I was ready when my sis arrived so we decided to go to World Market to get a bottle of wine. We ended up in there for hours just looking and touching all the unique textiles, candles, foods. I wanted her to experience it  because it's been such a long time since she's had a break from her insanely busy life. We ended up by the wines and by that time I had to go up front and get a cart because we couldn't resist most of the delectable treats in the food section! I had a limited resource of money so we picked out the cheapest but prettiest bottle of wine (which I write about on my other blog: DeeVineWine.blogspot.com). We had a beautiful time and my favorite part is making the cashier laugh and feel good! After we left there we made a couple quick stops there at the Esplanade making all the cashiers laugh as we checked out and then she dropped it on me...my sister wanted to go to Walmart! After spending a few hours in stores that had classical, international and nature music, I couldn't believe we were going to go to, what I like to call, the three ring circus of Hades!

My sis said it would only take a minute, (NOT), and for the millionth time I actually believed it. True to our warped sense of reality we went there thinking it was really going to be an in and out experience. Over TWO HOURS later and of course a trip to the front to get the cart that we were so convinced we weren't going to need, there we were...surrounded and crowded by hoards of people. It's truly an ant farm experience that I think only ants could survive! We even carried 100 times our weight in purchases, (ant's do that you know), due to my sister's brain mantra of, "Oooo, I forgot I need that!"! We did have an adorable check-out person though, and she made us laugh and feel good because she was a lovely lady with a great big heart.

Although we were thoroughly mentally and physically exhausted I remembered we had to go to the grocery store for a few things. I seriously did not think that my body could do it but I switched my shoes to crocks and prayed for strength. As we walked in, there was a Starbucks and this big poster of a lime-aid cold drink. You know the kind with the beads of crystal water droplets dripping down the side of a clear glass with the tinkling ice cubes surrounded by icy liquid. We had to have it and the girl working behind the counter was an angel. We got her laughing with our delirious comments and she in turn made us laugh. She even shook the mixture in the ice extra long so it would be even colder! We were so dehydrated and tired that it literally took about three sips and we were down to air. That sweet angel could tell we were spent, so as she kept us talking she made us samples of the other flavor and then just refilled both our empty glasses again and said enjoy! All I could think about was when Jesus said in Matthew 10:42, "And if anyone gives even a cold cup of water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he certainly will not lose his reward (in heaven). God bless her.

   We finally got home, opened the house up, put the ceiling fans on, drank a big glass of water each and sat down for a bit to rest our feet. I was excited about making dinner so I poured us a glass of wine, put on some nice music then made whole wheat angel hair pasta with sauteed baby carrots in butter, tiny sweet tomatoes sliced in half soaked in extra virgin olive oil with basil, sea-salt and a pinch of thyme along with shredded roasted herb chicken all mixed together with asiago cheese! Ahhhhhh.We had a nice night and spent the next two days just relaxing and enjoying life!

Sunday morning my sister and I went to see Nick Vujicic, from Life without Limbs ministry at my neighbors church. He was born without arms or legs but that doesn't stop him! He ministers all over the world telling people about the good news of Jesus Christ! His sense of humor and profound analogies make him amazing to listen to! After we left, we couldn't help but allow his words to affect our thoughts and actions as we went about our day. Check him out on Utube!

As I look back on my weekend, what stands out the most to me is how our voices and actions can influence and touch other human beings is such deep ways. From the check-out lady (Paula) at Walmart, to Nick, the man with no limbs, I was touched and changed from them and everyone in between! I know also, that I touched lives and I love that God uses me no matter what shape I'm in.  From a simple smile, making someone laugh, listening, reaching out, being an example.....leave a heart-print somewhere....and start collecting them too!