Little things are so important. A cliche, yes, but no less true because of that. It's the moments of small victory that we treasure - the first steps of a child, a sweet hug from a grandson, an unexpected gift from a family member. I saw a bluebird on a lamp post this morning, and I think it was the first one I've ever seen. It flitted from one post to another, just ahead of me and the dog, for a few hundred feet, then took off for a roof top. I saw the blue shimmer under its wings as the morning sun reflected its underside, and I wondered at it. Something so tiny, so beautiful, so unexpected. Yesterday, I was having a visit with my dad and my uncle and cousin joined us. My uncle has just been diagnosed - for the second time - with cancer. It has spread to his lymph nodes and we are all waiting for more information and a prognosis. It is a difficult time for his daughter and she has come from out of state to be his support. But when he walked in the door yesterday, he was carrying a small white box that he held out to me. I was confused - a gift for me? Why? He shrugged and joked "I robbed a jewelry store." Inside was a beautiful bracelet with my birthstone - sapphires - and diamonds. It is gorgeous and all the more so because it was unexpected, unwarranted, unearned. Just like God's love for all of us. The moment that I'll always treasure isn't so much the gift, but the act of selflessness and generosity he showed in a time when many people would be inwardly focused. So many of us would be worried about ourselves, consumed with anger or pain or suffering. But my uncle, who has always had a generous heart, showed once again that it is not about self. It is about what we do for one another. He could never have known how meaningful that gift is to me - it brought me surprising joy at a time when other things in my life have been dark and frightening. I see God's hand in the moment, and that brings peace to me about the storms surrounding me.

Little things are important.