Good morning…
“Indeed a humble man,” filled the subject line of her email yesterday.
“Good morning, Sue,” she wrote. “I searched for this picture and 🙏 found it. My mom, daughter and I were heading home from New York City, and we were all held up boarding the plane. We could not figure out why and then we understood. Jimmy Carter was on our flight. He was so kind that, after everyone had boarded, he got up and walked through the isle of the plane greeting all of us, thanking us for being patient as he boarded. My heart was so full. He reminds us of grace, gratitude, authenticity, noble, kindness, compassion and love. We lost a legend but not a legacy. I will choose to carry his spirit, like the spirit of Jesus, into the new year.”
grace,
gratitude,
authenticity,
noble,
kindness,
compassion
and love
For Jimmy Carter, these vibrant qualities grew out of his down-to-earth, hands-on faith. An ordinary person used for the good of God, he was indeed a humble man.
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely (Galatians 5:22-24, MSG).
In what daily ways might we, ordinary people, also be used for the good of God as we humbly head into this new year?
…Sue…
