Balloon Bouquet

It had been gray for awhile.

Days had been dreary........wintry, sullen.......

Josiah, three, played about my feet, sunshine naturally beaming from his cherub face.

Giggles and smiles spilled from his joyful heart.

Our friends at the nursing home needed some of his rays.....some of his joy.

We would share.

We put his little blue hat on his head.........(the hat had been passed down from grandpa. Grandpa had worn it at the age of three...for Easter. It was a little man's hat that fit just perfect on my little man's head.).....We found his little red sweater and wrestled both arms in..............his blue eyes twinkled..........we were going to visit our friends.........

We stopped by the flower shop........balloons............that would add to our gift of joy..........

like the bow on top of a beautiful package.........

A big bouquet please...........mylars............sunshiny, bright, colorful balloons.........

Every balloon had a message......

"God Loves You!"

"This is the Day the Lord Has Made!"

"God Bless You!"

"I Love You!"

We got the biggest bouquet we could handle...........me and my little man........

Josiah's smile grew bigger, his eyes brighter as he gazed at the colorful cloud of mylar above his head....

Long faces instantly turned happy as we entered the nursing home.........Josiah handed balloons to the residents........ he sat on laps..........offering big wet kisses to time worn cheeks.......followed by a gargantuan hug, then we would move on to the next pair of open arms..........

Sonshine went before us and behind us.........giggles, momentary happiness filled the home.........

Our joy doubled as we loved on our friends............

One of our friends was losing her sight......blindness overtaking her ability to see......

Several days passed.

One day I returned to her bedside, to visit, pray, and love on her.........

The balloon we had given her days before hung on the door right in front of her bed.

It was very bright, colorful, displaying the message, "God Loves You!" in very big letters......

"Honey"..........I knelt in close to speaking softly........"I see you have your balloon on the door.......the balloon that Josiah gave you..........."

She squeezed my hand and a tear fell from her eye........."Yes, dear, it will be the last thing I see on this earth. I look at it every morning. When my eyes no longer see, I will remember what it says."

I could not swallow the lump in my throat...........tears freely fell as I left her side.......

I had been totally unaware of how much that balloon would mean to her......

It was just a balloon...........

Josiah doesn't remember that day..........

And our friends are all gone now..........

The Lord speaks in so many ways.........we do not always have the blessing of knowing how He has spoken through us.........I think we will be surprised when we get to heaven by the times others have heard Him through something we have done, said, or the way we have lived........

We will be asking Him, "When did I.........?"

He will be answering, "When you did it unto the least of these...."

And we will enter into the joy of our Master.

And sometimes He gives us glimpses while we are still here......

Blessings,

Cheri