purple

A Gift is a Gift

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There is at least one more story from my travels – this one is remembering a sweet gesture from 2 young boys sitting in the airplane seats ahead of me. We were in a jovial section of the back of the plane – behind me were many girl scouts – and in front of me were National Geographic-signed up travelers – all enjoyed the Galapagos Islands.

The woman next to me was chatty and the boys overheard me asking her where she is from – and they chimed in before her and said Germany – well, this woman was so shocked because it was only one conversation, she said, at a dinner, where she mentioned her roots – but she lived in California for a while now…  These boys picked up on the info – internalized it – shared it – a gift of recall. And a gift of friendliness. 

Later in the flight – more conversations between seats and I handed up two little plastic flamingos – gifts I brought WITH me – gave many out to whomever I thought…  A gift – no need to give me something back – just for fun. But when I handed the two statues up – the little boys decided to gift me each a purple skittle from their candy – so sweet – the action and the candy.

I didn’t expect any return gift from my gift – I just enjoyed seeing the oohs and aahs from people receiving them. I think that the sweetness of the candy came from a “oh we should give a return gift” – which is not always necessary…  and so we simply take the nice return gesture as nice – kids with good upbringing… Sweet…

How about the gift and gifts from the Lord? Well, we could never repay the fill of gifts that He gives us – we could never pay anything worthy of what He gives us – His Grace – His Mercy – His Life – His Everything for our Anything. And so we don’t pay it backwards – we pay it forwards – and share His Gifts with others – and we share PRAISE about Him to whomever will listen…

A Gift is a Gift – and a God Gift is well, WOW!

Well, I am glad those little boys got to go to the Galapagos – I am glad they are included in travel and in conversations and in life – they will be gifts to whomever they meet down the road – paying it forward – and sometimes back between the seats where only an eye is seen…

Sweet…

Amen

Purple Peace

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It was a glimpse of my friend’s hair then stature then face that caught my eye at a recent town festival. We embraced immediately. Love that lady!!! and I feel love from her. 

It did NOT matter that we had different color stickers on, acquired from opposite sides of the pavement pounder party pushers. We embraced and together perhaps not our stickers touched, but our souls did, as did our hearts. And we made quite the PURPLE PAIR.

Purple is red and blue – blue and red – PURPLE. Purple is the color of PEACE. Purple is the color of the royal prince of PEACE. Purple is the POWERFUL PEACE color for JESUS. 

I’m glad that we can come together in purple. I’m blessed to know that we are together in Jesus.

Jesus said that someday we will all worship in spirit and in truth. We know from the Old Testament of many , many , many different lines of people and faiths and attitudes… we today are splintered light. 

I pray we all see the light of Jesus. 

Purple power to bring PEACE. 

Amen

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John 4:19-42

The [Samaritan] woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

The Whitened Harvest

And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

The Savior of the World

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word.

Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”