Not a Resolution – But an Observation
Watching the Tournament of Roses parade is my New Years tradition. Normally we mute commercials, but one commercial by Honda caught my attention. Their slogan was “Start Something Special”. This really jumped out at me. I have been thinking about that slogan.
When I was a young girl, my Mother was always starting something special, at least in my eyes. She would take the pickles out of the jar and place them in a cute bowl before placing them on the table. She was always leaving small gifts at our plates on special days. These were just a few of the small things she would do, but they made me feel special!
I guess I caught her vision, because I love to do those special little things too! I especially love to do those things for my family and friends who visit: use cloth napkins and nice plates, serve favorite foods, just put that extra touch on a gift card.
What I have come to realize in my own life, and in the lives of others the Lord has placed in my path, is that it is not the huge, over the top, expensive things that make the impact. It is often what may seem to be small that actually becomes huge in another’s eyes and heart. I am not necessarily talking about “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. This is certainly biblical and necessary, but rather, I am talking about seeing as Christ saw. Matthew 5:1 says, “And seeing the multitudes,” – Christ saw through them and He knew their every need. He was looking at the crowd that had gathered before Him.
Do we take time to look, to see the crowd around us?
As the New Year rolls in, we are always making resolutions: eat less, loose weight, exercise more, finish projects I started last year. We should set goals for the New Year. But, what if instead of resolutions, we called them observations. We could purpose that our slogan be like the one in the car commercial – “Start Something Special”, start being observant of all those close to us and all around us.
Seeing the multitudes: it is not a complicated, creative thing. Remember, it is a hug, a smile, kind words and, yes, special deeds – seeing others through the eyes of Christ. Many people around us need Christ, and that is the Gospel. That is something very special in a life. Let’s start at the beginning – “a very good place to start”. Let’s observe and “start something special”.
Happy New Year,
Pamela
[Photo by Maggie Smith/FreeDigitalPhotos.net]