Good Monday morning. After a long weekend away, I am refreshed, rested, and restored. Today I want to ponder another word - replete. Replete isn't a word that I recall ever using. When I looked up the definition in Webster's 1828 Dictionary, I found this: REPLETE: Completely filled; full. Later definitions include satiated, full, round, and fat. It is interesting how definitions and word usage have changed over the decades.
As I pondered this word today, I am definitely replete after my four days away. Too much food, more relaxation than I remember in a long time during a holiday season, and primarily just ''full" in general. Full of gratitude to have spent time with my sister. Full of hope as I saw thousands of people in a small town all celebrating Christmas. I didn't see anger, discord, or unrest. Instead, I saw a tiny community offer a magical place for people from all over the nation to come and simply enjoy the wonder of Christmas. More lights were twinkling than you can imagine. There was kindness as we waited in extremely long lines for fun foods like bacon-wrapped hotdogs! I am incredibly full of wonder at the amount of work that went into that festival and will continue each weekend until January 6 as they will do it again and again. People worked long into the night on Saturday to clean, remove barriers and restore the town to order and cleanliness. Sunday morning, you would have never known that just a few short hours before, there were throngs of people lining the streets.
Now I face the task of going back to somewhat normal eating and a daily routine. However, I don't want to lose that feeling of being so full of human kindness. Greeting people with a smile and sharing snippets of our lives with each other as we sat and waited to watch fireworks. Fun conversations while standing in long food lines and laughing as the clerks in the sweet shop came to know us too well!
I am replete with the goodness of God. It isn't about the extravagant celebration and events of this last weekend; it is that my faith is restored in humanity itself. I saw people just like me, wanting to notice and share kindness with one another. I believe many people flocked to that little town because they wanted to experience the joy and wonder of what is missing in most of our lives. Instead of pointing out how we were different, we all turned our eyes up to watch fantastic fireworks that made us all smile. I thought of God as I watched - wondering what the next flash would be. Astonished at how beautiful and unexpected each 'explosion' was. Listening to music and lyrics of Christmas as the show went on. No one was worried about being politically correct or using the correct pronouns. As the fireworks ended and the decor lights all came back on, my eyes went to the lights across the river, "For God so loved the world" and I was reminded that, indeed, He truly does.
Small trips like the one I just had are fun and bring restoration. As I sit in my quiet room, I am reminded that all those things I experienced over the weekend are available no matter where I am. I can be kind in any line I stand in. I can experience pleasant conversations with people I encounter in my everyday life. I can be patient as I wait for service in a store, just like I was patiently waiting for a hotdog! God is always present. He wants us to be replete, filled to overflowing, with His goodness.
Challenge: As you go about your day, notice kindness. Practice being kind.
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice! Philippians 4:4 NLT
Prayer: Father God, help me today to be kind. Fill me so that I am replete with only You. Only You can pour out of me when I am filled to overflowing. Make me have no room for anger, bitterness, or hatred. When filled with You, there is no room for these things. Help me see kindness today. Help me look beyond the hurt and worry plaguing us all and look to You for what we need. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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