"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away."
One of my favorite memories is sitting on the porch swing during a rainstorm with my Grandma. Well, she would be sitting. I'd be curled up next to her with my head in her lap, while she played with my hair, singing me this song. She has called me 'sunshine' ever since I can remember. I'd always hear, "My sunshine." or "Good morning, Sunshine!" There were times when I'd walk into the room with her and she'd look at me and say, "How come Sunshine isn't shining very bright?" I'd then tilt my head and smile at her to shine a bit more. Even if I didn't want to be 'shining' at the moment, but it always made me want to be after I did so.
She may have been calling me 'sunshine' but she was the one shining. Always making me smile and making me shine right along with her.
We live in a dark world that does its best to take our light (sunshine) away. Especially right now with everything that has been and is happening in 2020. Everyone fearing for their health, wearing masks and keeping your distance from others. That alone is putting a barrier between you and every other human on Earth. Looking at one another, all we see is fear and a the possibility of getting whatever the other one MAY have. Going out in to public is a scary thing anymore.
Where I work, I deal with people and their fears and attitudes on a daily basis. There are quite a few days that its hard to get through the day because of this.
But, one day last week I found a piece of paper with a smiley face written on it. Just laying on a shelf. I picked it up and gave it to a coworker, not really thinking much of it. A few minutes later, that same coworker ran up to me and said that she had found another one. Within a span of an hour, six of us had found several of these smiley papers all over the store. One of our cashiers heard us talking about it and told us that there was a little girl that told her she wanted to make people smile by leaving personal, colorful smiles all over the place.
That one little girl made six people in that store smile for the rest of the night. All because she decided in a world of darkness and despair, she would shine bright for everyone.
Just like that little girl, we need to shine for someone. We need to let that Someone shine through us.
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." - Matthew5:14-16 KJV
Show them Jesus, let the Son of God shine through you! We need to let our 'SON'-shine show for others. Even if the world doesn't want to shine for Him, we can. And when we do, it will make others want to shine with us. Just like my Grandma did with me and that little girl did.
You will never know what your light will do in someone's life. So, are you shining bright enough?
(This picture is one that I found and it is now taped inside my locker. Another one I found is in my wallet where I see it when I open it. That girl doesn't realize the impact she made with the people in that store. I'm very thankful for her and I've never even met her.
To that little girl, thank you for shining and showing the world that its okay to still love each other. And showing me how just a little act can make such an impact on someone and change the way they see something. You make me smile every time I see that smiley. Thank you!)