God, recently on an ordinary day I returned home from work. Nothing remarkable had happened that day until I rolled past our plumeria on the way to my front door. On this ordinary day the plumeria gifted me with an extraordinary blossom of white petals with yellow centers.
Something flowered in me as I looked at the blossom. It was the vivid memory of my dear friend, Ivan Butterfield. More than thirty years ago on an ordinary day in Emmottville Ivan showed up unexpectedly to give me and my wife that plumeria for the yard of what I thought would be our forever home along White Oak Bayou.
Sadly, due to three floods in five years, our forever home is no more. But, when we left our home we took with us the same plumeria and along with it the memory of what Ivan did for and said to me that day.
As I thanked Ivan for the gift of the plumeria, Ivan said, “One is always expected to do special things on special occasions. But, what shows your deep love for others is doing something special for them on ordinary days.”
God, I thank You for Ivan, the plumeria, and the extraordinary lesson I learned from him and have sought to follow for more than thirty years.
God, I thank You for always being present for us on all of our ordinary days. Likewise, it is just and right that we follow Your example to do special things on ordinary days for those we love. For when we do so, we become the flowering of Your glory and grace on Earth.
God, my forever home in Emmottville and my friend, Ivan, are no more in the physical. Yet, the gift and lesson I learned from Ivan on an ordinary day lives on.
God, in our daily prayers please help us find ways to magnify Your love on the Earth by doing special things for others on ordinary days. Amen
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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.