Patti Burris

I work in the food service department of the Sisters of Providence. Part of my job is to check the Sisters and any guests in at lunch time. A regular guest happens to be an elderly Professor that teaches at the college that is on the same campus and was founded by the Sisters. He came in yesterday and we greeted each other, as usual, and then he started talking to the Sister in line ahead of him about the book he had brought with him. As soon as he said the name, “The Five Little Peppers And How They Grew” I butted in enthusiastically, “I LOVE that book! My grandmother read it to me when I was a little girl!” He brought the book over to me and showed me that it is an original copy. It looks just like the one my grandmother had. He pushed it to me and told me to take it. I hesitated. I’m not good at taking gifts. I’m always afraid the giver will be mad if I take it. He noticed my hesitancy and says, “the school library is always getting rid of older books. Go ahead and take it.” I did take it and the memories of my grandparents flooded my mind all afternoon. My grandmother instilled a love of reading in me. From her I inherited a love for Little House on the Prarie, Anne of Green Gables, and of course The Five Little Peppers. I still hear her singing the lullaby that she had written. She never failed to bake a ton of goodies at Christmas, even though she could not eat them because she was a diabetic. She would make my favorite breakfast of  Cocoa Pebbles and toast with the butter melted on it just right as my grandfather and I watched I Love Lucy.  She was a wonderful woman and I loved her dearly. This unexpected gift also brought back sweet memories of my grandfather, who was a man of few words, but I knew that he loved me. We always enjoyed watching I Love Lucy together in the mornings and Lawrence Welk in the evenings. At other times I would watch him as he puttered in his garage or the yard or sit with him on the front porch and listen to AM talk radio. These were sweet times and I was blessed with the memories that this precious gift brought back. It truly was a gift from God to encourage me in the mundane tasks of daily life. God does care about the simple things in our lives. He cares about what we care about and He often sends simple gifts to remind us that He is with us always. A gift of a smile or encouraging word when we are having a bad day, A note from a faraway friend, A double rainbow, a bright red cardinal on a snow covered tree, or a book written in 1881 that brings back golden memories of a time long since gone. I encourage you as you go about your tasks to look for the simple gifts of God in your life. They are there, you just have to be open enough to receive them.