Indebted

Last week I learned that my usual pharmacy was out of my medication and would be for a while. It was a little hassle, but after calling around, I found it at another store.

Changing gears for a second: a friend is moving. It is a difficult move, and this is a tough time for her in general. I wanted to give her tulips for her new home because we had connected over the story that sometimes life is like the trip to Italy you always planned...and you ended up in Holland instead.

"Door Country Tulips" by James Jordan

Who would have thought that finding a pot of forced tulips in March would be next to impossible? I went from store to store. I was elated to finally find some at the superstore where I was picking up my transferred prescription. Only thing is, it was going to cost more than I had hoped. Oh, well. I decided the friend was more important and I could massage the budget later.

At the pharmacy I was told in passing that I now had a $25 store credit thanks to my transferred prescription. I was so surprised! I went to the checkout line with the tulips as well as a few groceries even though I had run out of grocery money.

The cost of a good deed...actually paid me.

The thing is, I had to act first--I had to have the desire to serve, find the flowers, go to the store, put them in my cart, and THEN I was ready to receive the completely unexpected blessing.

I hope that my tulips made a difference to my friend. More than anything, maybe it was just nice to be thought of. It made me feel good to talk to her, so I was blessed again by the encounter. On my drive home I saw another friend I have been thinking about and missing and got to visit with her, so I was blessed again.

How easy it is to forget from whom all blessings flow. So often we are like children at play, oblivious to the kind and generous parent who nurtures and provides for all of our desires, who hands us the treat and just asks us to share.

And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever… (From a gorgeous sermon by King Benjamin)

There is enough and more to go around. Be generous. Generosity will come back to you. Call it the law of the harvest, call it karma--it is real!

Children, be kind. Share. Every blessing we give away was never even ours in the first place.