Softness.
Makes all the difference.
Our days start bathed in the softness of morning light filtering in gently covering our world.
This natural beautiful softness gets lost in our awareness as our phones waken with the dings, whistles, horns of our incoming world of texts, Twitter notifications, EBay notifications, Pinterest notifications.
So I meditate and my mind becomes re-focused and my thoughts become soft again.
Being woken up in the morning as a teenager was not pretty:
It always started with a loud banging of the wall by my head by my busy Grandma with her loud command in Taiwanese of "Wake up!"
I would groan and fall back to sleep.
Then, sweetly, a couple of minutes later the gentle voice of my Momma through our home intercom system would kiss my ears, "Jenny MingPing, wake up, Sweetheart, Jenny MingPing, wake up Beautiful".
Grandma's was loud and terrifying. Mom's would make me feel loved and beautiful and I would always awaken to a great start to the day.
Softness.
Makes all the difference.
Meeting people that are hardened by life are my favorite. What?! Yes. Because it makes me rely on Intention instead of relying on what I naturally want to do. My natural instinct is to be just as snotty back or be passive-aggressive. Instead, I Intentionally love the person and my words always come out.. soft.
Immediately, I see the hardness of that person melting away. Their eyes relax. They sometimes even look embarrassed. But in the end, I met a person who needed that soft moment. And I didn't add any unnecessary hardness to their life.
Softness.
Makes all the difference.
Our one-and-a-half year old English Mastiff, Kona, wishes every night that she didn't have to be in her kennel alongside her sister, Bella.
Every night she will wait with her sweet puppy dog eyes in hopes that we will grant her a pardon from going in. Dragging her while ordering her to go "in the kennel" never works. Her stubbornness sets in and she cannot be physically moved for as long as she wishes!
But! if you whisper sweet nothings into Kona's ears and lay beside her, and tell her how much we love her.... she reluctantly, but with love, takes her place inside her kennel and sleeps soundly on her comfy pillow.
Softness.
Makes all the difference.
On some occasions when I am exhausted from work, my emotions are spent, and I cannot find any energy to be happy about anything, calling my parents is like breathing. I call for love. I call for support. I call for help. They never discount my tears or try to change the subject by telling me a funny story that could help me to laugh. And they never tell me that I should have gratitude and be grateful for my wonderful husband, my good life, my health.
Instead, they listen to my exhausted sobbing as I drive my car..and with softness, tell me that it is good to cry and that they know I am exhausted.
Softness.
Makes all the difference.
My Jesus, never banged loudly with commands to love Him, to obey Him, to not sin...
Instead, he softly offered me his Heart and promised that if I trusted Him, that he would never leave me or forsake me. That He would give His life for mine, so that my sins would be forgiven so that I could have a relationship with an Ever-Living Lord and Savior that has no rival and no equal.
So I happily opened the door to my heart 40 years ago to this Jesus and His Promise is still there brighter and true-r every single day.
Softness.
...made ALL the difference.
Thank you for listening.
As always, Look with Intention.
XO, Jen