CLOUD GIVER
Have you ever been enamored by the charades the clouds play? I lie on my back and watch a carnival scene unfold as the clouds playfully gallop, swirl, frolic and jump into a host of different pictures that keeps my mind guessing as to the shape they will form. My mind wanders with one cloud for an adventure that ends as another picks me up, and off we go! Hours pass me by and my mind has taken a rest while having a great time! The creativeness that flows when our mind is renewed is remarkable. What a beautiful gift, free to everyone.
A friend of mine’s grandson was really struggling with his identity, desperately wanting to fit in and have friends, yet growing more fearful and anxious with every weekend sporting event. The idea about being a “cloud giver” came to my mind as she shared about his stress of comparing himself to other kids, instead of learning to live out who he was created to be. My thoughts immediately took me on my own cloud ride:
Maybe if he could look at his upcoming basketball game
as an opportunity instead of a threat!
What if he could see himself as a “cloud ride giver” at a carnival.
Maybe this kind of thinking would help him not feel the
pressure to be competitive in something he just wasn’t the best at,
but could shine in an area he was really good at; cloud giving!
I wanted him to see how playing sports when you’re a kid should be fun! I wanted him to see that he had a choice. And then I realized it is the same for us all; we all have the choice to be a cloud giver everyday! Whether going to the field, the court, the gym, or the pool, or the store, doctor, bank or hair salon, choose to be the one who says nice words, smiles, gives a helping hand, and returns lost things to their owner. Playing the game of life should be a joy, not a fearful endeavor. We can all choose to be the one who shows the sportsmanlike conduct we all want to receive, even if you are mocked and laughed at. And maybe, just maybe, you will encourage another to join in this thinking. And, one game at a time, we will change the way we treat one another. Loving one another, one act of kindness at a time, is like giving people a cloud ride. After all, we are not all going to be great at playing sports. However, we can ALL be great at good sportsmanship and loving kindness. We can be “cloud givers” in this life!
This is an important perspective to keep in mind because “cloud givers” are selfless souls, growing lovers, and reckless forgivers of wrongs. Like the Apostle Peter states below, there is something more important than everything else – love. Who wants to love others with me? Who wants to be a “cloud giver” in this life?
“Continue to love each other very much.
That is more important than anything else.
If you love people, you will forgive them
for any wrong things that they have done.”
– 1 Peter 4:8
It is my prayer that you embrace kindness and maintain an intensity to love. May you be the “cloud giver” you were created to be!
Joyfully Healing from the Inside Out,
