This was written by my dear friend Norine Herr several years ago as she fought her last battle with cancer. Norine – you are not forgotten!!!!
I know the Lord and I started a personal relationship with him in my teens. It was a time I most needed to find out He was with me and I was with him. He taught me about true friendship. When I felt about as low as I could get, He sent me the smallest gift that had the biggest impact. The lesson has been in looking for the small gifts and not expecting the big ones.
This is the lesson I learned to apply with all my friends. If you always expect leaps and bounds you can miss the greatness in the Lord. Likewise, if you miss the small gifts because they are petite, you can spend a boring, unhappy time looking and waiting for the big gift. It is like watching a baby grow. If I waited 18 years for my son to be Valedictorian (with the big speech that goes with it), well I’d be sorely disappointed. The development of his mind throughout school was quite a challenge. Eventually I was just praying he would graduate. But all through his life, the simple, “I love you too Mom”, would create a huge beam of joy. Of all the speeches I might ever hear, no words are finer.
That is the way I feel with God. He shows me the simple, “I love you”, through friends, family, sunsets, sunrises, nature, and other simple every day happenings. Some familiar, some surprising. But the fact is if I waited to be cured of cancer, if I waited to have a huge Christian impact, if I hung around for a revelation of my own greatness given to me by God, I would be sorely disappointed. So I accept what happens to me in this temporary world knowing God is using it for his good. I wait for the simple signs from God saying, “I love you”. I am never disappointed.