Little Flower...

This post isn't about stitching, but it is about someone and something that makes me "who I am".

When I was a little girl growing up my most favorite Saint was St. Therese of Lisieux. I remember a Nun telling me about the "Little Flower of Jesus" and from thence on, I prayed for her intercession in my life. St. Therese's life was short only 24 years, however she packed so much into that 24 years that I imagine she beat most that would live to 100.

She believed in "little ways". Just little things that she could do to help others. A smile, a kind word, service unto others, joy, humility in the face of anger and bias, basically anything that she could do to help the day of another fellow human being. She wrote:

"Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love."

Today (Oct. 1) is St. Therese's feast day in the Catholic calendar. Today we honor St. Therese as the person she was while here on earth. We lay our eyes on her visage and remember that she was just a human being - just as I (and you) am a human being and what I do during my time here on earth means something and can mean something to someone else too. Little ways....we all have the ability to do these things for ourselves and others. This isn't just for the "believers", it is for all of us. Little ways (little acts of kindness) are something for us all. Little ways.....practice them. They've made a difference in my life. And the next time you unexpectedly receive a flower or see a flower and comment on its beauty ~ think about it....it may be St. Therese's "little way" to you.

"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy; in a word, something noble, supernatural, which enlarges my soul and unites it to God.... I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers.... I do as a child who has not learned to read, I just tell our Lord all that I want and He understands."

~St. Therese~