Eating lunch with a friend. Trying to do a decent day’s hard work. Hearing the rain patter against the window. There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize Him. – Frederick Buechner

I am grateful for the little gifts from God that really are the big gifts from God.

I am grateful for a free ice cream social at lunch time today, even though I did not partake.

I am grateful that I refrained from partaking in the ice cream social right outside our office door.

I am grateful for a WalMart associate named Ria. She had the prettiest, sweetest smile today and her parents taught her to make eye contact when speaking kindly to anyone and everyone. I witnessed it, and I was the recipient.

I am grateful for the delight in seeing a cat’s paw bat at a string.

I am grateful for the pleasant memories of Sneakers waking the family up in the middle of the night as he hopped up onto the piano keys.

I am grateful for the laughter generated when Ruska chased Panther and then Panther chased Ruska. And when Fifi chased Sneakers and then Sneakers chased Fifi.

I am grateful for hilarious dog and cat names.

I am grateful for the beautiful big feelings of hearing a cat purr.

I am grateful for cats who find empty boxes and brown paper bags and beams from a flashlight or a red laser pointer and know how to use them for fun.

I am grateful for cats who fall asleep on laps and create a warm living blanket.

I am grateful for a chauffeur driver who stood outside the office door waiting on his passenger, because this man knows how to dress. Crisp suit, tie, and a sharp silver fedora. He was a great distraction this afternoon from a monotonous day.

And I am grateful for this devotion from Dad’s book today:

But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. – Colossians 3:14

In his book on auditioning for Broadway, director Michael Shurtleff tells actors to consider every scene in a play “a love scene.” It’s not that every scene is romantic. But every scene has emotion, and our core emotion is love. “The desire for love, to give it or receive it…is the chief propellant in human beings,” wrote Shurtleff. “An actor had best learn that.”

We’d best all learn that. Every experience in life is a love scene, and Christians are to love as Jesus loves. The Bible speaks of putting on love like a garment. Colossians 3:14 (NLT) says, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love.” It’s a cloak we never remove. Since the Bible uses this symbol, why not take a moment and visualize it. Look at the clothes you’re wearing today. Think of them as radiating love. Think of yourself as wearing the invisible threads of love, doing good, meeting needs, shedding offenses, showing compassion, projecting friendliness. That’s the uniform of the Christian.