Yesterday was a bad day. I unloaded on my friend, Lul, about how much hate there is. I felt totally overwhelmed and was sitting in my car crying. As she talked to me, I was praying to Father, saying how I just didn’t understand and was having a hard time. I’m usually way more thick skinned than this, but yesterday….it was just too overwhelming.

Later, I took a friend to Catholic Charities. While I was there, I saw a family of 3. The father quietly went to the semi private corner under the tv and knelt down and said his prayer. It took about a minute.  He got up and they went shopping.

While he was boxing up their groceries, the mom went over to the corner and quietly knelt down and said her prayer. As I watched this, I was thinking of what Lul had said to me and all the things I said to God. Here was simple sweetness in the midst of all the chaos of people shopping, talking and moving around the building.

I walked out with the mom and she said she really didn’t speak English, but, her son did. So I walked to the car with her and told her son, “I saw you praying and thought it was so sweet. Thank you for reminding me to say my prayers too. Thank you.” They both looked at me, smiled and said thank you.

I went back in to wait for my friend. As we were boxing her stuff, the dad brought his cart back in. I looked up and we looked right at each other. He gave me this huge grin and a huge wave. I gave him a huge grin and a huge wave back.

The moral of this story is that we are all God’s children (this family is Muslim and I’m Christian). He hears us no matter the religion we have, the color of our skin or the country we live in. He sent Lul, a sweet spirit that gives it me straight, to be my friend. He sent that sweet family to remind me that He is always with us and to trust Him when things are ugly and chaotic here.

There is still sweetness around me.