A Cup Of Blessings.......Once Upon A Time

                         A Cup Of Blessing

I found this sweet little book on a recent Antiquing Saturday session.
The pretty Cornishware blue caught my eye and when I saw the title....YES....it just jumped into my basket.

A day or so later after a busy weekend where my cup had been full to the brim of things to do and places to go, I finally had time to read through the pretty pages of this pretty little book.

I curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and in lovely silence I poured through it's pages.
It is a sweet little diary of days with little psalms written under each date.  The owner of this book has written important dates and birthdays through it's pages. The penmanship is so neat and tidy and it has clearly been written with ink and quill. The names mentioned on the pages had long ceased to live on this earth and so had the owner of the book. There is a stillness and peacefulness about the book. Time had been spent on it, it had been treasured. There is no sign of a hurried, rushed hand, instead it is full of love and stories of life that once lived...........precious lives that were once upon a time treasured.
IT GOT ME THINKING.......and when that happens, my mind wanders off on it's own merry little way..........

Once upon a time, there was a young mother........

She was always running to and from places. There were so many things to do and so many people to take care of. The young mother somehow felt as though she had to fix so many others problems and be there to be a support and offer her ear.
This young mothers plate was well and truly full to the brim and yet she still found herself saying 'yes' when in fact her head was silently calling out 'NOOO' !
There was a silent longing inside of her that found genuine happiness in lending a hand and helping out others  less fortunate than herself.  She justified it constantly to herself and to others who constantly tutted her for being this way.

The young mother seemed to almost attract others and their problems. She would smile to herself constantly about this and wonder how on earth they found her. Was it her good nature ? was it her kindness or inability to say no ?  Or worse.....Did she have an invisible word that blinked in BIG flashing fluorescent lights that said ' Yes I will help you'.    She wasn't quite sure which one it was, but all the same it seemed almost humorous.

One day she had been for an early morning swim in the ocean and found herself taking a different route home. The car seemed to just turn off at an unusual spot. Granted, her mind had been thinking of other things as she drove along but she really hadn't meant to turn off the main road so late.
She headed down a quiet road and made a right turn through the busy traffic. IT WAS AT THAT MOMENT THAT SHE SAW IT ! 

An old frail woman had collapsed at that very moment on to the footpath. One by one her shopping bags fell to the ground and the contents began to filter out onto the grass around her.
There were cars driving past hurriedly to get to work, or to take children to school.

IN THEIR RUSH they failed to TAKE NOTICE.

The old woman held her hand to her heart and her face turned pale.

The young mother saw the old woman's plight. She tried desperately to cross the two lanes of traffic to pull over but the traffic carried her away instead.  At the next chance she had, she quickly turned off the main road and looped around through the backstreets. Surely by now another motorist would have stopped to help her, but she had better check anyway.

In a short time the young mother found herself on the main road and pulling over to where the old woman was now lying. NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON HAD STOPPED THEIR CAR TO HELP HER!
In absolute amazement the young mother rushed to the woman's side to see how she was. Quickly she called 000 for the ambulance.

The old woman was ashen. Her brow was sweating and she had gone limp down one side of her body.
The sun was beating down on her and making her feel even worse.

STILL NOT ONE OTHER CAR STOPPED TO HELP !

The young mother knew that she had to get this old woman out of the sun or she would faint, so somehow she managed  to get the old woman into the back seat of her car and into the shade.   It was a big effort but she had done it !
The old woman laid down on the cool seat of the car and took a sip of water that the mother offered her.  The old woman spoke a foreign language but it didn't seem to matter. Words were not needed at this time. The language of love was spoken. The language of humanity and of helping of others.....even strangers.    The old woman took the mothers hand in hers and muttered something illegible. Her words may have been confusing, but her eyes spoke volumes. They spoke of thankfulness and gratefulness for stopping by to help. 

The old woman held her withered old hand towards the young mothers chest and pointed to a the antique silver cross that hung around her neck.  The woman pointed up to the sky and muttered 'angel come'  and pointed to the young mother.

A few moments later the blazing sirens of the ambulance approaching was heard.  Before another word was spoken the paramedics had arrived and were gently carrying the old woman from the car and out onto a stretcher. There were no goodbyes or waves but there were certainly good thoughts.

Two strangers had met on the side of a busy road. One needed help and the other was only too happy to give it.

The young mother thought to herself 'Yes, well it has happened again, I was at the right time, at the right place and I was required to help another person'.
She laughed to herself and at the same time she looked towards the sky. She gave silent thanks to her feathered angel friends who were up sitting on the clouds in heaven. She gave thanks for them taking her a different way home that day. She gave thanks that help had arrived and most importantly she asked the angels to now fly down and take care of this old soul who needed some help. 

The young mother drove home and made herself a cup of tea. She thought back to the morning's events and thought how some things were just meant to be. Somehow she was meant to take that particular route home that day. Whispers from heaven had been blown down in the winds and had silently led the mother to this place of need.  It seemed completely absurd that not another human being had slowed down to see this old lady and her plight.
It made her realise that sometimes in life when everything is going at a 100 miles an hour, that one must STOP.....or at the very least SLOWDOWN to smell the roses. Life is a precious gift of time. Time that needs to be well spent and thought about. It is to be cherished and enjoyed.  Every last little second is so very special.

So SLOWDOWN.......put life into a slow gear. Open your eyes to what precious things are around you, but most importantly remember to breathe.  There are precious angelic beings out walking around in our world. They have been sent here to be Gods silent helpers. They are out walking past us every single day and we don't realise it.  They come in all shapes and sizes. Some of us may even be lucky enough to meet one someday, others will be helped by one.  But it is important to know that ANGELS WALK AMONGST US  and they hear our cries of help. If they can't help us personally then they will send somebody else who can.

So next time you see a person in need.......slow down........take stock and listen carefully.  If a silent yearning or need to help fills your soul with love , then reach out, take a hand and give a little of your heart.

and one thing will be certain.......the angels will smile.