Little things can remind us of God’s blessings. 小小的東西也可以提醒我們主的祝福。
Last Saturday, a set of Disney stickers reminded me that I am blessed to bless.
After getting my annual pass to the Hong Kong Disneyland, I’ve decided to make Disneyland a regular outing on the weekends to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. During my visit there this past Saturday, as usual, I was having “a magical day”. While waiting for the fireworks to start, my friend and I browsed in the shops. One of the sales ladies recognized me from the week before and came by and said hello. Out of the blue, she asked if we were interested in the stickers that they randomly give out to customers. She asked us to hold on a second and came back with not one or two stickers but the full set of stickers for us! I know this is really trivial for someone my age but this random act of kindness definitely made my day even more “magical”.
Right before the fireworks started, my friend and I got a spot quite far back and I noticed this little 6-year-old boy whining about not being able to see anything from his height. There was nothing that his mom could do because she was already holding his little sister. Filled with positive energy because of the extra “magic” from the stickers, I had this strong urge to make someone else’s day more magical as well. So I offered to the mom that my friend and I could help lift up her son so that he could see better. She was reluctant at first saying that he was really heavy. When we offered again saying we didn’t mind, she checked with her son who of course nodded immediately without even taking his eyes off the sky, which was just lit by the first firework of the night. The look of excitement on the little boy’s face was priceless. At the end of the fireworks, we gave our extra stickers to the kids.
This reminds me of the movie “Pay It Forward”. It is about repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to new people. Come to think about it, this is what God wants us to do as well with the blessings we have received from Him. He does not want us to just enjoy the blessings and bless His name. He blesses us so that we could glorify His name by blessing others. God’s blessings come in many forms and often times, when everything goes smoothly, it is easy for us to take the “intangible” blessings, such as a loving family, a stable job etc., for granted, to wish for more and to forget that we were blessed to give and not to keep. On that Saturday, God used something tangible – a set of Disney stickers – as an energy boost to remind me that I have freely received and I shall give freely.
“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:11)
Please join me to take a moment and think about how you have been blessed and how you could pay it forward today.
Have a magical day!
上週六，一套迪士尼貼紙提醒了我能祝福別人是我的祝福。
自從有了香港迪士尼的年票後，我決定了定期每個週末都去一趟，遠離一下煩囂的城市生活。上週六，我如常在迪士尼裡有著“奇妙的一天”。在等候煙花匯演時，我和朋友去了商店裡逛逛。有一位店員記得我前個禮拜也有去她的店，所以她過來打招呼，並突然問我們對店員們隨機派發個顧客的卡通人物貼紙有沒有興趣。她叫我們稍等一會，她回來的時後給了我們不是單單一兩個貼紙，而是一整套貼紙！我知道對我這年紀的人來說，這更本不是什麼大事情，但是這隨機的善行無疑讓我的一天變得更“奇妙”。
煙花匯演快要開始了，我的朋友和我挑了一個較後的位置。我留意到有一位六歲的小男孩向他媽媽抱怨說，從他的高度，他什麼都看不到。他的媽媽也沒有幫法，因為她已經在抱著小男孩的妹妹。當時的我充滿了奇妙貼紙帶來的正能量，我突然有強烈的衝動希望我也能讓另外一個人的一天變得更奇妙。所以，我告訴那位媽媽，我的朋友和我可以幫忙抱起她的兒子，好讓他能看得更清楚。她一開始有點勉強並說她的兒子很重的。當我們再次告訴她我們並不介意，她就問她的兒子要不要被抱起看煙花。那小男孩當然馬上點頭，眼睛一秒也沒有離開過那剛剛被第一發煙花擦亮了的夜空。那小男孩臉上流露著的興奮是無價的。煙花匯演完結後，我們把我們多出的貼紙送了給小男孩和他的妹妹。
這讓我想起那套叫“Pay It Forward”的電影。那電影講述 “回報”一個人的善行不一定是反方向的回報，而是可以對新的人做一些新的善行。來想想，神給予我們祝福就是想我們這樣做。祂不想我們單單享受著這些祝福並讚美祂的名。祂祝福我們，好讓我們能透過祝福別人來榮耀祂的名。神的祝福以很多不同的形式降落在我們身上，很多時候，當我們生活順利時，我們往往容易覺得一些“無形”的祝福是理所當然的，例如一個幸福的家庭、一份安穩的工作等等。我們更會不停地渴望得到更多，並忘記被祝福的我們是不應該把祝福收藏起來，而是要把祝福繼續傳出去。那個星期六，神用了一些有形的物質－一套迪士尼貼紙－作我的能量添加劑，提醒我，我白白地得來，也得毫無條件地送給他人。
“你們既然凡事富裕，就可以慷慨地捐輸，使眾人藉著我們，對 神生出感謝的心。”（歌林多後書 9：11）
請跟我一起用一點點時間去想想你是如何地蒙受著神的祝福，而今天你有能如何地把祝福傳出去。
祝你有奇妙的一天！
Image credit: Flickr/Express Monorail
