Just a Thought...

A big moment happened to me in early December and I know it will be with me forever.

There is a Church near my house that has a food bank - normally I just donate money to the food banks, but this year I also thought to donate products.

I had just read an article on the best items to donate to food banks and wanted to put it into action – I purchased granola bars, cereals, etc., that the list suggested and as I walked past the cookie aisle, I grabbed multiple bags of Oreo cookies and family sized Kit Kat bars – after all, it was the Holidays, and few treats should be included.

Krista & I drove to the Church and spoke with one of the volunteers – on this particular day they were also giving away clothing donated by the local Giant Tiger for those in need – so the place was buzzing with activity.

The lovely lady who helped us was talking to a young woman when we first approached, who decided to accompany us to the food donation area – happily chatting along with us, like we’ve all known each other for years - the spirit of the season capturing us all.

We were instructed to place the items we wanted to donate on the designated shelves, making it easy to find the items needed – the last items we took out of our box were the Kit Kats and bags of Oreos.

The young woman’s eyes lit up and a wide smile broke out on her face – as it turns out, she was there that day getting clothing items for her children, and when she saw the cookies and chocolate, was excited to bring some treats home too!

That one moment of her smile at those Oreos… hit me hard. That something so simple & small made her day a little brighter.

Our magazine is called A Beautiful Life because we want to bring all the ways you can make your life beautiful. It can be a grand gesture, a trip abroad, a designer purse… or it can be something as simple as a bag of Oreos.

Often, we get so wrapped up in the search for the ‘big’ stuff to make us happy, that we overlook the wonder of the small stuff - the small stuff that can make each day a little brighter… a baby’s laugh, a bud on a rose bush as we enter summer, a comfortable bench in your favourite park… or a bag of Oreos.

I’m so thankful to that wonderful young lady for reminding me and all of us, to be grateful for all  we have big… and small.