Every time I have been to Women of Faith, there has been one speaker who seemed to be talking just to me. One year it was Shelia Walsh telling me that no matter what, the Shepard would find me. Last year, Mark Lowery moved me with his words, his laughter, and his song. This year, it was Angela Thomas. Angela is an author, a story-teller, a mother, and a wife. I didn't know much about her before, and honestly, I haven't had much time to learn about her yet. Her message has been playing over in her mind since Women of Faith.
Angela told the story about watching her son's soccer game. The team wasn't doing well and she kept trying to think of ways to encourage him. She finally yelled, during a lull in the game, "be the sunshine"! Not the type of encouragement that a preteen boy wants to hear in front of his entire team. He was embarrassed, but it became a family joke at their home. The following year, Angela told some parents about how she embarrassed her son at a game. After this game, another parent yelled to Angela's son to "be the sunshine". The boy was embarrassed and of course he blamed his mom. I am assuming that he got over it since she is telling the story to a much larger audience now!
"Be the sunshine" continues to play in my head. In the past, I have not always been a positive person. In fact, I would see the glass as half empty rather than half full. It was exhausting to live life with that much negativity inside of me. I started making changes in my life. I started getting rid of the things that were bringing me down. I started finding small things to be happy about. It started to get easier to be positive. I try to see the positive in everything that I go through. It isn't always easy, sometimes I have struggled with finding anything positive, but eventually, I do see the silver lining in the storm clouds. And then, I am able to focus more on the silver lining rather than the storm clouds.
Be the sunshine, for me takes my positive attitude one step further than being positive. Being the sunshine, to me, means sharing the light, the positive, the joy with others. In Matthew, Jesus says: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16). I need to find ways to share the light that I have with others. It might be a kind word, it might be sending a card or email to a friend. It might just be a smile to a child or chatting with a stranger in the line at the grocery store.
I don't always succeed in my quest to be the sunshine. I am human and have moments~okay, sometimes I have entire days, in which I am a grump. I have to find ways to get out of the grumpiness and share the light that I have. I try to take time to pray when I cannot find my light. I ask others to pray for me. I take time to be alone. I try to find the things in my life that are blessings. I remind myself to be the sunshine, that there are others who might need whatever sunshine I can give them.
Are you the sunshine? Try it, someone needs the sunshine that is yours to share.
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