Someone to Care

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.

We realize that what we are accomplishing is a drop in the ocean. But if this drop were not in the ocean, it would be missed.

Let no one come to you without leaving better and happier.

Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.

- Mother Theresa

These quotes by Mother Theresa indicate the way I feel this morning as I reflect back on the last few weeks.

As a freelancer I have to accept contracts when they become available and sometimes it’s feast or famine – contracts are either not available or coincide and overlap. Such has been my experience in the past few weeks. I have been teaching at the college in North West River during the day and running some evening classes at the college in Happy Valley-Goose Bay at the same time. Prolonged, it would be a surefire recipe for burnout!

But I have much to be thankful for. I’m thankful that despite my physical ailments, I rushed to the finish line with gusto. I’m thankful that I found somebody to car pool with so I only had to drive the 89 km return trip over icy roads half the time. And I’m thankful for the wonderful people I’ve had to work with.

What strikes me the most is the many people I meet – rich or poor, married or single, native or non-native, young or old – who just need to know that somebody cares. We all have to deal with life, the ups and downs, the trails and tribulations that come our way. Sometimes life is just not fair. But a burden shared is a burden halved. Sometimes there is nothing we can do to help the situation but to accept the person, listen to their concerns and love them anyway. People just need to know somebody cares.

A baby is born with a need to be loved - and never outgrows it. ~Frank A. Clark

Driving home one day I found myself singing the chorus:

“Love through me, Holy Spirit, love through me.
Let my hands reach out to others, love through me.
There’s a needy soul somewhere, needing just one friend to care.
Love through me, Holy Spirit, love through me.”

Having finished my contracts last night and a few weeks of burning the candle at both ends, I promised myself I would sleep until daylight this morning, but the house was still dark when I got up at 7:30 a.m. It’s snowing a lot and before I went to bed last night the weather channel said we were to have 25-35 cm of snow in the next 24 hours with winds gusting to 90 km/h this afternoon and blizzard conditions. To me this sounds like the perfect time to put on a Christmas CD and clean and decorate the house in preparation for my daughter’s return home for Christmas on Tuesday.

Having my gift for a child ready for the Community Christmas Hamper and donations to several charities is certainly only a drop in the bucket of what needs to be done, but if it were not there it would surely be missed. Now I’ll concentrate on Christmas preparations for my family.

Merry Christmas!