// Kateri Leonard //

I had no doubt in my mind that when I decided to wear my ripped jeans (featuring one rip in the knee) for “dress-down day” that my residents at the nursing home would comment.  Sure enough, some asked what happened, others mentioned that they noticed a hole in my pants, but my favorite one had to be the last comment I encountered: 

When the resident asked me what happened to my knee, I leaned in and said, “I bought them this way.  Isn’t that a silly thing to do?  Spending money on jeans with holes in them!”  Curious, she looked down at my knee and then back at me.  Then she said in a matter-of-fact tone, “If it weren’t for that hole, they would be beautiful.”  Then, changing the subject, I looked at her and said, “You’re beautiful.”  After I said this she sat up tall and seemed surprised as if she had never been told this before.  Then, with genuine kindness in her eyes she replied, “Well…thank you very much.”  

I wasn’t expecting her to react in this way and it got me thinking…

What if every time we received a compliment we reacted the way this lady had—in gratitude.  Sometimes it’s difficult to receive a compliment from someone, especially if we don’t believe it about ourselves.  However, by accepting a compliment from someone we can be humbled.  In our humility, we are able to see ourselves as Christ sees us—wonderfully made.  Goodness!  I’m so grateful for my sweet residents who teach me how to love more fully in the simple and little things. 

Sweet sisters, if we keep watch for the ways in which The Lord wants to remind us of how wonderfully we were created, we will surely be surprised by how He chooses to reveal this truth to our hearts.

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;

that I know very well.” Psalm 139:14