Last Tuesday’s Gospel (Lk 12:35-38, NAB) had Jesus telling his disciples, “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who wait their master’s return….Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.”  Jesus is giving a warning that we shouldn’t wait til the last minute to live virtuous and holy lives.  We should live as such every day because we don’t know when that last day will be. 

He then goes on to say, “And if he should come in the second or third watch and find them prepared, blessed are those servants.”  The second or third watch.  Jesus is implicating those who are in their middle years or towards the end of their lives.  He’s placing an importance on becoming more virtuous and growing deeper in relationship with Him as we age.

I think I’ve entered into the third watch of my life.

To me, being vigilant at my stage of life is synonymous with being virtuous – doing the right things, for the right reasons and in the right amount.  And, the deeper I grow in my relationship with the Lord, the more my predominant faults, those bad habits and things to which I’m attached – my vices – become apparent to me.  I’ve found it is getting more difficult to summon up the gumption to combat those to which I’m especially attached.

There is one particular bad habit that raises its ugly head over and over – my eating habits and my lack of exercise – the two things that should go hand in hand for better health.  I admit it, I love to cook and I love to eat.  I snack too much, and I don’t push away from the table as quickly as I should.  I don’t get as much exercise as I should, either.  Since I returned back to work six months ago, I have a lot more “desk time” than I do “up and moving around time”.  It shows.

So, Tuesday morning during my morning meditation, I prayed for God to help me get better, to find the strength to overcome the inertia.  I resolved especially to carve out a little time each day for some form of exercise.  I didn’t have a plan other than to just try to find some time.

Later that morning I was sitting at my desk and I glanced out my office window.  My window looks out over our school playground.  There, about ten feet from my window, two young girls, probably first graders, were sitting on the ground.  It was their recess and they were eating their snacks.  One girl was nibbling on cookies and the other was dipping a breadstick in a Nutella tub.  (And, no, I did not secretly want to run out and steal their snacks!).  In unison they took their nibbles and then set their snacks down and did five sit-ups.  They’d take another bite, and then do five leg lifts.  They did this until their snacks were gone and then they jumped up and ran off to play the rest of recess with their friends.  It was quite fun to watch and it made me laugh.  As I returned my attention to my work, I wondered why these two little ones with all their energy felt they needed to work off their snacks.

An hour or so later it was lunch time and I unwrapped the sandwich I’d made for lunch.  I was about half way through my ham and cheese on wholewheat when I recalled my resolution.  And then, those two first graders came back to mind and it occurred to me that they had found a way to carve out a few moments to exercise.  And then it hit me, I had just received a beautiful grace-filled God-moment.  I had asked for help and God didn’t waste any time.  He sent me two first grade girls to show me the way.  Never before had any children sat outside my window to play.  But that morning they did.  It could have been two boys playing rock-paper-scissors, or something worse, but instead it was two skinny six-year old girls worried about their figures.  

I looked at my sandwich and then looked at the floor to see if there was room for me to do some sit-ups, but then I imagined how sad I would look as I tried to get up off the floor.  It was a beautiful autumn day outside, sunny, and the air was beginning to get crisp.  I thought about those kids running and playing on the playground.  I looked again at my sandwich and decided I would finish it and then go outside for a walk.  

Twice around the school soccer field gave me time to earnestly thank God for answering my prayers, for sending me a simple sign – perhaps more of a challenge – that if little girls could do it, then I could, too!  

“Loving God, I know that I cannot amend my life on my own.  You hear and answer my prayers…sometimes in simple but always awesome ways.  Thank You for Your love and for the grace to realize Your presence in my life.  I pray for continued actual grace to match my will with Yours.  Amen.”

(Grace, God-Moments and First Graders was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

©2013-2023 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author(s) and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.