I saw the sweetest thing the other day. It was a cold day that hinted of the coming Winter. Blustery winds blew and clouds covered most of the sky with a dark grey. It was a day I was happy to stay inside where it was warm. Finally the sun broke through the clouds and shined brightly through my windows. I looked out smiling at that glorious light for a few minutes taking in all its beauty. It was when I turned around, though, that I got my greatest joy, because there curled up together in the middle of the floor was my daughter's dog and cat happily and peacefully napping and sharing the warm sunbeam.

God loves us all so much and blesses us with so many wonderful things besides just sunbeams. It is a shame that often we get so caught up in the stress, work, and pains of this life that we forget to invite them into our hearts and welcome them into our souls. Yes, this life is so often full of darkness, ugliness, and suffering.

God makes sure, though, that it is also full of light, beauty, love, and joy. The fantastic thing is that we can choose what we want to dwell in, become a part of, and share with the rest of the world. We can select joy over despair and goodness over pain. We can help God to drive out the darkness with the light, the ugliness with the beauty, and the suffering with the love. We may not always be happy, but moment by moment we can choose to bring a little more happiness to this world.