Touched by an Angel

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I recently received this email about Alan from a good friend. It was written by Charles Spinelli. It was so touching that I asked Charles if I could share it.

This is from the heart…

What a year!  I don’t think it’s necessary to recap all that occurred this year or how exactly we got to where we are…actually, I am not even sure exactly where we are??

But I do want to share this with you.  I met my friend Alan the other day.  Alan is an angel.  Well sort of.  He is actually a homeless man in the town we work in.  He is grimy and he smells.  His mode of transportation – a bicycle that is held together by duct tape.  I buy him lunch or give him money every time I see him.  But on this day, Alan gave me a great gift!

It was chilly and he was wearing a hoodie and a down overcoat.  He had boots on, but there was a hole in the top were his sock was sticking out.  I said hello and he immediately got up and held his hand out to shake mine.  Despite his physical condition, and the pandemic, I unhesitatingly shook Alan’s hand.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to be touched by an angel! 

With a beaming smile, he asked how I was.  Alan always asks me how I’m doing.  And not just in a perfunctory way…he really listens.  I paused for a moment and said, “You know Alan, I’m doing well.”  I expounded, “I guess the challenge in these times is to look at what you have and be able to count your blessings.  How are you doing?” I asked.  He said, “My friend, I am blessed.  I am warm and I have so much to be thankful for.  Some people have it much worse than me.”

Wow!  Angels always appear where they are needed.  I knew immediately that God was using Alan to give me a message.  Even in the midst of difficulty, we need to know that we are loved.  And that it is never, ever as bad as it seems, because God is always with us.  And, if we can love, we should love.  If we receive love, we need to return love.   Love is the only way that Alan can think that he is blessed.  His very existence hangs in jeopardy every day – the weather materially impacts him, he relies on handouts for his meals, and he can only hope that he will find someplace safe and warm to sleep.  Alan understands that God loves him, I think that is why he can positively say he is blessed.

Are we as confident in God’s love for us as Alan is?  Personally, I often lose sight of that.  The past month has been heavy.  The uncertainty of everything has caused so much anxiety.  My focus has been selfish, and I seemed to be caught up in the issues of the world.  I have been at times anxious, scared, hopeless, angry, frustrated…sound familiar?

In a sense, Alan and I are very dissimilar.  I have everything I need and most things I want.  Alan, well, he literally has nothing.  The world would say we have zero in common.  But the world is wrong.  God sees it another way.  In fact, from His eyes, there is nothing different between us.  We are both simply His children.  In this sense Alan and I are brothers and God gives each of us the same gift – love.

I was really amazed how Alan could say he is blessed.  I was also very embarrassed about why I think my troubles are numerous.  Alan gave me the gift of perspective.  As I paused to take stock of my life, I came to understand that there is indeed much to be thankful for.  Just focusing on some of the things that I take for granted, gave me so much to ponder and pray about.

So, this week, let’s take a minute to contemplate all the gifts we have.  Look at our spouses or your children; our family or our friends; and know that they are truly gifts from God.  Reflect on how God is always there to help us along.  And maybe we can also say that we are blessed…just like Alan the angel.

Charles

Thank you, Charles, that was beautiful….

Merry Christmas to all and……Stay Safe….

Every Day is a Gift

The Dash

A couple of months ago

I attended a funeral

During the Mass

The priest read a poem

Written by Linda Ellis

Simply Titled….

The Dash

The poem seemed to be

The topic of conversation

After the service

I never heard that before

That was very profound

It really made me stop and think

When we look at a gravestone

We only see

A name

A date of Birth

And…

The date they passed away

Between the 2 dates

You will find….

The dash

The little dash stands for

Everything that was accomplished

During their lifetime

What do we do to fill our dash

What have we passed on…

To our family….

Friends….

Co-workers….

All who we meet

What is our legacy

What did we do with the gifts

We were given

This is the measure of our dash

How do we want to be remembered

If given the chance to write

Our own epithet

What would it say

Do we live to fulfill

The words we would write

Live Your Dash!

Got a Minute

Hey …

 

 

Got a minute…

 

 

 

Do you mind if I

 

Get back to you

 

 

 

I have a lot going on

 

 

 

Have you heard that before?

 

 

 

 

Just wanted to stop by……

 

 

 

I had a few extra minutes

 

 

Can’t stay too long

 

 

 

Okay………..

 

 

 

Hurry up…..

 

 

 

I’m behind schedule

 

 

 

 

Why do we always seem to be rushing around?

 

 

 

You can’t even have a regular conversation

 

With anyone today

 

 

Without someone pulling out their cellphone

 

 

 

I just remembered

 

 

I have to make a note

 

 

 

 

Hold on

 

 

I just got a text

 

 

 

I must admit I have found myself

 

 

Fall into the abyss

 

 

 

We have lost all sense of

 

 

Quality time

 

 

 

Our communication is becoming

 

 

 

Cryptic

 

 

 

Why are we all so busy

 

 

Or

 

 

Are we just trying

 

 

To feel busy

 

 

 

 

Are we trying to feel important?

 

 

 

Looking to fill a void?

 

 

 

 

Well guess what?

 

 

 

We are all important

 

 

 

We are just too busy to show

 

 

The people we all love

 

 

 

Just how important

 

 

 

They are to us

 

 

 

Why are we

 

 

 

Always searching for more

 

 

 

Is the grass really greener…..

 

 

 

On the other side……

 

 

 

 

Why are we all so caught up

 

 

 

In not just being ourselves

 

 

 

 

To the world

 

 

You may be one person,

 

 

 

But to one person

 

 

 

You may be the world

 

Visit us on the web www.hutchinsonbusinesssolutions.com

Humbled

I hope you don’t have trouble reading this entry. Recently I fell, separated my right shoulder and now I have to write left-handed. 

People who know me say my handwriting is terrible. (I thought you went to Catholic School, didn’t they teach you the Palmer Method)? 

You should see me trying to write and do everything left-handed. 

You never realize just how much we take the everyday things we do for granted until they take your rights (arm) away from you. It might be okay if I was left-handed….. 

But somehow I feel discombobulated. Everything has to be done is slow motion with my left hand. Go ahead try it! 

Try eating with a fork left-handed. 

Comb your hair or brush your teeth. 

I feel like I am going thru rehabilitation. Come on George, I know you can do it. 

How did I hurt my shoulder? Don’t even ask. I wish I could give you a great story. 

You should see what the other guy looked like. 

But no, it was humbling. 

I was actually trying to cross the street at night in front of my office. It is dark and as I was going across the street a car was coming from my right. My first thought was… they seem to be going a little fast. I started to take a couple of quick steps to get to the other side of the street. 

Little did I know that why I am looking to my right at the approaching car and breaking into a jog that a 

“Beware… Pedestrian Crossing” sign was right in front of me. 

What was that? 

Was my first thought, as I was tackled head on… 

glasses flying off my face…. 

I am falling and stumbling to get the first down (across the street and out of the car’s path). 

I throw my right arm out to catch my fall. And as soon as my right hand hit the street….. 

I felt and heard my right shoulder pop out of joint. 

Now I am lying in the middle of the street, (fortunately, the driver stopped and got out of the car) 

The owner of the pizza shop down the street, seeing the whole incident, came running over to help me. 

Are you all right? What happened? Let us help you up? 

I am half in shock…what and the heck hit me?……And in severe pain. 

My first response…… don’t touch me, I just thru out my shoulder. 

Looking back I can see the sign lying in the middle of the street and my body is locked into crippling position. 

I could not stand up; 

Dragging myself up to my office, (looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame), I yelled to my wife: 

Janet!!!!!! (In extreme pain) 

I threw my shoulder out….. I can’t even stand up…… I need a doctor. 

Seeing me she says, 

“What happened?????  Did you get shot?” 

Thinking fast, she ran down the hall. (We happen to have a chiropractor in our building)

Dr Jon comes in, takes one look at me and says: 

Take George to the hospital. 

Did you ever notice that everything takes soooo much longer when you are in pain? 

We headed out to Virtua Hospital in Voorhees and let me tell you they did a great job. 

Kudos to my old classmate, Rich Miller, keep up the good work. 

I have a doctor, a doctor assistant and a nurse all pulling me in 3 different directions. Move a little more to the left, hold still, higher on your end…. but all of a sudden…. 

….Pop….my shoulder went back in. 

How do you feel sir? Are you still in pain? 

Anything has to be better than how I was feeling when I got here. 

What did you give me?  

Am I going to feel more pain later? 

What should I take if it starts to hurt later? 

Are you going to give me anything just in case it starts to hurt? 

So it goes, they put Humpty Dumpty back together again. 

For the next three weeks, I have my right arm in a sling……No Driving.

The doctor says there appears to be no ligament damage and I can start rehab on my right shoulder around the Christmas Holiday. 

Sounds like good news to me…. but how am I suppose to cut down my Christmas tree? 

JANET!!!!!!

The Little Things

I was driving down the Garden State Parkway a couple of weeks ago and I was enjoying the full color spectrum of the fall trees. Some of the trees were beginning to lose leaves but looking on a mile or so ahead, it presented a beautiful view. 

I really love this time of year and how God uses the landscape to paint a perfect picture. 

Turning onto the Atlantic City Expressway, I started to notice that the picture was fading. No longer could I see the brilliant colors ahead, for the trees were almost bare once I got to mile marker 13.5. 

I was a little surprised, for you would think that the fall splendor is universal in the area? 

I didn’t realize that there exist little pockets; that have their own hours to shine. 

We all must exist on our own timeline! 

What made mile marker 13.5 the breakpoint? 

That started me thinking. All the little things we just take for granted on a daily basis. 

What made me stop and take notice of the difference? 

Why? 

Because that is part of my character and that is what we do here at HBS. 

We look at the little things, the cost that most companies just take for granted. 

Most of our items are just budgeted for. 

What did we pay last year and how much do you think it may go up? 

     Electric…. Natural Gas…. Voice… Data…. Unemployment Taxes…. Sales Tax 

Need I say more? 

We call these costs the unsung heroes! 

These are daily cost of doing business that most companies tend to ignore. 

We find many people are resistant to change but: 

The only thing constant in life is change!  

Each client is unique. 

Each opportunity opens the door to defining what the client is currently doing; 

Exploring various options and 

Providing solutions, designed to increase efficiency and savings. 

We understand that the current economic climate has been difficult for many businesses. 

HBS provides: 

Smart Solutions for Smart Business. 

Many times, it is the little things that provide the best opportunities. 

Would you like to know more? Email george@hbsadvantage.com or call 856-857-1230.

Visit us on the web www.hutchinsonbusinesssolutions.com