Extras

…a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. Luke 6:38

My grandma Thelma made the most amazing cinnamon rolls. I remember when we would visit her and stay the night, Sunday morning there would be cinnamon rolls and bacon.  She always made them in her white porcelain pan with the red trim around the edge.  After she served up the sweet deliciousness, there was a ring of frosting around the edge and in the corners. If you happened to be near her when the pan was empty, she would smile and ask you if you wanted the “extra” that was left behind.  The part I loved even more than the taste of the extra sweetness was her smile as she handed you a spatula to scrape and lick. Time with Grandma was the best because she was a master at loving us with the little extras!

April has been a busy month, a fun month, a holy month but the most distinguishing thing about April is it has been a month of extras!  There has been a lot of “running over” this month and I have the Grace of God to thank for that!  The grandma I love and the Father I adore have a lot in common…they give abundantly out of love.  As I ponder the greatness of this quickly fading April, I find myself savoring it, trying to make sure I don’t take any of the extras for granted.  

Spring break was snowy, cold and gray but it brought Dave’s retirement which meant a week of mornings spent together visiting, praying the Rosary together and lingering a few extra minutes over another cup of coffee.  Holy Week was spectacular!  The sixth graders added lots of little extras to their presentation of the Shadow Stations of the Cross and it left their audiences, their peers and most especially their teacher overwhelmed and prayerfully touched.  Easter brought all my children home and that in itself is a giant extra!  It’s so good to have them all under one roof and the weather was extra beautiful so that meant playing outside and pictures on the porch.  Easter also brought some wonderful extra people to our family table.  We celebrated with a few dozen Wohlferts plus the extra girl from Fowler we all love and the extra boy from Missouri who folded right  in with the laughter, giant family and the chaos of the holiday.  

April brought a work trip to Kansas.  That quick trip brought an extra visit with Dad and friends I love.  God outdid himself with extras that weekend.  I got to see a delightful couple I hadn’t seen since I was a teenager, I got to meet the aunt and uncle of a close high school friend, I had a chance to pray with a beautiful woman who was knee deep in a struggle that just needed an outside perspective.  I visited old friends, new houses and met teenagers, grandparents and people on a mission to love Jesus just a little more than they did the day before.  And just to remind me that  the Father is great with extras, I even got to meet the cousin of a recently canonized Saint that I am hugely inspired by, St. Andre Bessette….for real…that really happened. Talk about a weekend that didn’t just run over, it exploded with extras!  I get to finish out my April with one  more big extra; a trip to Idaho.  It’s my first trip to the NW corner of the US and I’m excited to meet with a big group of Catholic women in that corner of the country.

Just like I could always count on Grandma Thelma’s delicious cinnamon rolls, I too can count on the love of the Father.  Following him is tough sometimes and it doesn’t always make us popular but he’s always right there beside us, consistently, lovingly and mercifully.  When we seek him with all our heart he showers us with little extras along the way…just because he can.  My job is to seek, listen, obey and be grateful for all the ways he runs over and spills into my lap.

A Seed To Plant:  Sit quietly in prayer and make a list of all the extras God has shown you recently.​

Blessings on your day!