 March, 2007
A few months ago I received an email with a story entitled “I Wish You Enough.” It goes like this: Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. The departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, “I love you and I wish you enough”. The daughter replied, “Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom”. They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?” “Yes, I have,” I replied. “Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye”? “I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is that the next trip back will be for my funeral,” she said. “When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough’. May I ask what that means”? She began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone”. She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and then began to speak. “When we said, ‘I wish you enough’, we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them”. Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory. “I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting. I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you posses. I wish you enough hellows to get you through the final good-bye.” We are now in the Season of Lent which began with Ash Wednesday on February 21st. Lent is a time of remembering and preparing to celebrate Easter. As I thought of the story “I Wish You Enough” and I remembered all that God has done through Jesus Christ, my heart began to rejoice because we don’t have to wish one another “just enough”, but we can confidently share with everyone that Jesus is “more than enough” for whatever life brings to us. The Season of Lent takes us to Holy Week and to Good Friday which gives way to Easter and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! I praise God that His everlasting love, enduring mercy, sufficient grace, surpassing peace, and overflowing joy is more than enough to give us hope and victory through faith in Jesus, our Lord and Savior. I trust you will feel the joy of the Lord in your heart as you reflect on the mighty love of God as He gave His Son Jesus to die for our sins so we could be forgiven and experience His salvation. I look forward to every opportunity we have to worship and praise the Lord together during this Season of Lent. See you Sunday.
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