Sometimes we have to be reminded that we should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our  hearts. Let's learn from the following narrative inspired by the writings of Bo Sanchez.

Let me tell you a crazy story I heard recently. There's this husband who out of sheer love for his wife decided to prove it to her. So he swam the widest oceans, crossed the deepest rivers, and climbed the highest mountains to show his deep devotion to her. But in the end, she divorced him.

Why? Because he was never home. Let me tell you an experience I had as a kid. One day, I asked Mom, "Why do my shoes keep eating my socks?" As a young boy, that was always a mystery for me. All my other classmates never had that problem. Their socks remained tight and high up their legs the entire day.

Mom didn't answer my question but simply gave me two rubber bands which I dutifully placed around the top of my socks. To this day, fifteen years later, I still have permanent circle marks around my legs. But aside from giving me this slight defect, the two bands worked like magic.

It never occurred to me that Dad and Mom didn't have the money to buy a new pair of socks for me. So I wore five-year-old socks, all soggy, grayish, and garterless. And yet amazingly, I never complained. I believe it was because Dad was always home when I needed him. Every night, after coming from work, we jogged together, sat around, and talked about Tarzan, Farrah Fawcett Majors, God, and what I wanted to be when I grew up (a stockholder). On Saturdays, we would walk, eat a hotdog-on-a-stick, and buy new rubber bands before going home.

I've learned that in truth, we don't want our loved ones to show their love for us in big ways. Swimming the widest oceans, crossing the deepest rivers, and climbing the highest mountains seem spectacular - but that's not what we really want. Deep in our hearts, we just want them home with us.

Sometimes, God operates that way. Suddenly, He decides not to answer our prayers, nor fill our need, nor heal our sickness, nor give us the miracle we're asking for. He's got reasons why He won't, and believe me - they're pretty good ones.  So He'll just be there beside you; holding you in a hug; sharing your pain and weeping as you weep. Oh, He might give you some rubber bands. And that small comfort from Him will be more than enough to sustain you. Because the most essential truth you already know...to be home.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packed as we expected?  Let's not spoil what we have by desiring what we do not have. Let's remember that what we now have was once among the things we only hoped for. If our gift is not packed the way we want it, it's because it is better packed that way!. Let's always appreciate the little things; they usually lead us to better things.

By Tim Pedrosa