Imprints

When you think about someone walking across a sandy beach barefooted, you can almost see the imprints of their feet left in the sand behind them.  You may have a sweet memory of making imprints of snow angels in the fresh snow, or of imprinting your fingers into soft play dough.  These are physical imprints.

There is another kind of imprint, the kind you can't see. These are the prints that are made on one's soul.  These can be positive or negative imprints, but they make a mark on us that stays with us.  If we could visualize our souls, we would see that all of our experiences leave imprints on us that affect us in some way. 

Many years ago when I had a house full of little children our washing machine broke down.  It wasn't fixable, and we had no money to replace it.  My generous neighbor across the street offered to let us use her laundry room one day a week......for as long as we needed.  Her laundry room was right inside her garage door, and she left her garage door up every Monday so that I could walk through her garage to do my laundry.  It was a real life saver.  I did this for months until we could afford a new one.  I have never forgotten that kindness.  It made a permanent imprint on my soul.  That experienced changed me. 

Another neighbor would use a blower every fall to blow all the leaves from our road, gutters and sidewalks onto our lawns.  She didn't just blow the leaves in front of her own house, but all of the houses around her as well.  She made it easy for us just mow up the leaves from our grass, and our street looked well manicured.  She performed this act of kindness for all of us for many years until she moved away.  The imprint this left on me has instilled a desire to be aware of the needs of those around me, and help in ways that I can.

Another imprint came when I came home at dinner-time after a hectic day of taking care of little ones, driving carpool, parent-teacher conferences and transporting children to far away dance classes that ended at dinnertime, then fighting traffic to get home.  I walked in the door exhausted with my hungry children and wondered what I could make for dinner.  There, sitting on my counter, almost to my disbelief, was a beautiful casserole and a basket of rolls.  I literally had to touch it to make sure I was not hallucinating.  Not only was I not hallucinating, but it was still hot!  I later found out it came from a neighbor a few streets over who had made double and thought of me.  Her timing was unbelievable.  That meal, on the busiest of days, left an imprint on my soul that will never be forgotten.

We all have the ability to leave positive as well as negative imprints on each others souls.  I pray that in our efforts to make the world a better place we seek to leave positive imprints on all those around us, and on our own families most of all.