Tag: kindness

Little Things That Bring Joy

On By dotluvs2writeIn Beauty, blogging, humanity, Inspirational, Musings, Nature, Religious3 Comments

dove sparkles and colors

Today, I had a break from working on the publishing process/steps. My family watched Ben Hur together. My sons had never seen it before. What a wonderful movie to see during Lent and just about two weeks before Orthodox Christian Pascha (Easter). 🙂

The past three weeks, I’d been sick with a stomach upset/virus (two of the three weeks), feeling run down, and then the allergies/sinus issues started up. After all, it’s spring now.

So, today was special.

Not only because my family sat down to watch a classic movie together, but also because I finally got out on a short walk, enjoyed the fifty-something-degree sunny weather. In the midst of my walk, I came upon (and worked my way  around) several inspirational chalk messages by kids on the sidewalk in my neighborhood.

Thankfully, I had my cell phone with me, and I felt compelled to take pictures.

I hope your day is full of beauty, love, joy, peace, and big smiles.

 

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Don’t Forget This Hidden Christmas Gem

On By dotluvs2writeIn blogging, Christmas and other Holidays, Inspirational2 Comments

sparkly boughs on Xmas tree

 

There are so many wonderful Christmas movies out there. Christmas movies, such as It’s a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story, Charlie Brown Christmas, White Christmas, and the various Claymation-style kiddies’ movies like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Frosty the Snowman, are slid into our DVD players every other to every few years.

There are two, though, that we watch every Christmas. We can’t miss them because their messages are so beautiful (not that It’s a Wonderful Life’s message isn’t, but we’ve seen it so many times we have to take a couple years’ breaks in between). One of these two is The Bells of St. Mary’s, and the other one, which has quickly become our favorite that we just discovered only about three years ago when we first saw it—

It Happened on 5th Avenue.

It doesn’t seem to be as well known as the others, but it is quite a hidden gem that needs to be dug up and displayed every year for people to watch and fall in love with. It warms the heart and centers on the messages of love, family, charity, and compassion.

The synopsis of the story is posted below via IMDb:

Every winter, Michael J. O’Connor, the second richest man in the world, leaves his 5th Avenue mansion for warmer climes. Every winter, Aloysius T. McKeever, homeless man, moves into the 5th Avenue mansion. This particular winter, McKeever meets Jim Bullock, an army veteran who has recently been evicted from his apartment and offers to share the mansion with him. It’s not long before the mansion has a few more guests, including: Jim’s army buddies and their wives and children; runaway heiress Trudy; and even Michael J. O’Connor, himself.

It Happened on 5th Avenue 

If you’ve got room on your DVD shelf for one more Christmas movie, make it this one. It’ll make your Christmas just a little bit sweeter.

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