Simply Beautiful

  

 One day when my granddaughter was visiting, she followed me into my bedroom. She looked at my bed and giggled. "What are they doing there?" she asked. She immediately jumped up on my bed and grabbed the plush dolls of Mary and Jesus.

 I smiled back as I sat next to her. "Well, I just feel better when Mary and Jesus are close to me. They make me smile, and they are fun to hug." We both laughed as I gave Jesus a hug.

 Later, when it was time for my granddaughter to go home, she grabbed the Mary doll, "I have to take her!" she announced.

 "You can," I said, "Just bring her back the next time you come." 

  My granddaughter brought the Mary doll back the following week. My daughter told me that Mary had joined them every night for prayers and my granddaughter went to sleep with the doll next to her. I couldn't have been happier. My granddaughter's loving relationship with Mary is already beginning.

 There are so many wonderful ways to share our faith with others. It doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't require memorized passages from the Bible or the Catechism. The message just needs to be genuine and come from your heart. Now when my granddaughter goes into my room she says, "There they are!" and jumps up on my bed and plays with Jesus and Mary. I know in my heart that it is the beginning of something very beautiful.

 -Susan