Small Things That Last + Next Week’s Gospel Reflection
On time, attention, and love, followed by NEXT Sunday’s Gospel reflection and discussion questions
✨ I’d love to have you join us for a live AMA Wednesday night… Get all the details here!
Note From Me: Small Things That Last
I was shopping recently for a nice bottle of hand lotion to keep on the bathroom counter. Something simple, but a little lovely.
And then I saw it.
A plain bottle of Jergens in that original cherry almond scent. Inexpensive. Familiar. I didn’t even hesitate.
That scent is permanently tied to my grandmother, Grandmère.
When she and my grandfather would visit, they always brought small trinkets for us kids. Nothing extravagant. Just little things they had collected along the way. My favorite were the tiny hotel bottles of lotion she saved for us. That’s where I first discovered that cherry almond scent.
I would smooth it onto my hands and breathe it in. It felt sweet, and somehow, grown up. Beautiful.
It makes me think of the hours Grandmère spent with us girls, teaching us how to embroider. She never had daughters of her own, but she loved those small, feminine arts. And she shared them with us, patiently, carefully, stitch by stitch.
I remember sitting there, trying to follow her example, struggling to make my stitches look as neat and pretty as hers. I felt so proud when I finished something, an embroidered napkin, a small table runner.
One visit, she gave each of us girls a sewing kit she had made herself, tucked inside old cigar boxes. Needles, thread, and a tiny tomato pincushion. It felt like a treasure.
What I remember most now isn’t the embroidery itself. It’s the time.
The way Grandmère paid attention. The patience she had for us, even when we were young and restless. The quiet care of sitting together and making something, slowly.
The cherry almond scent brings it all back.
And it reminds me how much it matters, simply to be with one another. To notice. To stay. To give our time, one small stitch at a time.
With grace,
PS: Don’t forget we’re gathering for a live AMA Wednesday night… Get all the details here!
Sunday Gospel Reflection: What Love Does
Gospel for Sunday, May 31 2026
John 3:16-18
“God so loved the world…”
It’s a line we’ve heard so many times, it can almost lose its weight. But pause for a moment and notice what it actually says: God didn’t just love the world in a general, distant way. He gave. He acted. He entered into our mess, our confusion, our brokenness, personally.
And why? To save.
So many of us live as if we’re on trial, constantly measuring our worth, wondering if we’ve done enough, been enough, believed enough. We can slip into thinking that God is watching us with a critical eye, waiting for us to fail.
But this Gospel turns that idea upside down. God is not looking for reasons to condemn you. He is looking for ways to save you.
Belief, then, isn’t about passing a test. It’s about trust. It’s about allowing yourself to be loved, really loved, by a God who chose you before you ever chose Him.
The invitation here is simple, but not always easy: Stop hiding. Stop bracing yourself for judgment.
Step into the truth that you are already loved, and that Jesus came not to push you away, but to draw you close.
Questions for Journaling or Small Group Discussion
1. When you hear “God so loved the world,” do you truly believe that includes you personally? Why or why not?
2. In what ways do you sometimes relate to God as if He is condemning you rather than saving you?
3. What does it look like in your daily life to trust in God’s love, not just believe it in theory?
4. Are there areas of your life where you are still “bracing for judgment” instead of opening yourself to grace?
5. How might your relationships, with yourself and others, change if you lived more fully from the truth that you are loved, not judged?
6. What is one small step you can take this week to respond to God’s invitation to draw closer to Him?
There’s something so tender about the way ordinary things—like a scent, a sewing kit, a bottle of lotion—can carry entire people and seasons of love inside them. This made me think about how often the smallest acts of care become the memories that last the longest inside each of us.