This is nice...

As I sat on my patio, drinking a cup of morning coffee, I shivered in my cotton sweatshirt. It was cold for October in Southern California. I skimmed the front page of the newspaper and checked out the weather, then turned back to the Classifieds. I found it interesting --- and a little entertaining --- to read the lonely hearts section. I couldn't believe there is someone looking at ads people placed. There couldn't be that many beautiful/handsome, intuitive, loving, intelligent, rich, charming, outgoing, sensitive and kind people in Los Angeles who had somehow managed to avoid meeting one another. The more I read, the more I realized no one even came close to what I was looking for. All right, I thought and grabbed my pencil, this is the ad I would place:

WANTED: A man of integrity, in the process of becoming. Edges softened by experiences. Sense of humor shaped by adversity; perspective on life forged through surviving good and bad times. Whistling definitely an asset, though not required. Must live in a transparent vessel.

I put my pencil for a moment. Maybe I should be a little more specific, leaving no doubts.

EYES - colored with compassion; looking with mercy on other's shortcomings; given to seeing the bright side when things look dark.

ARMS - long enough to reach out to others; wide enough to encompass a heart full of grief.

LEGS - strong enough to walk through trials and hard times, up the mountains and down the valleys of life; able to run with endurance the race set before him.

HANDS - big enough to grasp another's hand in need; strong enough to push away fear; gentle enough to dry away tears with a loving touch; firm enough to manage life's troubles.

SKIN - thick enough to ignore the pettiness and problems of daily living; thin enough to feel unspoken needs.

EARS - sensitive to unspoken words; capable of tuning out irrelevant information; able to listen through the heart.

NOSE - delicate enough to detect the fragrance released from a life broken and yielded to God.

MOUTH - able to speak the truth in love; give a word to the weary; overflowing with kindness.

MIND - forgets past hurts and injustices; retains great thoughts and special memories; trained to think the best.

HEIGHT - tall enough to rise above life's temptation; short enough to stoop and pick up those who fall.

AGE - old enough to accept life's realities, young enough to hum in the midst of adversity and laugh in the face of failure.

CLOTHES - clothed with compassion; a well-fitting suit of God's armor.

OCCUPATION - occupied with the joy of life while being conformed to the image of Christ; looks to the future while appreciating the present; computes eternal dividends.

Warning: Only those willing to expereince a life filled with great risk, no guarantees and possible pain --- yet who continues to hope in the future --- need apply. No wearers of rose-colored glasses, please.

I put down my pencil and pondered a minute. Maybe I will place that ad. You never know. And in the meantime, I'll be busy working on those qualities myself, just in case someone ever places an ad like that for me to answer.