This had never happened before, never in our 31 years of marriage. Under the Christmas tree was an envelope with the note from Haydee promising Jim the print by a favorite artist they had liked so much -- "Never Alone" -- two sets of footsteps walking on the beach. And on the other side of the tree was Jim's gift for Haydee -- "Never Alone" -- the print by a favorite artist of two sets of footsteps walking on the beach.

Without planning or any conversation, with dozens of catalogues with hundreds of alternatives, we were both purchasing the same gift for each other. As much as we enjoy our very different backgrounds, our very different work and our very different likes and dislikes, there is something very special about this moment when we were very much in tune. And each of us had discovered a way to tell the other that these days walking hand in hand together are quite special and cherished.

In the painting, the paths of footsteps converge on the deserted beach, then walk together along the ocean toward a bright light far in the distance. We've enjoyed meeting the artist and hearing her share her life and her thinking as she paints. "Our" painting, we've learned, has a story.

Ellen Rice is the artist, and she had done the painting at a time of personal loss and great sadness. But as she reached out, others entered her life who eased her pain and lightened her burden. "These new people whose paths crossed and joined mine one by one brought sunshine into my life." She calls this "a painting of gratitude and joy for His blessings and friendship, love and ever-present help."

There's a message here: "People's paths cross, sometimes for a short while, sometimes for the whole of our lives here on earth," the artist writes. "We never know when or how."

Ellen sees a constant in all this: "the spirit of Christ in each of our hearts drawing us together. As we strive to live out from a God-based life, walking toward the light as the footprints in the painting do, others with Christ-filled hearts come into our lives.

Today is Palm Sunday, when we celebrate the start of that great procession, a time when a few hundred followers of Jesus anticipated his walk into Jerusalem and celebrated it by waving palm branches and shouting hosannas. It is a festive day that we celebrate by singing, by waving palm branches, by praising God.

But our challenge is not to celebrate the procession, but to resolve this Lenten season to continue the procession, to make it a creative, positive, effective and inspiring force. We march on to that bright light on the horizon, never knowing who we'll meet, what we'll see, what challenges we'll face, whose path we'll cross, who we'll join. What we do know is one fact above all -- We're never alone. - Jim Toedtman