Thoughts after Hurricane Irene...
The Widow: Irene blew open the sashes and gave me a new perspective toward the people in our community. I wonder why it takes such an event to move me forward. I felt an incredible sense that God wanted me to check in on a widow who lives behind our home. Over the years, the trees have grown so tall that we are unable to see one another or converse from our yards. Ashamedly I say that on most days, I don’t even think about Mrs. Gert. Thankfully, God laid this dear lady on my heart, so my girls and I decided to whip up a casserole and some banana muffins and pay Mrs. Gert a visit on Sunday. The workings of our God never cease to amaze me. We knocked on the door, but she did not answer. In the very moment we turned to leave, Mrs. Gert pulled into her driveway and was being dropped off by her daughter. Although we hadn’t seen each other in years, and at the ripe age of 86, Mrs. Gert remembered all three of us, and even my daughters’ names! She invited us for a visit. This was a rich time of sharing fond memories of her husband, Mr. Ed, who had passed away a year ago. We shared some teary moments as she described caring for him in his final days with Alzheimer ’s disease. She told my girls that he awoke each morning at 5:00 to read his Bible and that he was a good, Christian man. She told them that the Lord is her strength and that she still drives to church every week. Her faith in Jesus is the most important thing in her life. Jesus is what keeps her going. We listened intently to every word she had to say. We prayed together and look forward to visiting again. We never made our way into a church building on Sunday, but we heard the best life sermon we could have asked for. We chuckled as we made our way home because WE thought WE were going to be the blessing, but most assuredly, WE were the recipients.
The Willow: My daughter, her small group friend and I were able to connect with a bunch of Mountain Christian Church folk to help clear away a large willow tree that had fallen in a townhome community in Abingdon. A neighbor from Mountain cared enough to come to the aid of a family in need. She was not physically able to participate in the clean up, but she leapt with joy spiritually toward this family with the love of Christ and called the Help Line through Mountain. The family does not attend Mountain and could hardly believe that we would show up to help, not knowing them at all. Kids and adults worked together as a team cutting, hauling, raking and spending time talking to the home owners and their neighbors. We circled together and prayed for the family. These people are loved by God and they matter to Him. I pray that they know that. I look forward to praying for these folks and for God to work in their lives through this event. Silly me…He already has.
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