May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
1 Peter 4:8-10
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of
sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have
received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its
various forms.
God has not called me to be successful. He called
me to be faithful. -Mother Teresa
I have a t-shirt with a saying printed on it: God Has a Plan So
I Have a Purpose. I think about that a lot. As my children grew into teenagers
and then adults, I fretted over what my purpose was. I'd held onto the role of
mom for years and knew at that point in my life, my focus was raising the kids
to be kind and caring adults. With them rounding the corner to adulthood, I
found myself at loose ends. Of course, I had purpose as Tim's wife and in my
job at the school library, and I was still a mom, but something in my heart
searched for more. Like many people, I read The Purpose Driven Life. I
found some good information, but not enough.
I prayed and asked God for clarity, and guess what? He let me
know I'd been overthinking my purpose. Yes, there are specific things God calls
me to do, but the most important thing He wants me to do is to be faithful and
love Him.
God calls me and anyone who believes in Him to love Him and
love people. The other day the radio blared out Danny Goeke's song, Love God
Love People. He talks about checking the boxes and trying to do more, but instead
it comes down to caring for God and people.
Peter reminds his readers the most important thing they can
do is be faithful stewards of God's grace. Show grace to everyone and be
faithful to God.
In our broken world, our purpose is to remain faithful and to
love.
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in
Christ God forgave you.
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.
Tim and I stopped in for breakfast at a little diner near
our home. The menu tempted me with so many choices. When a waitress stopped by
our table, we both ordered coffee, then waited for her to return. With coffee
in our cups, we placed our orders. "I would like to try the waffle with
blueberries and a scrambled egg." I don't often ask for waffles, but I
thought I'd give it a try, and with blueberries how could I go wrong. She came
back to the table, head hanging, and told me, "We are out of the mix. I'm
so sorry, what else would you like? We have French toast with
blueberries."
I smiled and ordered the French toast. As we waited on our
order, we sipped our coffee, and talked about the Reds, the book I'm working on,
and what we planned for the rest of the day. Not long after, the waitress
placed a plate of French toast and blueberries in front of me that looked
heavenly. Again, she apologized, but I stopped her. "I love French toast
and blueberries. I was getting the waffle just to try something different."
She sighed with relief and hurried to the next table.
The waitress didn't know me, yet she wanted me to enjoy my
breakfast. She had no idea French toast reminds me of my dad, who made it for
us on Saturday mornings. Even though, she didn't know me, she was kind and wanted
the best for me.
What if I passed along her caring attitude and her desire to
make my day better? That's called kindness, folks. Simply caring for the people
around me and considering their needs ahead of my own, both those I know and
those I don't. Did I mention, she was the only one working the floor, clearing
the tables, and taking orders? Yet she wore a smile and spread kindness all
over the room.
Paul penned in his letter to the Ephesian church a segment
about Christian living. One of the things he mentioned at the end, and I
believe he did that to emphasize the point, was to be compassionate and kind to
each other. As believers and followers of Jesus I want to show kindness to
others, not simply because Paul said so, but because the act of caring creates
a better environment for everyone and shares the love of Jesus.
Join me in finding ways to be kinder and more caring.