“…and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.”
Ephesians 6:15
Waking this morning to the sight of a soft blanket of beautiful white delicately laid over brown trees, bushes and grass outside my bedroom window was a most unusual sight in my neck of these southern woods of Alabama! I slipped eagerly from beneath warm covers, sat in the little, green rocker by the window and watched bluebirds, finches and sparrows compete for seeds I had poured in our feeders in preparations for the coming “winter storm”…1 to 2 inches of snow. (Don’t laugh my northern sisters! We don’t have snowplows or snow shovels or snow boots or even snow cones in the south! Our weathermen cry, “Run for your lives, it’s a snowflake!”)Schools and businesses delayed openings even though not a single crystal of ice stuck to the roads. I called the community center where I lead a one-hour inner city women’s Bible study on Thursdays. The director cheerfully announced, “The roads are fine and we are open!” During the cold months, few visitors come to the center even to receive a free meal. Last week, not a single woman from that community came to the study.
At the center, probably not expecting us to come due to the “blizzard”, the sun porch had not been prepared for our meeting. My friend (and partner in the work of the gospel) helped me carry bottles of hot sauce and saltshakers back to the kitchen to ready the room for the Word and prayer. Two more ladies, one from our church and one serving on staff at another church, soon joined us.
After no one else arrived, the four “church ladies” completed our study from the book of Acts and bowed our heads for the closing prayer. Before closing my eyes, through the window, I suddenly caught a glimpse of the most beautiful sight! Preschoolers, children, teenagers and adults (9 in all) were walking on the sidewalk across the yard from the sun porch. Jumping to my feet, I opened the door and called, “Would you like to come in for a Bible study? We have candy!!” Immediately, the laughing, smiling caravan crossed the snow-covered lawn and joined us on the sun porch. After 15 minutes filled with a Bible story, prayer, a hearty chorus of “Jesus Loves Me” and “Our God is So Great” (and of course candy), our unexpected guests moved on into the dining hall for lunch.
“Just take a second, think it through;
Oh, what God will go and do!
For God is love and love is kind,
The kindest that you’ll ever find,
The kindest that you’ll ever see,
That’s something else, don’t you agree?!”
(From I Love Ruthie by Phil A. Smouse)
Are your feet sandaled with the readiness of the good news of Jesus Christ? Expect the unexpected!!!
0 Spout:
Post a Comment