Alone In the Kitchen. . .

Yesterday I told you about Ms. Louise, how she served twenty-five years in her church's Nursery taking care of babies. Today I want to tell you something else about Ms. Louise.

Ms. Louise is the perfect example of a servant heart. We were sitting in the fellowship hall of this church; members were coming and going, greeting each other and fulfilling their duties for the day as Ms. Louise was quietly cleaning up from an earlier breakfast.

She cleared off the tables, she washed dishes, she put away supplies. I watched her, alone in the kitchen, working quietly. She didn't try to draw attention to herself, she didn't look for anyone to notice what she was doing.

In fact, when I tried to thank her for the breakfast, she made a point of telling me that she didn't provide the breakfast, she was merely "cleaning up until it is time to go to the Nursery." She said it as if the cleaning up wasn't really her job or service to do, but something to do until it was time for the real love of her heart--taking care of those little babies.

Ms. Louise could have chosen to sit in a chair, read a book -- read her Bible or chat with other members. Instead, she made the choice to work, to do something others probably wouldn't want to do.

Let's face it, how many of us want to clean up a kitchen when we don't have to? Well, Ms. Louise does. She does it and she does it without needing anyone to ask her to or to thank her for doing it. Because she is doing it unto the Lord.

"Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."
Colossians 3:24

A Job Well Done. . .

Yesterday my husband was the guest preacher at an area church. Between services, we sat in their beautiful fellowship hall meeting the sweet people of this church. One lady quietly worked in the background, clearing items from an men's breakfast.

I went to thank her for a doughnut I had eaten, and she told me she didn't provide the breakfast, she was just clearing up until it was time to go to the Nursery. Ms. Louise said she had worked in the Nursery for twenty-five years.

"Some of the babies I have taken care of are now bringing in their babies to me", she remarked.

I told her that meant that she had done a good job if her "babies" were still coming to church and bringing their own babies back to her. It was a job well done!

"Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6

Somebody to Lean On

Tears and prayers.
Image by bartb_pt via Flickr
That's the text I sent to a dear friend who is currently going through an incredibly painful situation. I received the latest details of his circumstances during some drills for emergencies we were doing with our physicians where I work in Labor & Delivery, so my message needed to be quick and brief.

As Christians we live and move as one glorious body, the Body of Christ. We may often feel alone, we may feel as if we are supporting the whole weight of the world upon our shoulders, we may feel as if there is no one else who has any idea of what we are going through, but that is not the truth. All Christians are connected in the great Body of Christ, and what affects one member, affects all.

"And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." I Corinthians 12:26

So when my friend, or your friend, goes through difficult painful times, we can be their support, their help, their comfort in a powerful way perhaps we can't even understand. The Scriptures tell us we can "bear ye one another's burdens," and through prayer and supplication we should do so.

Never does our friend have to be alone. He has the Lord living inside him and he is a part of this wondrous and mysterious body with a bond that can never be broken. He always has somebody to lean on.


UPDATE: Little did I know as I was writing this Powder Room, my husband, sitting beside me, was writing a "Special of the Day. . .from the Orange Moon Cafe" on the very same subject. Please read it, you will be blessed!

The Light Under the Door

Several years ago we took a wonderful vacation to Washington, D.C. Touring our Image by Al Ebnereza via Flickrnation's capital was a great experience and even though we spent a week looking at monuments, historical documents and beautiful scenery, I wished we could have been there longer.

Once we returned home, for some strange reason, for about two weeks I would awaken in the middle of the night with nightmares. When I would wake up, I would have the sensation that I was somewhere unfamiliar and I needed to find my way out. The only light in the dark bedroom was the sliver of light under the door. This small amount of light was all that was needed. It was enough for me to open the door, to be flooded with illumination from the light in the hall and to easily see the path before me. As my nightmares continued, I learned to find comfort in the small sliver of light.

Often in our lives, we don't want the Lord to provide us with tiny slivers of light. We want the door illuminated with multiple bright floodlights, spotlights and even those tiny, sparkling Christmas lights. Once we reach the brightly lit door, we want the Lord to open it for us and push us through.

But that isn't the way the Lord works. He shows us the small sliver of light under the door, and by faith we grasp the handle, turn the knob and walk through the threshold. The more we practice opening the door in the dark of night, the more comfort we find in the tiny slivers of light.

"But the path of the just is as the shining light,
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
Proverbs 4:18