What the Gift of Hospitality Looks Like

Tuesday evening, I was invited to share about Sufficient Grace Ministries to a lovely group of ladies from the Napoleon Church of the Nazarene. From the moment when we walked into the doors of the building with the lighthouses on the windows, Becki and I felt loved and welcomed. It was clear these sweet sisters in Christ have been blessed with the gift of hospitality. The room was decorated with lovely fall decor. A spread of yummy Subway sandwiches, and yummy desserts was set out before us, and smiling faces were everywhere we looked.

Of course, there was a bit of history involved, as there always seems to be when I visit any of the towns in our county. Two of my favorite Kindergarten teachers, who also happened to be sisters were in the room. One sister was my Kindergarten teacher, and the other welcomed both my boys into their grade school experience. My childhood babysitter was also in attendance.



This beautiful sign, made by Kindergarten teacher number two, the very talented Teresa, just blessed my heart. How sweet is this?! It just made me feel so special, and welcome.

Teresa said, "Well, it's not exactly like having your name in lights..."

I smiled, thinking, I'd rather have my name on a pumpkin anyway! A pumpkin that someone took the time out of her day to decorate and make me feel welcome. The whole evening was just like that...little touches of grace, beauty, and kindness here and there. As I looked at the women around the room, I thought that this is some of what the Lord must have had in mind when He made women. I think He has a purpose for the way we are woven together...the way some of us have the gift of conversation, while others notice the details, still others take the time to organize, and others care about making everything aesthetically pleasing and beautiful, others think of making someone comfortable, and still others create yummy food to nourish the body.


I had a lovely chat with the woman pictured above, whose daughters had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and were born around the same gestational age as Faith and Grace. Her daughters are now six years old. They spent three months in the NICU after birth. The footprints of my daughters displayed on the table beside the podium where I spoke, reminded her of her own daughters' tiny footprints. My daughters never took a breath outside of my womb and will be celebrating their fourteenth birthday in heaven on November 3rd. And, still my heart was instantly knit to this mother's heart. We still shared the common bond of being mothers to twin daughters...daughters we both prayed for and love. I thought about weeping and rejoicing about (as Angie Smith so eloquently says) the "sacred dance of grief and joy".



One of the ladies was referred to as their "prayer warrior". What a compliment! And, pray she did. She opened in prayer, prayed over Sufficient Grace and prayed for me, and when a call came that someone was on their way to the hospital with pregnancy complications, we stopped and she prayed again. We laughed, we shared, we cried, we ate, we prayed. And, the bond of Christ was evidently shared amongst us. It was a beautiful blessing of an evening. And, no doubt...while we may flit and flurry through many days of our lives, riddled with our various weaknesses and imperfections, for that hour, I saw what I believe God desires for the relationships of women.



Love, compassion, grace, beauty, willing hearts, prayer warriors, friendship, encouragement, sharing of burdens, ministering to others, serving in joy, laughing with peace in our hearts, sisters in Him...




I am so thankful for this lovely group of women, and for their willing hearts to reach out to their community and shower blessings on all who cross their path. Becki and I were both so blessed and grateful for our time with you...and for your support of Sufficient Grace.

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A couple other things...

Love and Prayers to my friend, Stacy Delisle and family as they remember sweet Isaac today on his birthday! Happy heavenly birthday, sweet boy! Your life continues to touch so many others...

And...please take a few minutes to stop by and encourage the two moms featured on this week's Walking With You. Just leave them a little comment and let them know they are not alone. That would be so nice of you, and would mean so much to them.

One last thing...this weekend I am going to start announcing this month's giveaways for grieving mamas to commemorate National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness month. So, please stay tuned! Have a wonderful weekend!