My Aunt Dot hosted Thanksgiving when I was a child. My memories are rich with delicious scents and a child’s wonder at the folks who filled her home. Her house overflowed each year with family I knew, as well as people unknown to me. She invited everyone who did not otherwise have an invitation for Thanksgiving.
From her, I learned to care for others through hospitality. This past summer the women at my congregation reached out to a young, single, expectant mother. Disabled, destitute, and experiencing a high-risk pregnancy, she relied solely on the generosity of others. These Christian sisters enveloped her in love through food, transportation to doctor’s appointments, a baby shower, and pet-sitting during her various hospital stays.
Through prayer, care for her health, and active love of one’s neighbor, she and the baby are alive and thankful. We have seen God in action, and we are awed.
This message is from “We learn and Serve Together” by Wendy Schulz in the May 2020 issue of Gather magazine. Today we remember Justus Falckner, who died in 1723; Jehu Jones, who died in 1852; and William Passavant, who died in 1894; pastors in North America.
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