Galatians 6:9
Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
When
my Mam-ma Polly was well into her nineties, she still did more for
others than most people I knew. There was always room for one more at
her table. She prayed for others and attended as many church services
and events as possible. I still remember one fall when I took silk
flowers and “fall fabric” and decorations to her so that she and her
friend Ruby (also in her nineties) could decorate a booth for their
church’s fall festival/fundraiser. She was forever “seeing after” a
neighbor or friend.
Of course, because Mam-ma no longer could
drive, she often asked me (or someone from her church) to make her
deliveries for her. I remember once when she made vegetable soup for a
cousin who was not well, and I asked her why she thought SHE needed to
do this. She said, “Well, I think of all that this family has done for
me, and I just have to do this for them.” What goes around…comes
around!
I find that a lot of the things that my grandmother did
for other people are resulting in blessings for me and my family even
now…some 2½ years after her passing. People will comment about her
generosity…her faith and strength…her goodness. As they tend to us and
do kind things for us…pray for us and encourage us in our daily living, I
see the rewards that are a direct result of my grandmother’s
perseverance to help others. She left a legacy that has not gone
unnoticed.
My grandmother taught me so much…but one of her
unending lessons was that of doing for others. My mother offers this
same example in many ways, and they are being returned to her
now, as she faces a major illness. In the words attributed to John
Wesley, these Godly examples have shown us how to… “Do all the good you
can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the
places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as
long as ever you can.”
These are sound words to live by,
regardless of who said them…and my mother and grandmother – and other
people of faith in my circle of influence – have given me plenty of
examples of how to do this – and the rewards that are produced. Even if
we were never rewarded (which is pretty impossible), we should do this
because God has called us to serve in whatever way we can – whenever we
can. We should do this out of a deep desire to honor Him and all of the
ways that He blesses us each and every day.
I am determined to
push forward…to quit worrying about when it is “my turn” and focus on
the missions at hand. Perhaps those who come after me will reap the
rewards of my efforts. Either way, I know that God is calling me to
never grow weary of helping others. What about you?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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