Matthew 5:7
“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for."
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
Today, I attended the funeral
of my parents’ neighbor, Barbara Heathcott. Barbara and her husband,
Eddie, have been my parents’ neighbors since the mid-1980s. Two weeks
ago, Barbara received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Things
progressed very quickly after that, and now she is in heaven. I feel
certain that my own mother and daddy were thrilled to greet her there.
At
the service, the pastor tearfully talked of Barbara and her spirit of
“servitude.” The obituary even stated…”Barbara was generous, sometimes
to a fault. She loved helping others.” And truly she did. Barbara was a
great cook, and she fed my parents more than once when they were ill –
and sometimes just for fun. The pastor noted that any time someone was
sick or bereaved, Barbara prepared more food than she ought - just to
comfort them! He also mentioned her “Christmas,” which consisted of
delectable sweet treats, including chocolate covered cherries. The
pastor said, “It wasn’t really Christmas until Barbara brought
‘Christmas!’”
My parents’ neighbor Barbara was incredibly
“care-full.” She was also truly cared for, as evidenced by the chapel
packed today with people who crowded the pews and stood along the outer
walls in order to pay their last respects.
The pastor noted
that he last saw Barbara two weeks ago – at church - the day before she
underwent surgery that was supposed to have offered her a chance at a
cure. Barbara hugged the pastor and told him, “I’m going to be fine.”
The pastor commented…”I’m sure that she is.” Another neighbor told me
before the service that she and her husband visited Barbara in the
hospital last week, and she said, “By the time we left, Barbara had made
ME feel better!”
Not everyone has the gift of caring to the
level of women like my mother and her neighbor, Barbara. If nothing
else, we can be kind and loving…smile and be pleasant…offer to help when
and where we can. We don’t have to be extraordinary cooks in order to
feed hungry people in the middle of a health crisis or when a death
occurs. We don’t have to be gifted writers to send a note or e-mail
message that says, “I’m thinking of you,” or “God loves you, and so do
I.” We don’t have to have a lot of money or be super attractive in
order to make a difference in the life of someone else. The bottom line
is that people really don’t care what you know until they know that you
care. And as Christian disciples, it is our job to care!
I
am sure that most of the people who attended the funeral today went
away inspired to care more – and to do more for others. I know I did!
Clearly, God blessed Barbara’s efforts…she was truly “care-full”
in her earthly living. And now she is blessed beyond measure by the
reward of Eternity spent in heaven. If God gives out assignments there,
I’m sure that Barbara’s hand has already shot up to offer to cook and
care for others! And that is an amazing legacy for any Christian
servant!
So what will be your legacy as a Christian
servant? Five months ago when my mother died, her neighbor didn’t even
know she was having any problems. And now both women are in heaven.
Barbara made every minute of that five months – and most of her 77 years
- count for Jesus by her efforts to care for others. Can you say the
same? Don’t you think we should at least give it a try?
©2016 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment