The ABC’s of knowing God better: the letter “K”I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness. – Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)
And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 2:7 (TLB)
“Lord, when I get home, I could go for a bowl of homemade chicken soup!”
I’d just delivered my second baby by Caesarean section and was feeling weak, tired, and depressed. How I envied those women who had their babies naturally! They were up and about with a day. Not me. I’d be bedridden for a week in the hospital, then another week after I got home. I just didn’t bounce back after childbirth like others did.
I longed for my mother’s homemade chicken soup, which had always made me feel better. But Mom, a victim of Alzheimer’s disease, was two hundred miles away and most of the time didn’t even remember who I was.
How am I going to take care of a newborn baby and an active toddler? I wondered. My husband couldn’t take any more time off work. When my first child was born, Mom spent a month with us, cleaning, washing, cooking, and making me chicken soup.
“I’ll just have to do my best,” I sighed, settling deeper beneath the blanket.
A week later I was home in bed when my friend, Sharon, walked in carrying a tray.
“I brought you some homemade chicken soup,” she announced.
“How did you know I wanted homemade chicken soup? I never told anyone.”
She put the tray on the nightstand. “The ladies in our Bible study group signed up to bring one meal a day to your family while you’re still in bed this week. We figured supper would be the best time for you. Is that all right?”
I nodded, feeling awed that the God who runs the universe would actually answer a prayer for chicken soup.
That was 35 years ago. Many times since I’ve experienced His loving kindness through someone’s words of encouragement, acts of kindness and thoughtfulness.
And it makes me want to do the same for others.
When my debut novel was released in March, I wanted to do something tangible to help those who have served our country in the armed forces. I looked into donating a portion of the proceeds from book sales to a worthy organization that helps veterans. There were many, but it was “Tomorrow’s Hope” that captured my heart.
A dollar from the sale of each autographed copy of The Heart Remembers, which is dedicated “to all who served in Vietnam,” will be donated to the transitional housing and service center located in Coalport, Pa., that provides shelter and basic necessities to homeless veterans. (For more information about Tomorrows Hope, visit their website at http://tomorrowshopepa.org/)
William Penn once said, “I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.”
O Lord, show me ways that I can pass along Your loving kindness to others today. Amen.
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