Sophie and I had so much fun making a pound cake this morning to take to some of our new neighbors. When the cake had cooled down we divided it into four sections to take to our neighbors. Sophie and Mitchell cut some flowers out of the yard and wrapped up in a wet paper towel for each neighbor and we started on our route. Sophie carried the cake in her baby stroller and Mitchell used a fertilizer spreader thingy to carry the flowers in. You know how heavy flowers and a few pieces of cake can be.
We got to our first neighbor’s house and reintroduced ourselves since we had only met one other time. We knew she was a widow but that was all. She invited us in and we had a great time talking in her kitchen. She was excited about the warm pound cake and flowers but here’s what caught my attention….. she was most touched by the handwritten note we had made with our names and home number. I wrote them out for her in case she ever needed anything. Of course we are sincere with it but never did I realize how much this would mean to her. Soon after chatting with our new neighbor we went next door and met another neighbor, also a widow. The exact same thing: loved the flowers and pound cake but more appreciative of the phone number and names written out. On our way out she again thanked us for giving her our contact information. I just never knew how much that would mean to our neighbors.
I also had an interesting experience at the grocery store last night. Randy and the kids were at Dollar Tree and I ran into the grocery store to get a few things. I was in a rush and so I started to squeeze by a lady in a motorized grocery cart and then thought better of it and slowed down. I waited for her to move but she motioned for me to go ahead of her. When I passed by her I could hear her breathing heavy and she didn’t look so good. I took a few steps back towards her and asked if she was okay. She explained that she had some disease (can’t remember what it’s called) that is very painful and she had been out all day and was just exhausted. She was getting a few items and then going home to get in bed. I just simply asked her if I could get her grocery items for her and bring them back to her while she sat and waited. I had no clue the impact this would make on her. Ya’ll, this precious woman stood up so fast you’d think she’d just been slapped in the head and insta-healed by Benny Hinn. She then gave me a strangling bear hug and planted a huge kiss on my cheek and said, “You are a kind woman. I can’t believe you would offer to do that for me. Thank you so much but I have a CNA that is coming in to help me.” I told Randy it was like I had offered to give her a thousand bucks or something.
I’m just amazed at how little it takes to really touch a tiny part of someone’s soul…. a stranger’s soul. It reminds me of the power of the love of Christ. The love of Christ compels us to do things for others and it doesn’t always make sense to the world. To be honest, it doesn’t always make sense to me either. But I know it’s real. I think this is the aroma of Christ that Paul talks about in the Bible. When we show the love of Christ we leave a sweet fragrance, unique to Christ. I don’t know about you but I want to be leaving a sweet Jesus smell to those around me. Sometimes I get it and then other times I fail miserably. I’ll be sharing later this week how God is really speaking to me right now through my failed attempts at loving well. I’m in a major construction zone right now where God is tearing down old parts of me and hopefully building up new and more Christ like parts.
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