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"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:9, 10 Back
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HOSPITALITY - HIS WAY By Dawn Jakovac Susan took one last puff on her cigarette before throwing it to the ground in the church parking lot and crushing it with her toe. Her children, squealing, raced around my mini-van. My children, screaming, chased after them. And I looked at my watch, for about the tenth time, and wondered, “Where is my husband? I want to go home.” Susan was just pulling out another cigarette when a church member came to me and said sotto voice, “It’s so good of you to go out of your comfort zone to help these people.” Comfort zone? I was giving these people a ride home. Having total strangers camp in my house…yes, that would be out of my comfort zone. Leaving my personal domain to mingle with street people, drug addicts, prostitutes…yes, that might be out of my comfort zone. But giving someone a ride? No! But the statement got me thinking. What would Jesus do? (To continue reading click on:) http://www.tagnet.org/angelco-op/testimonials/2003-06.html
Hello my dears! Earlier today my husband and I attended the 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration for a couple named Ruby and Phil. In the ten years that I have been an Adventist Christian, this couple has signified what I hope our marriage will look like. They are our "marital mentors", although they would probably not think of themselves in this way. Ruby and Phil were surprised by the large gathering in the glittering hotel banquet room. They had thought they were meeting to have brunch with their family, an extention of the celebrations that had begun a day earlier with the arrival of Phil's late brother's wife. Phil had his usual bemused grin on his face, but Ruby went out somewhere to collect herself after peeking in to see tables full of people come to honour them. Once in the door, the couple was led to the 'wedding arch' where they were led through their vows by their son, Pastor Terry, who said he, too, was a little nervous, never having done this with his parents before. There is something so moving about hearing the renewal of vows by people who have been led by God for fifty years of marriage. I know this couple to be 'the real thing'. All the stories and anecdotes I heard today confirmed this suspicion. Ruby and Phil practice their ministries from the context of a bedrock Christ-centered marriage. Ruby came from a family of fifteen kids whose immigrant parents worked hard so that most of those children had the benefit of attending SDA schools. Ruby's multi-layered family meets every two years for a family reunion. I can hardly imagine the commitment, love, effort, prayer and momentum that goes into having a gigantic family connection every two years, but she has the videos to prove it happens. There was a time when Ruby talked longingly of moving nearer a couple of her sisters, who were widowed. To a warmer part of our country. But not while Phil's Mom was still alive, and in the nursing home. And later, not while Phil's Auntie was still dependent on them. When their older son returned with his family to pastor in Saskatoon, there was no more talk about moving away. Phil and Ruby are committed to their family. To nurture and strengthen bonds, they purchased a time-share condo in the mountains. They go there as a family at least a couple of times a year. I have seen the kind of hospitality extended by Phil and Ruby that I'm sure is an outgrowth of years of Bible-soaked devotions. Ruby "makes a little food" (her words) for a single mom with three kids who goes to school all week. This "little food" provides the basis for a week's suppers. Ruby went in to babysit, on short notice, for this same mom when no one else could be found. Although her heart was wrung by the brutality of this young woman's partner, she didn't make the judgements that many of us made. She listened to the young woman's hurt heart, her ambivalence. She hugged her. She hung in for the long haul. She rejoiced when the young woman and children chose to be safe in a second-stage housing development. Ruby and Phil often practiced a sort of seamless ministry of giving. They would load up their car several times with youngsters from their inner-city neighborhood and drive them to and from VBS. They would even have an impromptu VBS in their own home, with Bible stories, crafts, nutritious snacks, and Ruby teaching them to sing praise songs to the accompaniment of her guitar. Ruby and Phil were much loved by the kids in that neighborhood-- they were probably the safest adults these kids had ever known. I also recall both of them co-ordinating the cooking of huge vats of borscht. Ruby is a famous cook, but Phil is no slouch in the kitchen, and the borscht was actually his forte. Phil grew up in a home with several brothers and a sickly mother. He did much of the cooking. And who, new to the faith, hasn't spent Sabbath lunches with Ruby and Phil, that ran into suppers? It was a joy to be part of this gathering today to honour true elders of our faith, and models of the fruits of a Godly marriage. If you want to see some pictures of the event, please click on:
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?=4127431&a=30738872&f=0
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