Dear Fellow Children of God,
About a week and a half ago our whole family was
surprised by the blessing of the kindness and generosity of others. Our daughter, Mary, was getting ready to fly
to Chevak, AK, to teach school again this year.
Mary actually left for school last Sunday, August 12. This is the second year that Mary and Falon
Tardiff have taught in the Chevak School, which is about 20 miles inland from
Hooper Bay. This year Mary is be
teaching 5th and 6th grade students.
Mary had told Kathy that last year when her students left
class at the end of the day they often asked for a “plastic,” a grocery bag so
they could carry their stuff home. Kathy
and Mary were thinking of what they might get for Mary’s 46 students this year
so they had something other than a “plastic” to carry their supplies from home
to school and back. Because Kathy works
at our local hospital, Mat Su Regional Medical Center, Kathy asked her boss,
Emily Stevens, if the hospital could donate any tote bags which they use as
promotional gifts.
Emily told Kathy to e-mail her. Emily then passed on a challenge to hospital
managers to respond personally, rather than institutionally. The results were that the managers, on their
own, purchased 51 backpacks full of school supplies so that Mary’s 5th
and 6th grade students could use them. We were told by some of the managers how much
fun they had shopping. We heard from
others who wish they had been part of the process. Mary even received a large box of extra school
supplies to use with her class. What a
gift!
What a difference an act of kindness and generosity can
make in the life of, not just one person, but many people. The gift of time in shopping, the gift of
the cost of the supplies, the even bigger gift of kindness and good will are
blessings. Not only does this gift make
Mary’s life as a teacher easier, but the students know that someone they don’t
even know in Palmer cares about them. An
act of goodwill sends out waves of blessings.
God’s
directions to His people tell us, "You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” And “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Matthew 22:37, 39). What a blessing
when people love others as they love themselves. That is what God has done for
us in the sacrificial death of Jesus.
This week I have been at church meetings in Portland and
Seattle. As I traveled I was struck that
the lines and scanning of TSA in the airports are becoming more and more
interesting. Think of the difference
that acts of terrorism have made causing challenges for the traveling of
everyone else. On the flip side, think
of the difference for good that the gifts of backpacks and school supplies will
make for a teacher, for 46 students, for a whole Alaskan community!
Where are you making a difference for good in the lives
of those around you? Where do you plan
to share with others the love God has first given us? God can use your acts of kindness and good
will in ways that bless others far beyond what you expect.
A Child of God blessed by the kindness of others,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Here are two
versions of a picture of Mary and her backpacks!
****
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS
FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully
weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am
always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving
this e-mail for the first time.) However, if you don’t want to receive
this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list
for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one
of these e-mails, please send me their
e-mail address.
****
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