As a military wife of
20 years, we set up housekeeping no fewer than 8 times in those 20 years!! Moving that often meant cleaning out the
excess & starting over in a strange new place. Finding a new church was
always high on the priority list because we knew the one for us would supply
friends, like-minded believers, who would give us a sense of home & family
away from the one we left behind in Mississippi.
The friendliness of
the folks was our first impression of whether a church would be considered as
our place to settle in & serve the Lord wherever Uncle Sam sent us.
We were stationed at
Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, LA some 20+ years ago. As we visited one particular church, my
husband & I had the perception that it was a very friendly church. In reality, as we looked back, we realized
that only ONE person was mainly responsible for this.
My friend, Kim, had
lived in the area for quite some time, & was also a military wife. She made it her priority to find us in each
service & engage us in conversation. She was interested to see how the
unpacking was going. She brought HER
friends over to us to meet us, & gave valuable insight for shopping,
playgrounds for the kids, & maneuvering through the military base &
town new to us.
Isn’t it amazing what
ONE friendly person can accomplish?
Hospitality in its simplest form is just sharing what you have. Maybe that is just a smile of welcome to
someone who feels as if no one cares or taking some goodies over to your
neighbor when you’re abundantly blessed with more than you need.
Kim probably will
never know this side of heaven what impact her friendliness had on me, but
won’t it be great that we will have Eternity together to praise Jesus for the blessing
of the friends HE places in our lives on this earth.
I'm sharing today the recipe for Ham & Sausage Jambalaya. This is an easy Louisiana recipe you might
just want to share with a new friend the Lord brings your way.
Confectionately Yours,
Sue
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