For the past several years, some of us from our church have gone to town to pass out Mother's Day gifts to Moms who have to work on Sundays. We go to businesses and ask permission to give any Moms who are working on Mother's Day a gift. So, I have done something very similar to this for the past several years. When you add that onto an already busy Sunday, I decided I needed a "first" out of this. So, I saw a couple of ladies in a parking lot who had come out of a business and gave them a Mother's Day gift. They thanked me and my family several times and smiled really big.
This is a really fun ministry type thing that a few of us have done the last several years. It's fun on several levels. One is to see the smiles on a Mom's face when you say, "I'm sorry you have to work on Mother's Day. We want to give you a small gift from Hopewell Baptist Church and say God bless you." Their faces typically light up. It's really a very small gift. It seems to mean a lot for someone to be remembered.
Another reason this is fun is because many times when we go in and ask if there are any working Moms there, we typically get a suspicious or questioning look. I don't blame them for that; they don't know us from anybody and so they must be wondering why we would ask for working Moms. Then when we tell them that we want to give them a gift and that suspicious or questioning look turns to joy, it is just fun.
This is fun because our children can be involved. Joel and Hannah Grace will go with us and they look forward to this ministry. It is cool to see them enjoying doing something for Jesus and others. When we give out the gifts, the people smile at us, but they will often hug the children. They can be a great part of this.
Our gifts this year was a small manicure set
Guess who had the phone and was in charge of pictures this year
I have no idea why this was on my phone; you'll have to ask the photographer. Obviously something she saw in one of the businesses we were in. There is the possibility of a brother influence here.
One reason I like doing this is that it is a way of bringing a positive influence for Jesus in the community. We don't ask the Moms for anything. We just give them a gift and say God bless you. I like the idea that someone is attempting to brighten their day and it is someone from a church who is smiling and trying to bless. Sometimes as churches we ask people for things. We ask them to come to church, come to an event, or buy something to help raise money for our student programs or something. God has given us His Son and blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). We ought to be giving love away without asking for anything in return occasionally. It seems to me that people ought to be glad to see believers coming. Sure, sometimes they won't like our stands for Biblical truth, but we ought to bless others, too. When I go to bed at night, I like to think that I have made (through Christ) someone else's stay here on Earth a little bit better. I can't always say that with confidence, but I sure want to. Why not pray and ask God to help you make someone else's life a bit better today (or tomorrow).
Glad the abundant life includes others
Barry
3 things I thank God for today
1. My Mom
2. The mother that Laura is to our children
3. Smiles
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