Generously Refreshing

Proverbs 11:25 NIV

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. 

These days we have to be even more creative on how we can be generous and refreshing to others. I am trying to write everyday for my own routine and sanity but hopefully to touch others who might click and read my words. It is so easy in this time to let fear and loneliness consume our thoughts as we watch the news that tries to divide us rather than bring us together. Someone said check the news don’t watch the news. While that is good advise I still find myself focusing on it too many hours a day. Do I really think something will be breaking news since I checked fifteen minutes ago?

So here I sit on my third cup of coffee making a list of who I can reach out to and refresh. I can’t go over and help my neighbor rid out her fridge or closet but I can FaceTime her so she can see my crazy, bed hair. I can’t take my friend’s kiddos so she can get a pedicure but I can send her an encouraging note in the mail. I can’t go out to eat with a friend but I can drive through McDonalds and pay for the car behind me. The other acts of generosity that I tend to forget is to be a bit kinder to Ronnie B. who is holed up with me in our home. It is such a shift for both of us to not be out and about and busy with projects. Patience is as important at this time as generosity. 

I remember Ron’s parents always sitting at the table chatting over coffee and pastries. Ron and I don’t do that. I have coffee on the couch with my iPad Bible study and blog posts. He sits at the table sketching his latest petroglyphs finds into his journals. But the past few days we have sat at the table and put our electronics away and actually had a conversation with each other. Hmmmm. Perhaps Mary and Bob weren’t wasting hours each day at their table. Maybe they were staying connected and this was their love language. This may need to be a permanent shift in our routine not just a quarantine thing. 

Thank you all for your generosity to those around you. How refreshing!

In Him,

Joyful

3-24-20