tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post1620094640874456443..comments2023-09-12T11:31:20.729-05:00Comments on Straight-Friendly: Amending Our Guest ListsTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-71509068411124859802010-11-18T01:34:44.055-06:002010-11-18T01:34:44.055-06:00Sherry, I'm right there with you. I'll pas...Sherry, I'm right there with you. I'll pass along something I mentioned in response to Grant's similar sentiment in a comment he posted on FB. One of the truest, most enduring things my father ever said to me was, "Donating is easy; giving is hard." <br /><br />The flaw in "doing our duty" is we walk away after its done. And while I don't mean to discredit these efforts--they are perhaps the only way to reach out to as many needy souls as possible--they don't excuse us from extending ourselves to the lonely and downtrodden around our tables. Jesus fed multitudes and nobody complained. But when He took the time to <i>eat</i> with the outcasts, He exemplified the grace He proclaimed. And that shook the world!<br /><br />Jan, I gave serious consideration to including the jacket episode in the post. But I got gun-shy about its being perceived as self-aggrandizing, rather than a personal example of the kinds of dilemma we all face at this time of year. At the time, I was not happy and holy doing it. If anything, I felt I'd been cornered into it. How could I ever wear the thing without feeling ashamed? <br /><br />But as I grew older, the lesson stuck and I'm so grateful for it. It taught me holidays are not times to receive everything I want. They're chances to celebrate all I've been given.<br /><br />Thanks to both of you for stopping by. You're true gifts to me and everyone here!<br /><br />Blessings always,<br />TimTimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-85391304349312714762010-11-17T19:10:02.525-06:002010-11-17T19:10:02.525-06:00Thanks for that story of the sports jacket. It liv...Thanks for that story of the sports jacket. It lives on.Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08061517211101084120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-87135454608083545012010-11-17T17:02:39.394-06:002010-11-17T17:02:39.394-06:00Tim, you hit on something that troubles me always ...Tim, you hit on something that troubles me always at this time of year. We take our bags of food and our unwrapped gift and drop them off at the church, and perhaps we spend a few hours serving food, and we feel somehow that we have done our duty. <br /><br />Yet you are so right. The duty is to find and include those marginalized into our family meals and festivities. Sigh...you have pricked my heart once again.Sherry Peytonhttp://afeatheradrift.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-81495908088331629172010-11-17T12:19:39.787-06:002010-11-17T12:19:39.787-06:00Claire, the truth here makes me smile. Yes, grace ...Claire, the truth here makes me smile. Yes, grace is free to all!<br /><br />Converting holiday celebrations into opportunities to express God's grace was instilled me by my parents, who found the idea of someone doing without or being alone on feast days intolerable. It was a hard lesson to learn--and live with--when I was young. <br /><br />There's a legend in our family about the time a poor family in our church lost a son to suicide two days before Christmas. The parents had nothing appropriate to bury him in and my folks presented me with the choice of keeping the sports coat waiting for me under the tree or giving it to them. I wasn't happy to do it, but I knew it was the right thing to do. To this day, my brother will kid, "Maybe Santa will bring you that jacket you never got." It was one of the hardest lessons of my life, but one of the most precious, too.<br /><br />I realize what I'm suggesting here isn't the easiest of tasks. Yet as I've practiced it down through the years, I can attest to the richness and joy that come from it!<br /><br />Blessings, dear sister,<br />TimTimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-61209907305547617752010-11-17T10:40:40.610-06:002010-11-17T10:40:40.610-06:00“God’s grace is free to all who accept it.”
Tim, ...<i>“God’s grace is free to all who accept it.”</i><br /><br />Tim, I even have a hunch that 'Godde's grace is free to all those who don't know about it.' ...<br /><br />Otherwise, to find a way to celebrate Godde's love with some who there is love at all, what an uplifting prospect!<br /><br />Amitiés.claire bangasserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380558962103134334noreply@blogger.com