Betty’s mother, Kathleen, had been confined to a nursing home for several months. One day, she suffered a stroke while her family visited her. Shortly after that, a woman from the facility appeared at the door of her room, announced a mail call, and brought in a greeting card from someone in the card ministry at her church.
“My nephew, Kathleen’s grandson, brought the card over,” Betty later wrote in an email to the leader of the church’s card ministry.
“Kneeling by her bed, he read it to Kathleen. She was still conscious but unable to speak or see well. It was the most beautiful and caring card. It included I Peter 5:7, which discusses God’s care for us. The card came at the perfect time, and this was the last card and Scripture she received before losing consciousness. She passed away three days later.”
Betty asked the leader to tell those who faithfully send these encouraging cards each month how much this card meant to her mother.
“I know they made her so happy, even up to the end,” Betty wrote. “And to receive that last one was a gift from God.”
What an effect that simple card had on a family going through a stressful time. And isn’t it wonderful how it arrived in God’s perfect timing? But someone had to send it.
Perhaps we do something regularly to serve others that often feels menial and even tiresome. Many tasks we do for churches and community organizations take time and effort. We may wonder if anyone notices or appreciates our efforts. We may even think our work has little impact.
A word of thanks for what we do may never come. At that point, we must decide whether we will be faithful to the little things.
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task,” Helen Keller said, “but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
Paul encouraged the early Christians to resist the temptation to get tired and give up.
Press forward with your responsibilities, even if they sometimes seem inconsequential. You may not always know the results of your efforts, but God says, “Your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
(Photo courtesy of pixabay and StartupStockPhotos.)
A Wisconsin native, Lauri Lemke Thompson appreciates living with her husband in the lovely Ozark mountains in Branson, Missouri. She is active in Christian Women’s Connection (Stonecroft) and the Ozarks Chapter of the American Christian Writers. Her two books, Hitting Pause and Pressing Forward, are collections of her columns, articles, and devotions. Her bimonthly column appears in the Branson Globe newspaper.