July Issue
Brotherly Love Report
Generally, this column of the newsletter is reserved for items that highlight charitable
kindness and brotherly love. Since there are many occasions during women’s retreat
weekends at Sandy Cove in Maryland when loving acts of kindness are displayed, it’s
easy for me to choose my favorite of those times to share here.
It is when someone brings to the ReTees Ministry display table a bag of recycled tee
shirts. It tickles me as mush now as it did the first time a woman brought tees from
home after cleaning out the kids closets and hubby’s dresser drawers.
Honestly, there is something so very special to me about that particular brand of thoughtfulness and generosity. Not only does it keep this ministry’s wheels greased, I see and understand that with all we ladies do to prepare for a getaway weekend, women take the precious time to bag those ol’ tees up and lug them along with the rest of their things, donating them in faith, believing their efforts will help someone less fortunate in our communities. And, they do! That kind of trust in this ministry always blesses me with joy!
I can remember one particular event at Sandy Cove when Candy Davison (Director of Women’s Ministries) sent a flyer to all the participants, as she often does, “Calling all tees shirts,” requesting folks to bring recycled tees to benefit ReTees Ministry, well, the response was so great, that my little ol’ Ford van was laboring from overload going down the road to get home. Praise the Lord!
In May, at this Spring’s Women’s Retreat Weekend, a dear girl brought me and a large bag of laundered and neatly folded tee shirts that belonged to her brother who had past away. We had a chance to talk about her brother and my brother who also died prematurely. It did us good to speak of them.
Losing a sibling is a unique type of grief. And, for us, brotherly love has a special kind of meaning, the kind that only natural brothers and sisters get to experience.
July Issue This past Sunday evening at church service, I learned what it means for sheep to be in a “Cast” position. Funny as it sounds, when a sheep is on its back with all fours straight up in the air and it can’t right itself, there is no humor in it for the fretting animal.
Tee-Talk
It shakes its feet with little success of getting up and starts to panic. The shepherd knows of its plight and comes to its aid, gently nudging it to where it can roll over and stand again.
Needles to say, the message was to encourage us listeners to rely on our Shephard to
“Right us,” when we can’t help ourselves. Turtles have a difficult time getting off their backs to their feet again, too. Also, the thought came into my mind about those fainting goats. There really is nothing wrong with them, it is a particular breed of goat that just drops over like it has fainted with all four legs stiffened straight out for a short period of time, then, it gets back up like nothing ever happened.
Well, I know I may be making light of what could be a serious situation in our lives when we feel there is nothing we can do to fix the problem on our own.
However, the pastor was simply saying, “Remember to take it to our Shephard!” It’s His job to "Right us" when something is wrong! He wants to do it! And, He takes pleasure in looking after every single one of His sheep!
July Issue
Self-Help
Dr. RoseAnn Coleman from Tennessee was our quest speaker and teacher for the May Women’s Weekend at Sandy Cove in MD. We all loved her from the very beginning of our blessed time together this Spring. You’ve heard before how great these women of God can be, and everyone of them is unique and gifted.
But, once in a while the Lord brings into our lives that special someone who really imparts the essentials that change our lives for the better in just a few short days.
Dr. RoseAnn is one of them!
Sandy Cove makes available the recordings of all their events for a modest fee. I just had to have the entire set of five sessions. She made us laugh often, think deeply about scripture, and, educated us on many subjects including farming, life in the South, and, being the child of a preacher. We received much joy listening to her tell stories about Miss Helen and the beautiful rewards she still enjoys from embracing this dear colorful senior Christian woman as her mentor who has now gone home to be with our Lord. I could go on and on, I won’t however, I’ll simply encourage you to go to her web site (the plethora of loving posted e-mails are unbelievable) and perhaps schedule a time
when you can be where she’ll be speaking.
Here is just one of the many profound thoughts that still enters my mind from
our fruitful retreat weekend.
Dr. Coleman talked often about having permission from God and others, and,
she said, “I don’t have permission to treat anyone poorly.”
In my opinion, remembering this one thing can be a big step in the right self-help direction!
Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, “as the elect of God, holy and beloved,”
bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.