Open Heart Open Home - Chapters 9 and 10

I was unable to post yesterday because I had to be with one of my daughters away from home during an emergency.  So I am going to link to this post at The Common Room today.  Chapter 9 is about making your church family feel like "family".  We have always been close to others in the congregations we attended.  At the church we attend now, we usually have several children who come to church without adult family.They often sit with us in our pew.  When I was a child, I went to church on a bus, and sat with other people's families.  So I guess it is important to me that children in a similar situation feel invited, included, wanted, and important.  One little girl always sits with us, because she loves my Daughter #1.  The other children come and go, week to week.  One of the girls sits between my husband and I quite a bit! 

When there are covered dish meals, we always try to take plenty to share, and invite others to stay and eat with us.  We also bring dishes to share with older members during the holidays.

When my girls were small, I had a card ministry of sorts.  I sent greeting cards to everyone who needed one.  Birthdays, anniversaries, visitors, get well, etc.  People commented that they always knew they would get a card from us.  This was something that I could do at home with three babies. That and pray.  When the girls were a little older, I would let them decorate the cards, and I would do the writing inside.  This was pretty popular with everyone.  We kept a white board in our kitchen.  If the girls heard of someone who needed prayer, they would tell me and we would write them on our white board prayer list.  The girls were very good about remember people who needed prayers.

Once a year or so, we would have a prayer night at our home for teens, or a picnic in the fall on our farm.  I tried to do "social" type events at our home, because Pappy isn't a believer, and I didn't want him to be uncomfortable.  He has met a lot of our church members this way over the years.

We have taken meals to sick and shut- ins, driven people to doctor appointments, visited the elderly, changed surgical dressings, taken people to the grocery store, sung at funerals, and I'm sure there are other ways we have let the members of our church congregation know we view them as family. 

Now my girls are grown, and my Grandboy goes with us to serve others. 

The question I always wonder about is, do the church members view us as "family"?

Open Heart Open Home Week 1

If anyone is still here, I have been away a while. I got away from posting daily during the spring Bible in 90 Days reading session with Mom's Toolbox. A new session starts soon if you'd like to sign up. I was a mentor, and also a reader. Those activities took up more time than I planned. When that group ended, I immediately went into another B90 Days reading session with Raising Olives and family. More about Bible in 90 Days in another post. So here I am, back again.







Today at The Common Room, the Headmistress started reading a book entitled Open Heart Open Home by Karen Mains. I believe I already own this book, but since I couldn't find it, I had to order another copy. I find myself purchasing duplicates a lot lately! One day I will have a large library room so all my books can live together and I can find them. But that day will have to wait.





When Pappy and I bought the farm house and land we live on today, we looked forward to being able to entertain and share our home with others. Each year we have a Large 4th of July celebration. Our family and friends, our daughters' friends, and lots of police officers are in attendance each year. People are in and out all day. Some just come in time for the fireworks show at dark. Pappy spends way too much on fireworks each year. But it is his favorite holiday of the year, so I turn my eyes and try not to notice.





On other holidays we always have extra people around our table. Some times it is people who don't have family here. Other times it may be "friends of friends". But they are always welcome at our table and we can always add another seat. A friend of mine once said that if I had left overs each night, I cooked too much. I said "no, if I didn't have any leftovers, I'd think I didn't cook enough! I always want enough to feed any "angels" who show up at my table.





One time when my youngest was in high school, she asked me if she could bring home "a girl and her baby" that she met at work. She said the girl was living in her car with a baby. I said, yes, bring them home. Imagine my surprise when the "girl" turned out to be a 30+ year old woman and her new infant son. They stayed with us about a week. That is an interesting story for another day. But my daughter wanted to share what we had, and I didn't want to discourage her from that. I was proud that she noticed their need.





This week we covered the first two chapters of the book. These chapters were titled "Company's Comin" and "On Entertaining". One of the stories shared in this book talks about the young preacher's wife always taking care of others in her home, and learning how to let them serve her as well, by preparing a meal, sharing in the cleaning, etc. I remember as a young bride away from home with my army husband in a place far from the South where I grew up. Other soldiers would come home with my husband each weekend and hang out at our home. My husband was one of the few married guys in his group, and we lived off post. The soldiers would bring steaks, or other food items, and say "Ms. Cindy, do you mind if we have ..." Of course I didn't. And they would clean up, and do a better job at that than I did. My husband told me not to be uncomfortable when this happened, because the guys were used to doing this at the barracks, and wanted to be able to come back to our home, and come often. And so they did. Watch for the next installation of "Open Heart Open Home! Come back soon! Honey