The Blessing
The end of this past November, on a very cold winter night, a young couple with a two-month old baby showed up at our small country church. It just so happened a Bible study group was there having fellowship. This group meets only every other week, so if they had come the week before or week after no one would have been at the church and the doors would have been locked and lights out. The Lord knew. The young mother, Beth, had shown up with her baby, little Robbie, a month earlier during the day asking for help with gas for her car. I had met her at that time. So, when the couple, Beth and Rob, returned, she told Bev (one of the leaders of the Bible study) she had met me before.
Bev called me at home and told me the couple did not have a place to stay after this night. She put Beth on the phone. I told her to to meet me and the pastor (my husband) the next morning, with Rob, the father of the baby, so we could consider what their options were. Hanging up I thought that was it for the night. When my husband got home I would tell him about the meeting in the morning.
It wasn’t a half-hour later, when the phone rang again. Bev said they were back to the church and the young mom, Beth, was crying. The place where they were going to spend that night had closed up and said they couldn’t stay there. She was devastated and scared. They couldn’t spend the night in the car with a tiny baby.
Not thinking, I just told the leaders of the Bible study, Bev and John, to bring them to our home for the night, then we would figure something out in the morning. I called my husband and said, “We are having company tonight honey”. He asked who, and I shared with him what had happened. He was stunned, but okay with it.
Now, my husband would have done something like this before he met me. But I have hesitated opening our home to strangers. Tonight though, God had other plans.
The young couple and their baby arrived later that night, escorted by John and Bev. I had never met the young man, Rob, before, but he seemed nice and respectful. He was very gentle and protective of the precious baby boy. I hugged them and welcomed them. The Bible study leaders stayed for a minute, making sure everything was okay. When they left, I showed Rob and Beth where to put their things then we all sat down for a visit and waited for my husband to come home. They sat there like they were in shock and afraid to move. After a while I watched them relax a bit.
Rob was twenty-three years old, and Beth was twenty-one. Baby Robbie was two-months old. A tiny little thing but well cared for considering where they had been.
The place they had been staying was a house where nine other people were living. They slept on the floor. The house was flea infested with four dogs in the house. It was not clean, although the couple said they tried to clean it the best they could. The people there just decided there were too many people living there and put these people out in the cold at night. It seemed so cold-hearted, but God turned it into a blessing…for all of us.
Read more of the story in Day 3 of Proverbs 31.
In His Care, Pat
Here is a list of the bloggers and their topics for your daily reading.
- Contributing to family income/2 better than 1
- The Fear of the Lord/ Satisfied by Love
- Using time wisely/BlessedBeyondMeasure
- Taking care of needy/ Shadow Wonder
- Using money wisely/Jennifer Sikora
- Beauty is Fleeting/Monique Zackery
- Keeping an eye on home/Just a Glimpse
- She can laugh at the days ahead/faith filled food for moms
- Clothed in strength and dignity/One thing I’ve Learned
- Taking care of others/ 2 savvy gals
- Being Creative/A Patchwork Mommy
- Bringing Variety to Family/ Karen Dawkins
- Extending your Hand to the Poor/ Women’s Fellowship House
- Organization/Teaching what is Good
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