The view from my TV screen is grim. Grinding, swirling winds have ripped across the land,  stealing homes, people, and possessions. Many of us watched the TV screen, stunned at the magnitude of the devastation, feeling helpless to render aid. We are not helpless. God has not left us helpless!
        My sis posted on her website the fact that Samaritan's Purse was on site at the disaster and was a faithful steward of donations. A friend called to say their family was fasting and praying through the night. Some give, some pray, and some go. It's God's way. This is how the "God Team" does it. Each of these are very real, very necessary helps.
           On this same day, the daily devotional from the collection of our Papa's sermons was about the Good Samaritan, called "Whose Neighbor Am I?"
"But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:29
          Neighbor, in the lawyer's judgment meant nearness and he wished to know how far the boundaries of the command lay. But Christ's answer swept all such limitations aside. Said Christ, "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"
         "He who showed mercy on him," said the lawyer.
         We are not to love, therefore, because we are neighbors in any geographical sense only, but we become neighbors to the man farthest from us when we love and help him. The word neighbor, therefore, is as wide as humanity.
         What a lesson we have here as to the true manifestations of neighborliness. Compassionate sentiments are fine, but the emotions that do not drive the wheels of action and kindness of a tangible character are purposeless. it is not enough to love God, but we are to love our neighbor as ourselves also.
         At this hour, the man with a neighborly spirit is the man of the hour. He will rise above questions of race, nationality, religion or geography. He will help in the material needs as well as the spiritual needs of those he would help. He will do good at the cost of self-sacrifice. Our love must be practical, unselfish, and real, as was our Savior's. 

Now, let us go and do likewise.
Blessings,
Patti and Cara
Classic Christianity: a Year of Timeless Devotions

       Mother's Day used to be the day I saved my milk money for. I saved that seven cents for two weeks or more, so that I could buy my mamma a piece of drugstore jewelry. She always loved it. My perfectly coiffed mom, so careful and southern-belle classic in her dress even in financially challenging days, would wear whatever large, colorful, garish pin or necklace or bracelet I bought her with pride. Usually it was a pin. She wore those things everywhere. I bought them long past the point you might have thought I'd know better. I thought she really loved them. Now I know, she really loved me.
       Then, things changed. I was a new mom and my husband and kids overwhelmed me with drawings and toast in bed and hand-made cards full of love. We would take grandma out to dinner and love on her too, but the circle had grown wider. My mother-in-law, a wise, wonderful, practical mom who managed to raise my rascal husband into a wonderful man was included - and my sister as well - my husband's sisters too. The circle was widening. There are just so many women who have poured into my life, into my children's lives. 
     Today is Mother's Day. As I was reading the end of Proverbs 31, where the wise woman's children praise her, I got to thinking about all the women I need to praise - and to thank. How many women have poured their hearts into yours? How many friends, sisters, aunts, grandmas, neighbor ladies, teachers, and mothers combine in your heart to make up the word, "Mother"? For me, the primary influence was my sweet, ever patient mamma. Whoever that was for you - today's the day to call them blessed, to praise them in the gates, to make sure they understand what a joyful place they hold in your memories, in your heart, and in your future!

Proverbs 31:28-31:
Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
 “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
      
      
For His Glory,
Cara & Patti

Recently my hometown has been under siege. Unseasonable winds, record high temperatures, drought-level rainfall, and one spark from a cigarette butt or a backfiring engine have combined to burn 28,000 acres so far, and send flames racing across 43 square miles from a populated suburban hillside to the sands of the Pacific. Over a thousand firefighters, grimy and sweaty, have left their homes to camp on out in the open, working cycling shifts with short rest breaks, never going home, never getting really clean, never giving up.

Last night, as I came home over a nearby canyon road, just as I crested the hill I could look down over the darkened city. There was a deep orange glow over everything as the flames reflected up into the smoke clouds above. In clusters and groups all over the area, I could see dozens of trucks with lights going – evidence that though most people were safe in their homes, hundreds and thousands of men and women struggled on through the night.

What causes someone to give up safety and comfort to fight someone else’s fight? What causes these men and women to risk their own lives for the preservation of others’? I have to believe that it is because they realize that there is something bigger than themselves, something worth fighting for. They are people of action, and knowing they can do something to help, they just can’t NOT do it. God bless them every one. We are mighty grateful for them.

As Christians, do we take our call as seriously as these firefighters take theirs? I know I have not – to my shame. We are called to be the hands and feet and heart of Jesus in this desperate, dying world. Do I run towards the needy, or away from them? How much of my own comfort am I willing to sacrifice to bring a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name? How tirelessly, how fervently, how sacrificially am I willing to work to bring the good news of Jesus’ love and compassion to bear in the lives of my neighbors?

I’m reminded of Luke 10:29-37,  “ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 

                        In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

                         “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

                        The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

                                 Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Compassionate sentiments are fine, my Papa once said, but emotions that do not drive the wheels of action and kindness of a tangible character are purposeless. As I gaze out across the smoky sky today, and hear the thud-thud-thud of the helicopters flying into the smoke, I feel the call on my heart to be salt and light in this dark world. God help me be tireless, fervent, sacrificial in taking your love into this world. The cause is worth fighting for.

For His Glory!
Cara and Patti!
Classic Christianity, A Year of Timeless Devotions