the friend who made me smile all day today....
Several times today, I found myself smiling. The reason is because of a special friend named Donna....and her Shofar. My friend Donna lives outside the box.....which is why I love her so, so much. She is counter-cultural, she is deep, she is loving. She really loves Jesus. And people. See why she is my friend? Anyway, this morning I peeled into a parking spot downtown, running a bit late (for me) for a meeting for work. I had a full day scheduled. My friend Donna is a massage therapist and was just heading into her studio, with her daughter who home schools and a basket of clean linens for the work of the day. She also had her shofar.
As I headed into the coffee shop for my meeting, I stopped a moment to greet her and tease her a bit. Why the shofar, my friend? Well, because I blow it when I start my day. It's the year of Jubilee after all.....and I smiled and loved her and walked down the sidewalk and listened as she blew that shofar, right downtown, at 9am.
We have a very stiff culture here in northwest Iowa....mostly Dutch with some Mexican/Guatemalan influence.....but not Jewish or even charismatic Christian......and my beautiful friend blowing her shofar to declare the year of Jubilee on a wednesday morning before she started her day of giving massages was....well.....magnificent. She made me smile. My smile lasted all day.
The owner of the coffee shop smiled and said sometimes she blows it later in the day as well, whenever she wants to really......and he knows because he is on the opposite side of the building he shares with her for her massage studio.
Not only does my friend live outside "the box" of modern convention, but she lives passionately for the Lord and others. She is the one and only person who will randomly invite Precious to join her and her kids....and then keep her for several days. No one else can stretch that far. She is the one who will come to my house if I have severe pain, and bring her oils on a Sunday and work on my painful hip or arm.....and then cry as we talk about her having to say goodbye to her earthly father.....she is the one who practiced on me when she was in massage school often.
One day, she asked if she could come practice before she had an exam. I was just recovering from a bad bout with strep flu and was achy. Precious was a baby and would only ever rest on my chest. Donna set up her portable massage table in my living room and with warm winter sunlight streaming in, I layed on her table with Precious on my chest and my cat on my belly and she practiced her massage skills and helped me heal from my sickness......
Mid-day today, I was enmeshed in the problems of the world, and society and hardship and the widow, the orphan, the fatherless, the poor, the weak......and I remembered my friend blowing her shofar with gladness and celebration outside of her work doorstep....and I could smile with pure joy.
Tonight, as I try to pack up the thoughts and feelings and events of the day.....I am thinking of Donna blowing her shofar and the year of Jubilee....where all debts are cancelled.
In Jesus, every day is the year of Jubilee when we give it to Him. He cancels our debt. Every day. We should all start our day blowing the shofar horn and declaring to the world that we live for Him.....
As I headed into the coffee shop for my meeting, I stopped a moment to greet her and tease her a bit. Why the shofar, my friend? Well, because I blow it when I start my day. It's the year of Jubilee after all.....and I smiled and loved her and walked down the sidewalk and listened as she blew that shofar, right downtown, at 9am.
We have a very stiff culture here in northwest Iowa....mostly Dutch with some Mexican/Guatemalan influence.....but not Jewish or even charismatic Christian......and my beautiful friend blowing her shofar to declare the year of Jubilee on a wednesday morning before she started her day of giving massages was....well.....magnificent. She made me smile. My smile lasted all day.
The owner of the coffee shop smiled and said sometimes she blows it later in the day as well, whenever she wants to really......and he knows because he is on the opposite side of the building he shares with her for her massage studio.
Not only does my friend live outside "the box" of modern convention, but she lives passionately for the Lord and others. She is the one and only person who will randomly invite Precious to join her and her kids....and then keep her for several days. No one else can stretch that far. She is the one who will come to my house if I have severe pain, and bring her oils on a Sunday and work on my painful hip or arm.....and then cry as we talk about her having to say goodbye to her earthly father.....she is the one who practiced on me when she was in massage school often.
One day, she asked if she could come practice before she had an exam. I was just recovering from a bad bout with strep flu and was achy. Precious was a baby and would only ever rest on my chest. Donna set up her portable massage table in my living room and with warm winter sunlight streaming in, I layed on her table with Precious on my chest and my cat on my belly and she practiced her massage skills and helped me heal from my sickness......
Mid-day today, I was enmeshed in the problems of the world, and society and hardship and the widow, the orphan, the fatherless, the poor, the weak......and I remembered my friend blowing her shofar with gladness and celebration outside of her work doorstep....and I could smile with pure joy.
Tonight, as I try to pack up the thoughts and feelings and events of the day.....I am thinking of Donna blowing her shofar and the year of Jubilee....where all debts are cancelled.
In Jesus, every day is the year of Jubilee when we give it to Him. He cancels our debt. Every day. We should all start our day blowing the shofar horn and declaring to the world that we live for Him.....
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