Loving Life in Everday Ways

Yesterday I reflected on the moment Eve received her name, revealing how women are divinely called on to care for "all the living" who would struggle in this world. We would be ambassadors of Peace. This summer, our Women's Newsletter focuses on issues of LIFE; you can see this excellent issue here. More than ever, our world is filled with people who hurt in a world that places little value on the frail and vulnerable, and women who follow God are needed to act on God's love of life.

Just after this issue was distributed, God gave me an opportunity to test and apply His love of life through me. It was a moment when God asked, "Are you ready, Julie? Always ready?"

I had a cold and felt rotten, so I was running errands with a bottle of water in hand, having just finished another. I entered Target :) and headed right for the ladies room. From the stall beside me, I heard, "Hello? Hello? Hello?" I thought, "Oh, brother. Talking on her cell phone while using the potty. Just like ... " Well, anyways ... :) I finished my "moment," as Chanda Pierce calls it, and headed out to wash up. The calling out continued, but this time was, "Hello, is someone out there in the restroom?" A young mom with a tiny toddler answered. It seems an elderly lady in stall #1 had a physical disaster, and her pants were completely soiled. She asked if someone could go get her a size # pants and return to help her. The troubled mom looked at me, and I told her I would help; her hands were already full with her little one. A younger employee stood up in a corner, speechless and paralyzed at the unfolding story. I went out into the store, got the pants and some coordinating underwear, stopped at Customer Service to inform them of why I was taking unpaid merchandise into the restroom, and headed back in.

The next minutes were spent passing clean and dirty clothes, plastic bags, wet paper towels, dry paper towels, and information under the stall door. It seems that medicine for a physical condition created the urgency of the situation that turned into disaster for this lone lady. As I cleaned up soiled clothing, with the wide eyed employee taking it all in, the needy lady in stall #1 told me she didn't know what she would've done if I wasn't there. She said she felt terrible that I had to clean up her mess. I thought about Eve. I thought about how God has woven it into the spirits of His daughters to protect a hurt animal, give a drink to the thirsty, hold a baby, sit with the elderly, and cry over pain.

I told her it was a divine appointment, and God had timed it just right for me to be there for her. It was my privilege.

In my heart, I wondered if my own mom would ever be in this situation ... or if I would ever be in this situation. I wondered if anyone would care enough to help us when we are frail and vulnerable and needy. From beginning of life issues to elder care to vulnerable conditions of life in between, GOD LOVES LIFE, and He has given marching orders for His daughters to minister His love of life as His "mothers of all the living." The girls around us need to be encouraged in their God-given love of life, their seeds of mothering

I never saw the face in stall #1, and she never saw mine. It's hard to be the vulnerable one, and there was a moment when I knew it would be loving to leave her. Customer Service thanked me over and over for being willing to "help like that." Like what? Just loving life like God does, in everyday ways. And everytime we minister to the living, we celebrate life and minister a bit of God's love to the hurting world around us.

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

Who will cross your path today that needs to know, through your kind hands and face and voice, that God loves their life?