About to drive to pick up my sister and head to the airport and our final destination, a beloved blogging and writing conference called Allume, I have everything planned.
Getting up early, I plan to sneak quietly out of my house, so as not to wake anyone else up. Putting my bathroom supplies in my suitcase and scanning my lists one more time, I feel comfortable that nothing has been missed.
I pull out on the open road, seeing very little traffic at 5 a.m., and tamp down my excitement for what the weekend may hold.
As I near my sister's house, located half an hour away from my own, I suddenly realize that I've forgotten something. Despite my lists, I've left behind my pants. All of them. I picture them in my mind, lying on the chair in my bedroom where I’d placed them the night before to finish drying. Still there.
Crap, I think.
Getting up early, I plan to sneak quietly out of my house, so as not to wake anyone else up. Putting my bathroom supplies in my suitcase and scanning my lists one more time, I feel comfortable that nothing has been missed.
I pull out on the open road, seeing very little traffic at 5 a.m., and tamp down my excitement for what the weekend may hold.
As I near my sister's house, located half an hour away from my own, I suddenly realize that I've forgotten something. Despite my lists, I've left behind my pants. All of them. I picture them in my mind, lying on the chair in my bedroom where I’d placed them the night before to finish drying. Still there.
Crap, I think.
Today Kristin and I are at a blogger/writer’s conference called Allume and we are meeting with TWO publishers about a book idea that we have. Y'all, book deals are few and far between--kind of like hitting the lottery--but we decided we’re going to TRY anyway. And you know what? Tries are worth celebrating too. We don’t need to wait to be wildly successful before we let people in on what we’re doing. We don’t need to be afraid of failing and others knowing about it. What are you trying to do well today, friends? Parenting? Your job? A dream that you have? Can we just tell you, we are in the middle of the trying too, and we want to cheer you on! Our kids may see us fail a lot, but hopefully they’ll also see and remember moms who ALWAYS tried. Much love, friends. #girlswhotryAfterwards, we got such sweet encouragement from folks who read it and responded that we thought, You know what? We should celebrate more tries. Why aren't we doing that already?
Good morning, friends! Today we are so excited to have a guest post from Sue Moore Donaldson. The three of us love hospitality, and Sue's post is such a great reminder on how even something as simple as an invitation truly matters. Here's more from Sue:
The question hung in silence a little too long for my
comfort—2 seconds or so. I rushed on, “We’re kinda loud. We play games. We have
lots of food. Really, a lot of food….”
She smiled. “I’m a good cook. Just made caramel salted brownies. I could
bring caramel salted brownies.”
Well, well. My kids don’t like pie. I’ve tried, really. But
brownies? Caramel salted?
“You’re in, Amie—you don’t even have to come—just leave the
brownies on the porch!”
We laughed and said goodbye.
I didn’t know Amie’s last name or phone number. She didn’t
know where we lived. All I knew was that Amie, recently divorced, wasn’t going
to have her two little girls on Thanksgiving for the first time ever. And I
didn’t want her to be alone.
The night before the big day, I got a text: “50/50 I’m
coming.” My sister-in-law said, “Tell her to send the 50.”
The next morning, Amie made brownies and bravely faced our
wild clan. Everyone loved her and loved on her. My artist brother gave her a
painting. My poet brother gave her a book of poetry. My children fell in love
with her brownies.
After the singing and sharing, she pulled me aside and
quietly said, “This was the best Thanksgiving in my whole life.”
Really. I said she and her girls and her brownies were
always welcome.
Two weeks later, she came to church. Three days later, she
came to coffee. At the same table, minus the extra leaf, Amie grabbed my hand
and said, “I’m ready,” and prayed to become God’s new child.
A new guest in God’s kingdom. All because of an invitation.
“Want to come for coffee?”
“Can you stop by this week?”
“Would you like to come to church? You can sit with us.”
God’s in the business of filling up all the seats around his
table. Who do you know who could use an invitation?
Oswald Chambers wrote: “The questions in life are remarkably few and they are all
answered by the words—‘Come unto Me.’” (My Utmost for His Highest, June
11)
Jesus says, “Come to Me” whenever we take the risk to invite
another.
“Would you like to come over? We’re normal—well, you know,
ordinary—but fun and I think you’d enjoy yourself. We’d love to have you join
us. Yes, you can bring your kids and your mother and Aunt Jessie from New York.
You don’t have to bring anything but you can if you want.”
Invite someone. The holidays are the perfect time. It
doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be homemade. It’s doesn’t have to
be planned in advance or pinned on Pinterest. There’s always room for more.
Maybe the next person you meet needs an invitation to your
table. Maybe the next person they meet will be Jesus.
P.S. Amie and girls come most Sundays for chocolate chip
pancakes. We look forward to our second Thanksgiving together this year.
Sue's a wife of one man-in-plaid and mom of three daughters--who keep her either at the bank or on her knees. She writes about God’s inviting heart at www.welcomeheart.com. Her book, Come to My Table: God's Hospitality and Yours includes stories, tips and recipes to help you get started inviting the world to your table. She speaks for women's conferences, MOPS, and retreats; series and event topics listed on welcomeheart.com. See and hear a bit of Sue here.
Are you looking for more hospitality resources? Have you checked out our books?
Julie, Kendra, and Kristin
Sue's a wife of one man-in-plaid and mom of three daughters--who keep her either at the bank or on her knees. She writes about God’s inviting heart at www.welcomeheart.com. Her book, Come to My Table: God's Hospitality and Yours includes stories, tips and recipes to help you get started inviting the world to your table. She speaks for women's conferences, MOPS, and retreats; series and event topics listed on welcomeheart.com. See and hear a bit of Sue here.
Are you looking for more hospitality resources? Have you checked out our books?
Our newest book, 100 Daily Acts of Friendship for Girls, is written specifically for girls ages 8-12 as they navigate friendships in upper elementary and middle school. With a scripture, short story, reflection questions and 50 fun activities to do with you or friends, it's a wonderful way to encourage your daughter, niece, granddaughter, God daughter and her friends to build healthy friendships from an early age.
And our adult friendship devotional, The One Year Daily Acts of Friendship is a perfect compliment to our book for tweens. With a daily scripture, story, and friendship prompt, its encouraging and slightly challenging (in a good way!) as you find, keep, and love your friends.
We've also written two kindness devotionals, The One Year Daily Acts of Kindness and 100 Days of Kindness. They tell the story of how our families embarked on a one-year journey of kindness, and include our successes, failures, and the encouragement you need as a family to incorporate kindness into your own life.
We would love to walk alongside you in encouragement, inspiration, and community. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram as The Ruth Experience or sign up for our monthly newsletter (no spam, ever), here.
We would love to walk alongside you in encouragement, inspiration, and community. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram as The Ruth Experience or sign up for our monthly newsletter (no spam, ever), here.
If you already have one of our books and love them, we'd so appreciate it if you leave a review on Amazon.
We're in this together,
Julie, Kendra, and Kristin
The soft glow of light shines from my bedside lamp. Snuggled against the pillows, this place is my safe haven. A place I find rest and peace from the busyness of each day.
I find a familiar episode of Gilmore Girls and settle in to watch, but more importantly, to remember. My sister Katrina loved this show. And it was one of the last things we did together. We’d sit on her bed, she too weak to get up, hunkered down with drinks or snacks or just each other to watch episodes together.
We’d laugh and cry, interspersing our own conversation against the replayed episodes we’d watched more than a few times.
“I wonder what your kids will be like?” she’d say. I’d smile and tell her my hopes for the future with my then-boyfriend-now-husband Kyle.
“I can’t wait for you to have babies,” she’d respond. “I can’t wait to watch our kids grow up together.”
I find a familiar episode of Gilmore Girls and settle in to watch, but more importantly, to remember. My sister Katrina loved this show. And it was one of the last things we did together. We’d sit on her bed, she too weak to get up, hunkered down with drinks or snacks or just each other to watch episodes together.
We’d laugh and cry, interspersing our own conversation against the replayed episodes we’d watched more than a few times.
“I wonder what your kids will be like?” she’d say. I’d smile and tell her my hopes for the future with my then-boyfriend-now-husband Kyle.
“I can’t wait for you to have babies,” she’d respond. “I can’t wait to watch our kids grow up together.”
On a Sunday in January 2013, our pastor interviewed a woman at our church who kept children in foster care. She spoke about our state’s broken foster care system, the many children in foster care, some of whom DCS had lost track of or had actually died while in custody. She told about the children that she had had in her home and I felt the Lord begin to nudge my heart. The final blow came when she said (and I will never forget this), “If the church had been doing what we were supposed to do, our system would not be in this mess.”
My husband and I both heard the Lord calling that day and we decided to bring foster children into our home. We finished classes and home-studies and were approved to be foster parents. During the mass of paperwork you do in training, you can decide what kind of children you are willing to foster. We were fairly open, our children were grown and out of the home, we had plenty of room and two friendly dogs to help ease the transition to a new home.
The one thing we specifically asked was that we not have teenage girls. My husband was a teacher at the time and he would be home alone with the foster child (or children) many days in the summer. I worked outside the home, and we had heard scary stories about accusations made against men, so thought for our safety that it was best to not have teenage girls. In March 2013, we got our first call…for a teenage girl! Did they not even READ these profiles??
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