On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

My friend, Pat is a delightful mixture of elegant Southern style, charm and out spoken opinions and I love her. This past year she has traveled the road of widowhood and has done so with courage, joy and tears.  She and her husband, shared a life long passion for memorizing scripture passages and the conversations of our weekly breakfast group were often spiced with passages that tied into whatever of the world’s problems we were solving.

This Wednesday at breakfast she handed me a card in an envelope and asked me to open it after we left. At home, I opened the card, a beautiful handmade creation, with a hand written note, thanking us for offering to drive her to Asheville for eye surgery. I looked on the back and sure enough, there was the name of the person who made the card.  I suspected  Pat had purchased the cards to encourage this creator in the same way she encouraged my daughter, Rebekah by buying her novels and giving them to people she thought might enjoy reading them.

Isn’t it pretty?

At the bottom of the sweet note she shared a scripture, Romans 12:9-13. KJV

9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

I decided to read some other versions and when I came to The Message it read in the same way Pat encourages us. Perfect!

The Message

9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

This was on the bottom inside of the card.

Tags: Be an encourager, God, Love, Romans 12