The Dinner Invitation

The Dinner Invitation

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

I met Cindy when we started attending a local church in our neighborhood that was also attached to a homeless shelter. Cindy was the children’s church leader, and every Sunday she would plan activities with lots of care to teach the children about loving God and loving others. As my youngest child was shy and didn’t want to be left alone in the class, I became Cindy’s weekly helper, passing out papers, answering questions, and quieting children who got a bit too rambunctious. Week after week, I watched Cindy teach simple lessons with passion and conviction, and I marveled at how well she loved the children in the class, despite her lack of a home or security for her future.

One Sunday, as we were eating lunch after the kids’ program, I asked Cindy if she and her boys would like to come to our house for dinner that week. She readily agreed. On Thursday night we shared a meal of tacos, and as our boys went off to play, she told us how she came to live at the shelter, how she grew up in foster care, and about the plans she had for her future. We told her about the foster children we’d cared for and our own adopted kids. We talked about the struggle of raising children and providing for a family. We realized we had more in common than not, and the hours quickly passed until Cindy and her family finally had to get back to the shelter before curfew. As we said goodbye, we made promises to meet again soon, grateful for how Cindy had blessed our family with her teaching and grateful for the opportunity to bless her in return.

As Christians, we’re called to show love not just with words but with what we do. Even though Cindy was living in a shelter with her children, she led well with love in the children’s program at church. In turn, we were able to show her and her boys kindness by inviting them into our home. Mutually supporting one another in love is one way we walk in friendship with others.

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Reach out to someone who is loving people well through their actions and let them know their hard work is not unnoticed.