Tea with Louise

Louise (not her real name) told me over tea recently that her children, now two adult women in their 20s, missed out on a lot when they were growing up because she worked on weekends and her husband on weekdays, so they didn't go many places together.

She said that recently a verse came to mind-"I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22)-and that it gave her an idea for her daughters, whom she is not close to and who are not walking with the Lord. One of her daughters has always been interested in fashion. And though that is not an interest of Louise's, when she learned of an upcoming fashion show nearby and that her daughter had no one to go with, she offered to go with her. Surprisingly, her daughter agreed.

Not long after, a new Nordstrom store opened up at the Plymouth Meeting Mall and announced a raffle, and Louise called her daughter and asked if she would like to go. Again the daughter said yes, and they got up at 5 a.m. to stand in a long line of people waiting to enter the contest for a $2,000 shopping spree, which, again, was not Louise's cup of tea. She told me it was kind of fun.

Who knows where this could lead?

Louise, as she related her tale, said she was not sure she was interpreting the Bible verse correctly. I, as I listened to her tale, was sure that I had never heard a better interpretation. The Lord had quickened that particular verse for a particular application. And now that application is part of my own spiritual legacy and is already stimulating me to wholesome thinking (2 Peter 3:1; Hebrews 10:24) regarding how I might love my own straying children better for the gospel sake.