Sweet Refreshment

Don't you love refreshments? Most successful events end with food – it just seems to bring people together and encourage fellowship. Dennis and I were invited to a wedding one time, and his immediate response was, "Who's catering the reception?"

God calls us to be "refreshing" to others. At the close of some days, I'm ashamed to say I don't recall being so ... refreshing. I can, however, think of those who are best described as a "breath of fresh air." Proverbs 27:9 says, "Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man's friend gives delight by hearty counsel." We all are prone to a bad day [once in a while] and can even justify our case of being ornery, but that's just pitiful. Read this passage by George Eliot, which beautifully defines a safe and supportive friend: "Oh, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away." Now, that is a friend! How delightful when our words are heard with the heart of a faithful friend! That's exactly how we should listen -- with a heart that understands painful circumstances often governing the words of another soul. We are called to be that ointment, that perfume, that delight to another heart that needs to feel the Sweetness of God Himself. Sweet refreshments ... sounds like a great menu for the day!