One of the things I enjoy about finding a new-to-me small business is that I generally get to spend some time chatting with the owner. The service industry is deeply embedded in my family’s DNA and so I enjoy meeting others who are happy in their jobs. This week we found yet another of those marvelous people.
My husband’s sister has a very serious form of cancer and will be going through yet another round of chemotherapy soon. Because Sandy lives on the West Coast we cannot offer comfort and cooked meals as we would if we lived closer to her yet we wanted to give her something that would remind her of our love and prayers for her.
In that endeavor I searched the internet for gifts particularly for chemotherapy patients. I found a website that listed favorite gifts chemo patients had received that made them feel special, loved, and comforted. One of the ideas we picked up was that the patient’s skin is easily irritated and that they are usually very cold all the time. With that knowledge I started looking to see what fibers were best for warm and soft clothing.
We found that Alpaca fleece was amazingly soft and warm. Neil and I also wanted to send something from Cape May County because Sandy has visited us here. With those two things in mind I perused the web for locally owned Alpaca clothing stores and I found exactly what we were looking for.
We made a full day of our adventure to get this special gift of love for Sandy and so on our way down Route 9 we stopped for lunch at a favorite spot and then moved from there to the gift store at the Alpaca farm. The owner greeted us at the house and took us into her shop. What a marvelous space it was too. Many of the display shelves were made by her husband who is a woodworker like Neil. There was just the sweetest, warmest, comfort in that shop and I felt the love there immediately.
The owner spent a great deal of time explaining the differences in fleeces and softness. Having helped others seeking soft clothing for their loved ones going through treatment she then brought out some items she felt would be the comforting wraps we had inquired about. What a joy it was to have such personalized service, which comes from a dedicated business owner manning her own shop. To make the shopping trip even more special, she had a Bible verse on the wall speaking about God’s love for His animals.
As we began discussing cancer and how faith can give hope in the darkest hours she revealed that she too was a Christian and acknowledged that those of us who believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus for our salvation are so blessed by spending our remaining years here in His presence and then knowing afterward we will be with Him forevermore.
I am certain that one of the things that makes believing Christians perform our jobs with joy is that we are doing our work as if every task was for the glory and honor of Jesus – because indeed it really is. Every comfort we provide, every smile we give, every word of encouragement to another here on earth is giving glory to God for our thankfulness of His graciousness to provide a way to be reconciled with Him after we have sinned against His will and have blackened our souls. We are renewed through Jesus’ death taking our punishment upon Himself and for His resurrection.
How glorious is our God! And that is what Christians are to be about – glorifying God and showing our gratefulness for His mercy. What a blessing to my heart to greet and know another Christian that loves the Lord. I found a sister I didn’t yet know I had and I was so excited to know her better.
Have you ever met a new person and knew that if you sat down to tea and spoke with each other you could go on for hours because of your similar souls? That is what this encounter was – a meeting of sisters with a great love for their Father.
It was a wonderful experience on a lovely sunlit day and Neil and I left with our perfect purchase, warmth in our hearts, and an excitement of having a gift of love for his sister.
We prayed over the soft Alpaca hooded wrap, enclosing a card telling Sandy of our love, and mailed it off to the West Coast. A day that began with the heart-wrenching story of cancer treatments ended beautifully enclosed in the love of a sister in Christ.
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
