Devotion for today:
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. Albert Einstein
Matthew 25:34-36…Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world: For I was hungry, and you
gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you
took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you
visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. …”
My cousin Kathy died on Thursday. She was one of my
favorite cousins, and that is saying something, because I truly have many, many
cousins. Kathy was special in many ways.
Being an Army
dependent, I did not grow up knowing my family very well. To remedy that, my
mother, sister and I would spend the summers in the Pittsburgh town where most
of my relatives lived. It was fun to learn what went on in big extended
families, but I always felt a little lost, a little like an outsider. They were
all so close to each other and shared birthday parties, school activities and
holidays. I saw them once or twice a year. My cousin Kathy, however, never let my
loneliness last for too long. Although
she had a world of her own friends and close relatives, she would take me into
her life every summer. She would invite me to all her activities and have me
spend endless days on her front porch playing jacks, marbles, or making up
stories about her favorite TV dog, Lassie. Kathy had a good heart and I
benefited greatly from it. At an early age, she was living the command of God
to take in the stranger.
In her adult life, Kathy spent many years caring for her
ill mother, even though she was married and had two children. When her mother
passed, Kathy began caring not only for her father, but for her father-in-law at
the same time. She and her husband built a wing on their home so the two “Dads”
could live their last years in comfort and care. I don’t know too many people like Kathy. It is
difficult in today's world to give up everything just to make sure the lives of
aging parents are comfortable, safe and secure, yet that is what Kathy did. Kathy
never placed herself ahead of others. She saw Christ in the stranger, in the sick,
in the aged. When Christ called her home yesterday, I can picture Him saying to
her, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Now enter into My kingdom.”
May we all take a minute to learn from my cousin. God
will ask many things of us in this world, and some are just plain hard. Some we
may not want to do. But if we see Christ in others, and live to serve Christ in
others, we will have discovered what Kathy knew from a very early age… “Only a
life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
My dear cousin, may you rest in peace, you highly blessed
and favored daughter of God.
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