The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Our Pine Valley United Methodist Church UMW Common Threads Circle has made the news again! At a time when masks are in such high demand, they decided to start making masks for Hospice! And you know they are all made with pretty fabric and lots of love! Once again, showing the patients, families, and health care workers that we care about them and appreciate them! Pastor Tim mentioned a cousin in Rose Hill, NC who works at a small doctor’s office and they need masks, so our Common Threads Circle is busy making masks for them! I am so proud of them for seeing a need and acting on it! 1 John 3:17, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” They are showing the love of Christ!
Although the church building is closed, the church is not! Remember, in Pastor Tim’s online service Sunday, the church is a movement not a monument! We have no idea how our actions are affecting people! In these uncertain times, people are watching Christians and how we react. What is different about us? We should be showing others that we have hope! We have hope in Jesus! The ladies at home sewing these masks (and still working on pillowcases) are sewing seeds for God! During this tough time, God can bring about great change! The Holy Spirit is at work! Acts 2:1-4, 40-42, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them...With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
I received a Lower Cape Fear Hospice Foundation Fall 2019 newsletter and was pleasantly surprised to see the headline story! The title was, “Woman Made Thousands of Pillowcases to Bring Cheer to Patients. They were sharing the story of Sara Truesdale who died in September. In 2010, her husband was a patient at the Hospice Pavilion in Wilmington. “A group from Pine Valley United Methodist Church in Wilmington, Common Threads, makes pillowcases with bright butterflies for the patients at the care center, to lift their spirits and provide a personal touch, and Mr. Truesdale received one of their pillowcases.”
After her husband’s death, Mrs. Truesdale was interested in making cheerful pillowcases for patients in Brunswick County. She hadn’t made the pillowcases before, but she watched the Wilmington group making pillowcases. ‘And I said, ‘Well I can do that,’ she said recently. ‘I like creative things.’ Wanting the pillows to be bright and cheerful, she used fabric with butterfly patterns and added strips of bright fabric to the borders….She stayed in touch with the group in Wilmington, who were able to order fabric in bulk and provided some of the fabric for Mrs. Truesdales, pillowcases…..She also made pillowcases for members of the Armed Services receiving care in military hospitals, sending them as far away as Germany…..And many of her special pillow cases were designed specifically for children for the Ronald McDonald House.” She also made pillows and lap blankets for those in the nursing home and pillows for people to prop their elbows on or heart pillows for women who have had mastectomies….She would pray over each one and imagine who might be receiving it Each one was made with love. It brought her so much joy…” As we have been talking about serving and witnessing, I think Mrs. Truesdale found a mission and a purpose.
I cannot imagine how many stories like this are out there. Because PVUMC Common Threads Circle was willing to help Mrs. Truesdale, Hospice, and now a doctor’s office, so many more people are reached. All in the name of Jesus! These tangible gifts bring comfort to countless patients and families with Lower Cape Fear. I am finding that it is not unusual to be out and about in Wilmington and start hearing about PVUMC! Or if someone asks me where I go to church and I say, PVUMC, they have heard wonderful things about it. Even when the doors are closed! We all have opportunities to sew seeds from our homes! What can you do to sew seeds for God? A note to someone? A phone call to someone? Whose day can you make today?
