Doing the best we can with what we have.

This week Ron shared with us a message inspired by the thoughts of Dorothy Shurtleff.  Many in the church remember Dorothy very well, as she had been part of our fellowship for over 60 years.   I knew her only for a few years, very little when considering her 99 years on earth.  The hymns she chose to leave for us to consider speak passionately of her trust in God’s help, and her anticipation of heaven.

While she lived the mortal life, she spoke of “doing the best she could with what she had”.  As Pastor Ron noted, this was not a statement of poverty, but of the riches in Christ and her effort to use them in His service. 

One of the windows at church was provided as a memorial to Cecelia Daratt Smith.  Like Dorothy, her memorial states “She hath done what she could”.  Cecelia was born in 1828 one of 9 recorded children of Isaac and Joanne LaDue Daratt. She had 4 sisters and 4 brothers.  She was married to John W. Smith (1797-1847) in 1842.  She was interred in Union Hill Cemetery on her death in 1892. 

Scripture records other stories of offering what we have to the glory of God’s kingdom:

Mark 14 tells the story of Jesus in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper.  A woman (her identity is not clearly known, some feel to be Mary Magdelene) anointed Jesus’ feet with a very expensive perfume. While condemned for her wastefulness by others, Jesus commended her gracious offering stating “she did what she could”.  

John 6 includes the well-known story of the boy who offered five small barley loaves and two small fish, which in Jesus’ hands, fed about five thousand, with twelve baskets of left over pieces.

Luke 21 tells the story of the widow who gave 2 copper coins, “more than all the others” in giving all she had to live on.

I’m challenged this week to consider if I am really doing the best I can with what God has put in my life.  Perhaps financially, but also in the gifts and talents each of us have been given.   As I consider what I have, I encourage you to think about what is in your hands as well.
Kathy