Dear Sisters,
Ever thought about goodness? Does it seem like one of the more mundane fruit of the Spirit? Not so, says editor Rebekah Montgomery in For Goodness Sake.
We’re praying for you!
Linda Evans Shepherd Publisher
and Rebekah Montgomery: Editor
P.S. Come meet Linda Evans Shepherd and picnic with a room full of Christian women authors at the Christian Book Expo, March 21st in Dallas Texas. For info, go to: www.AuthorPicnic.com
P.S.S. You are invited to a Chocolate Party Weekend in Burleson Texas, April 17th and 18th with Linda and Team Destiny. For your fill at our chocolate buffet, go to: www.DestinyConference.com.
P.S.S.S. It's a TEA PARTY! Our new episode just up on the online television show, Cooking Up Wonders, with Linda Evans Shepherd & Penny Carlavato on www.WebTV4Women.TV. In this third episode, Tea Party Wonders, Linda and Penny stir up make tea sandwiches for a tea party.
For Goodness Sake
By Rebekah Montgomery
Paulette rode the same rural school bus as I did. It was common to see her standing in the snow waiting to board, coatless with naked feet thrust into mismatched shoes, her dirty auburn hair whipping across her shoulders and small, freckled face. One of preschool-aged brothers, barefoot, dancing foot-to-foot in the snow, would often be waiting beside her.
When she got on the bus, Paulette’s sour, unwashed odor subjugated the smell of wet woolen coats, gym sneakers, and hormonal adolescents. As she walked down the aisle searching for an empty seat and a friendly face, kids leaned away from her as if they were afraid her very touch would contaminate them.
This tattered little waif barely resembled the child Paulette became at school. Like Superman who changed from a mild-mannered reporter to superhero, Paulette transformed from ragamuffin to schoolgirl. At school her hair was combed and secured with a bow. She wore tidy clothing and matching shoes. On the playground, she had a coat, hat, mittens, leggings, and boots.
The perpetrators of this miracle makeover were two elderly first grade teachers. They recognized the helplessness of the small 6-year-old named Paulette. They knew she could do nothing to improve herself without the aid of an adult. Daily they whisked Paulette into the girls locker room where she could take a hot shower, get a shampoo, and put on a complete change of clothing from the skin outward — all supplied out of their own pocket.
The school board knew nothing of their activities; the principal looked the other way. These teachers were acting on approval from a Higher Authority: Jesus approved their curriculum. They were living life on the precision edge of righteousness. They were living goodness.
Gracious Goodness
True goodness isn’t simple niceness. The Bible’s version of goodness describes good deeds that are not random but pointed and personal. It defines goodness using the same term as one would use to describe the razor-sharp honing of a knife blade. It’s going the extra mile for the person in need. In other words, the Bible’s definition of goodness is living and behaving with a cutting edge of righteous action.
Goodness requires courage, wisdom, initiative, a generous heart, and sometimes, precision direction from God. It is opening the car door for someone whose arms are full. Goodness is providing babysitting for a sick mother. Goodness is bringing the favorite food to a shut in.
Some give to get. That’s not goodness; that’s greed. Some give out of pure love for the individual; that’s goodness.
