It wouldn’t hurt to have a little positive news, would it? Our friend, Navigator Debbie Friley, lives in the Tampa/St Petersburg area of Florida. In addition to being a marvelous evangelist and first-class disciple-maker, she’s also an artist, including photography and calligraphy. My favorite reads:
You always have time for that which you put first!
I apply that to daily time with God and exercise. But this is about another use of Debbie’s calligraphy. She put together packets of 12 of her cards and gave them to essential workers in her area. Here’s a sample:
Her effort caught the interest of the Tampa Bay Times on May 1. Here are some snippets from that article:
St. Petersburg mission worker and artist Debbie Friley was wondering how she could help the people working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. She was talking to a friend about it, who brought up how much people love the calligraphy greeting cards with inspirational messages that Friley has been making for 30 years.
After praying about which ones to choose out of about 800 variations, Friley said she selected 12 that she hoped would be most encouraging. A group of six friends spent a weekend in April on her large screened-in porch — while keeping six feet apart — assembling the cards into 400 packets. She called them “Life-Giving Words.”
As of Thursday, she only had about 70 packets left. They have been distributed to hospitals, postal workers, grocery store workers and sanitation workers.
Debbie, reflecting on the experience, shared:
Wow! What a great team God provided to make this possible! Not only did we have a great team putting all the cards together but people still keep coming to get cards to pass out! What an answer to prayer! And we made the online Newspaper! We are hoping it will “spur on others” to also give to those that have put themselves in harm’s way for all of us! Please pray that all who continue to receive these cards will know how appreciated they are as well as have their hearts stirred to seek God when they read the cards & the scriptures penned on the letters. May God put many questions in their hearts and send His ambassadors to give them His answers!
It’s a wonderful story, isn’t it? And Debbie is a good example.
Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. (Matthew 5.16, MSG)
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. (Matthew 14.17, 18, NIV)