Life More Abundant

Painting of Lori following our trip to Uganda

With an unexpected phone call and a home visit, I’ve witnessed in awe God bringing to fruition a dream He birthed in the heart of my daughter more than a year ago in Uganda.  There she fell in love with children in a fresh and living way.   There she began to entertain becoming a foster parent.  And now after training and months and months of waiting, Lori shares her well-prepared table with a little boy God rescued and brought to her doorstep.  This week began like no other as she packed a school lunch, bought school supplies, and decorated a bedroom with love, communicating sensitivity to a young man’s preferences, valuing him in partnership with God. 

One of many tables Lori has spread for guests

Just a couple of weeks ago she filled vases with flowers, warmed the room with fragrant candles and glowing hearth, and spread out a feast of appetizers and dessert for close friends.  She did this in part because she enjoys entertaining but also to provide opportunity for a friend to market the silver jewelry she sells.  For a number of years God has cultivated the gift of hospitality in Lori.  From dinner parties, to brunches, to costume parties, to showers, she has opened her home to many a friend and family member in order to nourish them gourmet style.  Not only does she express her creativity in the kitchen, but in the unique combination of ambience and playfully light conversation over tantalizing meals.  She enjoys variety and introducing people to new foods found in all cultures, all served pretty as a picture in her own characteristic style.  All this aside, I believe there has been a longing stirring in her heart to sit across the table from a child and pour in life – her life and the life of God in her, day in and day out.

Fall Decorations at Lori's

My Sweet Daughter Lori and I

To better acquaint you the reader with my daughter, she has never been able to walk past a stray animal.  Early on in life she hoped to be a veterinarian, but due to allergies elected a different career path.  Nonetheless, her current menagerie includes two rescued pups: Ben (short for Benjamin Franklin) and Lexie (short for Alexander Graham Bell), a cat with dermatitis named Einstein, a widowed canary named Bonnie, and a horse named Molly.  A champion for justice, she opted to pursue a law degree long before most students know what on earth they want to do in life.  Undeterred from dreaming big she hoped one day to be the first female president of the United States.  Her life in brief review amazes me as I see things “coming together” like the elements of a Renaissance mural.  I begin to see and appreciate with wonder the layering of fine details by the Master.  Her preferences, desires, bents, and strengths mingled with a zeal and gift for sharing life around the table with those she loves have congealed in Lori in this season of becoming a foster Mom.  Years of preparation have equipped her for the role and stoked in her a fire that burns to live for the good of those less fortunate that they too might live blessed.

Lori and the Ugandan Child Who Won Her Heart

Merriam Webster defines hospitable as follows: 

“1a : given to generous and cordial reception of guests b : promising or suggesting

  generous and cordial welcome c : offering a pleasant or sustaining environment

2: readily receptive : open…”

This describes the evolution I’ve witnessed in my daughter from loving to lavishly entertain guests, to opening her heart to offer a pleasant sustaining environment, particularly to one who might not otherwise experience consistent sustenance in all its forms.  To me this epitomizes a table well prepared by one eager to sacrifice and invest wisely, one who has chosen to practice true religion (spoken of in James 1).  A table designed not to impress or purely to meet a personal need for fellowship, rather to foster an exchange of love, hope, laughter, security.  A table promoting and empowering life to the fullest!!

Lori with Lexie and Ben

As this year draws to a close, I am extremely thankful that my daughter Lori has been granted her heart’s desire and that her life will never be the same for the decision she has made to know, love, and express God’s favor to a very special young man.  I pray he is filled out of the overflow of her heart, and blessed to be set in our family to be unconditionally loved and prized. 

Lori and nephew, Baby Jax

Prepared Along With Lori to Love,

Grammy