a letter to learn from: refresh

"For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother,

because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you."

Philemon 7

When I am on my deathbed--wherever and whenever that may be--I highly doubt I am going to be thinking about the clean floor in my kitchen or that promotion I was working towards. I will not be wishing I had organized that hall closet after all or had lost those additional ten pounds. Nah, by that point those things will be in their proper places--perhaps the place they should have always been. 

This is how I strive to live every day--with the end in mind. 

It is not that I think about death all the time, but I do spend my days praying that I will think more about life and what life really means. 

I love Paul's words to Philemon, I especially love the word refresh. 

Who doesn't long for refreshment? 

A fresh wind. A nudge of encouragement. A nap on the beach. 

It is in the times of refreshment that we draw the strength to keep our heads in the game and keep on running hard after God. After our marriages. After our children. 

Philemon 7 is what I hope and pray will be said of me. 

When my end comes, 

when my appointed time to trade the flesh of earth for my celestial body finally arrives, 

I pray that those whose paths have crossed my own will stand beside my grave and say,

"My heart was refreshed through Tiffany. Christ in Tiffany spoke encouragement and value to my soul. I will go and do the same." 

As the quiet of the morning gives way to the busyness of the day ahead, I am praying that you will seize the opportunity to love well. 

I pray that I will not hold back. 

I pray that we will seek not our own needs, but rather to meet the needs of others and to refresh the hearts of the saints living and breathing alongside us.
I pray that wherever I go and whatever I do, I will leave the fragrance of Christ lingering in my path. 

The Spirit of God does not encourage us for our own benefit. 

He does not show you mercy so you can hoard it. 

I have not been forgiven so I can go free. 

No, no. 

I have been encouraged so that I too may go and encourage. 

I have been shown mercy so that I may go and do likewise. 

I have been forgiven so that I may forgive. 

We have been refreshed so that we too, can go and refresh. 

Share the living water with those that are parched and withering. 

May it be said of you, may it be said of me, 

"The hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you." 

refresh.

tiffany