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| Nancy |
This lovely bracelet was born out of some unique circumstances. Here at First Baptist Church in Elkton, South Dakota, our ladies meet each month for what we call WOW Night. This is our Bible study/get out of the house for some fun opportunity! Our theme for the 2011/12 season is “Color” which means every month the food, the décor, the games, etc. are all done in the color of the month!
We like to mix things up a bit, so we added a new segment to this year’s WOW called “Paint with the Colors God Gave You” -- using your God-given talents, interests, hobbies, and instincts to reach out in love to those around you, sharing with them the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ! We are given an idea/challenge each month to try something out of our ordinary. For instance, October’s challenge was related to breast cancer; November was brown, so we were invited to take a “brown” baked good to someone. We kicked off our WOW season in September; yellow was our color! School buses? Sunflowers? Back-to-school?…..plus the first ever “Paint With the Colors God Gave You.” And the theme of color….hmmmm…what to do…..waiting for the God Idea to come along, not just a Good Idea.
We like to mix things up a bit, so we added a new segment to this year’s WOW called “Paint with the Colors God Gave You” -- using your God-given talents, interests, hobbies, and instincts to reach out in love to those around you, sharing with them the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ! We are given an idea/challenge each month to try something out of our ordinary. For instance, October’s challenge was related to breast cancer; November was brown, so we were invited to take a “brown” baked good to someone. We kicked off our WOW season in September; yellow was our color! School buses? Sunflowers? Back-to-school?…..plus the first ever “Paint With the Colors God Gave You.” And the theme of color….hmmmm…what to do…..waiting for the God Idea to come along, not just a Good Idea.
Did you ever get a wordless book from your Sunday School teacher when you were a child? That seemed to go with the idea of colors and back-to-school. “Let’s go with it!” we decided. Then, “What are grown women exactly supposed to do with a wordless book?” Getting closer….Then it hit us: a wordless bracelet! Something to wear and share! Much time went into designing, purchasing, and creating a beautiful bracelet for each of our WOW Nighters. It was a big splurge for us, but one we felt we were supposed to do.
At the same time as all of this was being prepared, something more serious was going on in our church. One of our dear members, a lady named Nancy, had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Nancy had been a faithful, loyal member for many years! Her illness would most likely prevent her from being at our WOW nights this season, and we would miss her sense of humor and adventure, her true blue approach to life, and her generosity to everyone she knew. Nancy was also an artist. As I thought about “Painting,” she of course came to mind. When I dropped off Lisa (my partner in the bracelet-making adventure) at her home one evening, I said to her, “I see Nancy’s paintings being a part of our ‘Paint’ theme…not sure how, but I see it.”
Within a matter of days Nancy’s daughter called to say her Mom had gone home to Heaven. We were shocked and saddened, of course! We weren’t ready for her to go; but she was at peace with passing on, and she was ready. She had lived a full life, knew where she was headed, and had no fear of death. In fact, we visited her the day before she passed away and I asked her this question: “If you could paint anything today, what would you paint?” Her reply?... "I would paint a picture of Jesus’ arms reaching down out of Heaven to gather me and my arms reaching back up to His.” What intense faith! What beautiful trust in our Heavenly Father! What peace at a time so important!
It was exactly one week later that our first WOW Night of the season began. We introduced our new segment “Paint With the Colors God Gave You” with one of Nancy’s beautiful paintings being displayed next to the bracelets we would be giving out. We wanted to feel she was still there at each WOW night, so we named our bracelet the “Nancy Bracelet.” As the women of our church wear our bracelets, we are reminded of a saint who lived with us just a short time ago, and who now lives in a beautiful place that we sincerely wish those who we know and love will also go.
At the same time as all of this was being prepared, something more serious was going on in our church. One of our dear members, a lady named Nancy, had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Nancy had been a faithful, loyal member for many years! Her illness would most likely prevent her from being at our WOW nights this season, and we would miss her sense of humor and adventure, her true blue approach to life, and her generosity to everyone she knew. Nancy was also an artist. As I thought about “Painting,” she of course came to mind. When I dropped off Lisa (my partner in the bracelet-making adventure) at her home one evening, I said to her, “I see Nancy’s paintings being a part of our ‘Paint’ theme…not sure how, but I see it.”
Within a matter of days Nancy’s daughter called to say her Mom had gone home to Heaven. We were shocked and saddened, of course! We weren’t ready for her to go; but she was at peace with passing on, and she was ready. She had lived a full life, knew where she was headed, and had no fear of death. In fact, we visited her the day before she passed away and I asked her this question: “If you could paint anything today, what would you paint?” Her reply?... "I would paint a picture of Jesus’ arms reaching down out of Heaven to gather me and my arms reaching back up to His.” What intense faith! What beautiful trust in our Heavenly Father! What peace at a time so important!
It was exactly one week later that our first WOW Night of the season began. We introduced our new segment “Paint With the Colors God Gave You” with one of Nancy’s beautiful paintings being displayed next to the bracelets we would be giving out. We wanted to feel she was still there at each WOW night, so we named our bracelet the “Nancy Bracelet.” As the women of our church wear our bracelets, we are reminded of a saint who lived with us just a short time ago, and who now lives in a beautiful place that we sincerely wish those who we know and love will also go.
Lisa and I were happily surprised when women started falling in love with the bracelet….so now our journey has begun…..
