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Lord, Teach Me to be Generous

I am blessed with many friends, but I received a double dose of generosity from two special ladies this week. Joan Moore and Pat Dupre are two friends that I love spending time with. They each give of themselves in different, but the sweetest of ways and I am blessed to know them both. The Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola describes it best in his prayer for generosity:

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve You as You deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do Your will.

First, Joan came by my house at my request to help me make a few decisions with our current Decorating Project. The gift she gave me was to spend most of the day helping me see our house from a different perspective. Joan is classy, is one of the most stylish people I know and has a heart that is as kind as she is beautiful. She reminded me that architecture and lighting can be the focal point of a room. Art painted by a child can be more valuable than a gilded mirror, and if there was one single thing that Joan didn’t like in my house, I still don’t know what it was. She makes suggestions without an ounce of criticism. Because of my friend, Joan, changes are ahead and they are much less costly than expected. She gave and did not count the cost.

Lord, Teach Me to Be Generous

The only picture I have of her was made by a cell phone.


The next day, I traveled south to Foley to have lunch with Pat. We met at the cutest little tea room and had a delicious lunch with tea and scones.

Copper Kettle Tea Bar

The Copper Kettle Tea Bar in Foley, AL

Hot Tea

Lemon & Lavender Scone

In the course of our conversation, she shared with me that a neighbor had to have open-heart surgery the day before. She dropped off chicken salad to the family that morning before meeting me. After lunch, she tried again, to pay for my lunch. Next time, Pat. Maybe. Instead, she graciously went with me to take pictures of  Cozi Rosie. It can be a little intimidating the first time you do this, because people want to know why in the world you are photographing a dress form. But, she was a trooper. She even let me take her picture with Rosie.

Double Dose of Generosity

As we were leaving she said she needed to get home to meet a neighbor who’s dog she was keeping. Pat has a heart of gold and is always helping someone. She has likely been a giver her whole life, but I can’t help but wonder if she learned best by receiving. A few years ago when a F5 tornado ripped through Hueytown, AL, she lost everything but her car. She still talks today about the generosity she received during that time.

With these two ladies as examples this week, I can only pray:

Lord, teach me to be generous…

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