Living My Faith

Living my Faith

Recently John and I vacationed in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This was our first trip there and I just fell in love with the people. We went out to dinner the first night and at the end of our meal our waitress said goodbye with a "Lord bless you." Wow, I never heard that in New Jersey and I liked it! It seemed like every shop we went in, every attraction we visited, people just shared their faith with their words and the products they sold. They didn't seem concerned at all about "political correctness." This was such a warm and friendly place, a place you wouldn't be afraid to share your faith or bring your family. We visited Dollywood and inside the park was a chapel that held Sunday service every week!

Here in the Northeast we don't see of that kind of display of faith much...Oh, it happens, but much less frequently. I wonder why? Why don't we - I - openly infuse all my speech with my faith? Am I afraid? Am I ashamed?

I've had the privilege to have lunch with a dear 90-year-old saint...Margie. She likes to ask the waitress how we can pray for her and then always leaves some kind of a tract with the tip. What a lovely way to share the love of the Lord. This was always the habit of Margie and her husband when they would go out for dinner and she continues to do so now that he has gone home to be with the Lord. Who knows how many lives have been impacted by this one simple act of faith?

Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

1 Peter 4:16 "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."

Luke 9:26 "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

I don't need to be afraid and I shouldn't be ashamed. God will give me power through faith, even if I meet with opposition. Jesus Himself tells me I shouldn't be ashamed because there are consequences if I am. I don't need a soap box and I don't have to preach. All I need is a love for Jesus and for others...and maybe a few "Lord bless you's" or whatever way I might choose to share my faith with those I don't know.

Mary Ann Kiernan and John have been married for 35 years, have 2 grown/married sons and are the proud grandparents of two grandsons. She serves at America's Keswick as a Biblical Counselor and also as Intake Coordinator for the Colony of Mercy. Her life verse is Romans 8:28.