Joyce Who Has a Heart for Children
On Saturday afternoon, our six-year-old grandson and I enjoyed an outing to downtown Gainesboro. One of our several stops was the Front Porch Mercantile. I always enjoy stopping by this combination antique store and flower shop. When our grandson and I had visited all of the places in town that I thought he would like, I asked if he wanted to go to the Front Porch and he said he did. He found a doll that he thought his older sister would like and suggested that I buy it for her for Christmas. He enjoyed seeing collectible Hot Wheels cars, a miniature room, an extensive collection of handmade dollhouse-sized furniture, and a cute collection of mouse figurines in various poses.
It is always a joy to visit with the shop owner Joyce. She is an artist and a smart collector of interesting antiques for the store, and she obviously loves what she does. I love her enthusiasm. She almost always has something new to show me. On Saturday, she was excited about the fresh flowers she had ordered for Valentine’s Day and showed me the large cooler which was packed. She brought out a new kind of greenery and some unusual pink flowers, telling me that one of them was from Brazil (but I have forgotten which one). She invited me to the backroom where she was arranging a pretty bouquet of roses and carnations. What a pretty combination of rose and lavender. I watched as she added a spray of the new pink flowers. You can see them on the left side of the bouquet in this photo. Aren’t they a beautiful color of pink?
Also on the table were several bud vases waiting for Valentine flowers. They had small stuffed animals attached to them. Joyce said that people had ordered them to be delivered to individual children during the school day on Valentine’s Day. However, Joyce told me that she can’t stand the thought of children feeling left out on Valentine’s Day. On the floor near the table were more bud vases and animals. She is planning to deliver bouquets, not only to the children whose relatives have ordered them, but also to children who would not be receiving them otherwise.
Joyce invited our grandson to pick out a free toy from the box of toys she keeps under the checkout table for visiting children to go through. He was excited about his treasure.
Joyce makes children feel special. Thank you for making your children feel special every day.
And they were bringing children to Him
so that He might touch them;
but the disciples rebuked them.
But when Jesus saw this,
He was indignant and said to them,
“Permit the children to come to Me;
do not hinder them;
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Truly I say to you,
whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it at all.”
And He took them in His arms
and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.
Mark 10:13-16
Click here for your daily dose of Winter Cheer! Simply scroll down below the social media links to find the most recent video.