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About the Writer:
Joanne
Sampl
Joanne Sampl

With grown step-children, college age sons and a self-employed husband, Joanne offers her time to God and to others. Her interest in writing and communications brought her back to college as an adult and through several reinventions of her own business and ministries. With time on her hands, she writes about God and life.

 

 

Fluff with a Deluxe Bath Towel

By Joanne Sampl

The consequence of not finishing the laundry can sometimes be the privilege of using the last clean towel in the linen cabinet. I recently became aware of my incomplete task one morning while dashing to the shower. From the far reaching depths of the untidy closet came a relic of the past. It was once a gorgeous, thick, bright pink bath towel. It was one of four given to me as a wedding present almost fifteen years ago. Somehow, this one escaped the tattering of teenagers and pool parties. It was only slightly faded from the hundreds of washings it endured through the years.

I felt like a princess as I wrapped up in it. Yes, it was still warm and soft. It wasn’t as big as I remembered, but I prefer not to focus on my own size differences of fifteen years gone by either. But, the label still boldly pronounced its value: Deluxe.

As I placed the damp towel on the rack, my mind splashed with the real value of that gift. It was given to me by a dear friend who was a single mother at the same time I was. I knew she didn’t have as much money as she had expenses, but she was so excited and happy for me that I was marrying a Christian man, she wanted to buy me something nice. She knew that my “bargain basement” side would always over power my “your worth it” side to go out and buy myself anything as nice as these towels. I treasured her sacrificial gift then, and even more so now. I haven’t heard from her in over ten years.

Proverbs 18:16 says “A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great.” Just digging out that old, wonderful towel given to me with joy and love so many years ago still opens my heart towards my distant friend. I wonder how she is. I wonder where she is. But, most importantly, I wonder if she received as much of a blessing giving these “deluxe” bath towels with such sacrifice and love. I wonder where God has taken her to continue her faith journey with Him.

While we celebrate Easter, and think about the Gift Jesus gave us on the Cross, I am so curious about the “Presence of the Great” that Jesus experienced. To be in the Father’s presence again after being away for so long must have been an incredible reunion. And because of the Resurrection of Easter, I can hardly wait for my own turn to be wrapped up in the arms of my Savior someday – feeling like a princess – without the fluff but with all the love!

 

 

Copyright © April 3, 2007 – Joanne Sampl. All rights reserved.

 

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