A Must-Read

Maid:  Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive is a must-read for everyone.  Especially for those who don't really understand Luke 6:17-49.  This book has nothing to do with God, faith or religion on the surface.  I don't think it even mentions God's name even a curse word!  BUT if one has ever sneered at someone who has purchased "extra" things with an EBT card, or turned away when one saw someone asking for change on the street, it is a must-read and is trying to follow a life that follows Jesus, one should REALLY read this book.  I finished reading it just after I had finished writing my sermon and so I mention it a little in my sermon. 
When my father lost his job when my brother and I were little my mom put an ad in the paper to clean houses.  Even though he found a new job in a few weeks, my mom kept cleaning for twenty years.  And it is HARD HARD work.  I remember going with her on some jobs in the summer.  I remember my mom being able to beat my brother's athletic friends in arm-wrestling because she had built such strength during hours of house work.  I remember her knees and how she had to give up her favorite hobby of gardening because they wore out after years of scrubbing floors.  I remember some of her clients who would hide change to make sure she was honest.  She would always put the found money on the kitchen table, and add some her own when that happened.  And I remember, fortunately, more kind clients who treated her with the dignity that everyone deserves.
This woman's story is not unusual, as there are so many who are working hard for hardly any pay.  She tells an incredible story here and one that we all need to take to heart.