Southern hospitality

Sheila taught me a lot about edifying one another and the importance of Church members caring for one another and helping each other out. I was able to see how, during the women’s Bible study, everybody genuinely cared about their sister’s life and problems, and all the members prayed for one another. I also had the chance to watch people and see how they behaved with their children and how they lived together as a family. I hadn't a clue how to behave as a godly woman. A woman, once saved is clean and wholesome and lives a clean and holesome life. I had no past experience or plumb line to help with this and so I watched everybody very closely both at home in Dundalk Baptist Church and there in the US. They were a great help to me.
 Remembering to give thanks before a meal was a problem for me, as I was not used to it. The first Sunday I stayed in the U.S. I had dinner in a couple’s house. Lots of people were present and when we had all sat down Clarke had the bright idea of asking me to give thanks! I had never given thanks at a meal before and I was a bit nervous. From what I had noticed, people would take ages thanking God for their morning, weather, company, health and food amongst other things and so I felt intimidated to say the least! I started by saying ‘Dear God, thank you for this food’; I paused and died several times over during a very long five seconds before saying ‘Amen’. The only other thing I remember was an eight year old girl gasping ‘Oh!’, her hand flying up to her mouth to stop something else from escaping and her mother giving her a sharp look! Probably the shortest thanksgiving in history! If memory serves right, Clarke didn’t ask me a second time!