As we geared up to make our 15-20 minute drive to our downtown meeting spot this morning, the rains fell off and on. More on than off actually. In fact, about 3:00 a.m. this morning, the rains came down pretty hard. My Cornhuskers have been losing in pretty impressive fashion the past few weeks and yesterday they experienced their worst home loss since 1958 , so it was only fitting to wake up to rain this morning. Now last week I mentioned how blessed we've been in this regard. Rain is good. But not when you are trying to serve a nice Sunday dinner to 150 or 200 folks on a given Sunday afternoon. And not when you are trying to meet those folks where they hang out most days. Outside. In a park. In downtown Omaha. That's when rain is not good. So today? Looked like it was going to be not good. As we loaded up and prepared to head out, the rain started to come down a little steadier. As we got about halfway to our normal spot? The rains picked up. As I looked out and around at the skies? Didn't look good. At all. We were pretty socked in and had some fairly ominous skies pretty much as far as we could see in most directions. And we have no protection for the serving tables. No type of canopy or anything of that nature. Each time I think about going out and getting one, I ask myself why? Do we not have faith that we can do this thing without cover? Does God not have us covered? Have we been rained out yet? Nope. Sure haven't. So would today be the day?
As we continued making our way downtown, the skies were really not on our side. But strangely enough, as we pulled up to our corner a funny thing happened. Now I'm telling you that if I were to ever question God on this whole outdoor ministry thing as far as weather was concerned, this would be the day. For sure. But as we pulled up? We get out of the van and it's still spitting a little. But then it broke. And stopped. For about an hour and a half, the rain stopped. It was overcast, a little chilly and definitely damp. But the rain stopped. God put out a cover for us. We prayed all the way down that he would let us get in and out and have a Sunday to remember. Of course He did. Doesn't he always?
And today was another birthday Sunday. We were able to celebrate birthdays in the park for those having October birthdays. May seem like not so big of a deal, but the folks on that corner sure seem to like it a lot. Heidi is a lady that we've known for a while now. Turned 49 on October 9th. Today she got to celebrate her birthday with a piece of cake and lots of friends. And lots of love. Because God was there. Blessing us with cover and love. Amazin'!
I was talking to another friend today. Ugu is his name. We've only known Ugu for a few months now. Shorter fellow, from Nigeria I believe. Thick accent. Always smiling. Just a great guy to chat with. After we put out the clothing and things, he came over with a pink stocking cap on. Getting a little colder here with each passing day. I kind of smiled and still do at the thought of him with that pink stocking cap on. Lots of these guys make me smile. In fact as I made my way through the line today greeting all of our friends, I was reminded of how these folks are generally in good spirits on Sundays. And they certainly have reason to not be. Lord knows they have reason. By choice or by circumstance, they have reason. But for the most part, as I have the luxury of making my way through the line and greeting each and every one of them, I almost invariably get a great handshake, a warm hug and a smile. And with the weather today and the possibility that we might get rained on, I wasn't even sure how many people would be there. All of 'em I guess. That line was long! And that was a good thing.
Back to Ugu. As he approached me in his pink stocking cap, he thanked me for all we do. All of us. As he was talking to me, I looked to the area where people are getting plates of food and I see people on the serving side of the table, shoulder to shoulder. It was so weird. It's like they compete to get a spot to serve. And most of them are there to serve because God told 'em, to. He's amazing like that. So as Ugu is talking to me, he thanks me repeatedly. As I always try to do, I tell him not to thank me, but offer thanks to God. Without Him, none of what we do is possible. None of it. And his response to me? I have to paraphrase here and I wish I didn't have to, because Ugu said it so eloquently. He said to me "Dave, you are Him. Because He created you in His image, you are Him. And you are here serving us. You are an image of God in what you do and how you show up every week and serve us, the poor and homeless." What do you do when someone says something like that to you? Besides being humbled? Beyond your imagination? I just smiled really, really big inside and thanked him. Because that is what it is all about. That someone could see God, through one of us, even on a cold, overcast, rainy and dreary afternoon. Even in the midst of what I imagine to be one of the more trying times in Ugu's life? That for a moment on a downtown corner, there would be a bit of brightness that would shine through one of the many people that serve in His name. And there was enough light to brighten that corner from about noon until around 1:30.
And then God said pack it up boys and girls. And the rains started up again slowly. We got our wonderful trailer packed up and I thank God for blessing us with that. What a blessing! And as we stood in the rain chatting with our friend Bill, who always makes sure to show up and hang around until the end, I was reminded once again how blessed we are to fellowship with our friends each Sunday. I am reminded of this often, but when we are standing on a corner and the rain is coming down and we're in no big hurry to leave? He's got us covered. He gave us an hour and a half to do His work today. I wanted more. Don't we always want more? He gives us just what we need. Always. People might think I'm crazy. But I know that He stopped the rain today so we could do His work. The look in Bill's eyes was priceless. We told him it rained on us all the way from our house to the downtown area. It stopped when we got there. It started up again when His work was completed. At least for this day, for us. What an amazing God we serve. Let me say that again. What an amazing God we serve. Thanks God for that window of opportunity today. It would have been easy to half step it. But not when we are serving You. No way. Thanks God.
Peace and have a great and blessed week.
..."it matters to that one"... :)
No comments:
Post a Comment