You're Welcome...

So Sunday we woke up to news of a tornado here in Omaha. I have to tell you I never take the weather warnings nearly as serious as I should, but fortunately Robin does. She is what I'd call a weather junkie. At the first sign of any serious weather activity anywhere within a 200 mile radius of Omaha, she's on the job and making sure we are kept abreast of the seriousness of the matter. It is all good. The problem for me, especially here in the Midwest is that we just never know when serious weather might happen upon us. And the "meteorologists" cry wolf so often that it becomes more and more difficult to put stock in what they say. Just doing their job, but its tough when it goes "just south of us" time after time. So when we woke up Sunday morning to news of an EF-2 tornado just a few miles up the road from where we live, it got my attention. The newspaper this morning called it a "stealth tornado". And that's the problem…they just don't know when these things are going to touch down and wreak havoc. And it did wreak a bit of havoc in a neighborhood a few miles west of us. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. So along with that kind of weather comes rain…usually lots of rain. And hail. We got back into town this past Wednesday from a great visit with some great friends and we were greeted with tornado sirens that evening. And rain. Lots of it. And I believe it has rained off and on since that day. And if you look in the farm fields around the area, standing water is everywhere. But the funniest thing happens for us on Sundays. We have a running joke, but it's not really a joke at all. And I probably shouldn't say anything, lest I jinx it, but I don't think that's how God operates. Like our friend Mike said the other evening, I believe God has a pretty wicked sense of humor at times, but I don't believe luck or jinxes come into play. So Sunday morning, it looked like it might just rain on us off and on throughout the day. Didn't happen. Some of our friends downtown know that it doesn't rain on that corner between noon and two-ish. We make jokes about it, but it just doesn't happen. It is so amazing to me to be able to say that with confidence. And our friends know it also. And one of them even mentioned to Robin he knew why. "It's because you guys pray that it won't rain on us", he said. So once again, we got in and got out within a couple hour window and had no rain. God is so faithful.

Sunday was pretty much a normal Sunday for us. Not much drama from my perspective. If you call hanging out with our friends on a downtown street corner for a couple of hours, praying, eating, fellowshipping, etc, drama-less. :) I sometimes take for granted what God is doing on that corner. Especially when we get to do it week after week. Take yesterday for instance. I spent probably 15 minutes listening to a fellow named Larry, whom I'd never met before, speak from the heart about his faith. Quoting various scriptures, talking about his brother leading him to Christ, and just sort of rambling on. And all I had to do was listen. And it wasn't like I was not engaged, but I just didn't have to say much. I find so often that some of our friends seemingly just want someone to listen to them. I imagine they get lots of people telling them what they ought ot be doing. And I'm sure lots of that is probably justified. But sometimes we probably just need to be better listeners. Lots of our friends have lots to say. Trust me. And Larry gets it. He seems to be trying to find his way. Said he wasn't much of a drinker, but was jut having a rough time. But his attitude was good. And just before that conversation, I was talking briefly with a young lady whose name escaped me. It is so hard to remember all the names. I've known her for a while now, but I simply cannot remember her name. But she remembered mine. And came to me to thank me for what we do. We get that constantly. Thanks for the meal. Thanks for the clothing. Thanks. And they probably get sick of hearing me correct them. Because I always make sure they know where it comes from. Not from us. From Him. Every single thing we do is from, by and of Him. So when she sought me out yesterday to thank me for coming every week, I first told her to forget about me, and to give all the thanks and glory to God. He's the one that she should be thanking. And she knew that. And said as much. But she wanted to thank us for being faithful. Every week. And she mentioned it through tears. And said that she found out recently that she might have throat cancer. And in what was becoming more and more emtional, she thanked me several times for coming every week. And she just kept on with the thanks for all we do. And I just told her she was welcome. Everyone is welcome. We've been so blessed to be able to do this thing week after week. Always beign able to provide for mostly anyone who shows up. With at least a good, hot meal and perhaps a pair of clean socks, or a blanket, or whatever. So when she thanked me for what seemed like the 100th time, I just hugged her and told her she was very welcome. Because that's how it works. At God's table, everyone is welcome. We even have a fellow whose name is Yusef who has been showing up on our corner for a few months now. Obviously Muslim. And yesterday? He was helping me empty trash cans and running bags of trash down the alley to the dumpster. Who knows where that will go. But he's welcome. All are welcome.

We put together a video clip last year. It's a video montage of some of our friends downtown on a fall Sunday. The song that we used for the background music is a song by Phillips, Craig and Dean. The Table of Grace. They lyrics are so perfect for what God is doing on that crazy downtown corner. Speaks of the cup never being empty. The plate always being full. Never too late. You're always welcome. At the Table of Grace. And amazingly enough, that always seems to be the case. We are blessed to be able to offer a little bit of His love. In the aftermath of a tornado. In the middle of life's storms. And lots of the folks we hang out with on Sundays are in the middle of some nasty storms. And we can't do a whole lot to help sometimes. But we can offer a couple hours of love. And to anyone who comes, be it someone to help serve or someone in need, you are welcome. Always.

A million other things happened Sunday. This is just a brief glimpse through my eyes and, unfortunately, through my poor memory. I could go on and on and sometime I'm sure I do. But I'm simply thatnkful that God lets us do this week in and week out. That we could be a small part of His Kingdom work. We are blessed and I'm so thankful that our friends welcome us into their world for a brief time each and every week. So when someone tells me thanks? I should be the one thanking them….

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)