I’ll try to keep this short this week. Had a busy couple of days. I spent all day yesterday loading, unloading and stacking firewood. Free firewood. Thanks to some very good friends of ours. And Christian and Nick were with me all the way. And then Christian and I spent the afternoon getting the outside of our house ready for the holidays. And then I spent a couple of hours in the garage sorting through winter clothing for our friends. And through it all I realize how incredibly blessed and fortunate I am. I mean just doing the Christmas decorations with Christian was very cool in and of itself. He is becoming such a great young man. Now he is still 14, so he does do things that 14 year old young men do. But he gets it. And his help literally cut my time in half yesterday. I think sometimes as we try to navigate this thing that is raising and parenting kids, especially as we go through things for the first time with our oldest kids, we think that things might always have a degree of difficulty to them. And they will. And there’s the thought that we may never get a break from some of the everyday stuff that goes with the territory. But yesterday proved otherwise for me. And Christian and I spent an evening serving at Life on the Brick recently also. Robin cooks once a month for this weekly Monday dinner at Mosaic Community Development. It’s a lot of the same people we see on Sundays, so it’s a pretty natural thing for us. And last week Robin was sick, but she still cooked. So Christian and I took the food and helped serve. It’s a totally different thing for me because I actually get to serve food to our friends. And on this particular night I had the opportunity to serve alongside my oldest son. And I hope and pray that the example Robin and I are setting for our kids is that we all need to serve. In some way, shape or form. So yesterday was a great day for me also. Tiring and I’m a little sore today, but it was good to be able to spend that much quality time with them.
Today was a pretty ordinary day for us downtown. That is if there is anything at all ordinary about what happens downtown on a given Sunday. Lots of food. Lots of people. Lots of clothing. Which brings me to an interesting point. I pray constantly that God will continue to bless us with all the resources we need to keep going. You know that thing about being careful what we pray for? You know the one that mentions how we might just get what we ask for? Well, that had been happening in abundance for us lately. Take today for instance. Pretty normal deal for us today. We get downtown. Lots of people waiting and as soon as we get out of the van, a line of people are waiting to help unload and get set up. As fast as I can hand stuff out, there are hands waiting to take it all to the serving area. So the trailer is now half empty, with about 20 or so bins of clothing waiting to come out after the meal is served. After we begin serving, I’m doing my usual schmoozing through the line just saying hi to everyone and a fellow asks me for a stocking cap. Sure, I tell him I’ll get him one and be right back. I go to the back of the trailer where I know there is a tub of hats and gloves and open it up to find bags and bags of clothing are literally falling out of the trailer. The folks from River of Life have come today with enough clothing to refill the trailer! On top of what we’ve already brought down. What a great problem to have! And this sort of thing just keeps happening. Over and over. What an amazing ministry God has blessed us with. He has literally taken the burden of finding stuff for our friends away and has simply sent people to help that only He could send. It is nothing short of amazing. And that is just one little iota of what happens down there on Sundays. There are conversations happening all around. Acts of kindness and love taking place all around. People feeding and people being fed. In more ways that I could ever have imagined with my feeble mind. I sit here and think what it must look like to the people who live in the downtown community? In the high rise condos and apartments that seem to be sprouting up all over the place. What must this weekly gathering/event look like? To those who walk by briskly on their way to the Performing Arts Center just around the corner to catch an afternoon show? What must it look like to the city workers who have been showing up lately to remove the trash? They come every week now and set out trash cans for us. Now we don’t have to trek the block down the alley with 5 or 6 big trash bags. They do it for us. What does this thing look like to them? What does it look like when all these people show up from literally all corners of the city to help our friends in need?
I tell you what I hope it looks like.
Love.
So obviously, Love is the Answer.
You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. "This I command you, that you love one another." John 15:16-17
Peace and have a great and blessed week.
Make a difference.
…it matters to that one… :)
Today was a pretty ordinary day for us downtown. That is if there is anything at all ordinary about what happens downtown on a given Sunday. Lots of food. Lots of people. Lots of clothing. Which brings me to an interesting point. I pray constantly that God will continue to bless us with all the resources we need to keep going. You know that thing about being careful what we pray for? You know the one that mentions how we might just get what we ask for? Well, that had been happening in abundance for us lately. Take today for instance. Pretty normal deal for us today. We get downtown. Lots of people waiting and as soon as we get out of the van, a line of people are waiting to help unload and get set up. As fast as I can hand stuff out, there are hands waiting to take it all to the serving area. So the trailer is now half empty, with about 20 or so bins of clothing waiting to come out after the meal is served. After we begin serving, I’m doing my usual schmoozing through the line just saying hi to everyone and a fellow asks me for a stocking cap. Sure, I tell him I’ll get him one and be right back. I go to the back of the trailer where I know there is a tub of hats and gloves and open it up to find bags and bags of clothing are literally falling out of the trailer. The folks from River of Life have come today with enough clothing to refill the trailer! On top of what we’ve already brought down. What a great problem to have! And this sort of thing just keeps happening. Over and over. What an amazing ministry God has blessed us with. He has literally taken the burden of finding stuff for our friends away and has simply sent people to help that only He could send. It is nothing short of amazing. And that is just one little iota of what happens down there on Sundays. There are conversations happening all around. Acts of kindness and love taking place all around. People feeding and people being fed. In more ways that I could ever have imagined with my feeble mind. I sit here and think what it must look like to the people who live in the downtown community? In the high rise condos and apartments that seem to be sprouting up all over the place. What must this weekly gathering/event look like? To those who walk by briskly on their way to the Performing Arts Center just around the corner to catch an afternoon show? What must it look like to the city workers who have been showing up lately to remove the trash? They come every week now and set out trash cans for us. Now we don’t have to trek the block down the alley with 5 or 6 big trash bags. They do it for us. What does this thing look like to them? What does it look like when all these people show up from literally all corners of the city to help our friends in need?
I tell you what I hope it looks like.
Love.
So obviously, Love is the Answer.
You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. "This I command you, that you love one another." John 15:16-17
Peace and have a great and blessed week.
Make a difference.
…it matters to that one… :)
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