How God works!

Sorry it’s been a few days since I’ve posted anything….not that anyone has been waiting for me to write something…

I want to tell you about a very eye-opening experience I had on Saturday. Andy and I help teach the confirmation class at church along with two other great couples. The youth had planned to do a service project on Saturday and we were going along to help out. After speaking to the youth pastor and making sure it was okay to bring our little people along, we all set out to have a great day. I really had no idea what we were doing. All I knew was that we were going to help pick up garbage with the youth and then go out to lunch and each kid would bring enough money to buy their own lunch and also buy lunch for a stranger. Sounds good, right?! The weather was supposed to be nice and I knew my little people would enjoy being with the “big” girls.

I truly think this is how God works. He takes us out of our comfort zone and encourages us to share his love with others….even if it isn’t the best situation(or how we envision the situation to be). Here’s how it went down:

• The day was totally yucky. Cloudy, rainy, sleet, snow & wind….get the picture.

• One girl showed up (and bless her heart, she still wanted to go, with just us “old” people and she isn’t even one of the girls from my confirmation class. We teach the 7^th graders and she is in the 8^th grade class.

• There were 4 adults, 1 youth and 2 little people

• As were are driving, (we all went in our van)….I hear the youth pastor tell Andy to “turn right up here at **** Homes” I think my eyes got as big as quarters as I realized I was taking my two very young children to a not-so-nice housing project. Once we got there, we tried to find the community center.

• We found the community center and the group of young people who organize the project. I then found out that we would be going door to door at this housing project to see if people needed anything (toiletries, canned goods and we also passed out candy bars) The group is trying to build trust with the people who live there, find out if there are any prayer needs that they will share with us and of course pray with them. The group goes out every Saturday morning to visit with people. Not too many people open their doors. There was only one man who let us in. He lived in this small 2 bedroom apartment with is wife and six kids. Really makes you think about why we complain about not having enough room. There were a few other people who came to their doors, but were not very responsive. I don’t know if it was because of the weather, being early in the morning (10 ish), or just because they didn’t want to hear the Word.

• After an hour or so going door to door, we went back to the community center to help with the kids program. Every Saturday, kids from the housing come for an hour to listen to LOUD music, play games, learn a lesson about God and listen to a story. The kids seemed very excited to be there. They came running down the streets without any parents, no coats, (remember it was really yucky outside) but they were excited. They would separate the kids into boys & girls and each group would sit on a tarp with lots of youth helpers. (It’s so cute to see the little girls pick out a “big girl” and cling to them and sit on their laps…it’s so sweet!) The kids listened very well to the adults (and youth) leading and really listened and participated in the bible lesson. It was a wonderful sight!

• Maggie and Max both got to participate, with the help of us of course. Maggie was very clingy…but that is nothing new.ax won the grand prize….which I felt kind of bad…I felt one of the kids from the housing should have won, but Max decided to share his prize. He won a gallon sized zip-lock bag full of big candy bars and such. He passed out his candy to the other kid. He was so sweet. One of the little boys he tried to give some candy to, didn’t want to take it…he really wanted it, but didn’t want to take the “little boys” candy. This little guy had such a great heart. He wanted to give Max some the candy he had already gotten in replacement for the candy Max was giving him. I told him to share it with one of his friends that couldn’t come.

• These kids were just so excited to be there, were learning the Word of God and having a great time. Isn’t that what it’s all about? It's not about where you are, or who you are with, but that you are serving the Lord! Can I hear an Amen?!

• The last part of our day was to get some lunch and warm up a little. We went to Old Chicago, on the riverfront about 12:30ish. The place was practically empty. We all put in some money and order two pizzas. With the remaining money, we decided to pay for someone else’s lunch. There was a cute young couple sitting next to us. When the waiter brought our check, we informed him that we wanted to pay their check also. He looked at us funny, but went and got both checks. When he returned, he asked if there was some reason why were doing this, and our reply was “We are just sharing God’s love” All the waiter could say was “WOW” as he smiled ear to ear. (I think it made him feel good too!) As we got up and got our coats on, we went by the young couples table to tell them that their check was taken care of along with the tip and that if they wanted to leave a bigger tip that would be great. They were stunned. We told them we were sharing God’s love and to pass it on! By the way….we left our very kind waiter a very hefty tip as well. What an AWESOME feeling to do something so simple.

I informed the confirmation girls on Sunday morning that we WILL be going back and doing this again. I feel that we all need to see and experience this. It will remind us that we are ALL God’s creatures and we need to treat each other that way!