READ THIS IF YOU DARE!! Day 21 and it has taken me all day to post. This will be long, and the sad truth is that many will miss reading it because it is long and many wont stop and take the time in our world of drive by scrolling and rushing. I know because I am guilty of the same thing! Today I am thankful for yesterday. I posted yesterday that we were taking our youth group to deliver Thankful Bags to homeless people living on the streets of Grand Junction. When we started out we had students who were uncertain of what they would encounter amongst the least of these. When we were done, we had individuals that had taken a BIG step closer to knowing Jesus. As we started we had trouble finding anyone as it was nearing dark. We had warned them of that there may be those who would reject a bag of food, wanting only monetary gifts as that had been an experience of others before. We talked to a security guard at City Market and he told us of a woman who had been laying next to an old empty hotel all day, and hadnt moved. We went next door, and sure enough laying inside a door well, barricaded by a shopping cart and covered in a pile of blankets. We asked her if we could give her some food, and out from under the blanket a frightened and shaking meek face came. Almost in tears she said an immediate yes, and reached for the bag not wanting to leave her safe haven. God bless you she said, and tearing into the bag immediately for the water bottle she retreated under the blankets again. I will return to this woman in a moment. We traveled around the town, finding individuals in alley ways, on benches wondering how they would navigate the cold, wet night that laid ahead of them. None of these folks turned us away, nor was there a negative experience one. The van was increasingly quiet as the night moved on and the bags got to be fewer. Comments like this came from the back; After doing this tonight I want to do more, and from those students who were afraid to get out of the van when we started but by the end were handing bags out first to people we encountered, I am proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone; I wish someone could turn that old motel into rooms for these people to stay. As I drove home last night, the first woman stood out in my mind. Not because the others who we met did not have compelling stories but because she seemed as though she may not make the night. This night was not unique. There is no doubt that many others have been very diligent about helping those in need. No, it was unique because not only was it a first for our students but it was a first for me. Oh sure I have stopped and given some money to those on the streets and then headed off wondering about the safety of doing so and no doubt having some sense of judgement towards them in my heart. As the rain hit the windshield and I had to turn down the heater in the truck, I thought about her fear. The fact that she had barricaded herself in a small nook and was trying desperately to stay warm burned in my mind. Then this morning, I woke up with the alarm to go to an early morning meeting. The first thing I heard was the rain beating down on the roof, and my first thought was I didnt want to get out of bed because it was freezing between there and the warm shower I was going to climb into. It was in that split second that my mind raced back to the woman outside of an abandoned hotel, with many empty rooms and I remembered her face. My thoughts immediately turned to her state of being. I am a sinner, a comfort monger, and someone that is weak. I have a long trail to walk to get closer to God, and I like the students I lead have it in my heart to do more. I am thankful for God working in my life to help me learn how the gifts He has given me can be used better, and for far more than just me. If this makes you think about the same, please share it and challenge yourself and others to do the same!! Together we all can make Grand Junction a better place to be, and it is up to US not someone else!!! God bless!!
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 03:25:22 +0000
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