In some ways, the I Love Ellijay thing was not what I was hoping. I had my own picture of what I thought it should look like, and how it would impact people. I kind of wanted us to have a big splash, meeting the needs of a ton of people. But, working with the counselors at the school, it seems that they wanted to scale us down a little more each day. Finally, they narrowed us down to just the two families that they put us on to. Frankly, it was a much smaller scope than I had hoped for.
A little disappointed, I went into the weekend with low expectations.
Something really cool happened, though. Instead of just handing out stuff to random people, we got a little involved in some families’ lives. We were able to get into homes and actually get our arms around some people that really needed to see some love in action. We had a chance to chase that towel, like we talked about on the previous Sunday. I think being in those homes and sharing in their stories really had an impact on all of us this weekend. It was powerful. I don’t think any of our group walked away the same.
There is something about serving others that just changes your perspective.
It sure has changed conversations in our home. We aren’t talking about “me” so much lately… My 14-year old daughter come home, looked around her room, and said that she felt like she was just selfish, and that she needed to give more. She was really impacted by the stories of a couple of sisters in her school that are living with great need.
We’ve talked about it several times since. I’ve asked her, “Where can you start?” You don’t have much to give right now… You’re 14. Both of us agreed that being a friend would go a long way. Building a relationship will open the door to so much more in the near future than just handing stuff over like some sort of charity case.
Be her friend, not her savior. Jesus will take care of that one. Our job is to help open the door.
What is the future? What will happen tomorrow as a result of our simple need-meeting today? I can’t wait to see what happens next.