12/15/2021
I'm always humbled and amazed how God works. Sometimes I put God is a box, saying that "project is too big" or " we can't get that done".
At the beginning of November, the school across the street contacted our church. They no longer had it in their budget to provide the Thanksgiving meal they usually do every year for their students and staff. This is the only Thanksgiving meal some of the students get and they look forward to it every year. It helps them feel a sense of family. They wondered if there was anything we could do to help. Thanksgiving was only 3 weeks away. I was not sure we could pull off a dinner for 70 in that short of time and not sure where the finances would come from to have it catered. I was afraid to ask.
But God intervened....
The money was provided to have a beautiful catered dinner for the staff & kids. Not only did they enjoy their meal, but many filled "to go" boxes to take home to their families. As we were cleaning up, a student came into the school, not realizing they had a half day of school. He had ridden his bike several miles to get there. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch. Our Pastor was able to offer food we had pulled out and saved "just in case" someone showed up late. The rest of food was taken to the Good Samaritan Resue Mission for their evening meal. One student showed up at church the following Sunday, asking questions about Jesus.
Emmanual, God with us!
About the same time, the school had asked if we could help again with "adopting" a few students for Christmas. Last year we had "adopted" 3 families and we had enjoyed this project. This year, they sent me a list with 35 names on it. 11 teen parents, & 24 homeless students. When I opened up the list and saw all those names, my heart dropped. Not only because of the sadness of the great need that is out there, but I knew there was no way we could do 35 students. We have a smaller congregation. This was way too many, but how was I supposed to choose just a few off the list??? I was afraid to ask.
As I was praying about how to do this, the words of my friend Lowell McDonald came to mind. I could hear his voice from several years ago in my head. "Please don't be afraid to ask. The worse I can say is no. But if you don't ask, you rob me of the chance to be a blessing and to fulfill a mission that God has for me." So I reluctantly went ahead and made tags for a Christmas tree. For every kid on the list, not really believing they would all be filled and not sure what to do about it.
But God intervened....
Yesterday, we delivered 35 bags of gifts for 35 students. 11 teen parents & 24 homeless students. Every kid received a bag full of multiple gifts, most getting everything they had put on the list as a need & want. After we delivered them, I sat in my office and shed a few tears. I am humbled by how God works through His people and the people He raised up to fulfill His work. So many people made this happen. If you had asked me a month ago, I had no idea how this was going to happen. But when God cares about His Children.....He delivers.
Emmanual, God with us!
