Remember John

This past weekend, my family spent time in Indianapolis supporting our Bible quiz team from Conway First Church of the Nazarene and attending general assembly. Because our church is a global one, representatives from all over the world were in attendance and being able to meet a few and talk with them made me appreciate the fact that our church plays such a big role in getting the word of Jesus out all across the world.

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon  the waters, wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior." (Hillsong United, 2013)

For over four years, this song has been the mediation of my heart and has certainly opened me up to move when God tells me to. This time, my feet would be planted in a town much bigger than I was used to but still I had to respond to the Spirit when it called.  With care packages in hand, God gave me the boldness to get over my fear of the unknown and instead focus on how He wanted me to love my neighbors.  God allowed me to witness smiles, laughter, and plenty of tears (mostly mine, of course) and I still can't believe how he allowed my family to be a small part of something bigger than myself. 

Now I can't stop thinking about John. When I walked around the corner and saw John sitting on the ground, I immediately thought about Blues Brothers, because John actually looks like he could be a Belushi brother. We sat and talked with John for a few minutes as he told us about the city and himself.  We prayed with John and I hope that he sensed our love for him but more importantly, God's love. As we left, I asked John if he usually hangs out in the same spot and when he told me he did, I told him we'd see him again bring him more provisions. We walked past that same corner two more times and never saw John again.

 As we left Indy, my oldest son reminded me that we never got to see John again. Remembering that I had told John that we would see him again, my desire to turn around and go back to the city was overwhelming. Turning around two hours into the trip was crazy considering we still had probably seven more hours of driving in front of us, so the tears fell as I told Jarett (my husband) how worried I was about John and how I had let him down by not looking harder for him while we were still in town.  

Then my husband said to me, "You are believing a lie, Sarah. We did what we could do, but the devil wants you to think it wasn't enough. We may go back to Indianapolis someday and run into John, and he may be the guy loving on displaced folks in the neighborhood because of some family from Arkansas who stopped and showed the love of God to him back in 2017. He may be the guy leading  a church because God flooded a seed that was planted when a six-year old little boy named Paxton took his hand as a family  prayed for him. We don't know what is going to happen to John but God does."

And just like that, my husband spoke the truth into my troubled heart and my want to call up every friend that I had remaining in Indy to go look for John was eradicated because I knew that the One who had saved me would save John because that is what a shepherd does. 

How he loves us so.

"I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me." (John 10:14)

Challenge accepted

Lets have a moment of silence.

I'd like to take this time to recognize that today marks the official completion for the first week of summer time break for teachers. Week one down; 9 weeks to go. In Jesus' name, Amen. I'd also like to point out that today it rained, and if you know anything about the rain and the normal napping hours that usually occur between the hours of one and three within the classrooms in the preschool setting, instead of racing to the nearest coffee pot or Dr. Pepper machine, I simply laid on the couch and dozed off. Hallelujah. 

Now that week one is in the books, what is next? Lets face it: there's only so much time I can spend taking my kids to the pool, organizing my yearly garage sale, and taking a trip somewhere without wondering at what point I am going to lock my kids out of the house and start stripping floors and rearranging rooms. Instead I am choosing to look at this time as more than just the gift of time, but taking it a step further and pressing into some things that might just have an impact on the world in which we live.

Yesterday I was given the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and serve alongside some very Godly people that volunteer time at the Storehouse, a food/clothing/toiletry cupboard that operates out of the old Second Baptist church at the corner of Harkrider/Oak street. Now known as the Ministry center,  it continues to make a positive impact for the city of Conway by loving on people just as Christ has called all of us to do. 

The organization of the pantry was impeccable and immediately I felt love from the volunteers as I walked through the door. The final stage of a person's trip through the corridors was to bring their belongings to the bagging area where another volunteer and I would prepare their belongings to leave and pray over them. Because it was my first time, there were very few recipients that I knew so praying over the needs that they may or may not have told me about was a little daunting, to be honest. Don't get me wrong: I love to pray for others but when you don't know them, it can be a little bit intimidating. 

Here's the wonderful part of that: God knows them, and all I had to do was allow Him to speak.

So that's just what I did and in true God-fashion, His word became alive as He spoke life into their circumstances.  I witnessed tears falling as I sensed the pain that some folks were holding onto. I felt the shoulders of a man, who must have been about 6'6 feet tall, tremble as I prayed over him, assuring him that God was still with him and the circumstances of his life and rejoiced over the tears that fell as she asked him if they could please go back to church on Sunday and he said, "yes." I harbor the words of a young man who had cross tattoos all over his arms as he looked at me and asked, "How did you know?" after I had prayed something specific that must have reached a chord in his heart. 

"I don't know anything, but God must have, " I declared to him. 

So here's the challenge I accept: I will dedicate one day a week for the next nine weeks doing something for others as a testament for the love I have for my Conway neighbors and because of the love that I was given to me from the cross of Jesus Christ. I can't wait to see what God is going to do.