New Friends and the Lessons They Teach Us

This week has been another blessed week!!  First, I’ll share my favorite moment of the week…the time I burst out laughing at a totally inappropriate point in prayer.  There was a group of about 10 adults praying Morning Prayer sitting at picnic tables outside the Community House.  Aron noticed a lizard on a nearby fence post that was separating us from the horse pasture, so he asked if he could leave prayer to go catch it.  I nodded as he ran off to catch his new best friend.  He approached the lizard carefully.  When his hands were about 3 inches above the lizard ready to make the catch, a cat that was sitting on top of the fence post suddenly pounced, and grabbed the lizard right out from under Aron’s hands.  The look of shock and confusion on Aron’s face was absolutely hysterical as he watched the cat proudly waltz off with the lizard in his mouth.  It didn’t take Aron long to recover, and he went off in pursuit of another lizard, but it was truly the funniest moment of the week.

Now on to one way the Lord worked in my heart this week.  On Thursday through several acts of divine appointments, Josh and two other adult missionaries went to an incredibly poor part of town we have not been to yet.  We were working at the Christian Service Center (an outreach to the poor) when Josh asked a woman, Delta, if she had anything he could pray for.   She said no, but that Bill, the gentlemen that she came with, his wife, Mary, was home recovering from a broken leg that she received about 6 months prior.   They lived about half mile away and were using an electric scooter, so they decided to meet up at their house. Josh and two other missionaries drove over to the house and ended up waiting in their vehicle for about 20 minutes.   Just as they were about to leave, Bill and Delta showed up in their scooter.   As they were getting out, Bill said that their neighbor, Alfreda, was recently having heart trouble and could also use prayers.  So they decided to go to her house first.   And while they were there, in came Dorothy.

Dorothy had just been kicked out of her friend’s house and she had absolutely nothing except the clothes on her back.  That afternoon, one of our fellow missionaries was able to run to Walmart and buy some clothing, and a few other women at FMC pulled out some of their clothing to give to her as well.  Within a couple of hours they had two bags full of clothes for Dorothy, and because Josh and I had plans to go in to town anyway with the kids, we were given the clothes to drop off to her.

I don’t know what I expected, but when we gave Dorothy the clothing (she did not know we were coming) she was absolutely overjoyed.  She kept hugging us, literally danced around out of excitement, and thanked us over and over again.  I have never had anyone receive anything I had handed them with that much joy.  The light in her eyes truly showed that she was not seeing us, but the Lord providing for her and reaching out to her through the little bit we had to give her. It was absolutely amazing to be able to deliver what the community was able to pull together for her. 

Once we got back in the car and drove off the joy of the encounter quickly melted into guilt. Guilt that while this Dorothy was rejoicing over a bag of shirts, pants, and socks we were headed out for an evening as a family that include a simple but delicious dinner out.  Guilt that she thanked me for bags that I did not contribute to from my surplus of clothes.  Guilt that I didn’t think of bringing a meal, or even ask to make sure they had the food they needed.  I saw that while I had the amazing job of delivering what Dorothy needed, I felt that I was the last person who should have had that honor. 

Thankfully, I have a wonderful small group that I got to talk this one out with.  I was reminded that while conviction is from God, guilt is not.  For some reason, the Lord asked Josh and I to be the ones to deliver the clothing and Christ’s love to this woman.  It became so apparent to me that everything we do now is possible because of other people’s generosity and sacrifice.  We could not even be here in Louisiana doing any of this service and training without the friendship, prayers and financial support of you all.  Everything we do from here on out can only be done with the support of the Body of Christ behind us.  For some reason we have been given the best “job” in the world, to carry Christ’s love to those who so desperately need His message of hope.  We get to see the brilliant light of joy in the eyes of those who had previously felt alone and abandoned, and now see that Christ is reaching out to them through our hands.  Thank you!!!  Thank you for supporting us, praying for us, and sustaining us on this mission!  Thank you for walking with us on this journey.  Thank you for giving us the chance to meet the Lord face to face in the poor.  Thank you.  I am not the best person for the job, and I am sure to make an awful lot of mistakes along the way, but I trust God’s grace will make up for all the ways I fall short.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you!!!