Seeing the Sermon

On such a rainy windswept day, Casper and  I was out walking the neighborhood, and found about five kids out playing in the rain in clothes better suited for summer.  I stopped and asked them how was their Christmas and they all began excitedly to tell me what they had received which mostly consisted of basketballs and bikes.  One child who looked to be about seven or eight mentioned a truck and some clothes and then hung his head as the other children started teasing him that a truck was all he got.  I invited the children back to CH7 for hot chocolate and cookies that I had made with my sister yesterday.  I was hoping we could get a book or two read too.  Once back at CH7, with full bellies and another tour of the gym, we settled in and read some Children’s Bible stories.  The boys seemed to enjoy the story of Moses and the burning bush and then the story of Christ’s birth.

As they left today, the little boy who got a truck for Christmas stayed behind and told me he loved Jesus and wished he could go to church.  I asked him how he had come to know Jesus and he said “I don’t know him, I want to go to church to meet him.” Needless to say, I had to fight back the tears. I shared with him how to talk to Jesus right here in CH7 and we prayed together. He asked me if he could come visit me again and I told him my door was open to him any time.  His shy smile and happy eyes after we prayed will be what I remember most of his visit.  I look forward to the day that I can use CH7 for more Godly Outreach to these children that hunger for more than basketballs and bikes. There is Glory in the grit of this life. That little boy’s soul was filled when I spilled my prayer of faith.

As I watched him run through the mud puddles towards his friends down at the stop sign, I was reminded of  “A true friend loves regardless of the situation, and a real brother exists to share the tough times.-Proverbs 17:17

I realized again today that…..when we have nothing to give, we can give ourselves….when we can’t fix the problem, we can offer our presence…..when we can’t heal a hurt, we can hold a hand, say a prayer….when we can’t find the words, we can offer our with-ness……the truth is, hurting and lost people need our with-ness. They don’t need for us to impress them with how spiritual we are. They need to know they aren’t alone. People need us to embrace a relational smallness, accepting we are not the star, the counselor, the convincer, or the fixer. Instead, we are a companion, willing to keep company with the soul of another, which today was a little boy desiring to go to church and physically meet Jesus.  I really had nothing to offer that little boy today but my rain-splattered self and my humble gift of with-ness and prayer.