They rolled in like waves breaking on the shore. Small cars, SUVs and pickups threaded their way through road construction traffic cones and formed rows in the dirt outside our church parking lot last night. As they parked, families of all types and sizes emptied out and made their way onto our campus filled with our volunteers ready to serve them.
As people checked through the makeshift gates, they were welcomed by smiling workers handing out candy at "Trunk & Treat" stations. A few feet away was someone else hosting a game aimed at kids. The games awarded tickets which were redeemed for prizes.
A long row of "show cars" and motorcyles were available to keep the attention of afficionados while their kids were having fun.
Along the way there were clowns doing face painting, a variety of inflatables and a cake walk. We offered a food court with hot dogs, nachos, baked potatoes, soft drinks and over 20 varieties of homemade chili. We even had a special area for "Tiny Tots" where the preschool crowd had fun prepared just for them.
They rolled in like waves breaking on the shore. Moms, dads and grandparents brought their children to "Family Fall Festival."
I spent the evening walking around. My job was to greet people, answer questions and make sure our volunteers had everything they needed. Candy gets handed out fast in a setting like this and I discovered some of our "Trunk & Treat" stations were running low. I headed to our office to get reinforcements.
That's when I saw him. He was sitting in a chair near the door to the office and away from the foot traffic. Honestly, if I hadn't seen him right next to the building I was entering, I would never have noticed him. He was just a face in the crowd. A drop in a small ocean of people.
He wasn't in my way, but his offer to move gave me a brief moment to look into his face. Those eyes told me a story. This was a humble man, a poor man. His body language said that he works hard, and his load is heavy. This man who obviously wanted his family to have some joy on this night also had limited ability to buy them much. I think he felt uneasy being here, but he came because we offered family fun at no cost.
His face also said he was grateful. He didn't want to be a bother. He didn't want to get in the way. He didn't expect others to carry his burden, but life circumstances demanded that he accept what was offered.
He had been sitting there, almost invisible. But when I collected my thoughts from the evening, I remembered him. That's when I recalled the words of Jesus...
18 God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor... To set the burdened and battered free,
19 to announce, "This is God's year to act!"
Luke 4:18-19 (MSG)
Last night, in a very small way, we were able to take action. I hope the way we did it offered a small bit of kindness and a Message of good news to a face in the crowd.
5 comments:
I hope you don't find it offensive for me to say this, but I think many of the conservative Christians in public life don't think nearly enough about verses like that one. (Or at least they don't act like they do.) It has made me really happy the last few years to see how much your church has put more and more of a focus on service. I think it really started with the DR, and has grown from there.
This brought tears to my eyes. Becki is right. It is too easy for those of us who are conservative Christians to forget about people like this man, because we don't come in direct contact with them. Thank you for this touching reminder.
My heart was full!! I know I was right where I was supposed to be last night. I also KNOW Gods love showed all over our campus last night. Thank You to all : )
This made me cry. (In a good way.)
Becki, not only do I not find your comment offensive, I think you're right about it and about how it really started for us. Thank you.
Sandra and Beth, thank you for your kind words. I'm encouraged.
Laurie, thanks for serving with a kind heart and a smile.
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