The Visitor or Visiting Angels?

The man screeched into our drive through at work..a little wild eyed...hair a little disheveled.  He hadn't ordered a thing to eat so I was wondering what he was looking for...directions perhaps?

He went into a story about how his uncle had been crushed by an eighteen wheeler and he had to come to town to take care of arrangements and he had just arrived.  He didn't know where the local churches were so he was asking for money assistance from me and my crew.

I told him my crew are all on welfare assistance and it wasn't our pay week but he was welcome to what I had, which wasn't much.  I didn't want to reveal there were only three of us there, just in case it was a set up.  I gave him my 59 cents I had and he asked me to ask the crew anyways.  The woman said no, the cook said "I have some change in my car...open the door." You see the gas station and a few other businesses across the street have been robbed recently so I need to be very careful.

Let me explain something about my cook Will.  Will is about twenty years old and one of the few employees that does not have a police record.  He is wrapped up in his beliefs concerning money.  He plays some rap music and much of the themes seem to be concerned about money.  He laughs and tells a story about going to the Green Hills Mall where people have valet parking to shop.  He said he walked in and when he didn't see prices on the clothing, he knew it wasn't the place for him to be shopping.

Will was determined to help this stranger out.  Also I want to add that Will is black and the man he was helping looked like a middle class white man.

He went and looked in his car and moved the seats and compartments and rustled up all the change he could find and gave it to this complete stranger because in Will's words "we need to help others out with whatever we have to share."

Will also explained that "sooner or later it all comes back around to us..if we share .....others will share with us."

The very next night we all clocked in and began another typical evening shift of work together.  Not more than five minutes in the store phone rang...it was for Will.  Will listened intently and started yelling "thank you Jesus oh thank you Jesus."

Will had been trying to catch on with Nissan here locally and Nissan was finally calling him.  Will just went from minimum wage to double that rate....his rise out of poverty had just begun...or did it? I think Will is richly blessed with inner peace because of his sharing...a richness worth more than a judgment of poverty levels. Will immediately pointed to his sharing the previous night and called it a test.  In his theology he claimed that God was rewarding his sharing kindness....How I wish it all worked this way.  I do know that God does not work inversely and strike down those who didn't share the very next day.  My commentary is not to judge Will's theology and whether God directly inserted his will into this situation or not....

I am just so happy for Will that he shared and he is moving on to a better situation for his life.  I do know that sharing and paying it forward made an impact on Will's heart just as much as the many strangers he has helped...and maybe that is God's blessing on his life more than anything.  Just a thought.....

Year of NO FEAR

Catchy little slogan for my new years resolution.

I can kind of picture a Nike swoosh along side of it or something cool and very commercial.

Actually, my son Grant suggested we all have a fire on New Years day..."a fire where we write down emotions and painful things from the past year...and then we burn the slips of paper."  What a cool idea for a 17 year old I thought and very deep and profound.  When Grant is "in" with an idea everyone else wants to be a part of that activity..good thing he proposed it and not me.

I started to think about this past year and I wanted to make my thoughts count.  My daughters were writing feverishly.  The pressure was on....Michelle had some great and profound truths to share.

My grand thought?  I am tired of going through life and worrying about what people think, how to act and engage others socially, afraid for my children and their future, afraid of the past and missed opportunities...every where I turn it's always more fear.

In the Bible "fear not" is mentioned more than 350 times yet somehow the deep soaking realization never penetrates.

I wrote that four letter word down F-E-A-R.


So much of life is a mindset and we wear a groove with whatever it has become.  Time for a new groove and new track,,,,heck..time for a new day...new beginnings.

I watched the paper burn and the ashes rise into the cold January sky...wifts of smokey prayers rising from hopeful people.  God, I just don't want to be afraid of things....I want to trust you in all things. And there it is...it boils down to that truth...I want to trust Him in all things.  If we are honest that is difficult and the more the waves roll in and the storms of life shake our lives...the more that faith and trust are tested.

Someone said to me when I lost my job two years ago "now you are blessed because you are going to know the blessing of having everything stripped away from you."  I don't know if I agree wholeheartedly but I do know the more we live day to day...the more I have to look to God and my faith and trust each day...there are no laid back moments.  I see where he was coming from. It forces me to acknowledge Him more because I am not relying on my own abilities alone.  In life when there has been an abundance I find myself furthest from Him relationally.

And so 2012 has become my year of "NO FEAR"....no I am not a surfer painting this message on my t shirts and wake board....just painting it on my heart and mind to not ride emotions up and down as much because I have seen God open doors that never existed and create windows out of nothing...bring pieces together that don't go together but he uses everything in combinations we never imagined would happen. It's all a strange and wonderful recipe....I know now that I have put it out there that I will be tested to see if it's sincere.......

That was a great way to start the year...short ceremony...long in thought...giving up regrets...and pressing on in this journey.  No Fear......