Collected

I realize yesterday's post was rambly and wordy and well, just awkward.  But sometimes a girl has to just dump what's in her brain and on her heart without rhyme or reason.

I've come to realize this last week, that it's one thing to shake your head and have your heart touched by seeing something disastrous occur somewhere else...to hear of the fallout from Katrina or Sandy, or the earthquakes or tsunamis or the terrible wars that go on somewhere else, but it's quite another to have your own town rocked and ripped apart.

I've also discovered that really, truly, most people have a generous spirit, a need to be kind and loving and compassionate...we just mash it down under complacency most of our lives.

It is my sincere hope and prayer that no matter what may come I can continue to be a blessing to someone somewhere for the rest of my life...

I may not have the financial means to give of money, I may not have a particular skill set to rebuild a home or drive a bulldozer to remove trees and boulders and mud. I may not have the training to provide First Aid.  But I know that I've got the drive inside to do that which I can at every opportunity to show people that they are cared for, loved, that someone's got their 6...to show them, I hope, that more than the people that are here to help them along in their journey, there's a Father that loves them far more than I ever can...

I've been feeling hopeless and inadequate and on Wednesday, as I was pouring a cup of coffee and handing over the cream for a customer, he looked deep into my eyes and the haze of despair cleared for a moment and his eyes started to shine a little bit.  He quirked one corner up in an attempt to smile and told me how much it brightened his day to know that he could come into the store and get coffee and hear that we're so grateful he's ok and healthy and ask how he's doing, and what he's heard, and that he knows we mean every word - that we actually do care about whether or not his house is still standing and what, if anything, can be saved...

Somehow, knowing that even something like pouring a cup of coffee meant something to this man was my turn-around point...

It's easy to get lost in the large efforts of what's going on, and obviously, the crews that are clearing roads and sidewalks, and hauling furniture and soggy belongings are making a huge impact.  But don't ever, ever understimate the power of your sincerity in caring for someone even if it's just to give them something to drink...

A few weeks back, we began a sermon series at Church centered on the book of Luke - titled Kingdom Come.  Our senior pastor preached about this dual kingdom that is here and is yet to come, that is earthly and not...and he focused in on how the Kingdom of God is HERE NOW within each of us...and that we manifest it every time we do "for the least of these"...he joked this last weekend that he wasn't expecting that we'd have the opportunity to practice it quite so quickly or on so large a scale, but how he'd been blessed to see it happening...in a huge way...

Make an impact - every day...find a way, seek them out, but NEVER discount the normal everyday occurrences that can make an impact too!