Being Available
December 4, 2008
Our small group is in the midst of reading Dave’s book and are really into it! The chapter on “availability” spoke volumes to all of us. So, we have been praying everyday and asking the question “God, I am available; how can I serve someone today?” Well, needless to say, God is faithful and he has answered our prayers everyday and then answered them in a bigger than expected way. What I mean by that is our small group had the privilege of providing two different families in the Winton Terrace area Thanksgiving dinners. One family we took food over on a Wednesday night to a single mom and 5 children. The mom wanted to prepare the meal herself and requested all the needed ingredients to make a Thanksgiving meal. She wanted the meal to be a way of bringing her extended family together because she lost her mother recently. She was murdered this past June. To make matters even worse, the mother that was shot and killed was holding this woman’s 2 year old son (the 2 year old’s grandmother). In addition, two other children of hers were present and witnessed this terrible murder. This all sounds surreal, but it is true because I have staff members who are serving this family and attending to some of their needs. Fortunately, this mom was open to prayer and we got the privilege of praying with her and her children that Wednesday evening.
The second family we served was a single mom with 6 precious children ranging from 7 years to 7 months We took fully cooked meal to her on Thanksgiving morning. She too allowed us to pray for her. The small children were so receptive to prayer; we joined hands and prayed in our little circle. The mom specifically asked for prayer to pass her driver’s test. When we finished praying, the little 4 year old tugged on my shirt and gleefully said, “My daddy’s out of jail now.” The mom laughed very nervously in response to her child’s statement. What a heart break!
We did not leave either place feeling good about what we had done, instead we felt overwhelmed by the needs of our community and asked ourselves, what else can we do? Taking a few meals is just not enough!
Of course, we will continue to lift the families up and many others just like them and also continue to ask God what else can we do. Our small group is meeting again this coming Wednesday to walk through another chapter of the Outward Focused Life book. We know God has a plan for our group and we are praying that we pay close attention to His voice as we enter into this busy holiday season.
We are grateful for your prayers!
Annette (and Mike)
