Not only was this a week of love in action, but it was a call to action.
A call to look outside our own self and our comfort zone to see how God wants to use us.
A spurring to remind us that we don't need a special week set aside - that this truly becomes a way of life.
Each day I went to bed with a full heart.
And not because of anything I had done, but rather in response to our team and the interactions we had each day.
My mind, my heart is still processing so much from last week.
Church friends, we can become stagnant.
We can become SO complacent with what we have, with thinking someone else will fill the needs, do the work...
That we forget there are people right beside us who need help.
When Sara, our Shoulder to Shoulder leader, started this ministry it was part of her vision that we would SERVE each other standing together. And I do think we've done a good job of that within our church over the past almost 2 years. However, we recognized that we needed to step OUTSIDE the four walls of the church. Our church is good about that in general...and it's humbling to be a part of a church body that isn't about making it about you having to come to us to receive any kind of blessing.
Do we want you to join us when we gather together at Emmanuel - Salisbury?! Absolutely!
Is how we treat you or what we give you dependent on you coming to Emmanuel - Salisbury? Absolutely NOT!
I was reminded this week that when our S2S sisters gather together, it really is like a small army preparing for battle.
We have some fierce ladies.
And that is the truth.
We have women from ALL walks of life and ages and let me just tell you - these women are willing to show up.
Some times, many times - that's all it takes.
God will do the rest.
One of my prayers this week was simply for God to open my eyes to the people around me and how I could show them love in a tangible way. I try to truly live this out in my daily life, but, keeping it real, sometimes we get caught up in life and we walk right on by the people God is putting in our paths.
I wanted to recap our week for you and encourage YOU to find a way to start to show Love In Action this week!!!
Monday - we hosted a women's fellowship at our local Christian Shelter. And we came in there like a pack!!! Over 50 of our S2S ladies showed up!!! It was amazing! There were 17 women there and we had time to sing a few worship songs with them, shared a devotion, and then simply spent time talking with these ladies and hearing their stories while enjoying desserts. And friends, their stories will blow you away. I saw my S2S sisters just loving so well that night; snuggling babies, chasing toddlers, simply listening to and then praying boldly over these women.
I had gotten home from work and was in a rush to get back out to church and grabbed one of my shirts and, of course, it was all wrinkly...and then I was feeling some kind of way because I was just feeling like a hot mess...but guess what friends, Jesus still uses this hot mess.
One of our S2S sisters donated some MaryKay hand lotion and gloves for the ladies and even some of the hubbies got in on the baking of desserts...those mini sweet potato pies were DELICIOUS!!!
I think many of us walked away that night being reminded that any of us could find ourselves in that same situation at any given time. And it's very easy to "stereotype" the people you think will be at a shelter...do yourself a favor and ask to volunteer there one evening...I think your perspective will change and your heart will want to help however you can.
Tuesday - Pay It Forward Day
This was a day that was an "on your own" event! And yes - we DID encourage hash tagging #s2sloveinaction on social media. This was in no way to bring attention on ourselves but more so that we wanted to show ALL the ways that we can share the love of God with the people around us and know that our S2S sisters were doing this TOGETHER!!
Some just simply posted #s2sloveinaction and we knew you were joining in with us.
Other shared some of the ways they were paying it forward - it was things like sending in ice cream money with their children to share with a friend at school...to bringing in donuts for teachers...to paying for coffee...to someone sharing that they decided that day, while sitting at the MVA, that they would become an organ donor!
God knows our hearts and our intentions.
And it was just an amazing day to know we had fellow sisters in the community being intentional about showing love in action.
Wednesday - Laundry Love
Oh goodness!
The month leading up to this week, we encouraged Emmanuel to donate quarters, laundry detergent and dryer sheets for this nights outreach.
Once again, we were reminded how generous our church is!
We ended up having a little over $800 in quarter donations!!! And more than 60 laundry detergents and 60 boxes of dryer sheets.
We met at the church and gathered in one huge circle to pray over the laundromats we'd be going to as well as the interactions we would have once we got there. We divided into 5 teams and sent each team with enough products to bless 10 people at their designated laundromat.
Some of the people just couldn't believe that we were 1 - giving them $10 in quarters towards their laundry and then 2 - that we then offered detergent and dryer sheets for them...for FREE. And once they realized we were being for real - the smiles and the hugs and the conversations just followed. We included our church's information in the baggies of quarters because it's bound to come up in conversation why we were there and, while it wasn't our goal to seek church attendees, we DID want the people we interacted with to know there is a church in their local community that cares about meeting needs.
We simply reminded them that we recognize that laundry is never ending...and neither is God's love for them!
Side note: I put on yet another wrinkled shirt that night, but felt confident by the time I got home, the steam from the heat at the laundromats had it looking nice and fresh!
Also - I need to learn to understand AND speak the Spanish language...thank goodness for a little girl who couldn't have been older than 8 who helped interpret my intentions to some of those in one of the laundromats.
Thursday - Pack to Give Back
In addition to our Adopt A Block program, where we go out into the community on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays each month and give food to over 300 homes, we also have a program that provides food on the weekends for elementary ages students who have been recognized as having food insecurity - meaning, they do not know where their next meals are coming from.
Our church packs backpacks on Thursday evenings that are sent home with these children on Friday to help sustain them through the weekend.
We pack 232 bags for designated schools in our county!!!
This night we again gathered in a large circle and prayed over the food, the back packs, and the children and families they would be going to. We added a little treat bag for them just as a reminder that there is a group of women praying for them!
Friday - Wrap Up Fellowship
This was yet another special evening as we simply gathered together, with food of course, to share about how each of us saw God at work this week.
I was brought to tears listening to the ladies share their experiences...and how some of them had times in their own life where they found their self living at a shelter, or having to use a laundromat and hoping they had enough money that week and finding the time TO do the laundry to not knowing where their next meals were coming from.
One young woman shared that she wished that during her time at the shelter she would have known there was a group of women such as S2S that would have just shown up one night and she would have made some connections with women who would be there for her.
Many of them simply shared what a blessing it was to be on the GIVING end this time.
Sara shared a scripture passage from Luke 16 and we focused on verses 19-21:
“There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores."
This was a reminder that there are people we pass by every day that are, essentially, at our doorsteps, and we never take notice of them. The dogs became his friends, licking at his wounds, but those that could help - simply walked on by.
May we wake up every day with expectation that there WILL be someone on our "doorstep" that we can show love to.
Allow God to use YOU!
Offer a smile.
And be a light shiner in this often dark world.
We are Better Together and we CAN make a difference in the lives of the people in our paths!
