Summer Community Outreach 2010

I wanted to take a minute to tell you about our most recent Community Outreach day – it occurred 7/27 and was at CFRC Southside Community Center – 4th and Fountain St’s – Lafayette.

We truly had a fabulous time! We hung out the evening of the 26th and got all the shoes we had purchased ahead of time organized – it was fun to be together. We talked about a few songs – the first was “I’m letting go” by Francesca Battistelli. In this song, we are reminded that we must let go of what we had thought our life was supposed to be, if we want our lives to explode with life. Then we heard “Awake and Alive” by Skillet. In this song, we are reminded that we need to take a stand – it is time to know what we believe and not back down – it is our rallying cry – we will make a difference – even when it’s hard and means that we have to sacrifice. Then we heard “One Day too Late” which reminds us that we often may feel passion and know what we believe but then we figure it’s ok to just do it tomorrow. This is not the way – we need to act now – no waiting, live the way of giving life and noticing the amazingness of God today and inviting Him into the moments of our life now and noticing the amazingness of those around us and their pain and beginning to make a difference in our world.

We went home ready to charge at the Outreach day. We then spent the next day overwhelmed by the needs of our community. We finished the day having given out around 1000 pairs of shoes and 45 office visits and dozens of prescriptions. But, more than shoes and medical care, we gave out something more valuable: We gave unconditional love and real care to people – we let them know that they have value and that they matter, no matter their financial status, their situation, no matter what. To watch people who are hardened by life’s circumstances and living without for so long melt in the face of love and care for them when they realize that this is not some fancy governmentally sponsored organization caring for them but instead people from their own town who care about them enough to share their lives and their vacation time and their money to help them in their troubled times. It is wonderful and terrible – to see the pain that exists in our own town. It might be easier to never even see the pain in our town, but then we would never make any difference…

We had so many who were so thankful and some who wept at the giving and the love they were receiving. But it is also so painful to see those who have been betrayed and hurt for so long and have become part of that whole system and they complain at us for not having the brand of shoes that they want and hurt us when we are not fast enough for them – yet we realize that if anyone is ever going to break through this hardness and hurt, someone must love through this, there is no easy way around (I must tell you that I am so glad that someone dared to love through my manipulative and hurtful, angry past – for if they would not have, I would have been lost in my pain forever). Plus we also realize that we must open ourselves up to these people if we are to help those others who so badly need help who would not ask for help if we were not here. The More, of More than more that we realize makes life worthwhile and gives this love in our hearts – Jesus – this was how He lived – taking the abuse and the pain, absorbing the hurt and hardness of those who were products of the system in order to help those who needed His help. We choose to live this way – and we trust that as we keep living He will give His life into us, His strength when it seems the hardest.

At the end of the day we all met at Dog n Suds for dinner. It is amazing to share such a time together – it is hard, but wonderful, to see so many people’s needs met in one day – if there are 100 thousand people in Lafayette, we put shoes on 1% of the population of our town – can you believe there are that many who don’t have good shoes to wear?? Those people left knowing that they matter to real people and with comfy feet! What a great way to spend a day!!

This is what More than more is all about. We are tired of lip service commitments to those who are hurting – we are tired of expecting the hurting to come to us – we are going to them and are determined to show people that they matter.

You see, we are tired of the American dream of get more, buy more, achieve more, grapple and fight and claw your way to the top – more money, more job, more work, more success, more sex, more everything, and yet we are never satisfied, as individuals or as a society – broken marriages, betrayed friendships, hefty credit cards bills – they never make us happy or fulfilled in our hearts. We want More. We notice More in life and we share in this each time we hang out – every other Thursday night at McAllister Recreation Center just off 20th and Schuyler, in Lafayette. The next time will be this Thursday – 8/26 – 6:45-8:00PM. We hope to see you there!

Last night

Last night, we had a fabulous time together. We dared to take some time together to look at life differently - to notice something more than just the usual American way of more more more and it was a great time.

We started with some time to relax and little and let the stress of the day fall away a little. It was nice to hang out with some people who care about each other just because - not because of what we have to offer each other, or what we can produce or our social status, but just because.

We then spet some time noticing something ordinary, that is amazing. We talked about hips and shoulders - these 2 joints are both ball & socket joints, but they function very differently. The hip is important for power and support - it needs to be stable and it can move in a lot of directions, but not as many as the shoulder. The shoulder on the other "hand" (ha ha)is much more mobile, but has much less power to it. It does not need as much power, as it does not support our body weight, but needs to be mobile, so we can do stuff with our hands. We took a look at these joints and realized that the hip socket is very deep and the socket of the shoulder is very narrow. The deep socket of the hip makes it more powerful and almost impossible to dislocate. the narrow socket of the shoulder makes it very mobile and allows it to move in a gazillion ways so that we can use our hands and arms to do stuff, but is much less stable and, as you know, is much more prone to dislocate. Now, when I look at the amazingness of the shoulder and the hip and how they just happen to have the perfect design for the function we need, I am overwhelmed. The system works perfectly, the way it is supposed to. Now, some people would have you believe that this happened by accident - that all this happened just because it worked out that way - this seems like an assertion that takes much more of a leap than just believing that these joints were made this way by a wonderful creator who wanted us to have bodies that worked the way we needed them to.

So, the next time you bend down (using your knees to bend...)notice the power in your hips - when you hold your child and balance them on your pelvis - notice the power in your hip - and be thankful - invite God to join you in the midst of that moment and savor the fact that while life is hard and we struggle with so many things, there is a great God who cared enough about us to make our bodies work the way we needed them to. When you are working above your head, or reaching to scratch your back, have a chat with God about how cool it is that your shoulder can move like that and the His design is amazing. Invite Him into the moment and ask Him to be part of your life. You may just start noticing that there is more to life than the usual "more" of the American way!

We will be hanging out again in 2wks at McAllister Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, 6:45-8:00PM, 8/26/10. Hope to see you there if you are sick of the everyday American way of more more more and looking to find something "More" than more.